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I've been banished from the living room due to the smell from the paints. So I'm using this as an excuse to get an airbrush for my new painting station in the spare room.

I was hoping for some inspiration for it, so if you have time, please post a pic of yours and/or any tips for building up a good one!

My current setup:


Good storage under the bench, pegboard is a nice spot to store stuff. I build on one side, paint on the other. I used to have a much larger workspace, but that got left in the house after the divorce (The Boy gets to use it now)

Old table my mom used to use for printmaking.


As for advice:
Get as much space as you can
Get as much light as you can.
If you can have designated areas for different things, that’s optimal. You don’t want to be setting up/taking down stuff between projects. Also, you probably want to keep the dust/scraps from cleaning and building away from your painting.
Some sort of organization system. You don’t want to have to search for stuff, both tools and paints.

What advice do you have for lights, what type should I look for?

I couldn’t agree more with nevelon. Room to work and light good light are a must. I am fortunate my garage is outfitted as my personal home fiefdom. So I am spread out quite a bit.

My question to you is how big is the room you can call your space.

There are tons of different options, but all I can suggest is the following:

1) Get yourself a Fiskars cutting mat...they're cheap, durable, come in a variety of sizes and are an excellent workspace which you can toss on any desk/table.

2) Get two LED desk lamps, one for each side. They can be as cheap as you want, you just want quality "white" (or daytime) light at the very least. I like two as it generally gives me enough light for all the angles I'm painting.

I use a long desk like you’d find in an old office, it’s half computer and hobby desk.

A3 cutting mat as the do all surface and loads of storage
I have a magnifier lamp and a regular lamp too

Also what paint are you using that smells?

Really only freshly primed should smell

 Elbows wrote:
There are tons of different options, but all I can suggest is the following:

1) Get yourself a Fiskars cutting mat...they're cheap, durable, come in a variety of sizes and are an excellent workspace which you can toss on any desk/table.

2) Get two LED desk lamps, one for each side. They can be as cheap as you want, you just want quality "white" (or daytime) light at the very least. I like two as it generally gives me enough light for all the angles I'm painting.

At a guess I would say that it's 3.5M x 3.5M but I also use it to store other things in it, so it has shelves and a wardrobe


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Rybrook wrote:
I use a long desk like you’d find in an old office, it’s half computer and hobby desk.

A3 cutting mat as the do all surface and loads of storage
I have a magnifier lamp and a regular lamp too

Also what paint are you using that smells?

Really only freshly primed should smell

I'll see if I can buy a cutting mat tomorrow and I have an old computer desk at my parents place, i'll pick it up this weekend!

It's just normal citadel paint but it does stink the room out when I use it, also I want to get an airbrush soon which i'll use to varnish

My girlfriend and I live in a tiny apartment with 3 cats and a big dog, so space is at a premium. We've made an L-shaped desk that serves as our work areas; she has the corner, and I have the end. My space is where I do both my homework (MBA) as well as my hobbying, so I really need to be able to keep things neat and tidy and not have things lying around 24/7.



My desk has a slide-out shelf where I store any current bits and my wet palette. My laptop will usually go here as well and I'll have it hooked up to the TV. I keep my compressor on the edge of my desk, although the airbrush itself is packed away whenever I'm not using it (don't want one of the animals to accidentally knock it over and destroy it, since it's not cheap to replace). I have a small neoprene mousepad underneath it to mute the vibrations and stop the compressor from vibrating itself off the desk.



1. This is my project box; any paints I need for whatever I'm currently working on are set aside in this box so I don't have to go fishing around for it before each session. I also have a brown-book that records paints used for every project (usually armies) so I can switch back and forth and remember paint schemes and color combos.

2. This is how my paints are organized. Brand new pots on top, GW and washes in the middle, and P3 + dropper bottles on the bottom. The hair-dryer is for quick-drying models during airbrush sessions.

3. Underneath the paintbox, I keep all my airbrushing liquids/materials in this drawer.

4. All my hobby tools are organized into a Plano box. I do this so that I don't lose stuff, and I can pick-up and go to the local hobby shop if I want to build there. This is also the reason I keep paints in a project box; so I can pick up and go relatively easily.



I'm lucky enough to have a couple of the cabinets they use at GW. I keep one in the apartment, and the other is in storage until we eventually move to a place with more room (that we can afford, stupid Toronto). The shelves are a bit of a mess because I just finished my Adeptus Titanicus stuff (which has all been located to the local gaming store, Lords of War), and I need to sort out my Nighthaunt for what I need finished for Adepticon.