Hope to be buying my own place later this year, and with luck I'll be able to start creating a more robust workspace. For now my workbench shares a room with my wife's work area, our office, and our junk storage.

Here's my bench. In the middle of two builds so not neat like everyone else's:



The bench itself used to be my wife's dining table before we got married and the shelf/cubbies I built a few years a go. The display shelf I also built soon after our move to the US because I no longer had room to keep them at work (I used to keep them at work because I had no room to keep them at home! )

Sweet spot Mark!

Looks good! I notice a lot of you guys have display shelves,cabinets,etc. Something I lack completely.
J

Jerry,
This may sound weird, but my display space plays a huge factor in what I build. Large kits like the Airfix Typhoon and the Takom Renault Ft-17 have waited for space for years! Strange huh?

When I build a kit, imagining how it will look on the shelf when completed is the driver for me. Seeing kits I finished years ago brings back memories of working on the kit and shows how my modeling skills have changed over time. Funny thing is that I value the ones that really don't look very good by my current standards as much as my regional and national contest winners.

Cheers,
Paul H

That's a cool thought Paul... One of my biggest regrets in modelling involves all the kits, armour, aircraft, and all the dozens of figures and mounted Calvary that my dad built that we eventually threw in the dumpster while downsizing after his death, because we hadn't the room t keep them. Anything I do build, I want to display and keep. I had a very nice glass and cherry trophy case given to me a few years ago, which housed my church diorama hen I wasn't working on it...by I broke it trying to move it and haven't anywhere now but my workspace to display it. I cannot imagine working as hard as I have on anything and not having a display area for it. I love seeing how some of you display your works of art.

I know this thread is slightly old, but I'm moving to a new home, so my old workspace is already in the middle do disassembly. Hope I can make the next place work as well or better than my last one did. I'll post when I get moved in.

Who else out there has updates to where they do their modeling?

Paul H

Thanks for bumping this thread Paul. I had completely forgotten about it. I STILL have no display area set aside. Something to dream about maybe?
J

Well, let me join Paul in bringing the thread current!

I am in the process of swamping out the previous owner's "gunsmithing" shop and turning it into a model building space. I found a bunch of fine tools in a drawer and many other things I don't need. Will need to put a hole through the wall for compressor hose (thank God, the compressor will be out in the garage and a wall between us). I also need to build a spray booth as there is a very large window where it can be vented.

Will post pics as they become available. Thanks, Paul for bringing this back to the forefront.

This is a different and interesting thread!

About two years ago I upgraded my workbench from an old government steel monstrosity...



...to my 'repurposed' computer desk after retiring the old desktop PC.  



Not as fancy a space as some of you have, but it does the job for me.  

Like most of you have, or hopefully will in the future, I've gone through the workspace 'lifecycle' starting with a cardtable in the corner of my bedroom in my parents' house, to the corner desk in an Air Force dorm (barracks), to the dining table in a small appartment, to a workbench in the frigid-in-the-winter & sweltering-in-the-summer garage in many a base housing unit, to the man-cave in the finished basement of my very own home.

My display cases came from Ikea.  Easy to assemble and very reasonably priced.




The neatness and lack of parts laying all over the workbench is due to my wife's undiagnosed OCD.  I say 'undiagnosed' because we stay so busy that we have no time to get her tested.  (Any of you with similar spouses will get the joke) Usually the in-work parts and assemblies are placed on the shelves in the large cabinet.  This has an upside--it keeps the parts free of dust and kept the cat from jumping on them.

@Paul H--that is a nice Pace solder station you got there!  Is that purely for electronics, or do you attach PE parts with it?

Keith

Took about 30 years to get to build a shop in it's own room.

On my left, my staging area. Usually kit boxes and sprues here but with three kits on the go, they're on the floor, stacked. Most of my less used tools are here as well (I'm a lefty). Sheets for glass are used to mix paint on and for globs of super glue. Very easy to clean with a razor blade.



In the middle is my main work area. Glues, putties, knives, etc. right in from along with sanding tools up top. Draws hold general PE and mesh. On top, I keep my laptop to watch movies, edit videos and look up references.



On my right is the painting & finishing area, though it's currently being used for track link assembly. The black post is a microphone stand I use to support my camera for my YouTube videos.



Not shown is the spray booth which is just to the right or the many storage bins I have for small parts, wire, airbrush parts, etc.

Figured I'd show off my work space as well. When we bought the house I commandeered half the garage to build my shop.

Moved into a new house in December and finally got a to set up a dedicated hobby room.



Have a "Heavy workshop" out in the garage as well with all my power tools, and for airbrushing to keep paint smell out of the house.

/quote/@Paul H--that is a nice Pace solder station you got there!  Is that purely for electronics, or do you attach PE parts with it? /quote/

Keith,
I absolutely do use the Pace soldering station for modeling. I used to work in circuit card repair while in the Air Force and loved using these units! Temp controlled soldering, solder extraction, hot air reflow and resistance soldering all in one unit. It's gross overkill for modeling, but I use it just as much for electronics as for modeling. I looked for over 10 years for one before I found one on ebay with a price I could justify.

Pace makes great equipment, but I would have never paid the $$$$ for a new unit! A standard 35-50 watt unit with good temp control will do just fine for modeling but won't offer the same capabilities for electronics rework or construction.

Cheers,
Paul H

Keith, Bob, "Monte" and Iain,
It never ceases to amaze me how people can come up with personalized ways to do the same basic tasks! As I look through the pics of your setups and those of others in this thread, I keep shaking my head and saying "why didn't I think of that!" I plan on blatantly stealing several ideas from the creative minds on this thread as I put my new room together!

Cheers,
Paul H

I live in a small two-bedroom and space is somewhat tight, so this is where I build - in my bedroom



And this is where I airbrush and take pics - out in the living room... not a great setup, but I guess it does the job



Hisham

Hisham,
Your pics remind me a lot of the setup I had when I lived in California. The main difference is that I had unbuilt kits stacked in a corner next to the table I used. It brings back great memories! A friend and I spent hours and hours talking and working there.

Cheers,
Paul H

I was AF too And mines a mess too !!!!

Great topic. A lot of awesome pics here. I will post my work space pic after I organize it a bit - lol it's a crazy mess now...

OK you guys - no laughing at my work bench! it's an old drafting board, with a light mounted on it - yes - it's seen many a models built on it:



Happy model building!

Nick

Not laughing at your setup! I once new a guy who built gorgeous models on a TV tray... He could build things that I admired while watching TV! I need my full attention to keep from cutting myself. Build on whatever makes you productive.

Paul H

I built models in a big sturdy Monogram 1/72 B-52 box set atop a TV tray, generally while I sat in a lazyboy. Iy was big enough to contain all my modeling tools with room to assemble the kits. I even took it to college. Eventually it was encrusted with airbrushed paint, and dried glue and epoxy. When the time came to move away and it couldn't come with me, I 'retired' it, viking funeral style. Man, I miss it.

This was my new work area until the movers brought billions of boxes not yet fully unpacked.

Thanks Paul.

If you need any tips or pointers feel free to ask. There are a lot of things you can't see in the photo like the plumbing lines for the airbrushes and all the power outlets and lighting plus sink, sound system, computer and refrigerator set up.

That is going to be an awesome space! A blank canvas for a masterpiece. Do I see special purpose workstations in the future?

PH

Wow Paul....looking back at the photos I notice you have a microscope setup on your main battle bridge. That's wicked! Tell me more please....