A few weeks back I mentioned I'd begun work constructing the holy grail of many an enthusiast - a hobby room. Things have been able to progress since the council collected a considerable pile of detritus from storage. I've been able to house the log pile, our new bikes, tools and other house improvement gubbinz in one of the outbuildings leaving plenty of space in the old carpentry workspace.
I've swept it out. Boy, that was unpleasant. Forty years of dust and wood shavings in a combined space with little air flow was horrific. I had to keep quitting and leaving the space for a few days for it all to settle. The atmosphere in the room was like that of the deepest chaos wastes beyond Kislev. I'm never going to clear all of the dust from the space but have certainly made it more healthy. As you would have seen, I've reused one of the rugs left in the house when we bought it to cover the concrete floor. An old office chair is sufficient to seat myself on.
I've got plenty of storage boxes taken from skips at school. They are lovely old 1970s wooden cabinets with plastic trays, some of which are quite substantial, all of which have decent plastic lids. Compared to the more modern equivalent boxes, these lids are like kevlar armour and will certainly withstand heavy use for the foreseeable future.
My toplighting is good enough to work with but I've set up my old lamp for additional support. With my optivisor its now really easy and stress free to see the models I am working on.
Here is the close up of my desk. There was an old wooden Co-Op shelf in the workshop that once held every imaginable type of screw and nail. Those jam jars of fastenings are now long gone and I plan to arrange my small but thoroughly retro paint collection on them for ease of access. Completed painted models will also be placed here to further inspire me. You will be able to spot a few recent figures in this shot if you peer carefully. I've got plenty of working space which is incredibly liberating (if a little overwhelming) after years of working in cramped corners of spare/living rooms.
Owning practically nothing can be rewarding in its own way. Though, there will eventually become a time when the house is finished and I can start rebuilding a collection of something. When that day comes, these units and shelves can help keep things tidy. My old bureau (from which most of my original figures were painted) is still in my possession and will be moved out against the wall shortly to aid with this.
Finally, I have this corner unit I scavenged from the original carpenter's workshop. It looks to be a 1960s kitchen cupboard repurposed with a long piece of MDF. I suspect it was once an additional workspace but thanks to the rewire it now has dedicated power and lighting. I intend to construct a simple battlefield in this space as scenery is something I can work on with minimal outlay. All of the Townscape buildings could be used or buildings from the famous Modelling Workshop WD articles. I doubt any games will be played here, it will purely be for storage, display and photography. But who knows...?
Well, there is my first update. There will of course be more over the months ahead as I make sense of the space. Any tips or thoughts of what else I could add or do with the space? I am sure some of you readers have some truly epic workstations out there I could steal a trick or two from.
Orlygg
