One of the reasons the bikers didn’t get finished sooner was that I’ve made another update on my hobby area. This time far more substantial than changing my light setup, as I got myself an adjustable/standing desk! Setting it all up took me a good couple of days, mostly on tidying up the cables.
Desk down…
…and desk up!
For the most part it’s a big improvement! Being able to adjust the height to fit both working/gaming on the computer (lower down) and painting (higher up) is brilliant. I haven’t yet tried out painting standing up, but there’s certainly enough height even for that. The thinner desktop is also great, as it’s easier to clamp stuff on, and to actually get the chair under it.
The old setup
Now, just like after my lighting update, unfortunaly I won’t be able to enjoy this setup for a long time. Next week I’m moving back to the other side of the country, to continue in the same job I had last spring, substituting an English teacher. This time there’s couple of hours more per week and the job lasts for the whole school year. Me and the wife are obviously a bit bummed about having to live apart for so long, but the pay and the additional line in my resume left me little choice. Just have to make it work. I don’t yet know how the new job affects my hobby time, but I’ll try to keep up with painting and modeling as much as I can, that’s for sure.
No miniatures today, but some updates for my hobby table and a development in the real life.
The old setup
First up, I’ve updated my lighting setup. My old setup had two lamps, but they were wildly different from each other. The other was a desk lamp with really warm, comparatively dim light. The other was a floor lamp with a bright white light, but the light cone was so tight that at times it was difficult to keep the model under it. The differences meant that I often had (harsh) shadows on the figure, and that when I was taking photos I had trouble with white balance as I had two lamps with different temperature values.
The new setup
I’ve thought about the update for a while now (well, basically since I got back to the hobby a couple years back), but after I recently saw a video on the subject and noticed how affordable the update could be, I decided to pull the trigger. I got two Tertial desk lamps from Ikea and two led bulbs from the local automotive store. These bulbs are nice as they have three temperature settings: warm, white and daylight. After installing the two lamps (had to modify the clamp on the other one slightly), I’ve gotten rid of most of the shadows. This obviously makes painting, as well as photography much easier. I think the lights could be even brighter (the video recommended 13W, whereas I found 9W bulbs), but for now I can certainly get by with these. They’re a big improvement!
My photography “studio”
Secondly, I’ve made myself some new brush pots! Okay, this is probably not that interesting, but whatever.. Some time ago I found some very decent (good even?) cheap brushes from the local super market. They come in packs of five, and I’ve bought four so far. My old Coca Cola cup started to get a little small for the lot, so I decided to get a second container for them. I then realised that I could make it myself, and ended up doing a bunch! I’ve worked as an insulator (/scaffolder) since last summer, so I’ve got access to all the aluminium that I could ever need and the tools to work it. Now, these pots could be described as prototypes, and aren’t really too nice. But they work as intended and are a nice memento from the insulation work. I made some others as well, a bit neater even, but my wife took them to her work before I could take a photo of them 😀
New pots, some new brushes and a sneak peek of an upcoming model
Never one to pass an opportunity to fill a hobby bingo square, I’ll claim the “something for the hobby that’s not for battlefield” with these pots!
Finally, I’ll be starting a new job next week, and this time it’s on my own field of work! I’ll be a substitute English teacher until the end of May, which should be interesting. While this is definitely a good thing for my career, it probably means that I’ll have less time to work on hobby projects. The job is also on the other side of the country, so I’ll lose access to some equipment for some time. I’m taking some minis and paints with me, however, and we’ll see how it goes. Expect fewer updates though, especially on new finished minis.
Hello and welcome to my blog! I’m mcmattila, a miniature hobbyist from Finland. I’ve been pondering about starting a blog to showcase and keep a record of my hobby accomplishments for some time now, and what better time to start than at the start of the year.
So, the aim of the blog is to showcase my miniature painting and modelling work. At this time I collect Games Workshop models, so the majority of the models in the blog will be from Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar and Warhammer Underworlds. That being said, there might be the occasional model from other manufacturers, game systems or perhaps even scale models or such. We’ll see where this goes. My plan is to keep this blog for finished work only and try to update weekly, but me being a relatively slow painter, I might not be able to keep that up for too long. Again, we’ll see where this goes.
I also have to note that this is my first crack at blogging and WordPress, so the outlook of this site might change as I figure how stuff works, and how I’d like the pages to look.
To finish this post, I’ll leave you with a picture of my workspace. A proper showcase post to follow soon(ish).
mcmattilaminis 