Sunday 12 May 2013

Pimping a Paint Station (Alt : Insomnia Nights)

I've mentioned before that my hobby time and space is pretty limited, having a small house and little ones running through it doesn't really mix well with dedicated hobby spaces. In this madness, my only area of hobby freedom is my painting station which when not deployed, waits patiently on top of a display cabinet, well out of the little ones reach.

When is did come out, I used to spend a lot of my time searching for the right paint or tool because it was so cluttered with it being my only hobby space. So a few nights ago during a bout of insomina I decided to pimp up my paint station. I present the mark 2 paint station ....


The main addition is the tool and paint holder in the center of the shelf. I'm always struggling to find the right paint, brush or tool so I used 3/4 inch plastic piping to create a row of brush and tool holders, then foam board to create a paint pot holder for my 16 most commonly used paints.


My main painting light was a clip on desk lamp which was a pain in the backside because it's gripper base was broken so it was always failing over. So I broke off the base completely and grabbed my paperclips and pin-vice. After a short while of swearing and unsticking superglued fingers, I'd managed to fix the base of the lamp to the back of the paint station. I also made a nifty hobby saw holder on the side.


Finally, a clipper holder on the other side ...


Now it's literally put down, plug in and paint. I'm already noticing how much easier it is to work on and no doubt I'll keep adding to it and refining it, so keep your eyes out for a future post on the mark 3 version!

I'm interested to know if any of you guys have any space saving / storage tips for the hoarder hobbyist, let me know in the comments guys!

Mel

13 comments:

doom_of_the_people said...

Very cool use of limited space.

The Dark Templar said...

That is fantastic - might have to incorporate some of that into my own set up. At the moment my paint tray has spilled over into a second lap tray which resides almost permanently on the dining room table, irritating the hell out of my wife!

Zzzzzz said...

Hummmm

Only on Saturday was I chided for "random paint pots on the window sill", "postcards on the window sill (a piece of plain white card as a background for mini photography)" and "sticky out bits of plastic".

LW said...

Looks like you fully MacGyvered the lamp onto your tray - great job - nothing better than a well organised paint area.

Unknown said...

I'm suffering from lack of space though I've gone for a more drastic solution.
I'm pimping out part of my loft to do airbrushing and construction work out of the way, and I'm thinking of having a station like yours for the "current" paints etc I'm using.
Good plan mate!

Can I also say Argos do a great silver desk lamp on a adjustable frame for £20 it's a bit pricey but excellent for painting under.

Admiral Drax said...

This is fab!

I suffer from the same fate these days (since my shed became so tumbledown it's not really practical), and I have to set up when-and-where I can.

Your excellent post and jerry-rigging did make me think of some of my weirder solutions though, viz:

My 'bigger' painting station: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/029-shed-and-scenery.html

My tiny, travelling, fold-in-a-box-and/or-use-for-quick-projects painting station: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/073-box-in-action.html

...and of course my army transport 'solution' - The Galleon: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/279-transporting-army-for-fiver.html .

Col. Corbane said...

@dotp - Cheers mate

@Mike - Thanks and yeah, that was the issue with mine, she's been much quieter since the paint station upgrade mate.

@Zzzzz - We've all been there mate ;o)

@FM - It was full on paperclips and superglue mate, a bit more practice and I should be able to MacGyver a nuclear reactor.

@DR - I don't even have the attic option, just the space on top of my display cabinets mate. Thanks for the heads up on the argos lamp, might have to grab one.

@Drax - I actually adopted your travelling box box idea for when we're camping mate and I love the galleon, are you going to paint or convert it in any way?

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