Modeling Work Station

This is a good time for me to photograph my workbench, since I just cleaned it thoroughly and replaced the surface.  However, until I get the photos and get them posted, here is what I do for a bench.  This is probably about bench number 10 in my modeling life.

I started with a pair of those plastic drawer cabinets from an office supply store.  These are about 12 or 14 inches wide, about 15-18 inches long. I used the pair as pedestals of the bench. I hate making drawers, but they sure are handy, and this is a way to get them without having to make them.  The top of the bench is a sandwich of two pieces of half inch particle board. I bought 24 x 48 inch pieces.  You can use the whole pieces, but to take up a little less room and to be able to reach the backboard easier, I ripped them to 18 inch width.  Then, I laid down three strips of 1x2x48 as beams, to sandwich between the hardboard pieces.  These are laid on edge, making the boards seperated by 1.5 inches.  The front and back 1x2s are along edge of sandwich and I glued and screwed a piece of 1/8 inch pegboard to the rear 1x2, providing a pegboard to hang tools on.

Ah, I looked at my photobucket account, and already have a pic there.

I cover the bare surface of the top particle board panel with contact paper.  Every project or two I just pull up the old contact paper and put down a new one.

I found the resulting bench just a couple of inches too low for my comfort, so built a pair of simple rectangles from 1 x 2, and screwed those to the top of the cabinets and glued the top to those.

I'm currently in the frame of mind to redesign my work area. The problem I'm running into is that there is so much cool stuff out there that I'm confused on what direction to go.

I recently made myself a small modelling caddy out of pre-cut plexiglass and PVC pipe connectors glued down with PVC glue (there was a downloadable file somewhere on this site that suggested it), and I love the thing.  I also took a small platic box from a travel sewing kit (about the size of a deck of cards) and glued it on.  If I am ever able to talk my wife into letting me have a full desk to build at, I will definitely be making a larger version of caddy.  The plexiglass surface is fantastic for cutting photo-etched parts on and doesn't seem to scratch up too badly.  The caddy ran me about $15.

For a cheap and collapsable paint booth, I got 3 thin (1/4") sheets of cheap plywood and some hinges.  I think the sheets are 2'x4' and I cut one in half widthwise to make two 2'x2' sheets.  One of the large pieces became the base, one became the back, and the two smaller pieces became the sides.  The sides are hinged to fold inward and the back is hinged to fold backward.  The hinges are all secured with machine screws and hex nuts.  I then bought the cheapest twin flat sheet I could find, cut it into wide strips (about 12-16") and stapled it along the edges covering the hinges and the vertical seams at the back to control overspray.  Finally I got two eyelet and hook sets and mounted them at the upper back corners to use the sides and back to hold one another up when in use.  You could easily buy a cheap computer fan and mount it in one of the sides if needed.  I think the whole thing ran me about $20-$30 and took less than an hour to assemble.  I just put the thing on some saw horses and start painting.  If you do use wood, I recommend creating a "floor" of duct tape to tape stuff to (masking tape won't stick to the wood well and your airbrush/spray can will just blow parts away like they weren't taped down) or buy one or two large floor tiles and use those.

I am building out a work room from scratch, too. May actually get to building before too much longer. It will have workbenches from Harbor Freight, www.harborfreight.com/workbench-with-4-drawers-60-hardwood-69054.html and a small spray booth as well...www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_1 . The prices seemed pretty reasonable. Both should arrive in a week or so.

I too am considering a spray booth but being in the safety industry I am concerned about spraying combustible materials. If you are spraying acrylics it may not be an issue what booth is selected but we are hearing more and more about combustible dust explosions from very small particles.

The Master Airbrush booth in your link looks a lot like the Paasche PAS HB 16 13 in the following link that states "Note: Not intented for use with hazardous materials, flammable or explosive paints or materials."      www.tcpglobal.com/.../booth.aspx

I would appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts regarding this situation as I like the price on the Master booth.

Ed

Raceguy

I too am considering a spray booth but being in the safety industry I am concerned about spraying combustible materials. If you are spraying acrylics it may not be an issue what booth is selected but we are hearing more and more about combustible dust explosions from very small particles.

The Master Airbrush booth in your link looks a lot like the Paasche PAS HB 16 13 in the following link that states "Note: Not intented for use with hazardous materials, flammable or explosive paints or materials."      www.tcpglobal.com/.../booth.aspx

I would appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts regarding this situation as I like the price on the Master booth.

Ed

Mine arrived yesterday. in reading the "manual" it simply says "to preserve health damage,  never use poisonous, flammable or explosive paints or materials!" Duh. With proper ventillation and/or a respirator, one should be able to "preserve health damage".  Most of the motors are not really sealed, so there is always a chance (however small) that a spark could ignite fumes. Many modellers use bathroom fans or other devices that are not "spark sealed" with no ill affects. My guess is that the air/fuel ratio would not be right unless you really saturated the booth with paint. The manual doesn't say you cannot exhaust any paint type.

I don't remember ever reading about modelers blowing up while painting or building models. Is this a new trend?

subfixer

I don't remember ever reading about modelers blowing up while painting or building models. Is this a new trend?

First time I have literally laughed out loud in a week or two.

I am NOT making fun of the safety subject, I am also interested in a proper paint booth and in safety and this thread. Just thought your comment was hilarious.