HobbyZoneUSA

LSP_Ray, I have one of those (OM05u) on my bench because though the Akan paints do fit in the OM05b above (next to the Model Masters), they are a loose fit and I can get quite a few more on the OM05u.

Dave, the first batch is due to hit the ramp here on Monday late afternoon. I'm accepting orders on the website now and will ship the orders on Tuesday (UPS usually delivers end-of-day so it will be too late to ship Monday). We only have eight of S01 and S02-sized racks arriving Monday with a larger batch coming in Friday. Bill, we already have Model Master covered with the OM05b, S01b, S01nb, S02b, S02nb and S03b racks. The ModelMaster bottles fit the 36mm holes as you can see in the front row of this photo:

HobbyZone has released three new paint racks for the 41mm diameter 23ml Tamiya paint bottles. They include the OM05xb for the modular system, and the S01xb and S02xb paint racks. Stop by HobbyZone.biz as we will have these in stock soon.

We offer free shipping within the continental US on all of our products at hobbyzone.biz with a $80 minimum order. HobbyZone is about to announce some new products soon, stay tuned!

We now have Iwata and Grex airbrushes and compressors in the store with free shipping to go with the new HobbyZone airbrush stations. Also new is the MRC Light Genie controller/module for lighting your starship (or other model project) or model railroad effects. Free shipping on orders over $150.00 within the continental US on HobbyZone products. http://www.hobbyzone.biz

No need to be envious, I just Googled micro brushes and Amazon has packs of 400 for $12.90 and free shipping. It seems that these brushes have found their way into the beauty section... http://www.amazon.com/Eyelash-Extension-Lint-Microbrushes-Tubes/dp/B005E0WP0Y/ref=sr_1_9_s_it?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1461065678&sr=1-9&keywords=micro+brushes

I believe I purchased bulk packs of the three different sizes from MicroMark a few years ago. I'd used a few of them and they are great applicators for Mr Surfacer 500 / 1200 and they surprisingly clean up in lacquer thinner and are reusable for several jobs.

HobbyZone just released their latest workbench helper, this is the Airbrush Station. Note that they made the distinction of 'airbrush station' and not 'paint booth'. This system is designed for modelers who don't have room for a paint booth and want a portable solution. The image above has a 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt on the turntable to give an idea of size. Before we discuss the pros and cons of this approach, let's look at the station and put one together. Like the other wooden kits in the HobbyZone catalog, this station is machined (not laser cut) with great precision and dry-fitting the base gives you an idea of parts orientation and fit. One difference with this kit versus the modules is that many of the smaller pieces like the sides of the base and drawer are machined out of a sheet of MDF (particle board) and while most of the parts are completely cleaned away from the sheet, thin tabs like sprue trees keep the small parts connected to the sheet for protection during shipping. Like a part on a sprue tree, you simple cut the part off the tree and carefully clean any remaining stubs from the part. As with the previous builds, I used Gorilla Wood Glue to assemble the base and drawer. The drawer comes with two dividers but I elected to use only one. Note that the top of the base unit has slots around three sides, a hole in the center, and small holes in the upper left and right corners. The slots are for the removable shield, the center hole is for the turntable, and the small holes are where you can set parts mounted on wire or thin rods. The turntable has the white laminate surface on top and a second disk that is smaller in diameter is glued to the bottom. A pin is provided to mount the turntable to the base. The three-piece shield is designed to be removable if you wish or you can glue it in place. The shield has a two-piece airbrush holder that you can mount to the left or right side of the station and even inside or outside. The shield is laminate white on one side and bare pressed board on the other. The shield goes together as shown and drops into the slots on the station's base. The airbrush station kit goes together quickly and with no problems. The drawer in the base can be used to store airbrush cleaning supplies, wire-mounted clips for holding parts, etc. It can provide you with a convenient way to airbrush a model in a confined space. Now let's look at some of the obvious issues with using this airbrush station: There is no built-in ventilation This isn't a spray booth, so enamels and lacquers are not recommended indoors. If you spray acrylics in heavy coats (not recommended) then even acrylics aren't going to be welcome indoors. For acrylic users that follow the manufacturers' (Vallejo, AK Interactive, Mig) recommendations, there is a reason why those 17ml paint bottles last a long time and why this station will work just fine. If you want to spray enamels or lacquers, this station is easily carried outdoors and the shield provides protection for your spraying from any breezes/crosswinds. The first color you used out of your airbrush would become the color of the exposed wood Absolutely true. Worse yet, if you tried to clean up your station with water, alcohol, Windex, or whatever, the moisture would eventually cause the MDF and pressed board surfaces to swell (damage). The white laminate will clean-up with no problems. Here's where a simple solution will work. I used a clear coat designed for wood (Minwax or acrylic equivalent) and treated the exposed wood surfaces. With the clear coats applied according to the instructions, I can now clean this station with Windex, water, or whatever. What this airbrush station does for me is solves a problem I've had for several years. My spray booth is the downdraft type so the model will rest on the upper filter element and repositioning the model requires care. As you can see below, the turntable makes the job of rotating the model much easier. I had tried a repurposed 'Lazy Susan' for rotating the model in the past but the filter elements do not provide a stable base. This base unit with turntable solves that problem, and when I don't need it, the whole unit can be set aside until needed again. If you do spray with lacquers or enamels and don't want to damage the base, you can cover the turntable with a plastic wrap like Saran Wrap and cover the base separately. Spraying with or without the shield really depends on what conditions you need to work with in your modeling environment. You can see this and other modules at our HobbyZone website (www.hobbyzone.biz) and on our eBay Store.

