discussion Workbench, show us yours

[LeytonO]

Following on from a recent thread I thought it might be nice to share photos of our work areas.
Might pick up some good ideas from each other, after all we are quite an inventive lot
Did a search and couldn't find a thread newer than 2022 for this.

Have to be tidy, we live in a small 19th century cottage albeit with 3 bedrooms.
Rooms are fairly small and storage space is at a premium, every nook has something in.
My work area is divided between two rooms.
One spare bedroom is shared with my wife for her Linocut printing desk and associated tools, inks and press.
Total overkill sound system for a hobby room, a pair of Kanto YU6 active speakers with DAC and associated Yamaha Sub Woofer
The other smaller spare bedroom has all manner of stuff in it including my spray booth and compressors
Very handy for venting out an opening window, along with the tumbler dryer it sits atop of.

 

[minitnkr]

Not tidy. Same bench since late 70s, so I know where everything is. This was taken when working Ukraine Dio, some engineers & some Tigers.

 

[Steven000]

Always nice to have a look at another bench

This is my zen corner,
most of the paint and stuff is stored in the closet on the left (which doesn't fully open with the bench in the way).


At the moment I'm sorting my paints - 3d printed those black trays to group paints like 'RAF', 'Luftwaffe', 'skin' etc that I can then grab and use at the bench. A 6 liter compressor lives inside the white box on the bottom.


On the right side of the bench I have Ikea drawers,
one is a bit sorted with shadow-foam for my most used tools, the other drawers are more of a mess.

 

[pjgtech]

Mine has evolved quite a bit....
From this very basic set-up... basically a box and a few paints and a mat, on half of a desk....


To this larger incarnation, with everything I need (and a few things I don't) taking up the whole desk, plus half the study (or otherwise known as the smallest spare bedroom!)....



What you can't also see, is the various stacked model stash, on various shelves, and the painting booth in the garage, and the photo box/booth on the other side of the study....!

 

[Neil]

well I’m fortunate to have a decent size room - but I can create mess without trying. So I have one desk for the modelling, theoretically an L-shape to have more room but that just gives me space to put more stuff on.

A separate desk for the airbrush and painting booth.

One day, I dream of making proper workbench shelving, drawers, but then I’ve also been tidying out the garage to use the shelves there since we moved here, and that was in 2017

 

[pjgtech]

Here's my photo box, also in my study (smallest bedroom), which I now use to take pics, of my scale models.
Its a 2'x2' (600mm x 600mm) canvas type box, (via Amazon) with built in, adjustable LED strip light, plus I use two separate adjustable LED side lights to try to avoid shadows, etc, (also via Amazon). I use both my smart phone and also sometimes my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera on tripod with remote switch. It deffo makes the photos look better IMHO, so was worthwhile getting, (for me).

If I ever go down the airbrush route, then a proper spray booth would be next on the agenda. At present I only spray primer with rattle cans, the rest I hand paint, and I have a home made cardboard spray box with extractor fan for vent, located in the garage.

 

[LeytonO]

Here's my photo box, also in my study (smallest bedroom), which I now use to take pics, of my scale models.
Its a 2'x2' (600mm x 600mm) canvas type box, (via Amazon) with built in, adjustable LED strip light, plus I use two separate adjustable LED side lights to try to avoid shadows, etc, (also via Amazon). I use both my smart phone and also sometimes my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera on tripod with remote switch. It deffo makes the photos look better IMHO, so was worthwhile getting, (for me).
View attachment 1282465
If I ever go down the airbrush route, then a proper spray booth would be next on the agenda. At present I only spray primer with rattle cans, the rest I hand paint, and I have a home made cardboard spray box with extractor fan for vent, located in the garage.

Always a good idea to have something like this for photographing objects such as scale models.
Have experimented using A3 prints of suitable backgrounds, sometimes works well, other times not so much.

I used the lights from a couple of old lightboxes to illuminate my spray booth.
You can see them in my 2nd photo, nice to be able to adjust the light intensity and color temperature when painting.

 

[pjgtech]

Always nice to have a look at another bench
This is my zen corner,
most of the paint and stuff is stored in the closet on the left (which doesn't fully open with the bench in the way).
At the moment I'm sorting my paints - 3d printed those black trays to group paints like 'RAF', 'Luftwaffe', 'skin' etc that I can then grab and use at the bench. A 6 liter compressor lives inside the white box on the bottom.
On the right side of the bench I have Ikea drawers,
one is a bit sorted with shadow-foam for my most used tools, the other drawers are more of a mess.

Wow, that's far too organised and tidy mate.....must try harder..... Lol.

