What Does Your Workbench/Work Area Look Like?

The new and improved work space. A room all to me and my hobby.

The stash.

The figure stash. All 120mm Verlinden figures.

The bench.

Reference and storage.

The paint shop.

PNGbrat

Doogs,  your area is looking good,  but 2:24am.  Do you ever sleep?  I'm up at 4:45am so my old bones would rebel.

LOL! I know, I know...in the past 3.5 years (since the birth of kid #1) I've learned I can live and function quite well on very little sleep. In fact, when I'm modeling, I've found I wake up easier, happier and more alert if I build until 12:30-1 than if I don't build at all and go to sleep at 11. 

I've been staying up so late recently because I'm making up for it earlier. With the move, I've been laying down with the kids when they go to bed (their rooms are currently lacking light fixtures since we're swapping fans and such...it's on the honey-do for next week), so I get 2 or so hours, wake up, trade with the wife, then go about my business. In bed by 2-2:30, up at 6:30. In total, about 6 hours of sleep per day. 

  This thread is great.  TV trays to modeling palaces--it"s all good.  I hope to get a new camera soon so I can post my humble corner of the basement.  Doogs,  your area is looking good,  but 2:24am.  Do you ever sleep?  I'm up at 4:45am so my old bones would rebel.

Got the second bench up tonight. Still have to hang the fluorescent and get all kinds of stuff where it needs to go, but it's really coming together now. Man...I can't WAIT to kick off the Wildcat!

Picked myself up a stool at Sears today...way cheaper than any tall office chair I could find...we'll see how well my back likes it, but it can't be worse than the folding chair I was using before.

Also decided, for the time being, to put my ambitious backsplash plans on hold. Instead I'm using the cludge job from the old house...two old bookshelves from Lowe's, a desk hutch from an old Target desk. I seem to have lost the wood runs I was using to extend the fluorescent out over the bench, so I'll need to work up some new ones.

The new benches are so much taller than the old tables that I couldn't use the same plywood scrap for a backing, so I tried a random piece of wood that somehow made the move...and it fit perfectly! 

Also got to reuse the wife's crappy shelves (seriously, I remember hanging these in her apartment back when we were dating...the mounting mechanism was crap) with my PVC tee supports. Love the way they've worked out here.

I came across this other forum where they have a  lot workbenches/areas/rooms/man caves, plenty of great ideas.  Take a look...

http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/forum/index.php/topic,39.0.html

Doogs- that workbench looks great! When I'm done letting the navy move me around, The last few places I've lived I've used two long folding tables which have been perfectly adequate, but I figured I would have counters built-in to whatever room I wound up using as a workshop (or a bench built into a high-end outbuilding, depending on our situation). Now that I've seen what you've got going on there, I'll definitely look into that sort of a workbench!

Finally getting to start adding shelves to the new shop / man cave. These are specifically for holding paint, glue and all those little things that get in the way on the table top. My main work bench is 8ft long and about 32 inches deep with a 31/2 inch back splash. There are two power outlets built into the table top for the odd power tool. The Dremel is hooked to a speed control that's mounted on the front edge of the table frame. Here is a photo of the new shelves. I think i'm going to add one more short one below the poster. This is only one corner of the shop / man cave. There is another table down the wall to the left that's a "guest bench" when model friends come over. I will post more pictures as I get the shop put together and arranged.  OH... You can't see it in this photo but there is a 2ft florescent light mounted under this workbench as well. Makes finding dropped parts way easier.

Thanks gents!

Rick - The wifi reaches out to the garage so I'm good there. As for mini-fridge, we've got a full-size fridge in the garage! Mrs. Doogs signed us up for one of those community supported agriculture things, so every other week we get a box loaded with whatever's in season (why dear god is it always eggplant...failed squash if you ask me). The upside, awesome veggies. The downside, tons of them. So we decided to get a counter-depth inside and a full fridge in the garage. Plenty of room for veggies, beverages, and I'm even holding one side for "de-masking" operations (blue-tack and similar come off very easily when chilled).

Tim - Thanks for heads up on the Staples sale...though these new workbenches are high enough I think I may have to go for a shop stool...

Doog, you are going to have a great set-up there.

I just got home from Staples with a new office chair to replace the folding chair I broke yesterday. Nothing says"Lose Weight" like having a folding chair collapse under you.

By the way, Staples has some nice chairs for half price this week.

"Mini Fridg", Cable hook-up, and computer line and you'll never leave the garage.  Great start Doogs.  Rick.

I know what I'm doing tonight!

Well...Bench Mk.II is still in the construction phase (gettin' some workbenches delivered on Tuesday)...so for the moment it's mostly shelving:

Thing I finally cracked my plan for the painting bench...and how to integrate paint racks and mount the fluorescent shop light:

made the paintrack last weekend from whatever i had lying around

the real red baron

Fermis - you make the best models! And your working area and a/c display is amazing!

