Arttystation Symphony bench organizer

[BlrwestSiR]

After seeing and talking to Harv of his build up and overall review of the Arttystation Orchestra workbench organizer, I decided to pick up one of their smaller sets called the Symphony.

One of the reasons to get this was to replace a couple existing Hobby Zone organizers I had. They were getting too crammed and our new cat had knocked one over a couple times. I didn't want to find him skewered with tools. 

So I ordered the Symphony and some additional modules to expand it a bit. Here's a pic of what it looks like. 

 

It's 90 cm across or about 3 ft and 64cm high or 2 ft. 

One thing I'm going to change is I'm going to remove the small tray on the right side. I don't think I'll use it and by taking it off, I'll he able to free up some bench space. 

 

 

[smitty44]

Is there a lot of flash? Ejector pin marks? How is the surface detail? 

[BlrwestSiR]

45 minutes ago, smitty44 said:

Is there a lot of flash? Ejector pin marks? How is the surface detail? 

Thankfully there's no flash or ejector.pin marks. The surface detail is a bit... plain. Nice and smooth though. Great for a NMF. Thankfully no signs of the Trumpy Mad Riveter.

There is a small bit of cleanup on some parts due to the way they're cut out. A quick pass with a file is all it took 

[Bomber_County]

Have you finished yet.............

[BlrwestSiR]

58 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Have you finished yet.............

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Ok, on the right side of the organizer, there's an area for paint trays and a brush rest. I decided to remove that bit to creat some more room on my bench. 

This is a standalone unit that has the same tray area. I bought one of these as well and did the same mod.

For want of a better term, the prongs at the front needed to be cut off the two side panels. 

I did this with a table saw to ensure a straight cut.

I then started the assembly. 

On some of the corners, I needed to give them a quick sand to remove a bit of material for a better fit. This way I didn't need to force anything together. Mostly they needed a single pass with a file. You can see the nub that needed sanding in the pic below. 

Here's the finished unit. 

I assembled the tray part that I cut off since my boys could use it.

[BlrwestSiR]

There are a bunch of drawers of various sizes so I made.those.

If you have ever built a Fisher Model, you'll feel right at home with all the parts coming wrapped in tissue paper. 

Here are the drawer parts unwrapped. 

The base:

The sides. Some boxes have reliefs cut into the front edge and some don't. 

Here's the sides on. For adhesive, I'm using Gorilla Glue wood glue since I've got it handy from all my woodworking.

One drawer done,  22 more to go.

[Bomber_County]

.....................

[BlrwestSiR]

Here's just about all the drawers done.

Ok, onto the main unit. I had the left side already built before I started taking pics so here's that side. 

This side has the glue organizer and nipper/tweezer holder at the base, drawer above that and a paint racks at the top. 

The other side has a general tool holder at the bottom, same as the standalone one I built. 

Everything pretty much slots together. 

And finished next to the other side.

Time to add the base and then the sprue organizer in the middle. 

Above that goes the instruction holder.

Then the right side attaches to the base. 

Here's what it would look like OOB with the paint mixing tray bit on the right. 

[harv]

Looking good !....harv

[BlrwestSiR]

2 hours ago, harv said:

Looking good !....harv

Thanks Harv! 

[BlrwestSiR]

I then added the back panels. They're glued in place and I'm glad they're there so bits don't fall through the back. 

There's two shelves where the boxes go. You glue an attachment on top to make a lip. I found that it was best to sand the inside edge slightly so that the boxes can open without snagging it.

One thing I like about the Arttystation stuff is the paint racks can be customized. They give you inserts that are designed to hold specific shaped/sized paint bottles. 

From top to bottom:

- Tamiya/Gunze/ AK Real Color 14ml bottles

- Tamiya enamel bottles (great paint but almost impossible to find outside Asia)

- Vallejo style bottles

- generic one that holds any size/shape

You can switch them out at any time depending on what you use the most without having to get new racks. I especially like the generic style which I bought extras of. 

 

I then assembled the add on units I bought into their column. There are dowels to hold them together. Harv told me to watch the size of the dowels as some are a bit off. Thankfully I only had one that way but they give you extras. 

Here's the final setup as I start to put away all my random tools and supplies. 

[harv]

TA DAAAA ! LOVE IT........harv

[Ryan]

Awesome

[Jeff]

I can surely see why Sue keeps you around, you are a handy dude, Pal.....  that set looks awesome, and you built that as fast as John B does Corsairs !, One question...... how big is your bench , width wise...............? And will it look this GOOD in a week? or will it look like my bench, like a bomb went off??

