Parting Ways - Hobby Area Clean Up

Random - When it gets to be over 80 degrees outside, I tend to want to hide in the basement. It's cool and comfortable and I have plenty of projects to work on. (That's not to say I don't mind being outside I just prefer the temp to be in the 60-70 degree range with low humidity.)

My hobby area every so often becomes unusable. With the number of projects I have going at any given time things tend to pile up and consume the usable space I have. Most of the time I paint on a tray in the living room so I can hang out with the family while I work, but some projects need to spread out, are stinky or are better worked on in seclusion.

In an effort to make the space more functional I moved around the drawing boards and computer which made a huge mess. The area under the boards as well as on top of them, and the shelves I put up to organize things was cluttered with so much stuff I had to start pitching things.

I tend to collect things (no it's not hoarding) anticipating that I use them in a project or I'll find a good deal while working on a project and stock up on things I need. When the project is done or I move on to something else all that excess goes into a bin and gets put on a stack. Eventually the stacks take up all the available space and things start to get stacked on any flat area. (Sound familiar?) At that point finding or remembering what's in the bottom bins becomes difficult and occasionally I'll buy more of something I know I have but I can't find. The semi annual purge should help to solve that problem.

My other issue is I cast lots of things. With a mold sometimes you just need a single part but its nearly impossible to mix up the exact right amount of resin. The other thing is with resin you get lots of miscasts that can't be melted down, but you might be able to use them for something. That might be able to use for something eventually turns into boxes of random plastic/resin bits that are so full you can't find anything. Once again the semi-annual purge helps with that. Armed with a box of baggies I proceeded to go through every box of bits and sorted them out by type and threw out any miscasts or random bits that "might be useful" he process was painful but now I know what I have.

It took an entire Saturday just to move and sort out most of the junk but the end result is a more functional area. My next goal is to set up the airbrush station so I can focus on getting some of my terrain sets completed. Once I'm comfortable with painting terrain with the airbrush I plan on modifying my painting technique to include airbrushing. From what I've seen it can help to get the base colors down quick and do some basic highlights easily, so long as you're working in big batches and not having to break it down after each model.

 

Spring Cleaning ... Deals to be had

Spring Cleaning ... Deals to be had

So it's that time of year again when I go through my game room and start trying to organize. I love my stuff and would love to never part with it, however I love new stuff and always want more. The problem is I don't have an infinite amount of space and the fact the my wife has conceded almost the entire basement to my hobbies means I need to keep my stuff in check so it doesn't begin to consume the rest of the house.

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Cleaning House - Great Ebay Deals

I've decided to once again downsize some of my collections to make room for new stuff. With Malifaux second edition on the horizon I decided it was time to sell off some of the crew boxes that I haven't opened yet as well as some of the models that don't fit my play style as much.

I had picked up Snowstorm to use with Kirai because I love the model and it brings some cool abilities to the table. But I'm not in love with how the model looks with the rest of my crew and I don't want to be tempted into buying Arcanist stuff to fill it out. So I'm putting him up along with some clear resin ice pillars. 

Also up for bid are a variety of counters and terrain; including supply wagon pieces I've built for various scenarios. I hate to sell off this stuff but I haven't been playing much Malifaux lately and I think with the second edition I'm going to stick with Resurrectionists and Guild as the only factions I collect. This way I'll always have just enough models to run a demo or get a game in with a friend who doesn't own anything.

I've also started sorting through my comics collection and will be putting up lots of books for sale. I own a ton of comics from the 80-90's that are taking up to much space in my basement. So my goal is to just hang on to the ones that I like the cover art so I can display them as art and  sell off the rest. If you're a comics fan check the button up top often as things will be updated weekly.

In the same vein I'm selling off my large White Dwarf Collection so if you're missing an issue or want to pick up books from back when they were more than an ad for the army of the month check out the auctions. I really just want to get rid of them and cover my costs so you'll find some great deals.

Check out the auctions here.