Things we know that help, but do we do actually do them?

[BarryW]

A clean, tidy, clean and organised workbench. I always like to work in an organised way so it comes naturally to me but, even so, at times my bench does get a bit messy….

We all know the benefits of this but let’s list them anyway…

1/ You can find what you need quickly when you need it. How often have we searched around the bench ‘well that 0.6 drill bit was there two weeks ago, where has it gone?’

2/ Looking for that part you need, that 5 minutes ago you finished ‘deburring’. Not to mention the small part that pinged off the tweezers, now, is it somewhere on the bench or have I got to fight the carpet monster for it? With a clean organised bench it s a lot quicker to rule that out ready to put on the armour for the fight!

3/ Dust. If the workbench is tidy it is so easy to run around it with your handy desktop vacuum to pick up the dust from your sanding session or the offcuts from the clean up. Better the dust in the pan than getting on your model.

So yes there are a lot of reasons to clean and tidy up. Of course you need a place for everything and everything needs it’s place. Life is so much easier that way.

Now this is how I (try) to work…

I finish off working on the interior parts of my build, pulling together the sub-assemblies and getting it all ready for a painting session. I know that I will spend the next two or three sessions painting and weathering before I need to cut and sand again. So, a few seconds putting all the tools into their place, a quick run around the bench with the vacuum to get rid of sanding rubble and dust and sorting the ‘subs’ so I know what colour I am spraying on what. Easy peasy.

After spraying this is how my bench looks

To the very left you can see the sprues in their place then to the right, all lined up my little pots. The first has the decals cut off ready to add when the parts are painted, the next few pots have parts that are ready for weathering, grouped depending on what is needed. Also there are some parts too big for the pots that are also big enough not to be lost ….


Those pots are in frequent use (I have and use a dozen of them) throughout a build, no more scrabbling for that part you have just cut off the sprue, it’s safe in its pot with other parts from that stage in the instructions.


Above the centre section of my bench with, to the left all the sprayed parts ready to hand paint fine details over the base colour. To the right (top) of them my little hand vacuum sat there ready to quickly run over the bench, something I often do several times a session, picking up that pesky dust.


On the right side we see the instructions in a holder taking up a lot less valuable room than if they were flat out. They are not always tucked neatly inside, often the are just propped up on the front of the holder specially when I find myself flicking back and forward.

Next to that is my bit of paper on which I have written the colours with their codes from the instructions, a quick and easy reference to find out what colours ‘H’ or ‘A’ refers to.

After a couple more session I will be ready to pull those subs together then on to the next stage when sanding sticks and cutters once again take over the space.

Well that’s how I try to work. It does make life a lot easier but, of course, it does not always work out that way. Naturally lazy, cleaning up and keeping thing tidy actually saves me effort, but sometimes bad habits take over….

Over to you, what your ‘bench discipline’ like?

 

[BarryW]

Lightly sanding joining surfaces, specially ‘clamshell’ halves such as fuselages and wings.

The emphasis must be on the word lightly and doing so with a fine sanding stick.

If there is a small burr of plastic on a joining surface that you miss in clean up, then it will affect how they fit together. It is so easy to miss these things, so it helps to take that wide flat sanding stick and give the joining surface a quick run over. It also removes any overspray enabling better join.

It is an obvious point but do we do it all the time? I don’t and when I don’t I often regret it. I am trying to discipline myself to do this every time.

Do you do it?
Is it as obvious as I think?

Oh, I nearly forgot, be careful of the locating pins (or not, after all sometimes they are more a hinderance than a help…)

 

[Airborne01]

Love the mini-vacuum, where did you source that?
Steve

 

[The Smythe Meister]

..............
.... never tried modelling in an operating theatre before........

 

[JR]

My word, I find this very embarrassing thinking of my bench. Mrs Race would be most impressed Barry .

 

[BarryW]

Love the mini-vacuum, where did you source that?
Steve

Amazon. Only about a tenner! A worthwhile buy.

