Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #16

All that's left between me and completion is getting the terrain boards ready to go.  This was actually pretty fun, so it was a much better way to end it all then trying to clean a 5 year old stain off the wall.

Mixed in with the boards were all my extra materials.  It's all pretty thin and would cost a fair bit of money to replace so they're going in the truck along with all the rest of it.

I've got a 3x3 board and a 4x4 board that breaks up into 4 sections to pack.  Which isn't all that bad - especially given the manageable sizes.

Just for funzies, here's the 4x4 in all it's glory.

My plan to protect these things revolved around a bunch of old towels, some duct tape and my increasingly trusty plastic wrap.

In a general sense, the idea is to first wrap the board in a blanket or towel...  (In the case of the 3x3, some extra towels were added in on the turf side for extra padding.)

and then wrap some tape around the whole thing to keep it fixed in place.

A few layers of plastic were added to make things more secure.

Lastly, some left over blue insulation foam was taped on to provide crucial protection for the corners.

The 2x2 sections went down pretty much the same with the exception that I did them two at a time, face to face with some blue foam placed in between for padding.

 See, looks the same.

And the group shot.  I think this should do a pretty good job of protecting the investment.

With this last little bit, all of my hobby stuff is packed.

Except for that damn tress stand!  Shit.

Now, if I may get serious for a bit:

The hobby cave Mk2 had been a much needed little haven, if you will, from the last few years of my life.  So the packing has just that little bit of a bummer in it.

 It was a little 56 square foot closet that was completely mine - a place where I could get a much needed breather from a 5 year period  that really has been the worst in my life.   I'm moving on to better things and most likely a better hobby space to boot, so I have everything to look forward to.  But when I was isolated from friends and family, stuck in the worst job I've ever had and drowning in a see of assholes, I had somewhere fun to go where could do something I was passionate about and escape all the bullshit.

It's all packed now and while I will miss the sanctuary and what it represented, I'm looking forward to the possibilities of the hobby cave Mk3 and moving my hobby away from all the negativity in my life on the east coast.

It's a lot to look forward to.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #15

I got back from the dumpser and got back to the hobby cave.  After a touch of vacuum maintenance, though.

First order of business was to get at all the little bits and such that had collected over the years.  Mostly it was toothpicks, paperclip bits and some tape.  Again, I'm not too sure the carpet can be saved, but I don't want anybody getting stabbed by all the sharp things that I carelessly left behind.

Plus, it's just part of being a good tenant.

To my surprise, the whole endeavor went a hell of a long way towards making the room look presentable.  Or at least bordering the concept.

The gross foot-dirt stain got some love, but the results were much less impressive and further ruined by all those mysterious red paint spatters.

Speaking of gross, Hobby Trashcan 2000 is also on it's way to the dumpster.  There's no way in hell I want that thing anywhere near my good stuff.  Plus, I can get a larger one once I'm settle in.

The last thing to do for the actual hobby cave itself was to re-hang the door.  I had pulled it down to save space and keep it from getting beat up.

All I need to do now is wrap up my terrain boards and number the boxes.  Should be an update or two left in that.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #14

Well, the fun and interesting part is pretty much over (though there is one little bit of fun to be had) and I'm staring the worst aspect of this venture straight in the face.  And by that I mean the cleaning.  Blech.

The folding table is first up and mercifully easy.

Followed by the rug thing I put down to try and collect some of the hobby dirt.  It's pretty gross and pretty torn up so it's just a matter of rolling it up, putting a bag on one end to catch the bits and chucking it in the dumpster.

based on the amount of dirt around the edges of the rug, I was almost of the opinion that it had been a waste of a rug.

Then I pulled it up.

Ladies and gentleman what you are seeing is no illusion.  The elderly and those of you with weak hearts should leave the room.  

What you have just witnessed is the end result of years of hobbying over a light color carpet.

I'm too worried about it since the 5 years of habitation and the cats tender ministrations have ensured that the cheap carpets in the apartment will need to be replacde anyways, but I do need to vacuum up all the loose pointy bits and at least make an attempt at cleaning the schmutz off the place where I was resting my feet.

