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Desktop Tool and Paint Holder or Caddy. Sugestions, Pictures, Plans

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  • Member since
    August 2011
Desktop Tool and Paint Holder or Caddy. Sugestions, Pictures, Plans
Posted by OldNoob on Monday, August 15, 2011 1:48 PM

Ok Fellow Modelers . What's your experience with a Desktop Tool and Pant Holder or Caddy?

What would you suggest? What would you like to have? Have you built one yourself?

We will start out with a Classic:

The Testors 

PAINT STORAGE SYSTEM/CAROUSEL

Nice but kinda flimsy and doesn't hold tools.

So what is out there that's better???

  • Member since
    July 2010
  • From: Tornado Alley
Posted by Echo139er on Monday, August 15, 2011 1:57 PM

I have something similar (modified tackle box)... and it is used ONLY for the kit I am working on. Once I am done I empty it out. I put all the paints and tools away where they belong and stow the holder away.  When I start a new project out it comes.  Handy when you need to keep all your stuff in one place specially if you want to move around from room to room.

  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Monday, August 15, 2011 2:00 PM

Good idea!. Do ever have to "dig" for stuff using that?

 

  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Monday, August 15, 2011 2:44 PM

this is interesting:

  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Monday, August 15, 2011 2:55 PM

or maybe

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Monday, August 15, 2011 8:54 PM

That's what it looks like in the catalog.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6071/6046480675_465eb6035c.jpg

 

 

Here's what it looks like in real life:

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    February 2006
Posted by Neptune48 on Monday, August 15, 2011 10:45 PM

I built this, mostly for paint bottles, to go on a deep drafting table that I use as a work bench

Full build article here:

http://www.ipms-phoenix.org./articles/articles09.htm

 

 

"You can't have everything--where would you put it?"
  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Monday, August 15, 2011 11:52 PM

Point taken LOL

  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:14 AM

Pretty cool . For some reason an image of "HERO Jr" keeps popping up in my mindWink

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:00 PM

gregbale

That's what it looks like in the catalog.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6071/6046480675_465eb6035c.jpg

 

 

Here's what it looks like in real life:

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h395/gjb1428/GEDC2171.jpg

I use the same thing.. Got it at Hobby Lobby, (40% off, naturally)... The only real difference is that mine has the bottom tray fulla kit Greeblies...

  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 1:01 PM

This is nice! but cost nearly $38 US dollars

  • Member since
    August 2011
Posted by OldNoob on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 1:52 PM

My current tool caddy,, not quite up to the challenge. Wish i had a drill press

AT6
  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: Fresno
Posted by AT6 on Saturday, August 20, 2011 3:04 PM

I had something similar to your current set up years ago. I went with the Testors caddy and found that I filled it up quickly. That will happen no matter which way you go. Still, anything beats what you're using right now. I used my old wood organizer as firewood  on a camping trip.

  • Member since
    March 2011
  • From: St Louis, Mo
Posted by MSgtMJ62 on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 8:59 PM

OldNoob - just bought one of those over the weekend from Hobby Lobby. 

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Austin, TX
Posted by DoogsATX on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 9:45 PM

My bench is my tool caddy:

In all seriousness, though, I really just suck at putting things away. But when I do, it's VERY organized.

From left to right...

Cheap Target 4-drawer cart thingy (seriously about $20): One drawer for airbrush stuff. One for pigments, a few washes, oil tubes, etc. One for metal and plastic and spares. And another as an emergency drop for laundering new kits into the stash or hiding any gifts for the wife. It sucks and it wobbles when you open a drawer, but it gets the job done.

Paint rack: Two crappy shelves my wife bought somewhere. Linens and Things maybe? Been in our garage for five years, so I stole them. Used empty Diet Dr. Pepper cans and PVC tees as supports. Holds all my Tamiya, Gunze and Alclad paint beautifully.

Chest of many small drawers thing (cheap, from Lowe's): Holds Model Master enamels organized by color (blues, browns, metallics, etc). Use the empty bins for spare PE, or as temporary holding bins for WIPs

Main bench, bench-level - three gray storage dealies from Target I think - one holds glues and adhesives. Another is primers, putty, silly putty, white-tac and such. And the last is decals, foam applicators, and so forth.

To the right of that and off-frame, I have a little two-drawer desk organizer thing. Top drawer is knifes and cutting implements. Bottom is tweezers and pliers. A little flip-up storage area on the top holds extra blades.

Going vertical, I've installed some elfa shelving that we had leftover from consolidating rooms as kids arrived. Going up one level, bins for Vallejo paints (which are just too tall to fit in that red chest thing). Above that, more bins. One is dedicated to sanding sticks and files. Another to things like my circle cutter, digital caliper, etc. And the last to masking materials. 

I've found, for me at least, organizing around task works really well as far as finding things, with a few of those super-common tools easy-to-hand.

 

On the Bench: 1/32 Trumpeter P-47 | 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109G | 1/144 Eduard MiG-21MF x2

On Deck:  1/350 HMS Dreadnought

Blog/Completed Builds: doogsmodels.com

 

  • Member since
    September 2011
Posted by hckyguy1970 on Friday, September 30, 2011 10:57 PM

Doogs, THAT is awesome!  As "the new guy" myself I have been wondering what others use for this type of thing.  Seems like "whatever you can find that works for you" is the best suggestion.  lol.  I am starting from scratch.  I am starting with a door for a work bench and going from there.  I think some sort of lazy susan is in order too...and lamp/magnifying glass is in order (harbor freight maybe?)

