Hobby Room Remodel - Part 3

In Part 1 of this 3 part series I discussed the remodel of an unused den space into my new hobby room. In Part 2 I showed you how I assembled a custom closet library from Ikea Billy bookcases. In this part I'll show you my design and process for constructing a custom wraparound hobby desk from various Ikea furnishings.

Using the SketchUp model I discussed in Part 2 I designed the hobby desk of my dreams. In addition to the library, this hobby room would have to display my models, have a work space for building those models, a separate space for my computer, a printer station, and a desk space for the little lady where she could work from home and work on her scrap booking hobby.

I already had two display cabinets from Ikea so I simply arranged those in the model. I placed the Detolf cabinet in the corner nearest the library, and the long one I've had for some time, not sure of the name but it also came from Ikea was centered over the far wall. With the library and display taken care of I could focus on the desk.

Ikea has many options for those who wish to build their own desk. They have a wide selection of table tops, legs, and under desk cabinets/drawers. 

I decided quickly that I would use 3 of the corner desk tops and one rectangular desk top. As far as what I would set those atop I wasn't quite sure.

I noticed that all the legs and cabinet options in the desk building section of the Ikea website were 27 1/2" in height. Since Ikea provides great measurements of all their products I decided to search the website for all furniture with a measurement of 27 1/2". The results I received gave me a much larger variety of options for creating my desks. Searching for items with a measurement of 13 3/4" gave me even more to chose from.

I downloaded and/or built a variety of different Ikea furnishings to test in my SketchUp model. After a few variations, and some input from the little lady, I decided on the below arrangement.

Although not pictured, I would later have to add two additional table legs, one for the back of each corner desk.

The above desk build includes the following items from Ikea:

• 4x Adils table leg
• 3x Linnmon Corner table top
• 1x Linnmon Table top
• 1x Gerton Table top
• 2x Alex Drawer unit/drop file storage
• 1x Eket Cabinet with door 13 3/4" x 13 3/4" x 13 3/4"
• 3x Eket Cabinet 13 3/4" x 9 7/8" x 13 3/4"
• 2x Eket Cabinet 13 3/4" x 13 3/4" x 13 3/4"
• 2x Eket Cabinet with 4 compartments
• Total Price: $563.97

For the most part the assembly was straight forward following the Ikea instructions. I did make a few modifications. The smaller Eket cabinets were connected with screws from the back to form the configuration above. The Alex drawer units come with 4 rubber pads to place on the top corners to pad the desktop. Since I was also using the Eket cabinets as table support I picked up a few packs of small rubber feet from Home Depot and applied those to the top corners of all the support surfaces.

One major modification was with the Gerton tabletop. I cut this quite expensive table top down to make the two shelves of my printer station. I cut a couple of 1" wide strips from the Gerton tabletop. these were mounted to the side of the Alex drawer unit and topped with a couple of the rubber feet. The shelves were mounted to the Adils table legs with 1 1/4" galvanized pipe straps. These straps were secured to the shelf and the Table legs. In the end I'm quite happy with the look of my printer station but in retrospect I probably could have found a more cost effective solution.

The next major modification was the organization and monitor stand for my computer table. The top of this was made out of laminated shelves from Home Depot with scraps from my library project forming the vertical supports. Each vertical support was also drilled to accept shelf inserts in the future for added organization.

My hobby space is still a work in progress. As I use it I continue to see ways in which it can be improved. Storage is lacking for sure. I'm currently designing a storage system which will elevate the Vallejo paint racks and provide ample storage place in arm's reach. I'm also debating integrating a spray booth into the corner of the desk space. I currently airbrush in the garage but the hot Arizona summers can make long painting sessions in a garage unbearable.

The corner desktop provides ample space for all of my paints as well as my current projects.

The back edge helps to support multiple desk lamps.

My side of the office

My better half's side of the office.

Lots of under desk storage for all out board games.

Completed armies and works in progress are displayed in easy reach.

As with any work space I'm sure I'll make additional modifications over time but at the moment, this is a vast improvement over the previous arrangement and I'm extremely happy with how closely this matches my initial design. Whether it be model building or home improvement prep work pays off.

Hobby Room Remodel - Part 1

I've been a bit busy lately. Working on getting the house ready for a new baby has left me little time for working on my favorite hobby. In fact for quite a while I had no viable space in which to work. My garage was overrun with furniture and boxes of belongings, my former office was being renovated to become the nursery, and my new hobby room was being renovated into a separate room from a previously open den. I had the carpets replaced in each bedroom and all the tile removed from the common areas to make way for new flooring.

Needless to say I didn't make any hobby progress for the last few months. This marks my first year not entering a model into Modelzona (my local IPMS chapter's yearly model show). With Scorpfest in Tucson only a month away, ValleyCon at the Petersen Automotive Museum in March, Best of the West in May, and the 2018 Nationals being hosted right here in Phoenix Arizona; I have some serious building to get done.

But since I don't have any hobby progress to share I thought I'd share my biggest project of all: the remodeling of my hobby room. Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures but the space was initially an open den. It was clear from the layout that it must have been an optional 4th bedroom when first built so I thought I'd make good use of the space and enclose it.

I framed in the hallway wall, closet, and hung the door. My father is an electrician by trade so he came out to help me install the wiring, reroute some of the previous wiring, and set it all up on a new circuit.

