My New Man Cave

Greg Baker
I guess we'll start with the sprue shot... my 1:1 scale Modelling Man Cave. The ultimate scratchbuild, will also include wiring, and LED lighting effects...😉

Spanjaard
man, that seam line at the bottom still needs some sanding😉

Greg Baker
Bwahahaha! Is it noticeable? I'm gonna need a lot of putty I guess.

Spanjaard
LOL, it will be a fantastic man cave 🙂

Gary Kitchen
Great stuff Greg. I can't wait for you to superimpose the appropriate scene on the base as usual 🙂 what might it be?

Stephan H.
A jealous monkey takes a seat. Best of luck for this huge project.

Slavo Hazucha
A blank sheet - so many opportunities...😉 👍

Matthew A
Welcome home
domandgeri.com/image..e-new-home-card.webp

Guillaume Blanchet
I noticed you ahve a Steel column (the red one). I have the same thing in my house. Do theses need to be adjusted at some point? I have a feeling it could help with the level of the floor above. If adjustment is needed, is it some that can be done by the home owner or should it be donne by professionnals?

Sorry for all the questions I don't have much experience working with 1:1 scale building.

John Thomas
Hey Greg, nice work you are going to need a lot more electrical out lets

Alec K
Man, you don't waste time... 👍 🙂

Matthew A
@Alec that's coz he's hidding from the redecorating

Matthew A
The speed Greg works at it should look like this in no time [img1]

Daniel Klink
Finally you made it home.. Glad to hear and see that you fully in action immediately 👍

Tom ...
Welcome home, Greg! Quite a change from the tiny space you had in Korea! Are you going to be staying at 1:72/1:144? Curious minds need to know...

Choppa Nutta
oi very cool dude !

Choppa Nutta
Btw this looks like a cellar or a basement ...
is that correct ?

Guillaume, if that red steel post is adjustable and you don't know what you're doing leave well alone !! 😄

Greg Baker
Haha! I'm touched that my 1:1 scale project has generated so many comments. Now, let's see...

@Gary - I don't think this one will need a decal on the base, but I've got a mind to finally hang up some of my posters.😉
@Guillaume - Choppa's right. Those red supports (I have four in a line across my basement) are what's holding up the main beam of the house. That's basically the backbone of the entire structure. Theoretically they're adjustable, but a) the amount of weight they're supporting is substantial, so you probably couldn't even move them. And b) the chances of moving them ending in catastrophic failure of the support structure is large. I wouldn't go near them.
@Alec - we've been renting the house for the past seven years, so there was a lot of maintenance that needed to take place, pronto. I've already ripped out and reinstalled a bathroom sink/vanity top, and I'm nearly done reconstruction on the floor to my main bathroom (water and no maintenance are a bad combo). The basement is a "my" project, not an "our" project... so I only get to work on it after I've put in a full day doing the "our" projects😉
@Matthew - haha! Maybe in 1/700 scale!
@Tom - well, I ran out the door from Seoul with four Academy 1/48 scale kits... so I do plan to broaden my horizons (not to mention tackle the 1/144 scale B-747 and C-5 projects I've been pining for).
@Choppa - yes. it's 1/4 (including the furnace area) of my basement. Before we went to Korea it was the junk storage room... but I've found a better purpose for it now...😉

Guillaume Blanchet
Thanks bothfor the information. Don't worry I won't play with these beams.

Looking foward to see the final result.

Lochsa River
Everyone wants to know where the Tin Tin shrine will be...will it have a working waterfall and light show?

Chaz Gordon
Which Comic book is this scene from?
Those 1L Tamiya paints will come in handy now, What airbrush are you planning on painting it with?
Don't forget to pre-shade the panel lines.

Chaz Gordon
1/4 ?? 1/2, you're entitled to 1/2!

Nils Steyaert
wow, thats a lot of space, wish i had that much space.

Greg Baker
Heh. You guys are cracking me up.

@JD - Bwahahahahah! Part of what started this was the discovery of the old laminate flooring I brought from our old house, but never used. But if you're going to have a floor, you should have walls first, right?

@Chaz - once the drywall is up, I'll have plenty of panel lines to preshade. I thought I might use a brush on this one... oh, and I can't complain... the modelling room is only a little less than 1/4. The already finished half the basement is already 1/4 taken up by my comic book collection, and the video games tv area. The other 1/4 of unfinished space is basically the tool storage/Home improvement Project staging Area.

@Nils 〜yeah, that was the thing I was most looking forward to with our move back to Canada. My apartment in Seoul was much more constrained. I have a feeling I'll be worried about space again before I know it.😉

Alec K
@Greg: glad to hear you have your priorities straight😉 😄 👍. Can't imagine renting my house for that long and than coming back to it, seeing what the renters have done to it (but maybe you lucked out). I have done my share of remodels, so I sympathize. My cave was created in much the same way (in the basement, after all "we" projects). But, it's a nice "problem" to have... best of luck, looking forward to your progress. Be sure to add exhaust set up.

Daniel Klink
Omg those red tooth sticks holding the main beam of a house?

