Well, it has been awhile. Life gets busy at times, with family, work and...stuff. While I have not been getting many models built, there has been progress on other fronts with my hobby. These developments have re-energized me to get back to it.
Most importantly, we started construction of our new home, where we will retire, late last year. I have a few years of work left but we have decided to make the move now, rather than hold on to both houses. My work has been remote for years so no change there. What will change is that we are downsizing substantially. I am fortunate that I will have a dedicated space for a workbench and a small shelf layout, as final arrangements for our living space have developed. This was a bit uncertain until we were well underway with construction and a serendipitous change was made in the location of the washer and dryer in our laundry room.
In progress photo, no lighting, tile not yet grouted
This is the space, small but can be dedicated to a workbench on the far wall with an "L" shape shelf layout above and on the left side. It is about 7' x 5' of wall space. The washer and dryer were originally to go on the wall to the left, below the cabinets but the plumber, in his wisdom, installed the connections on the wall behind me in this photo. What at first seemed to be a mistake became an opportunity to gain more room for my hobby than we originally planned.
My shelf may be a bit lower than originally conceived, to allow room under the cabinets, but I think it will be ok. I was strongly considering a proscenium framed shelf design so will see if I can incorporate the cabinet as the top of my layout frame. The counter on the right will have the laundry sink at the near end, not yet built out in this photo.
Finishing work continues on the house, and we expect to move in sometime in July. I will be moving my workbench and all hobby materials once we are in. It may make sense to build a new workbench in place in the corner with the layout shelf above.
As typically happens, building a custom home, even a small one, has been an "adventure." Coordinating subcontractors and working through the questions, crises and compromises has taken up most of my "leisure time" bandwidth this past year. It is nice to see the end of the tunnel ahead.
