I thought I would take a few days to redesign my work area at our existing home. Here is the finished product.
I purchased a new blank door (24" x 80") and installed it on top of one of my old drawing desks. I then built a backboard and shelf. The backboard will have cork glued on it tomorrow and will be perfect for pinning up instruction sheets as well as photo references, etc.
The paint rack is made from scrap wood strips and works really nicely to hold a lot of paints. I put the paints I use the most in the rack and the rest go into the drawers that are in the desk.
As you can tell, I can't stand a dark work area so I have plenty of lighting, there are three arm lamps with 75 watt bulbs and the gray light that is saddled in the left hand corner of the table is a "true light" lamp that I use to verify color balance.
The bookshelf holds the most used of my references as well as way to many modeling magazines. :^) Underneath the table is my trusty air tank with airbrushes in tow. This new design gives me a ton of working room. To give you an idea as to how big the work space is the diorama that is on the table being worked on measures 32" x 16" inches and I still have a whole lot of space around it.
If you are still working on a card table I would really recommend looking into getting a door from your local home improvement shop. It will really increase your work area and make it far more comfortable.

Looking good Dana!
I can´t wait to get into my next appartment (which is hopefully big enough to carry a hobby/working room for me)!
Right now I´ve got a working space measuring 60x40 cm!
And I still wonder why I like to keep it small with my projects....

Toni

Yes it looks good. Mine is about that long but not the depth.
Jeff

That's one real tidy working space you got there !
Do I understand from your website that you design your own kits (dinosaurs) ?
Some of those models are absolutely superb.

Jan

What a dream!
I'm planning to make a hobby room in the house I'm about to build this year and its photos are great references and inspirations (I already got something in mind, close to it!).
By now, I'm still modeling on the kitchen's table But no complain! At least I got time to make my models
Good work!

Nice setup Dana......

Looks pretty nice!!! I sure wish I had a permanent work area...
I must say that I would be over protective of my models and not trust those lamps to dangle over my work area... I'm somewhat paranoid...
Here's a pic of my messy workspace:


YodaMan

"WILSON !!!!!!!!"
That looks like one heck of a work area, Dana! I really like the idea.... :-)

Nice work area Dana. This is me green with envy.

I wish I had a workspace half as neat as yours. I can hardly even find the parts to my models in the junkyard of a place I call my modelling table.

Mark

I,m still negotiating with the wife!!!
Mmmmm, no kids=more modelling space!
Maybe she'll buy it! Lol
If not then she's gonna have to put up with....well generally everywhere!

Honey, please put the frying pan down, i was only joking..Ahhhhhhhhhhh....
Ok ,kids it is then!

The door is a great idea. I bought a slightly damaged door from my local DIY and fixed it at a nice working height. I picked up 2 drawers from work and have them attached underneath at each side. With narrow shelves at the back, I can keep almost everything I will ever need at a hands reach. I have 2 lights similar to yours for lighting and keep another with a 100 watt bulb at the side for drying small paint jobs quickly so I can go to the next stage. The light it gives from the side as well really helps and keeps down shadows

Great job!! But, I want to see it a month from now!! #:-) We all grow into the space we have. I intend to modify mine a little more. I now have a shelf right above my work area and it blocks some light and I think psychologically makes me think my work area is cramped. It also turns into a junk area.

I have a bunch of those bins like yours, except mine are red. I use one for each kit to put small parts in, etc. They work great and stack too! I highly recommend them.

Nice job... I have to get better lighting, too!

Dana,

Great design, but how can you get any work done on such a neat area? On your first paint/glue spill, is it going to be tramatic like the first scratch on a new car? Now to get my kids out of the house so I can do the same.

Jeff