New Year and A Clean Work Area!

 So Jan. 2022 is onto us and ushering in the new year with snow storms, bad weather, more Covid related mandates and all the usual craziness that seems to be making itself the "new normal" in our lives.

For us mini guys, it's usually when we start planning and beginning our new "projects"; many of these being "the same projects from the previous year", or "a previously abandoned one being brought back to life".

For me I have a list of the "What I want to do's", but before I delve into any of that, I simply realized that "First off", I needed to clean the painting and work area some....

The painting room was a mess. Empty boxes, stashes of stuff, and papers were everywhere, and the table itself was a confused, chaotic hodgepodge of half painted figures, brushes, tools, some scenics, more figures in various stages of prep, and paint bottles everywhere.

Something had to get done.

So I bucked up, soldiered on, and went ahead and started organizing the chaos.

My wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), has the saying "A place for everything and everything in it's place." and in the sense of this room and my setup that is indeed true.

So I finally finished it, and decided to get some pics, and to give some ideas for a work area setup.

(The table under normal lighting after it has been cleaned once again...)

Looking at my paints, I indeed need more paint racks desperately....and perhaps more shelving units...or a better way to store some things.

(A view of the table with the fairy lights and OTT Light on...)

I've included a series of photos showing the contents of the table, and how I have it set up, for those that would like to reference it.

(This is the left side, showing the phone unit I have downstairs, my coffee cup on the warmer, my brushes separated by size, the clear box that I keep my currently most used craft paints in, and my homemade wet palette made from a plastic pencil box.)

(A close up shot showing how I have my brushes organized. Two Tin cups hold my detail and small/small-med brushes, while the larger glasses (From Treasure Island and Excalibur in Las Vegas), hold my larger and BIG brushes.)

(The actual work area of the table with the green cutting mat, paint palette, paint racks to hold the GW pots, dropper bottles, inks, and other paints with flip tops. The two boxes in the upper right corner are more Reaper colors from their Bones IV and V Kickstarters.  You can also see a GW figure holder. I also have my Vortex mixer (a godsend), and a magnifier, clamp unit. Finally I have a large water jar (on the warmer), and a smaller jar. The large jar is used to clean brushes during painting. The smaller jar is also water filled and used with an eye dropper for adding clean water to paints for washes, etc.)

(Some of the Craft paints. Although not as well refined as some of the more professional stuff, they can provide wonderful cheap basic colors for buildings, terrain, etc., and some of their colors can be worked very well and fill in for where the pro stuff lapses. The ones I use for current projects sit here, and when I am done with them, they go back into the larger paint storage area.  Later on, I am going to do a post dedicated to craft paints and some of the colors that you can get and use.

(One of the most useful tools and needed items for a paint desk/table is a cutting mat. This is the essential, work mat for where you do your work. It helps keep your table top from becoming stained, scratched, and scarred.  For the top of my desk I also custom cut foamboard to make a protective topping. It's worked wonderfully so far.)

After I finished cleaning up the table, I looked over at the shelf and decided that that too, needed a spot and a lick to tidy it up.

So away I went, and when it was done I was pretty pleased.

(Unit 1, Shelf #1: The Dremel tools all go here. Yes that is a small flashlight, US Army Map Reading Protractor AND a Morrow Project RECON Patch on the wall...)

(Unit 1, Shelves, #2 and #3: Shelf #2 is my already ten year old Paintier 80 holding my old paint pots, (Armory, Old GW, Old Reaper Pro Series, Pactra, etc.), The Tamaiya is next to it. Beside it are jars of pre made "ground brown", agitator beads, cleaning solutions for brushes, etc. This shelf is pretty much for paints.
Shelf #3 is the tools shelf. All of my work tools, (Knives, rulers, pencils, paper clips, pins, extra palettes, Micro-Line Pens, etc., are all kept here in easy arms reach.)

(Shelving Unit 2, Shelf #2:  This shelf holds the glitter, a lot of misc. pieces, (bitz), some projects I am slowly working on in the clear container, some empty blister packs, (I cut the clear flat plastic for "window glass" for buildings, and a pizza slicer.)

(Unit 2, Shelf #3: It's all about the base...work.  Here's where I keep my bases, wood, metal, and slotta, in labelled and marked containers as well as the different types of groundwork.  It truly helps to keep things labelled so you know what you are looking at and for.) 

(Unit 2, Shelf #4: I got your glue right here!  Glues, expoxy, tape, spackle, cement, hobby-e tack, rubber bands, green putty, etc. It's all here...even the "glitter glue...")

My wife was correct. 

There IS something good about this whole "organization stuff" that makes things work a whole lot better. But knowing me and my methods of work, I know that this will probably only be a temporary look. (Edit: As of this posting the desk is filled with figures and work stuff, and the floor area needs straightening too...)

Ah well...one project at a time....

More to come!

Thanks for being here!