Laser - Paint Station Project

This was a mini-project I completed one morning.  I had been doing a few models for painting and assembly at my desk.  The desk was getting a little cluttered and at real risk of me knocking a paint pot over creating an unwanted desk art 😒  Added to this, more than once I have been on hands and knees looking for a small screw or piece of model that I had dropped.

Enough was enough, time to get organized.  The following was done around a basic requirement for the work area.  This had to be the size of an A4 sheet of paper.  More than enough for the scale models and projects I work on.  So work area mapped out, add in some room for tools, paint pots and a loupe and I had the base.

Next to create the sides and locations for the paint pots to be kept securely.  A tight plan here as needing to try and keep the restraints of the whole project coming out of two sheets of 300mm x 400mm MDF.

A quick bit of assembly and dabs of wood glue and all done!

Here is where my limitation of the A4 size comes in to play.  it is now a simple job to keep the work area clean.  Once it becomes covered in paint, just drop in a fresh piece of A4.  All those tiny pieces can now be kept on a nice clean area and easy to see, harder to knock off the desk.  Paint pots will now also have less chance of tipping over.  The loupe is a clip on type and snuggles neatly between the paint pots and onto a piece of MDF between them.

A good mornings work.

Slot cars - Dragon Ball 5

So when thinking about the scenery for the new table, I wanted to add some quirks to it.  Sure a rally scene with mud, grass, and stone.  But also something a little off track :)

I found this - or at least part of this, in the Mech Collection Dragon Ball series.  A set of cheap little kits all with characters and different vehicles.  These I thought would be good in a little scene, even better if things like the headlights could work!

First one completed is Volume 5 - Yamcha's Mighty Mouse.

Trust me, fitting tiny LED's into the headlights was a task for these ham fists of mine, but hopefully be worth it in the end.

Slot cars - track test

I have been slowly so slowly working on the track, but finally made some noticeable headway.  First I smoothed out the joins with the individual pieces of track for smooth transitions.  Then applied a basic layer of paint to seal the surface and mark my general areas of scenery to come later.  Then came the trickier part, putting the wire down.  The plan of putting glue into the groove and then rolling the wire in for a tight fit did not exactly work out.  The wire still wanted to rise free of the track.  So this ended up being a case of using some weights to keep it in place until dry and then move on to the next section.

But in the end, it was worth it. Each power line was one continual smooth piece of copper wire.

Once this was in place, well you have to test it, don't you?

Not too bad for a first test while there is still a lot of tidying up and cleaning needed on the wires and guide slot.  The next step before getting heavily into the scenery and details is a few minor tweaks to the track.  

Adding some extensions to the entrance and exit of some of the corners for a little extra drift time.

And also a little on the inside of some corners where there is a transition just before it.

Time to get back to the laser and cut some little pieces!