Breaking Eggs and Omlettes: Hobby Space Reclamation

As I write this the sands are running low for another monthly blog quota.  February always come to a rather abrupt halt but this time around I was indecisive about what I wanted to share.  I could have easily run up the contents of the Here's Negan game, babbled about the armoured additions to my SS force, or done a reasonable report on Blood Red Skies because I had some fun painting up some pretty cool little planes.

Complacency is orderly.  In flux but moving Forward.

Instead I dispensed with all things enjoyable and decided to ramble about something I dislike and have a great deal of difficulty with.  Organization.  I don't remember when I posted my my diatribe on organization but I remember sharing the concept of an organic workspace;  One that "grows" and is shaped by tasks undertaken.  A busy bench can be messy but even the most organized hobby space is going to shift over time as the owner branches into unfamiliar territory.

Spartan and full of emptiness.

The latter guy isn't me but I have run into some issues recently because I have been expanding my hobby repertoire.  Airbrush work is messy if you don't know what you are doing and I don't really know what I'm doing; Yet.  My set up is still very modest but I've had to move some things around and gather some additional consumables to take advantage of the new to me technology.  Operation isn't too bad.  It took me a while to get a feel for the performance of my brush and compressor and determine a dependable working viscosity for the paint but I eventually I got there.  As far as mess making and accidentally repainting the space I'm OK.  I've done commercial and industrial painting outside hobby so I'm solid for masking and containing overspray.  I have had to adapt to how quickly (comparatively) acrylics can cure and foul the brush compared to enamels and am amazed how much waste water I accumulate throughout a paint job.

If you can't build out build up.

One of the areas I mentioned that had become an issue in the annual was space for painted and completed projects.  As it was I lacked "finished" miniature storage and had built a log jam of mixed models that was starting to confound my work flow.  I have stated before I regret spending hobby money on game rules when I could be buying cool models and paint and that goes double for storage solutions.  I picked up two Detolf cabinets.  I bought one new at Ikea and picked up another second hand which was just as nice and a real bargain.  Getting it was a much nicer experience too.  Pictured above are the two cabinets.  They go a long way to addressing the problem but storage space is still at a premim and I can't fit all the minis in.  Fortunately there are after market kits to add shelving to Detolf rigs.  Once I place an order I should be able to get all my models in there, out of the way and have some room to grow.  If I'm lucky I'll be able to stash some terrain in there and create some scenes to amuse the cat.

What's all this then?  Rules for miniatures?

 

Organization and rules?  Could things get any worse?  I grouse about it but I'm actually quite happy to be sorting things out.  I finally go around to doing some sorting of gaming materials.  In addition to The Walking Dead I've been gathering stuff for a couple systems that utilize cards and invested in some carriers to house and catalogue them.  In the case of TWD most of the material is now orderly enough that I even I could lay out a game rather quickly instead of shuffling and cursing as I normally would.  Up to this point I haven't provided any progress reports on the state of my TWD project fo the year but this bit of itemizing constitutes the tip of an iceberg I hope will provide more intersting revelations in time.

Somewhat repentant hobby hoarder.

At present things are pretty messy but that the crux of the title for this post.  To make things orderly you have to tear them down.  For the time being things are in a state of flux but I would like to think that they will improve dramatically over the next month or two.  I'd like to think it's almost time for some Spring cleaning because this winter has been plain nasty.