Nathan Dempsey
I'm just imagining the thousands upon thousands of 144 builds lining those walls.

Choppa Nutta
Sounds like the games room might make a good display room if you have enough wall space of course
or is that room full of DVD's and games and consoles and all kinds of other stuff too ?

I'd love a workshop, as it is I have an eight foot long and tall desk bench shelving thing where most of it gets done etc. and at times the kitchen top too ..... I need a workshop...

Matthew A
Took down an old shed in my garden - it had wisteria growing thru the floor (think it was the only thing holding the roof on). One more to go (it's been full of wood for twenty years). If the monsoons hold off should be able to lay the new base next week. Then we are on our way to having a work space that doesn't involve catching (well waiting for) two busses to get to. Plus it as shouldn't flood every winter (although I will have to swim the 60ft to it five months of the year as our garden does )

Daniel Klink
That wooden framework looks quite trustworthy and stable.
But i would have done it up to the ceiling as an additional stabilizing element 🙂
Just kidding .. Looking great Greg and i am sure your gems will get an adequate presentation room 👍

Daniel Klink
@Matthew
can you please redirect some of the water to eastrn Cologne? 🙂
My garden is 8 of 12 months nearly dry, if i dont water it.

Matthew A
@General Klink
The irony is Thames Water pumps water under the channel to Paris. As a result every summer we have a hose pipe ban which leaves us lugging water cans up and down the 152 ft garden to keep the fruit trees alive

Daniel Klink
That is quite curious but i guess it brings some money 🙂
We here in the Rhinevalley do not even know where all the water goes to.
It was to dry the last 2-3 years from above, but something is generally wrong here.
I assume the Farmers, and Industry along the river consumes also a lot of the water from the hills,
when the rhine is too shallow.

Matthew A
NB: When I mentioned monsoons I had no idea how bad things are in Korea, apologies if I offended anyone
[img1]

Greg Baker
Heh... this thread seems to have taken on a "community spirit".😉

@Alec - well, the Korea adventure was only supposed to last three years, but my bosses apparently thought I was doing a good job, because they kept renewing my contract. It's a weird feeling to come back to your house after other people have been living in it. Very different than just moving into a new house.

@Daniel - well, the red sticks are set into the concrete foundation. They're sufficient to hold up a wood frame construction house. As for the walls, they will be screwed into the concrete floor and the wooden floor joists above them. They won't be going anywhere. I just haven't done it yet because I get in trouble when I use the hammer drill after 10pm.😉

@Nathan - me too...😉

@Choppa - there's a variety of stuff that needs to be sorted out, but yeah, a bunch of CDs, DVDs and game discs are all over the place at the moment.

Chaz Gordon
@matthew, if you put a 100l water But from wickes next to your water source, you can run a hose from there to the delivery point. If you need to go up hill, you can get a 4-7 lpm 12V pump for about 30 quid on Amazon, that'll directly run a hose, misters or just transfer to another water but. Hose pipe bans do not apply to hoses run from non mains connected water storage.
It's also perfectly legitimate to refill that storage from buckets, which are in turn filled from a tap.
Naturally, you can also direct your guttering to the water but.

Choppa Nutta
alternatively one could bury the hose pipes effectively plumbing in the garden so your neighbours can't see you watering the garden😉
used to have something similar in our garden with small holes put into the hose pipes along its length where need it etc.
just a thought

Cuajete
It will be an interesting and great mancave!

Greg Baker
Finally got a chance to get a bit more done. The walls are secured solidly in place, the electrical boxes are roughed in, and I got the subfloor down. Still lots to do, but it feels better.

Choppa Nutta
I like where this is all going dude, going to be one cool cave !! 🙂

Matthew A
Don't mention floating floors, he's got electro magnets and an over active imagination!?!

Daniel Klink
[img1]

Attention! Man at work 🙂

Choppa Nutta
"Don't mention floating floors, he's got electro magnets and an over active imagination!?!"

haha 😄 😄 😄

Daniel haha, more like "Run away !! Man at work !!" 😄 😄 😄

Lode Schildermans
Greg, promising for all the new builds 😉

Greg Baker
Thanks guys. The work on the modelling room - or the "Monkey Business Office" as my wife has taken to calling it😉 - has stalled out a bit this week. The good news is my shipment from Korea has arrived... but the bad news is now I'm swimming in cardboard boxes. I snuck a quick peek at my "FRAGILE - BUILT MODELS" boxes, and I'm happy to report that most of my Tintin, Area 88 and Studio Ghibli projects have arrived safe and mostly sound. A few broken propellers and landing gear here and there, but thankfully nothing major has been broken. My first task will really be to get them back to shelf ready... as soon as I find a shelf.

I also stashed away my stash (OH! that's why they call it...) and I've come to realise that my house isn't as big as I thought. I'm already having trouble finding a spot for the built projects. I have no idea how I plan to display the rest of them. 😄

After being reunited with my comic book collection, I've got an urge to build a few projects based on (North) American comics as well as Asian and European... so stay tuned for that~

Jay Dubya
Looks like the 3D printer arrived safe & sound, matched with a few comic ideas ... GB magic. Now, how about a set of well lit shelves under the stairs? You know next to the jungle gym, for the chimps ...