 

[Mark1]

That reminds me,must order some white paper overalls!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Makes sense to me Barry. I have two benches, a clean one for hand painting and weathering, and a dirty one for the preparation and build phases. The spray hood lives in the middle of the two. I know I’m lucky, but we planned it in our heads for a few years and I was able to treat myself when we moved after I retired. The move had a requisite of a good garden in a country location for herself, and a decent sized room in the house for me. My room covers both my main hobbies, though recent events have put a real crimp in the music side
Both benches have ready use shelves above them, storing lesser used items within easy access, and drawer units down the sides which hold tools, glues, spares etc arranged so that things that are mostly used on those benches are on the correct side.
Both benches have decent daylight lamps, with the most power over the paint bench where it’s most needed.

On the paint bench paints are well organised in stands at the left hand side and the back (I’m right handed), as are brushes and the model stand, and the wet palette lives on the desk. Water pots are at the back, as are the various paint additives I use. This bench is kept pretty clean and wiped down after every project.

My desktop computer lives underneath the left hand bench, with its screen fitted over the spray booth area fitted to a swivel mount. The computer can then be used on either bench as a reference tool, mouse and keyboard being cordless and moved as required.

On the build bench I am less tidy, but I too use small pots ( in my case a couple of heavy bottomed shot glass and a glass Nutella jar, clean of course) to hold cleaned up parts prior to assembly. I also have a smallish multi compartment case to hold the little blokes parts prior to assembly. This bench is slightly smaller because it has to house our wireless printer, which doubles as an instruction and model box stand if needed…..and has my guitar computer interface on the left. Ready use tools are kept on the bench at my right hand, but can get moved around at use. I wipe this desk down with a damp kitchen roll sheet after a couple of sessions to keep the dust down, and tidy it at the end of each session. Doesn’t get kept as clean as the paint bench, but then, it doesn’t need to be.

When I have enough bits to start a spraying session, I push the computer screen to the wall, set up the spray booth, clean the build bench down, wash the parts to be sprayed and leave them to air dry. The build bench then becomes the spray bench. Paint is prepared, the parts are sprayed, and moved to the paint bench to dry relatively dust free. if I’m using slow drying paints such as gloss enamels or oils I have various covers I get out to use to cover the model while they dry, but these days I find I use them less and less.
Reference books and completed models live in floor to ceiling glass cabinets and bookcases situated on the walls behind me.

Sounds a lot of investment, but I’ve been doing this on and off for over forty years, and lived in a seven by four box room in our old place, storing a lot of stuff in the loft.

No pictures, I’m downstairs resting the clotted leg at the mo….I can post some later if you want….

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Makes sense to me Barry. I have two benches, a clean one for hand painting and weathering, and a dirty one for the preparation and build phases. The spray hood lives in the middle of the two. I know I’m lucky, but we planned it in our heads for a few years and I was able to treat myself when we moved after I retired. The move had a requisite of a good garden in a country location for herself, and a decent sized room in the house for me. My room covers both my main hobbies, though recent events have put a real crimp in the music side
Both benches have ready use shelves above them, storing lesser used items within easy access, and drawer units down the sides which hold tools, glues, spares etc arranged so that things that are mostly used on those benches are on the correct side.
Both benches have decent daylight lamps, with the most power over the paint bench where it’s most needed.

On the paint bench paints are well organised in stands at the left hand side and the back (I’m right handed), as are brushes and the model stand, and the wet palette lives on the desk. Water pots are at the back, as are the various paint additives I use. This bench is kept pretty clean and wiped down after every project.

My desktop computer lives underneath the left hand bench, with its screen fitted over the spray booth area fitted to a swivel mount. The computer can then be used on either bench as a reference tool, mouse and keyboard being cordless and moved as required.