In this picture - you have a photo up on the wall of a P-40 where did you get it? I want that picture.

Thank you

Most of those pictures that I have around came out of a calander. Can't remember who made it, or even what year....I wanna say it was late 90s though.

Fermis - you make the best models! And your working area and a/c display is amazing!

In this picture - you have a photo up on the wall of a P-40 where did you get it? I want that picture.

Here's my main workbench. All built in.....moving would be a nightmare!!!

Built in display with stash cabinets underneath and overhead lighting.

My model buddy "Bruce"!

......and, the hidden stash (not that I HAVE to hide it.....I like things put away)

There's about another dozen added since the pics were taken.

Here's a few pics of my humble modeling abode. Wife gave in to letting me take over our lone spare bedroom, a decision she now regrets as she really wasn't aware that when all was said and done there would be no room for a spare bed. I rescued the desk from the Bureau of Land Management office in Durango, Co. when they remodeled. Nice desk but, a bugger to move. The stash I have in there is my "Definitely planning to build stash". I have another 50 or so kits boxed in storage. I enjoy seeing other folks workspaces as I definitejy get some great ideas from ya'll.

                                 Joe

And in case the wife unit decides she needs to reclain the spare bedroom here is my backup plan for a new man cave (Yes, it runs)

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As asked for a side view image of the shelves in this rack,  forgive the high tech graphics this was all made from on hand scraps and bit and pieces of what ever fit got used, and the rest thrown back on the pile for the next big brain wave.

The unit that is shown in the photo in my earlier post is 48" wide, 36" tall and 41/8" deep. (47" inside width)

 Each shelf should hold approx 47 Vallejo or Life Color type bottles, or about 30 - 32 MM or Tamiya 1/3 oz. bottles.  The tiered shelves have enough room on the upper level to tip a Vallejo bottle in or out with no problem.

This rack is probably over kill, but I will probably be proven wrong eventually when so "really great" sale comes along

The very top shelf is single leveled, and is used for the "craft" variety paints. You could also add a couple of "heavy duty" picture hangers to the back of this and hing it one the wall to save space. Which was my first plan, but the shelving unit where it resides now, fit just right, and the shelves where free, perfect price!

So for this whole project, my only cost was the staples for my air stapler, and white glue. the rest came from scrap piles and store rejects.

Hey RRB - your set-up is way more permanent than mine is. I'll try to snap a pic the next time I have it set up (hopefully tomorrow).

You guys are lucky, some of you have a whole room for this hobby.

I have a small desk in my room. With all my paints on/in the desk. How I do my airbrushing? I have to carry my airbrush and compressor outside every time I want too paint. And run an extension lead from the garage to the backyard. Because we don't have a very big garage. 

My stash has also only got 4 models in it! I need to conduct a raid at the LHS soon…

T

A microscope???

 Wow, that must be some small photo-etched parts.

KennyB

Well here it is, the operating room. I call it that because hardly anything gets built out of box, there's always some surgery to do

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                Ken

Not much to see there, Ken...

Well guys, being single I don't have to answer to anyone.    Thus my back rooms (yes ROOMS) are both hobby/project/whatever rooms.

Room 1 has kit storage.  Found a 2 x 4 foot set of steel frame wood insert shelves at Home Depot for a good price.  Got everything off the floor. Then books and reference.  Watchmaker bench that I redid.  (Use this for the tiny stuff) Then the benches where I do the work.  The one against the wall ended up being where I tend to set tools.  Then the roll around table where I work on the kit.  Portable DVD player for watching movies etc. and more books etc.

Room 2 has the heavy duty stuff.  Puter, workbench with band saw (at the moment) Micro Mill (the handyest tool I ever bought)  Tool boxes (with TOOLS) and a drill press.

Currently building a new paint booth to extract the fumes and catch the dust. Then off to do some more kit building.  Should have most of the booth done this weekend.  Will have to wait for the fans and another part till they come in next week.  The fans are 12 vdc 120mm computer fans which are brushless.  Will have it set up to run 1 or both.  both runing should exhaust  about 100 CFM out the nearby window which I have an insert for.  No open window when it's raining or -20 outside!

    Decided to come back to this thread and leave a little teaser:  My "retreat" is getting a new coat of paint and laminate hardwood flooring!  Can't wait to get new pics and show it off here!  LOL   I stole the look from a couple of posts in this thread, so hope those guys don't mind.   ;)

   Chris

I finally got some time to assemble a paint rack, adding the illusion of organization.

I agree! Nice set up Ken

Wow Ken! That is a sweet setup my friend.

Well here it is, the operating room. I call it that because hardly anything gets built out of box, there's always some surgery to do

                                                                                                                                Ken

Oh, I know I could do it.. That's not the issue...  Lemme re-phrase...  I don't wanna do it...