Storing Unpainted Figures

Storage cabinets

I keep most of my unpainted figures in storage cabinets - the sort normally used to hold nuts and bolts. Boxed sets remain in their boxes, but individual figures are tidied away into the small drawers. I find this approach means the lead pile doesn't look quite so daunting, and when I look through the drawers, I invariably find things I'd forgotten I'd bought.

The figures are spread across three storage units, and have started to outgrow even them - it's possible this signifies something, but probably not :-)

I do have a fourth unit (bright orange), but it has had a long and troubled history. After spending many years in various lofts, I finally reclaimed it a few years ago. However, it was really smelly, so smelly that I didn't want to put anything in it. I spent an afternoon washing the unit and each of the drawers in disinfectant, but it still didn't smell fresh.

With the pile spreading, and Claymore approaching (where it's just possible I may buy one or two figures), I decided it was time to either start using, or replace, the old orange unit. The unit has a dent in the bottom, so doesn't sit quite level, and this, coupled with the lingering smell, meant that the replacement option won.

However, I struggled to find an appropriate cabinet. They don't seem to be in fashion at the moment, but I finally tracked one down on Amazon. It has one more row than the unit its replacing, so should last for a while (famous last words).

It didn't come with any spacers - small plastic rectangles used to divide the drawers into two or three sections. The ones I found on Amazon cost nearly as much as the unit itself, and got some very strange reviews, so I have made my own from 1mm plasticard.

The next step was to reorganise the wardrobe to make room for the new unit. The old orange unit was sitting on top of a set of cardboard drawers which currently hold 20mm WW2, some old GW Epic models and some other odds and ends. As the orange unit was empty and didn't weigh too much, this wasn't really a concern. When the new one is loaded, however, it will be far too heavy, so something had to change.

The reorganisation was completed without incident, and the old unit's heading out to the recycling bin. The lead pile can continue to grow faster than I paint - nope, definitely doesn't signify anything.

New painting light

For more years than I care to remember, my painting area has been illuminated with a single 60W desk lamp. It's an excellent lamp and I've never had any problems with it. Unfortunately, with the EU directive to purge all incandescent bulbs from the pages of history, its days are numbered. I did try to fit a compact fluorescent bulb into it, but there wasn't enough room.

Given that, I have been trying for a while, off and on, to find a replacement lamp. I'm not a fan of fluorescent bulbs, as I find they don't provide as much light as they claim, but until cheap LED bulbs come out, it's all that's out there.

I picked one up this week, again from Amazon, and it has not been too bad so far (only used it for a few sessions, but there has been no eye strain, so that's a good sign). It did flicker something rotten the first time I switched it on, but once it warmed up, it was fine. The lamp has a daylight bulb in it, as opposed to the non-daylight incandescent bulb, so it'll be interesting to see if I notice a difference to the colours when I'm painting.

The lamp came with both a table base and a clamp. The clamp is nice and light, but the base weighs a lot - one review suggests eight or nine pounds, and they're probably correct. It just about did my knees in, as I had to balance it on them on the train journey to get the lamp home. Hopefully, the painting Gods will recognise and honour my sacrifice and suffering, and grant unto me the ability to blend colours properly and paint both quickly and accurately :-)

No photos this week, as I had various house activities to do that took up my usual photography time-slot. There's nothing much to report on anyway, just plodding through the Dad's Army civilians.