 

[kacitgirl]

My little area

 

[Neil]

My little area ...

I like the very organised paint charts on the wall - my usual (bad) method is to browse various web sites on my phone to find the equivalents. It’s not very effective!

 

[kacitgirl]

I like the very organised paint charts on the wall - my usual (bad) method is to browse various web sites on my phone to find the equivalents. It’s not very effective!

good for a quick reference

 

[Andy T]

I've posted pictures of my room before, but what the heck, I'm chuffed to have such a great space to work in after being out in a dilapidated shed. It cost a few quid to put together but it was much cheaper than a new, insulated shed.

It's still evolving but here is how it stands at the moment.

Main build area with space to have a few projects on the go (as I often do)



Paint, decal, weathering area



Airbrush "nook" with newly acquired rack for my SMS paints. I'm not sure it'll stay there but I'm trying it out.
Extractor is above, piped permanently out of a nearby window.



And a general overview of the room. Plenty of cheap Ikea lamps, positioned so they can cover different areas, and a bigger lamp that moves between the build & paint areas.

Compressor & tank are in a box below the booth and the photo backdrop can be rolled back to give extra working room for diorama or my lad when he's run out of space in his bedroom!

 

[pjgtech]

I've posted pictures of my room before, but what the heck, I'm chuffed to have such a great space to work in after being out in a dilapidated shed. It cost a few quid to put together but it was much cheaper than a new, insulated shed.
It's still evolving but here is how it stands at the moment.

Cool, now that's a nice set-up!
I have just moved the small sofa bed that was in my study, into the other spare bedroom, (which previously had lots of junk in it, but is now clear). So that has freed up a lot of space in my study, which is small and the sofa bed was taking up about a third of the room.
So I could expand a bit more if I needed to..... but I'm resisting..... for now. Lol!

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Whilst not my modelling space (I model on the dining room table, so everything gets put away at the end of a session) I do occasionally make parts for models in my workshop.

 

[pjgtech]

Ok, if we are showing workbenches, not just model making workbenches, then here's my garage, it was empty when I moved in, and like most people why waste that space by putting a car in it!
So a few benches were made, one was purchased (Machine Mart red one) and then filled up with tools, etc. A very handy space for general fettling, DIY, etc.
As an example I have just made a little wooden model paint pot holder, as I tend to have them littered around the model making desk, (the ones I need for any one particular model) and I have been known to knock one over now and again, so decided to make a little paint stand. Will put up a pic later, I've just sprayed it and its still wet....

 

[Andy T]

Cool, now that's a nice set-up!
I have just moved the small sofa bed that was in my study, into the other spare bedroom, (which previously had lots of junk in it, but is now clear). So that has freed up a lot of space in my study, which is small and the sofa bed was taking up about a third of the room.
So I could expand a bit more if I needed to..... but I'm resisting..... for now. Lol!

Thanks. I'm lucky to have this spare room. Once we'd had the house extended it was just filling with junk so I moved my junk in instead

Oh, and I have a very understanding and amenable wife!

 

[Neil]

Here's my photo box, also in my study (smallest bedroom), which I now use to take pics, of my scale models.
Its a 2'x2' (600mm x 600mm) canvas type box, (via Amazon) with built in, adjustable LED strip light, plus I use two separate adjustable LED side lights to try to avoid shadows, etc, (also via Amazon). I use both my smart phone and also sometimes my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera on tripod with remote switch. It deffo makes the photos look better IMHO, so was worthwhile getting, (for me).
…..
If I ever go down the airbrush route, then a proper spray booth would be next on the agenda. At present I only spray primer with rattle cans, the rest I hand paint, and I have a home made cardboard spray box with extractor fan for vent, located in the garage.

Oh, I have the same camera, a remote switch, a tripod and fixed focal length lense - sounds like I want need, definitely need, to get a Lightbox. Looks very reasonable too - although the price needs doubling because it will definitely cost me a ‘wife equivalence co-efficient’ gift as well… time to go sweet talk my beloved...

 

[pjgtech]

Oh, I have the same camera, a remote switch, a tripod and fixed focal length lense - sounds like I want need, definitely need, to get a Lightbox. Looks very reasonable too - although the price needs doubling because it will definitely cost me a ‘wife equivalence co-efficient’ gift as well… time to go sweet talk my beloved...

Only thing about mine is the extra led lights on the tripods are a bit weedy, I'm thinking of upgrading. But they were probably the cheapest ones out there, so my own fault, buy cheap, etc.....

 

[LeytonO]

I can recommend these led lights, use them for fungi photography and also some indoor stuff too
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FLN61Y4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title