Welp, I'm off to get the vacuum up and running.  See you in a bit.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #13

Took a short little nap and went to Target to get a few moving related things.  Included in that was another plastic tub for my Sabol case.

I just wasn't convinced a soft case was gonna be okay in the moving truck - even in a cardboard box.  The Tydirium shuttle got broken apart and stuff in next to it - not a bad thing since I was only keeping it around for parts anyways.

Then it was on to the last little bit of my deep concern bordering on silly for my models.  Both my tubs got wrapped in plastic to keep them from popping open.

Aside from the one remaining terrain feature that still needs a box, it's all furniture and cleaning in the hobby cave.  I started with the shelf I'm planning on keeping (unless the truck gets full).  A little Fantastik and a dab of elbow grease and it;s ready for moving.

I also pulled up my office chair floor mat protector, scrubbed off the worst of the hobby dirt and stacked it in a safe place.

Unfortunately for me, the rest of the stuff I have left in there is filthy beyond belief.   So it'll have to wait for tomorrow.  Along with my ingenious plan to protect my terrain squares.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #12

A quick trip to the bank and a longer trip to Louis' Lunch later and I'm back at it.  Or was back at it.  The next leg of my packing course was a bit more long and grueling than things had been so far.

I started out by painting lamps in my other little tote/shelf. Remembering to take the light bulbs out!

And then wrapping it all with the plastic wrap.  The pile's getting pretty big now  Definitely gonna be holding the number two slot on number of boxes for a single groups of things.  Books being number one with a hefty count of 26.

My meager collection of terrain was next.

The smaller stuff goes in a small box, which goes in a slightly bigger box...

Which goes in a big box.  My loaded Malifaux case ended up in a box as well once I got nervous enough about it rattling around in a truck.  Frontline gamer says his survived being run over by a little old lady, but I'm not ready to take the chance.

The bulk of the terrain made it into a couple of very light boxes, but I'm still left with a Tydirium shuttle and some forests.  Not sure where these are gonna go as they are, literally, the last of my non-furniture hobby cave stuff.

I started in on said furniture before I pooped out.  My cheaply priced and even more cheaply made wooden shelf is marked for death.  It's been with me for 5 years, so kind of a bummer to see it go - but purely for sentimental reasons.  It's a flaming piece of crap as a storage device.

Gonna take a break now and maybe get back to a cleaning the white shelf and moving some stuff around later tonight.  I'll definitely be done by tomorrow.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #11

It's been a busy Friday so far, and I'm pretty much down to the furniture.  Though I keep forgetting about mt meager terrain collection in another closet.

Anyway, I got into the zone and some of my pictures aren't as interesting as I'd like.

After a quick trip to the U-Haul store, I had some giant plastic wrap to seal up some hobby tubs.  It went pretty well. I guess I'll know for sure on the other end of all this.

After a quick safety inspection from one of the cats, it was on to all that paint I boxed up over the week.  I ended up dumping them all in the same box despite any worries about weight. It ended up being pretty reasonable.

My small tool collection got shoved in a wooden box which, in turn was put in another box.

I then ran into a little bit of a slowdown as I got all my brushes ready for transport.  I didn't have enough brush guards for 'em all but they cost too damn much to just roll the dice on.  So I made my own and stuck 'em in the brush box.  I still have all my crappy ones left and, in hindsight, I wish I hadn't packed my other brush box already.  And it was empty, no less.

This went in the box and I'm up to two more done so far.

This little metal card catalog was a nice find at first, but turned out to be a poor storage container.  Ugly heavy and close to useless means it's on it's way to the garbage.

This is a stopping point while I take care of some of the more logistical stuff for the move.  More later today.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #10

Another few hours of packing and things are still rockin' and a rollin'.  I'm in the homestretch with this update so things are looking good to be done by this Saturday.

The rest of my paint went into boxes, bringing me to a total of 8.  Yikes.

I then moved onto another full box of this that and the other thing.  I forgot to take a picture before I tapped it so you can't see the ingenious way I used a milk crate to protect a bunch of loosely packed terrain and basing materials.   In any case, this brings me up to 8 moving boxes done.

