While Crankenstein was at church this morning singing non-Terry-Meeuwsen songs about Jesus, I was annoying Muriel with the return of a hacking cough that’s worse now than it was when I had Covid earlier this month. Exasperated, I decided to distract myself not through writing, which requires greater concentration than coughing fits allow, but with action.* After doing the dishes and sweeping and vacuuming, I tidied my office a bit and set up some new hobby gear.
In February, when I waded into miniatures by painting a birdhouse, I worked at a small desk in the corner of the guest bedroom. A month or two later I acquired a long folding table for my office so Muriel, who is supposed to avoid stairs whenever possible, could be with me on the main floor of the house as I worked on the cottage and other projects. IKEA pegboards, a four-pack of 12″ pallet bins, and a $10 green cutting mat were enough to keep it organized and scratch-free while I gained sufficient experience to learn what else I needed.**
An adjustable gooseneck magnifying glass and desk lamp came next, the latter purchased during a craft store sale when I also had a $10 credit. Earlier this month I got a 24″ x 36″ Fiskars cutting mat for $12 (it retails for $60 or more) and a mini vortex lab mixer.
The mixer was much more of a splurge than the other items — as pathetic as it sounds, it’s not easy for me to thoroughly shake a bunch of acrylic paint bottles and droppers by hand while experimenting with colors, so I wanted a workaround for that. The respirator is for spray-painting in my makeshift patio booth once the worst heat and humidity of the summer are behind us.
One of the things I tinkered with earlier is an “Angels in Chains” prison diorama. I have the shower tile figured out and just need to paint it. The shower heads and bathroom trash can have been trickier to recreate in half-scale than I would’ve guessed, but we’re getting closer. The Françoise kit is one of my figure-painting test runs but needs assembling first. At 1:24, it should be a little easier to paint than a 1:35 scene that’s been hard to finish due to its size and my clumsiness.
If you’re unfamiliar with these kits, they’re perfect for use in dioramas. MB, or Master Box, is a Ukrainian scale model company, and I also have their Eastern European peasant and Yom Kippur War kits. (When Crankenstein saw the peasants, she joked “Aww, your ancestors!”) You cut the pieces from sprues and then fit and glue them together.
The glue flecks on my fingertips don’t tell the whole story: I had to stop several times to wash my hands and many profanities were uttered. The painting process, not (yet) pictured, has so far resulted in much of the same.
This is an old photo (I can’t use that sort of mouse anymore, even with my good hand) but it shows the area I’ve transformed. Muriel’s chair is where the wire shelves used to be. Here she is today, squirrel-watching when she wasn’t supervising my work.
* If it doesn’t improve within the next day or two, I’ll call the doctor to make sure it’s not pneumonia since I have a few risk factors. But I’m not febrile, unusually fatigued, or anything like that. Cough and preexisting swallow issues aside, I feel better than I have in weeks.
** The pegboard is the SKÅDIS model, which is available in other sizes, and was outfitted with hooks and other doodads from a couple of Etsy shops. Like the table, it was a compromise with myself: practical, affordable stuff that could be easily repurposed if I lose interest or upgrade later. My ideal hobby workstation would have boards and other storage securely attached to the walls, but there’s plaster behind the paneling and I didn’t want to mess with it. Instead, I purchased bigger, stronger feet for freestanding pegboards.