[Guest Dekenba]

These look very similar to HobbyZone units, except that they aren't quite as flexible, as the units are fixed in position & can't be moved around. And no magnets.

 

Is that right?

[BlrwestSiR]

6 hours ago, harv said:

TA DAAAA ! LOVE IT........harv

 

6 hours ago, Ryan said:

Awesome

Thanks Harv and Ryan!

[BlrwestSiR]

5 hours ago, Jeff said:

I can surely see why Sue keeps you around, you are a handy dude, Pal.....  that set looks awesome, and you built that as fast as John B does Corsairs !, One question...... how big is your bench , width wise...............? And will it look this GOOD in a week? or will it look like my bench, like a bomb went off??

Thanks Jeff! The new bench top is 78" wide. It's an inch narrower though. But the extra length helps as the boys have taken over half of it. 

30 minutes ago, Dekenba said:

These look very similar to HobbyZone units, except that they aren't quite as flexible, as the units are fixed in position & can't be moved around. And no magnets.

 

Is that right?

The one I bought is a single unit called the Symphony.  You can get modular ones though called Opera. The ones on the far right are Opera units. They use dowels to lock together rather than magnets. The Opera units are actually the same size as the Hobby Zone ones. 

I looked at the Hobby Zone ones too (my existing organizers were made by them) but they no longer ship to Canada. One thing I didn't like about my Hobby Zone organizers was the size of the holes for the tools. Many didn't fit including the tweezers and nippers. Same for the paint racks. 

Hope that helps. 

[Guest Dekenba]

2 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Thanks Jeff! The new bench top is 78" wide. It's an inch narrower though. But the extra length helps.

The one I bought is a single unit called the Symphony.  You can get modular ones though called Opera. The ones on the far right are Opera units. They use dowels to lock together rather than magnets. The Opera units are actually the same size as the Hobby Zone ones. 

I looked at the Hobby Zone ones too (my existing organizers were made by them) but they no longer ship to Canada. One thing I didn't like about my Hobby Zone organizers was the size of the holes for the tools. Many didn't fit including the tweezers and nippers. Same for the paint racks. 

Hope that helps. 

You're not wrong about the holes in the HobbyZone units being a bit small. I was going to take a drill to mine, but if the Opera units are the same size, I may invest in a few of those & integrate them with my existing set-up.

[Guest Dekenba]

Just went to the Arttystation website. The prices are broadly comparable to HobbyZone, but the latter include 20% VAT & the Arttystation order would have 20% VAT slapped on it when entering the EU. So the Arttystation are roughly 20% more pricey - at least in the EU - which is certainly not a deal breaker.

 

But shipping is restricted to the most expensive method, because of the damned virus. And for an order of $164, the shipping would be an additional $94!

 

So I think I'll wait for the surface shipping to be added as an option again.

[BlrwestSiR]

Oddly, on the Symphony set the tool organizer also has slotted openings and not just holes. 

Here's the holder from the Symphony, note the slots on the right side. 

This it the Opera module that's otherwise identical. 

I hadn't noticed the difference at first. It want until I started putting my tools away that it came to my attention. The slot is handy for razor saws and larger files.

The shipping was definitely not cheap but it arrived in less then a week. I would have preferred the free surface shipping but our cat was creating a but too much havoc on the bench and add in my boys working on it too I felt it was the best option. 

[harv]

Mine didnt have the bigger slots, just holes......harv

[BlrwestSiR]

I'm wondering if it's a running change they're making because they not in the instructions that way either. 

[Guest Dekenba]

1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Oddly, on the Symphony set the tool organizer also has slotted openings and not just holes. 

Here's the holder from the Symphony, note the slots on the right side. 

This it the Opera module that's otherwise identical. 

I hadn't noticed the difference at first. It want until I started putting my tools away that it came to my attention. The slot is handy for razor saws and larger files.

The shipping was definitely not cheap but it arrived in less then a week. I would have preferred the free surface shipping but our cat was creating a but too much havoc on the bench and add in my boys working on it too I felt it was the best option. 

I like the slots - not everything is small & circular!

 

I also blame either the cat or one of the dogs when I need a victim who can't answer back.

[DocRob]

Nice kit, even though, I have no idea about historical correctness or even the scale. No sprue cutting and no flash on the pro side .
After you guys, trending into well organized benches, I'm tempted. Everlasting creative chaos vs. clean and lean, dunno, both has it's Charme.

Cheers Rob