I also have some more trash to get rid of.  My DIY paint rack has to go and my first real bummer of a decision crops up.  Boo-urns. Though that can of paint will not be missed.  I picked that up from the mis-mixed paint section of Home Despot while looking for a cheap paint for my Malifaux board.  Turned out this was a legitimate mis-mix and a waste of 2 bucks.

The rest of my latex paint went into a plastic trash-bag for safety and then into one of my cheap-o Ikea hobby containers.  Once I score some giant plastic wrap I can call this box number 9 and chuck it in the truck as is.

On a semi-related note, I currently live 15 minutes away from an Ikea and it will be sorely missed once I get to the new place the nearest one will be closer to 3 hours away.  So much useful stuff for so cheap - truly a boon for me as a hobbyist.  Well, it's always an excuse to visit my buds in Chicago.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #9

I actually got what follows accomplished last night but I ran out of time/juice to do the blogging bit.

Now I'm finally on to the most painstaking part of this packing challenge - my vast paint collection.

A bunch of old shoe boxes are the weapon of choice here.  The idea being that I can't just dump a few hundred paint pots into a moving box and call it good.  I also managed to keep all my old paint pots and blister pack foam.  Which now sounds really ridiculous now that I've typed that sentence out.

Since there is no standardized paint pots, size ended up being the deciding factor when it came to sorting and storing rather than a much more logical choice like color.  Though I did make  a box that was just the colors I was using for my Legion of Everblight.  I didn't take good enough notes to piece things together after the fact.  Plus, it's the project I'm most likely to start back in with once I'm settled.

My beloved foam squares and some cardboard dividers helped keeps things from shifting around too much.

7 Boxes later and I'm still not completely done with my paint!  It also turns our that I had been discounting the weight issue here.  It's likely that I'm going to have to spread these boxes out a bit once it comes time to get them in moving boxes in order to avoid the same situation I have with my books.  That situation being that my book boxes are bordering on 'obscenely heavy'.

However, progress has been made and the hobby cave is lookin' pretty bare.

The rest of my assorted hobby fluids, my tools and that pile of latex paint are the next three stops on the tour.

PS:  Getting rid of my big bag of sand went poorly right from the get go.  First, I'd be surprised if I ended up using more than 5 pounds of the original 50.  Then I accidentally poked a hole in the bag getting it into the car.  Sand everywhere - including inside my shoe!  Seems like a lot of trouble for a $5 investment.

Moving the Hobby Cave - Update #8

It just dawned on me today that I'll be loading the truck in two weeks.  Yikes!

Still a lot to do, but I think the hobby cave will be a done deal in by the end of my weekend.  Not too shabby considering how daunting things looked at first.

Solid progress today, starting with me getting my beloved plastic sprues into an acceptable small box and then all my terrain doo-dads in another.  Nice and compact.

The packing so far has involved few hard choices so far.  None, to be exact.  Way less then I was preparing for.

Most of the stuff I pulled together last nigh went into a box with today's stuff and the job's a good-'un.

After that, I sorted out some more of the stuff that would look like trash to the untrained eye.  No pictures here, since my page views are already low enough for this series without me posting pictures of old blister packs, foam inserts and empty paint pots.  Exciting!

Next on deck was the spray paint conundrum and I have to say that it went pretty damn well.  The idea to line the box with a trash bag worked swimmingly and special lady friend had the good sense to point our the obvious storage solution that I'd been overlooking for the thee day drive - stick 'em in the air-conditioned cab of the truck!  No idea what I'd do without her.

Despite the half-hearted purge, there were a few casualties.  Those duplicolor cans ended up as trash as they were mostly empty duplicats of stuff that made it into the box.  The ancient can of skull white primer of unknown quality was next followed by the two worst spray products I've ever spent money on:  Citadel Purity Seal satin varnish and armory white primer.  GW had the good sense to discontinue it's model ruining product.  Armory, not so much.  How this product is still in stores baffles me to this day.

It's not all sunshine and laughter though.  I have most of 50 pound bag of sand to dispose of.  Which means carrying it down two flights of stairs. Bah!