Are you a messy worker ?

Lest you think dear reader that I operate in some luxury workshop with acres of space and hot and cold running nymphets handing me tools as I work, let me disappoint you.

At the moment, my modelling bench, a 4 ft long section of desktop, is the messiest it has ever been. That's a pretty big statement but sadly, it's true. In fact it's such a mess that I had to take a picture of it.

In the middle is the building area, an A4 cutting mat with only a few tools on top. This sits on an inch thick wooden board which raises the model making area from the surrounding detritus. Without this I wouldn't get anything done and might even be forced to tidy up a bit.

On the left we have a plastic tray containing bits of plastic kit. I have a number of trays like this, some plastic, some cardboard, which I use to keep projects together. Hopefully putting the bits in here stops me loosing anything. Sadly I tend to throw empty sprue's back in so while the kit parts might be in there, they are a bit buried.

 

The box is sitting on top of a big pile of paper towels, for cleaning brushes, and a ceramic soldering slab. In the back corner you can just see my pot of turps.

 

On the right there are tools. Big files gather at the end, little ones under the other stuff. You can tell which I use the most ! There's also a cheapo set of screwdrivers in an open plastic box. I do have good screwdrivers but for must work, such as opening tins of paint, poking down the necks of glue bottles and scrapping at things, these will do.

 

Beside the board are tinlets of paint for the current project. This involves painting stonework so I like to keep the colours I've used to hand as I tend to forget. “Write them down” I hear you cry – I have but you can't be too careful.

 

At the weekend, I will have a tidying up session and get my work area looking spick and span (sort of) but for the minute I'm a bit busy. What's weird is that despite the mess, I'm having no problems getting things done. I can generally find the tool I want, when I want it. OK so the screwdrivers have to be rounded up occasionally but progress is good so does it matter ?

 

So, are you a tidy fiend or prefer to work in a mess ?