Hobby Desk Part 2...

Hope everyone had a great set of holidays from Halloween through the New Year and everything in-between!  Looking back at my posts the number one post by far is my hobby desk posting - almost a 1,000 individual hits and if you google hobby desk it appears in the top row of images - so there's my little claim to fame on the internet :-)

I have a bunch of new toys for the hobby desk this year.  Matthew and I went to the train show at the Dulles Expo Center the Saturday after Christmas to see the trains.  Awesome layout and great work - those train guys really know how to put together scenery and we saw some really cool work.  Here's a couple of pictures...

There was also a vendor from B&B Hobby out of Bridgeville, PA at the show who was selling all sorts of great tools and gadgets.  I picked up a Robart Paint Shaker (shakes paint bottles 5,000 times a minute) which is pure awesomeness!  Also found an Excel hobby knife and an 18" x 24" cutting pad which is perfect for the desk.  My eyes are starting to get a bit old (that's another story) and I picked up a magnifying light with daylight bulb - what a difference that makes!  Finally, I bought myself a set of diamond files - much better than the worn out steel set.

As to the desk - some things are different and some things stay the same...

* Two questions I had from before... (Q1) why no drywall... because it's a spare room in the basement and that would require more time and expense than what I want to put into it - I did throw down carpet and a couple years ago we replaced the carpet in my son's room so I took the old padding into the hobby room and now I have a bit of cushion.  (Q2) what program did I write for the computer... I used a database I built on an old product called Superbase (this was back in 1999 when I first started painting minis) - at some point blogger was enhanced to allow backposting dates, since then I've transferred everything over to this blogsite in chronological order - isn't the internet great!

* Same home built desks as before - it's 3/4" medium density fiberboard and I haven't experienced any warping/bowing with the desk.  I should probably flip it one of these days - but that means I have to clear it off first.

* I've replaced my laptop over the years with a 17" version which I use for work and home - as for music... I've gone completely to the internet with Pandora and Google Play Music.

* With a bit of sadness I replaced my Littlite with a magnifying light - the magnifying light uses a daylight bulb which is actually better and the magnification is welcome to the old eyes.

* Still have shelves of prepped and "to be painted" miniatures as well as about 70% of the Reaper Bones Kickstarter (I should have Bones II coming sometime soon) is taking over half a desk.  Outside of the Bones product, I have made an effort over the years to open up all the metal minis, prep them, base them, and put on a coat of black primer.  When I get only an hour or two in the hobby room it is easier to do some prep work.  Ideally, I like to have a bigger block of time when I paint.

* Paints - 4 years ago I was trying to decide what to do as most of my GW paints had dried out thanks to that stupid paint pot they were using at the time - what a horrid design.  I decided to go the Vallejo Game Color route and I've really enjoyed the paints.  I cut a 4" x 4" the length of the desk and then drilled two rows of 1-1/16" holes in a line of 37 across for a total of 74 slots.  The holes in the back row aren't as deep as the front so that the're elevated for easy viewing and accessibility.  This scenario works very well for me - I pull out paint as I'm using it and then put it back after updating the blog.

* Pop was replaced with beer tonight!  Breckenridge Brewery - Avalanche Amber Ale - received it from a friend over the holidays - good drinking!

* My new Excel 24" x 18" cutting mat has already proven useful and I'm using an old keyboard gel strip as an armrest which keeps the edge of the table from cutting into my arms while I'm painting.

* There's a cup of The Masters Brush Cleaner - heard about that a couple years ago and picked up a bit of the product.  This is magic for your brushes - gets all the paint out just by swiping your brush in the product - magical!

* There's a few more finished minis on the shelf - yeah!  A bunch of them are currently in travel case I use for gaming.

Hopefully we'll do this again in another four years.