I've moved 3 times in the past 3 years, and only now do I have a dedicated small table for the miniature hobby. I have made more progress painting in 5 days than I did in the past year!
I think the most important part (for me) is to have a setup where I can just have my WIP there, ready to be worked on instantly. The less friction to start painting, the easier I'll start.
The Skadis board is also great for paint and tools, especially if you have a 3D printer. Having every pots visible when I get into my office makes me want to paint!
How soon in your hobby did you get a dedicated setup? For those that don't, how do you manage the setup time?
Funny, it's quite the opposite for me! I've had dedicated setups in the past, but I now have Portable Station from Frontier Wargaming. I sit on my desk all days already so I'd like to paint somewhere around my wife in the evening/days off. With the portable station, I'm set up in under 2 minutes and I can paint everywhere.
When I used to build more DIY scenery a dedicated place was great, but I barely do nowadays.
Never heard of them, but i just checked out their site- those are pretty neat! I’ve no use for any of their setups, but they still look really nice!
Similar. I have the Paint Station from the 90's. It's a games workshop mfd board thing wood glued together. Pop out a folding table. Plop the paint station on the table. Put in a movie with several more as backups for longer sessions. Movies must be those I've seen before and watch many times so I can just listen too it and glance up at the best parts.
I usually listen to podcasts but yes :)
I usually watch documentaries, listen to podcasts or watch some twitch streamers.
I don’t have that setup but I went through a similar path. I had a dedicated spot downstairs but I find I paint in small sprints, usually 10-30 minutes at a time and I found it annoying to keep running back and forth downstairs. My wife got me an MDF painting tray for Christmas with spots for paint and brushes and a little working area. It’s been nice to be upstairs and spend more time with family while painting.
Wow those are nice!
I’m in the same boat so I might go for it. I have a dedicated room I barely use.
I really enjoy the portable setup. I have 2*5 miniature holders that fit one compartment, so I can also transport up to ten minis in the box. One thing that doesn't work is bigger miniatures like vehicles but I'm mostly playing/painting skirmishers these days so it hasn't been an issue for me so far.