On the build bench I am less tidy, but I too use small pots ( in my case a couple of heavy bottomed shot glass and a glass Nutella jar, clean of course) to hold cleaned up parts prior to assembly. I also have a smallish multi compartment case to hold the little blokes parts prior to assembly. This bench is slightly smaller because it has to house our wireless printer, which doubles as an instruction and model box stand if needed…..and has my guitar computer interface on the left. Ready use tools are kept on the bench at my right hand, but can get moved around at use. I wipe this desk down with a damp kitchen roll sheet after a couple of sessions to keep the dust down, and tidy it at the end of each session. Doesn’t get kept as clean as the paint bench, but then, it doesn’t need to be.

When I have enough bits to start a spraying session, I push the computer screen to the wall, set up the spray booth, clean the build bench down, wash the parts to be sprayed and leave them to air dry. The build bench then becomes the spray bench. Paint is prepared, the parts are sprayed, and moved to the paint bench to dry relatively dust free. if I’m using slow drying paints such as gloss enamels or oils I have various covers I get out to use to cover the model while they dry, but these days I find I use them less and less.
Reference books and completed models live in floor to ceiling glass cabinets and bookcases situated on the walls behind me.

Sounds a lot of investment, but I’ve been doing this on and off for over forty years, and lived in a seven by four box room in our old place, storing a lot of stuff in the loft.

No pictures, I’m downstairs resting the clotted leg at the mo….I can post some later if you want….

Yep,I for one, would love to see some pics when you're able Tim

 

[Tim Marlow]

Yep,I for one, would love to see some pics when you're able Tim

I’ll try to get some done tomorrow if I have time…….

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I’ll try to get some done tomorrow if I have time…….

?!!!!..... You're RETIRED man....
..... You have all the time in the world!!!

 

[Tim Marlow]

?!!!!..... You're RETIRED man....
..... You have all the time in the world!!!

In between hospital and GP stuff…….and Sue keeps mentioning the scariest words in the world….diet and exercise……

 

[therapy]

Oh dear. I know you're right Barry, but I looked at my bench and there's bits for four different builds scattered randomly about....... it's not a big space either...

Nick

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Oooops.... sorry about that,foot now removed from mouth!! .....
.... Mind you,"Diet and Exercise" being banded around is just....
.....WRONG !!

 

[BattleshipBob]

Excellent thread Barry, and good timing, I have been reorganising my modelling. as well as my new room I have a new bench coming Friday, will post pics.

By the way can second the mini hoover from Amazon, its very good

 

[Tim Marlow]

Oooops.... sorry about that,foot now removed from mouth!! .....
.... Mind you,"Diet and Exercise" being banded around is just....
.....WRONG !!

Foot in mouth eh, well, as Barry might say, “a place for everything and everything in its place”

 

[JR]

Jim as president of the TBC must be thrilled to see Barry's set up .

 

[rtfoe]

Although I keep my bench clean from time to time or when I get into a cleaning mood I find most of my creative building and scratching occurs when the bench is the most untidy and nothing really moves when it's tidy. Oh boy am I a webel. Creating a delicate scratched part within a six inch square of available space can be exilliarating and a source of achievement for me. It's like management giving you the least to work with and making something out if it or rugby in a muddy field...nothing like a good scrap.

Cheers,
Richard aka Wabble

 

[Mini Me]

Same here Richard.........I ain't happy unless I'm wading through it to find what I need to get my next bit finished so's I can move on to the next. I will admit to putting all my tools and materials back where the belong at the end of the session though. Force of habit from the Aviation World. Everything must be accounted for at the end of the day.........or vee send you to zee kamp!

 

[simontie]

As i have built up my kits and tools i do find myself cleaning more, i only have one bench but tend to put sub assemblies on 1 cutting mat and 1 i work on a 3rd one is a small A4 i tend to lay my tools out on like an operating room couple of shelfs in front for the handy tools like glue and sanding equipment surrounded by the paint stands oh and i have BD mini buster very handy for that dusty mess. & at the end of every build i have a good clean up…