Sunday, 11 January 2026

What A Difference A Desk Makes.

As mentioned in my last post, I decided to try and set up a painting station in the games room, to give me essentially a dedicated painting area, rather than relying upon the kitchen table. I did this a few days ago and so far, it has really made a difference! 

The painting desk, which is essentially my 4' x 2' gaming boards on the trestles I use, but dropped to a normal desk height. This is still in a work in progress, but having so much space is great and being able to leave everything out is a real luxury. It does remind me of my youth and the desk I had in my bedroom that was for homework and painting etc.

The first finished items, 5 x Pz IV's that took 3 days to finish, painting as and when I felt in the mood. This now gives me 9 of them that will expand the sort of BKCII games and scenarios I can put on. 2 x Panthers wait in the wings for their turn to have a camo scheme applied.

Some Battlescale 6mm buildings that I add to in the odd moment here and there.

In the past painting has honestly felt a real chore, but now I'm actually enjoying it for the first time in years:)! No longer do I have to try and fit it in around 'real life' and free time in the kitchen. So I've been doing 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there and it hasn't felt a bind at all. I'm hoping that this will increase my output right across the board. I also aim to use it for figure and AFV prep etc, but any gluing will be done in the kitchen to ensure as much ventilation as possible.

Looking at the set up for the painting and the games room in general, I'm looking to add some more storage to help get things off the floor and looking neat and tidy. A trip to IKEA is likely in the next week or so.

Thanks for reading and any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

11 comments:

  1. A great step forward Steve! I can relate to this. I don't have a dedicated painting desk and my desk is shared with work on my WFH days. However, it is big enough to at least leave the boxes of paint and tools out and a small amount of work in progress.

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    1. One small step for man and all that Chris;)! Just having a room that for most of the year is just for me has made a huge difference to my gaming, so I'm hoping for the same with the addition of the painting set up.

      BTW congrats to Grimsby for their FA Cup win:)!

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  2. This is GREAT news, Steve! Congratulations on taking this step toward permanency. Having a dedicated place to paint changes everything.

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    1. Thanks Jon:)! The dedicated area has really been a game changer for sure.

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  3. Well done Steve. I hope one day I'll get to play with the output of your wonderful new freedom. If you are anything like me the challenge will be keeping it tidy and cleared for the next task!

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    1. Thanks Chris and I can related to the keeping it tidy part, hence the 'need' to get some more storage!

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  4. It seems for the most part the wargamer is ‘condemned’ to painting, so anything that raises encouragement is to be heartedly embraced :-)

    I saw some plastic storage drawers in B&Q a few weeks ago that might do the job.

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    1. Certainly I felt the 'condemned' part for sure prior to this set up. Being able to dip in and out as the mood takes me does make it much more enjoyable. Luckily I have loads of storage trays (see the red one in the first photo) that work were getting rid of years ago. Some Billy shelving is on the list though.

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  5. Looks really handy - here's to making progress!

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    1. Thanks John and it's a good start, easy to set up and take down in a few minutes or so.

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  6. That's a great space for painting. Really glad that it's making a difference in productivity and enjoyment.

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