In the relatively short time I've been importing and selling the HobbyZone line of workbench products in the US and Canada, I've had the pleasure of talking with a variety of folks about getting started with these modules. Based upon some of these conversations and my own experiences with these products, I thought I'd encapsulate the information into a brief tutorial to help you get started. If you've seen the images of completed workbenches using the HobbyZone products, they look nice but the common question seems to be “where do I begin?†Some folks can visualize their bench and order the modules all at once. Others start off with one or two modules at a time and work up to a solution. What I recommend is to order one of each of the essential modules, the OM01 Six-Drawer, OM02 Three-Drawer, and OM07 Brushes and Tool modules, and not necessarily at once. The idea is that having both types of storage drawers and the tool rack will allow you to see how much of your ‘stuff' will get put away and organized. From there you can decide how many more drawers you might want to build out your own solution. Each module is roughly one-foot-long, six inches wide and six inches high. These modules are actually designed to metric values so the dimensions are slightly smaller, but for planning purposes, this gives you a starting point. My bench consists of two six-foot tables with folding legs. One holds my paint booth while the other is my work surface. As I've written in my Workbench 2.0 article, my previous attempts at organizing my workspace were simply not working. Since I had no point of reference about how these modules will work out for me, I started with the OM01, OM02 and OM07. The six drawers in the OM01 will hold more than I expected, but they won't hold longer tools/items like my files and sanding sticks. That is where the OM02 Three Drawer Module comes in and between these two, I had a sense of how many drawers of each type I needed and added those modules accordingly. I was simply amazed at how much the OM07 will hold as far as brushes, forceps, cutters, etc., and only one of these was needed on my bench. I did add a PN01 Brush and Tool Holder which is a small desktop rack which holds my more frequently used tools and can move around my benchtop as needed. Back to sizing up my workspace – with a six-foot table, I could theoretically have four modules across the back, two corner modules, and one module on either side. Since I needed some room on the table for power strips and other stuff, I elected to go three modules across plus the corner modules. Since these modules stack, I doubled the storage capacity by adding a second level of modules atop the first. I could go higher still with the various drawer, storage, and shelf modules, but two levels provided sufficient storage for my needs. I did add the OM05 and OM06 paint racks atop some of the modules but part of my bench goes past a window and I didn't want to obstruct the light/view outside. Your space constraints will no doubt differ and as you gain experience with these modules, you'll make revisions as well. In fact, since I wrote the Workbench 2.0 article, I've added three additional modules to the right side (two OM01s and an OM05 on top). Assembling the modules is very straightforward, and building the first ones is very much like having your first child. I was very careful with glue and using clamps to hold the modules together while drying. Once I had a number of modules built, I was far less careful with the glue as I'd let it ooze out of the seams and then wipe away the excess with a damp paper towel. It turned out the extra glue made for a stronger bond. I still had to ensure that the parts were firmly in place, but the modules go together faster with experience. Magnets: each