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: hamburg michigan
Posted by fermis on Saturday, October 1, 2011 3:14 AM

hckyguy1970

Doogs, THAT is awesome!  As "the new guy" myself I have been wondering what others use for this type of thing.  Seems like "whatever you can find that works for you" is the best suggestion.  lol.  I am starting from scratch.  I am starting with a door for a work bench and going from there.  I think some sort of lazy susan is in order too...and lamp/magnifying glass is in order (harbor freight maybe?)

 I'd recommend a sheet of 1/4" glass as a main work surface.  I have found nothing better!

My desk is all built in, along with the shelves and paint rack.

  • Member since
    April 2011
Posted by Enohead on Thursday, October 13, 2011 2:06 PM

No pics of my actual bench available right now since I'm at work, but I did want to mention something that works well for me -

On the wall above my desk/work surface, I hung some pegboard.  There are a ton of different types of plastic organizers that are made to hang on pegboard.  I use a couple of those, along with the usual metal pegboard hooks where they're useful.

This is a random google image search picture of the same type of tool racks that I have:

It's easy to fill the different sized holes with things used for hobbies - paint pipettes, pin vice, tiny trowels for putty, soldering iron, etc. - and the longer slots in the front are awesome for sprue cutters & pliers.  There are two large round holes in the back corners - I have my cordless dremel in one, and a can of compressed air in the other.

I'll try to remember to post a picture of my workbench area so you can see some of the other things that work for me - a couple of spinning organizers and like that.

  • Member since
    April 2004
Posted by rudedog72 on Thursday, October 13, 2011 3:06 PM

When I first started I had all of my supplies in the box with the model I was working on.  Now though I have a dedicated area in my basement with a ton of room so I have spread out.  I have never liked the all-in-one approach to organizers so I actually use four different approaches.  I will also add that I fail miserably at organizing anything.  My WB looks like a small explosive was detonated most of the time....

First paints.  My workbench is an office desk that I got from an office supply store on sale (Office Depot).  I modified the keyboard tray so it now has sides and a front and back.  It is the perfect height for paint bottles.  It also conveniently slides out of the way under the desk.

Second pointy objects. If its sharp it gets placed pointy bit down in a block of Styrofoam (I have a large supply 2-inch thick pieces from the desks).  I cut the foam into about 8" squares and just jab knives and alike into it.  When its done I make a new one. 

Third, tweezers, paint brushes, etc.  For them I use a commercial holder like this one:

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=825&es=237420000ESC&utm_source=CSE&utm_medium=weblink&utm_campaign=becomecom

Lastly are Clamps, Pliers and similar.  Those I have a rolling cart like this one:

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/3-drawer-rolling-mesh-cart

I like this cart because the drawers are a great place for storing tubs of static grass & other bulky things, and I have added a small organizer on the top that holds epoxy, large bottles of thinner, extra tubes of putty, etc.  Best of all it like the paint storage, it rolls under the desk and out of the way.

So in a very long drawn out way, I guess my answer is that I don’t really like any of the "caddys".

 

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Friday, October 14, 2011 9:33 AM

For tools, the back of my bench is a piece of pegboard, and I use pegboard hooks to hold the tools, a very common arrangement.  I use about three or four brands/lines of paint- each uses a different size/shape.  This really complicates trying to make a paint rack.  As a result, I keep unused paint in one of my workbench drawers, and take out which bottles I need when I start a new project. I just stick the bottles on the benchtop at the back. Crude, but it works till someone works out a universal bottle holder.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Democratic Peoples Republic of Illinois
Posted by Hercmech on Friday, October 14, 2011 9:58 AM

I found a great way to put paints on the wall. Go to Bed Bath and Beyond or similar place and get a bamboo drawer organizer. Screw it to the wall and Voilà you have a paint holder.


13151015

  • Member since
    January 2011
Posted by stymye on Friday, October 14, 2011 10:14 PM

never thought of using a viola for a paint holder ....heheheh

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Monday, October 17, 2011 1:21 AM

Hobby Lobby sells plastic bottles in a variety of sizes. You can get squeeze bottles or the ones that have an "eye dropper" top. I use them to store small quantities of paint "additives". I keep the large bottles out of the way in a storage cabinet.

 

Walmarts (some of them) have a "stairstep" looking spice rack made of bamboo for $5. I use them to store my glues and small bottles of paint "additives". ie thinners, alcohol, flotrol, windex, etc. Taller bottles in back, small up front. This could also be use for paints.

About:

10 in wide, 8 in deep.

1 in high in front  4 in high in back

3 steps.

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Democratic Peoples Republic of Illinois
Posted by Hercmech on Monday, October 17, 2011 8:58 AM

stymye

never thought of using a viola for a paint holder ....heheheh

Yeah Yeah...I fixed itEmbarrassed


13151015

  • Member since
    October 2006
Posted by JunJon on Thursday, October 20, 2011 12:34 PM

after so many years of collecting paints and tools.

this is what I got...

www.junaustriamodel.blogspot.com

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