What makes a good modelling room set up?

An intriguing question that I was asked this week is what do you feel makes a good set up? Here, we are talking about a space for crafting, model making and painting etc.

For me, two things are key

• Peace and quiet. Find somewhere quiet. The last thing you want is to be distracted and end up making a royal mess of your new model
• Space. The more space the better. I find cramped working areas incredibly frustrating as I often have many projects on the go at once.
• Somewhere kid free and pet free. Reasons for this is hopefully obvious and saves sticky finger prints in fresh paint, or delicate items hitting the floor.
• A dedicated space. The last thing you want is to be constantly having to pack and unpack, or move everything. I often have 10 or more pots of paint out and multiple models at any one time, so moving me is a pain.

Whilst the path to bachelor status was far from smooth and pain free, I’m quite lucky with how it has ended up.

Space is something I have (almost) more than I know what to do with. Frustratingly, the loft space at Rich Towers has limited headroom apart from down the very centre, the perils of living in a bungalow I suppose. However, it does make for cracking storage, which means I have been able to turn over nearly all of my garage to my hobbies.

What’s in my garage?

One half of it is a traditional household garage, with lawnmower, jet washer, tins of paint etc. However, the other half…. that has now been converted to my modelling ‘workshop’

Once you are passed all the boring day to day bits, then you are back to the fun bit. The back half of my garage when I purchased the bungalow, came pre fitted with a lot of shelving. That forms the backbone of my working area. As the header image for this article shows, one side they are covered in a raft of plastic tubs. These were purchased online cheaply for approx. 50p each and are great for organisation and storage.

One side in front of the shelving I have an old desk, this however is turning into a bit of a dumping ground. The other side, I have the old breakfast bar, that when living up in Yorkshire had the airbrush spray booth sat on it. As I’ve got older (sad but true) I have found the upright position of this unit is far more comfortable. I can either sit at it using a bar stool I purchased some months ago, which is great as it has a ‘back’ to it. Or, if my back is feeling mischievous I can work standing up.

When I have it all a bit tidier (it will happen at some point I promise….) I will post a photo or three and come back and update this blog. It should be said, having moved and needed to replace all the carpets in the property due to their age. I consequently have quite the luxurious garage thanks to all the carpet off cuts that were left over!