module kit comes with magnets to allow each module to ‘snap together' to create your workspace. The magnets are no factor once you have the modules loaded with stuff and gravity takes over. Nevertheless, you want to ensure that the magnets are consistently installed so you don't have modules trying to push themselves away from the next module. The magnets themselves are not marked and they are press-fit into pre-machined holes in each of the exterior surfaces of the module. With my first module, I inserted the magnets from the left side and top side on each of the exterior surfaces before gluing the module together. If all goes well, the sides as well as the top/bottom will snap together. I use a small hammer to carefully press the magnets into place. If you get one out of synch with the others, you can simply use a punch and hammer to remove the errant magnet and reverse the polarity. With that first module assembled, I used it as my reference for all future modules so I could ensure the magnets were all properly oriented before gluing the module together. Finishing: I thought about staining these modules after assembly, but I ultimately decided to leave the modules unfinished. You can stain and seal these modules to suit your taste. I've had a number of folks ask about the configuration of my bench modules. While your mileage may vary, mine consists of: 5 x OM01 Six-Drawer Modules 2 x OM02 Three Drawer Modules 2 x OM03 Corner Drawer Modules 2 x OM04 Corner Shelf Modules 1 x OM08 Paper Towel Module 2 x OM08 Paper Towel Modules converted into hutch storage modules 1 x OM07 Brushes and Tools Holder 1 x OM05b Large (36mm) Paint Rack 1 x OM05s Small (26mm) Paint Rack 1 x OM05u Shelf Rack 1 x OM06b Large (36mm) Corner Paint Rack 1 x SM01 Paint/Tool Stand 1 x PN01 Brush and Tool Holder That adds up to 16 modules and two stand-alone holders. The cost of this entire set-up is less than a 1/200 Trumpeter battleship kit (about $375). I didn't purchase these all at once. As I said, your mileage may vary depending on your specific storage needs but you can add to these modules as time and budget allow. Speaking of paint racks, HobbyZone has the paint racks that are part of the modular system as well as a variety of stand-alone racks. Regardless of which rack you're considering, know that the designator for these will end in a ‘b' or an ‘s'. The ‘s' refers to racks with the small 26mm holes which are designed specifically for Vallejo / AK Interactive / Mig / Hataka 17ml eyedropper paint bottles. The ‘b' refers to racks with the bigger 36mm holes which fit the Testors ModelMaster / Floquil / Pollyscale .5oz bottles, Tamiya 10ml bottles, Vallejo 30ml bottles, Vallejo 60ml primer bottles, Humbrol / Xtracolor / WEM Colourcoats tins, Gunze Mr.Color / Mr.Hobby bottles, and more. The website (hobbyzone.biz) has all of the details, but as you plan your paint storage, know what size holes (s or b you need. I have an OM05u Paint Shelf in my system for the Akan paint bottles which are too large for the ‘s' and too small for the ‘b'. After I completed my workshop overhaul, I sat at my bench and admired my work, but then I had that thought about messing this all up again by building a model. I got over that rather quickly, but I can tell you that it is so nice to have everything I need within reach.

Thanks everyone. I wanted to transform my bench after seeing a review of the HobbyZone products but couldn't find anyone in the US that kept a regular stock. After discussions with a few other folks, I decided to take matters into my own hands and bring the full line over in quantity. We get shipments over from Poland 2-3 times per week and at worst, it takes five days to get more stuff back on the shelf. Here's a look at my bench after the HobbyZone transformation: