Heresy & Heroes

I’m fascinated by our desks, and how we view them and treat them. These areas where we have spent so much of our lives painting, modelling, dreaming and doing what we love. Again and again we return to them, to labour away at our toy soldiers and it is at these alters where we first see the finished products of our efforts. Whether you’re still learning the craft, or painting to win global competitions, we still all have these places where we paint and though the completed miniature may be the prize, like the stadiums of sports teams, or the legendary recording studios where your favourite bands have recorded your favourite albums, these desks, for us, have a status all of their own.

That’s what I want to show to you here. I’ve asked members of our community to contribute words and pictures detailing their desks and I’ll let them do the talking. There’s plenty to see here, so make yourself a drink, get comfortable, and explore the desks, painting tables and work stations from around the world.

Our Desks

“The desk is a nice big Corner L shape sturdy office desk. Originally it was just a single desk but I picked up the corner piece second hand from an office clearance. I can move my computer to the right and free up space for my airbrush compressor set up. One of my favourite things in this space is my signed Warhammer World programme by Jes Goodwin and Phil Kelly. Less said about my transforming robot addiction the better I think.”

– Garfy (London, UK) from Tale Of Painters

–

“This is my current workspace as of 2017. I love it because it reminds me of my history with the hobby. I’m an artist and currently working for MiniWarGaming.com as their Vault painter. I’ve been in this hobby since 1988 when I was a 13 year old lad. When I was young I could draw, paint and create. As I grew up I became interested in movies (Aliens being one of my all time faves) and that heavily influenced my imagination. Then came SpaceHulk and I was hooked into this hobby. Before that I built model ships and cars then came Star Trek spaceships. But nothing quite sank its hooks into me like SpaceHulk. I absorbed every nugget of information I could about miniature painting (pre internet) and painted as much as I could. And that’s what my desk reflects. There have been breaks from the hobby as with most people but it was always there in the background. One bit of painting advice; keep all your old paint jobs. Why? Cuz you can’t tell where you need to go until you know where you’ve been.”

– Kris (Welland, Canada) from MiniWarGaming.com

“On the left live most of my paints and my airbrush. I also keep a bottle of filtered water around because we live in a very hard water area which isn’t great for the airbrush. Along the back we have an ultrasonic cleaner for stripping models and cleaning the airbrush. The yellow-lidded pots contain various work-in-progress models and some spare parts. Most of my bitz are in three large plastic containers out of the way. On the right are my brushes and wet palette with the pink lid. I could do with more space, but let’s be honest – I’d only fill it! The light was a magnifying hobby lamp my Grandma gave me as she had it sitting around. The bulb in it got so hot it dried the paint in seconds! Found the LED strip light in Lidl for a fiver and just screwed it to it. I rarely use the magnifier but it’s fab lighting.”

– Dan (Herefordshire, UK) from Ritual Miniatures

–

“Here is my desk. It is shared with my daughter as our ‘art projects’ desk. My mini painting kit has always been mobile. My Vallejo travel set always comes in the car, and old board game boxes make great storage for fiddly stuff.”

– Nathan (Blue Mountains, Australia)

–

“I don’t do ‘hobby’. Rather, it’s more a way of life and so painting miniatures doesn’t really feel like just a hobby. My desk moves around a bit – usually with the seasons. Here you see it in all its glory in my attic. I try (and often fail) to keep only the things I need most on the desk. Materials, paints or tools I need less often I try and pack away to save space. For the essentials that remain I use a lot of stacking storage to make sure they’re accessible and in easy reach. Often these shelves are repurposed things that were boxes or racks in their previous lives. The object I value most is the ancient bread board that acts as my cutting mat. I’ve had it for many years and it carries the scars to prove it. No longer really flat due to the amount of greenstuff and paint that has accreted on it, it’s pretty ropey as a surface now. But I can’t bear to give it up. I’ve also collected a few useful things like chopstick stands and tiny dishes which are great for brush care and sorting out loose components.”

– Tammy (Nottingham, UK) from Tears of Envy

–

“Here’s half of my Bunker. It’s a high top stainless steel finish that forces me to pay attention to my posture, cleans up easy with plenty of storage on both sides. It also matches my airbrush table against the far wall and adds to the theme that I’m still working on for the over all room.”

– Derek (Cumming, USA) from Throne Of Angels

–

“One of the things I love about my hobby space is the view – I can stare for hours out the window at the open country side. Very relaxing. The area itself is a 2m wide bit of kitchen work surface, which doubles as my home office as well.  If the daylight isn’t enough I have installed a pair of LED flood lights which have a colour temp of 6500K meaning its in the daylight range so I get good light all year/day long.  It cost me £100 approx to build using either scavenged or special offer purchases. The work surface was got from a supplier for about £20 as the corner was damaged, and the wood it sits on was gotten from a neighbour who was renovating his house for free. The lights were a manager’s special at Screwfix (£15 for the pair), and the paint racks cost £8. £40 for some shelves I have about the room, the rest of the storage comes from some old ikea dvd racks turned on their side.” 

– Tim (Bristol, UK) from chubbs.co.uk

–

“My little hobby room. I’m a graphic artist and business owner by day, a husband and father. And while I love being all these things, I look forward each evening after the kids are in bed, so that I can escape into this room to build and paint for a few hours. It’s my stress relief and another creative outlet. The whole room is designed so that everything is within easy reach of my build/paint area and my airbrush booth. While not a huge room, I tried to make good use of the wall space with shelving and acrylic paint racks.”

– Bob (Philadelphia, USA)

–

“This is my hobby desk. After years of painting with a tray on my lap I decided to invest in getting a suitable place for me to paint! Very basic desk from Ikea and two daylight lamps from eBay for nice lighting. The transition from getting my desk has been remarkable, helping me focus and be comfortable for a much longer period of time (also giving my neck and back a break). It’s still fairly new and needs breaking in but it has most defiantly been a game changer and I love it dearly.”

– Louise (London, UK) from @Lou_lous_minis

–

“My desk is an ugly relic. It was in the house of my grandfather, my father studied on it, and I did too when I was younger. I picked it up to give it a second life. I wanted the desk as functional as possible, but not too expensive though (the hobby, in itself, is enough). So, I often used recovered materials among other things and, for instance, I have built the painting stands myself. I like to finish my day with a painting session. I sit on my desk, start my computer, put on an historical/scientific/fictional documentary (depending on my mood) on youtube or listen to nordic/pagan music, and free my mind of the daily business.”

– Bruno (Péruwelz, Belgium)

–

“The main thing that you might notice at first about my hobby desk is that it isn’t really a desk. It’s a small and modest table; close to the floor and filled to the brim with all my paints, tools and miniatures. I have always been most comfortable sitting on the floor since being a kid, and for me my hobby time is when I can unwind and relax in my most natural of environments. I like to sit on the floor and just paint away under my pelican shaped lamp; surrounded by all my favorite hobby gear and bric a brac. I do actually have a dedicated hobby room with chair and big desk and all the professional bits… But I always find myself naturally ending up back on the floor, curled up next to my little hobby-coffee table and painting goblins to my hearts content. For me, hobby is the most homely and comforting time, and my hobby space reflects that.”

– Louise (Nottingham, UK) from Savage Ork Guy

–