I hung all of the drywall myself and my father showed me how to fill the seams. After all the initial inspections were completed I finished hanging the drywall. I didn't feel comfortable trying to match the texture of the rest of the walls so I hired that part out.

View of the room and hallway wall.

Once the texture, trim, and paint were completed I had my final inspection from the city and got the green light.

My next step was to get the carpets installed and start bringing in the furniture. I decided to design the new hobby space in Google SketchUp. The space would be furnished with furniture from Ikea with a few tweaks. I'll cover my custom bookshelves and display cabinet in Part 2.

Vallejo Paint Stands

I recently picked up three laser cut paint stands from Vallejo. Two of the corner, and one of the front modules will set you back about $60 from Amazon.com. I didn't quite realize how large the racks would be until I had them assembled and on my desk. Each of the racks connects to the other. Mounting 'hardware' is included.

I was a little disappointing that the larger diameter holes along the top edge are too small to accommodate my large Tamiya bottles. They are the perfect size for P3, Mig, GW, and small Tamiya bottles.

This represents less than half of my Vallejo paints so I plan on purchasing three more of the front module paint stands which I plan on placing under and forward of these. It will require me to build a custom stand but I think once it is all done it will work quite well. I have also decided to change the mounts of my overhead lamps to the sides of my desk so that I can slide the paint stands back flush to the wall.

Weathering Kit

While cleaning up my workspace a while ago I decided it would be more convenient to keep all of my weathering supplies in one convenient location. As weathering is one of the last steps of each of my modeling projects I've found that I like having an all in one kit that I can pull out when I'm ready to start weathering a model.

Everyone has their own tools, supplies, and techniques for weathering. I thought I'd share what I keep in my weathering kit.

 Mixing Vessels

You can never have enough vessels to mix paints, washes, and pigments in. I use bottle caps for mixing paints and washes but I prefer to use sealable containers for mixing  pigments.

Patina

To create a patina effect on copper and bronze I have a technical paint from Games Workshop, a three part kit from the craft store, and even a powder from Secret Weapon Miniatures. When applying the powder I mix it in mineral spirits before applying to the model.

I really like the three part patina kit I got from the craft store. When used together, they provide a much greater variation in color than the GW or SWM patinas do alone.

Chipping Effects

There are a lot of methods to getting a good chipping effect on a model and I use them all. There are two basic methods of chipping, additive and subtractive. Additive is when you use a brush or sponge to paint on the appearance of chipping paint. Subtractive is when you apply something under a top coat which allows you to remove paint. AK makes a series of chipping fluids which go on under your top coat and allow you to rub or pick away at the top coat. You can also sponge on a masking fluid and rub off later, or apply some salt to your model prior to laying down your top coat and flake off the salt.

The major advantage to the subtractive method is that you can pre paint a great weathered effect under your top coat and reveal it in a very natural way. This is harder to do with the additive method but you do have far more control, however, sometimes having too much control can lead to a very forced weathered effect.

Oil Washes

 

Oil washes are achieved using oil paints thinned with mineral spirits. I keep brown, black, and burnt sienna on hand. A good supply of cotton swabs helps when cleaning up excess wash.

Weathering Pigments

I have a variety of rust and dirt pigments from Secret Weapon Miniatures as well as patina and metallic colors. I also have artists charcoal for making exhaust and soot effects. I apply these powders using makeup applicators and beat up paintbrushes. I also keep a small tub of graphite powder (similar if not the same) as the Metallic Iron pigment from SWM.

Final Touches

After all my weathering is complete and a coat of dullcote is down, I apply any gloss effects including the above series of engine fuel & oils from mig.

There you have it. That's my complete weathering kit. I'll be doing some additional weathering tutorials in the future using these items.

Looting the Beauty Aisle

Hobby tools, materials, and subject matter can be found in a variety of places. Your local hobby and game stores, big box arts and crafts stores, dollar stores, and believe it or not beauty supply stores! While I find my hobby supplies in a number of locations today I'm going to focus on what you can find in the beauty supply section of your local store.

Nail files are always a great buy. They come in various grits and sizes. These are far cheaper than those you would purchase at a model hobby store. The files are also better than loose sheets of sandpaper because the stiff board makes using it effectively far more easy. I would recommend supplementing your supply with some quality ultra fine grit sandpaper from a hobby store, but the bulk of your sanding can be satisfied with nail files.

The nail section is full of great finds, nail files, clippers, and even nail polish. That's right nail polish can be thinned down with laquer thinner and run through an air brush. Granted most of the colors you'll find are better suited for painting model cars over war game models but the option is always there.

Okay so cotton swabs aren't exactly new to the model hobbiest but I do suggest purchasing the ones from the beauty section. The cotton tends to be tighter bound and they even come in shaped pointed tips. I like to use my cotton swabs for cleaning up oil washes. 

Makeup applicators are a cheap effective way to apply weathering powders. They can be purchased in small disposable versions like the ones that come in compacts or even longer handled versions allowing for better control and help getting into those hard to reach places. You may have even seen Tamiya's line of weathering powders which are essential eyeshadow compacts.

Makeup sponges can be used to apply weathering powders or tore into pieces and used to stipple colors for weathering or texture effects.

These are just a few of the great hobby supplies you can find the in the beauty section. Take a look around and you'll also find a wide selection of tweezers, and cuticle pushers are great for sculpting. Just remember to buy your own supplies and don't go raiding the beauty supplies of the ladies in your life, they may not be too pleased to find resin dust in their nail files.