Andy Ball
Blimey!! Respect!, much "Main Monkey Business" indeed!

Lode Schildermans
Plenty of space to build and to surprise and inspire us

Brian Eberle
I did that in my last house. Got it all finished amd then we moved. Bummer for me. Hope you enjoy yours longer than I did mine.

Alec K
Great news that the finished models made it 👍

Spanjaard
glad to hear all arrived in good order. looking forward seeing the magic being created again 🙂

Greg Baker
So I finally gave up on reclaimed laminate. It just wasn't working. Luckily, I was able to find some clearance boxes at the local home reno store. I wasn't wild about the pattern, but it was thick, light colour, available in enough quantity, and most of all cheap! I've got the electrical plugs all wired up... now for some walls!

Jay Dubya
AstroBoy looks right at home already Greg

LucLuke B
Astro boy, first one up!

Rui S
Nice flooring work looks much Berger than the previous laminate 👍

Alec K
And I always thought that floorings comes last. Who knew...

Spanjaard
looking really good

Greg Baker
Thanks guys! Under normal circumstances, the flooring probably would be the last thing to do, however I was under a bit of a time constraint as I needed a room to put all my model building supplies after my shipment arrived. I removed the dust-laden carpet that was in there before, but the bare concrete floor was unusable "as is" with that huge gouge in it.

I'm still waiting on other people to complete other parts (my brother and his truck for the drywall and my master electrician uncle to put a new breaker on the panel and run the wire to the new plugs) so I just concentrated on what I could accomplish on my own first.

I'm curious, Roland, why you wouldn't show any pictures of the wiring in Germany?

Erik De Smet
Roland is right, Greg, the wiring looks sloppy. I wonder if this complies with the Canadian Electrical Code? In my experience North American rules are not less demanding than European rules.

Alec K
Whoa, looks like I may have inadvertently started a slapping session... 😄

I am not familiar with Canadian electrical code, but in the US, wiring need not be inside conduit (pipe) when installed within walls. It does need to be properly fastened however, and I am sure Greg will clean up all that before closing up the walls with drywall 🙂 👍

In the end, it will be a kickass man cave.

Matthew A
Your doing better than I am. After being let down by four builders, my workshop consists of a muddy hole and some planks of wood. So will do it myself. I've seen a lot wiring like that in the UK. I live in a "modernized" house which means electric cables tacked up above the skirting as they couldn't be bothered to try and chase into the 20's stone. Mind you I wouldn't like to do it without power tools.

Greg Baker
Perhaps I should've mentioned that I wasn't quite done with the wiring...😉. I actually have to undo some of what was done by the previous house owner. The wiring in Canada doesn't need to be run through conduit, but yes, it does need to be fastened. I am glad to see that my sharpe-eyed mates are keeping me honest though. 🙂

Daniel Klink
Exactly my first thoughts Roland.🙂
"I would not show any photos of the wiring in Germany, but you live in Canada so everything is fine"
But nevertheless Greg you are doing a fine job so far

Rui S
@ Daniel; Roland; Greg, Interesting, I was also amazed, because in Portugal the lines should be placed in straight horizontal sections above the height of the doors and always descend in straight vertical stretches and also always inside the piping, but I did not want to discourage you Greg, because as you where photographing you will always know where the cables go.
The most important thing is that people know where the cables are otherwise you could always spike a nail or screw in the cables😎

Daniel Klink
@Rui thats the point 👍

Daniel Klink
@Matthew.
Yap i've seen installations in Uk Houses or cottages and especially in elder Uk Cars...Holy Moly...
But it worked somehow for decades...
Perhaps the floor lights went out for a fraction of a second when starting the Computer, but in the end
all worked together. 🙂

Paul Ridgeway-Le-Gresley
there's nothing wrong with uk wiring its been like that for years i live in the UK and ive never had or seen a problem all ducting does is add more plastic dont need dont use it

Matthew A
I know someone that had a fire from wires overheating after having the house rewired up to modern spec. Paul plastic should be used for LEGO, models and toothbrushes

Cuajete
Nice new floor, Greg 👍

Tom ...
hmmm... going to use Future for the floor? Or would that be too normal? 🙂

Greg Baker
So, I've got the fasteners and nail protection plates for the wiring, in case anyone was still worried. Thanks to my brother and his truck, I've also got drywall ready to go as well. It's starting to come together... and if there was ever any doubt that this space was destined to become a model-building area... the fact that I found a bottle of Vodka and detailed plans for constructing a 1/6th (roughly) scale Spitfire shoved up in between the floor joists should put that to rest. Of all the things to pull out of that hidey hole!

The plans say Spitfire XIV & XIX by Brian Taylor copyright 1982... anyone seen these before?

Peter Hardy
A bit of a bow in that wall Greg. Is that safe??

Greg Baker
That's a bit of an optical illusion of the camera. The wall is plumb and level.😉

Matthew A
It's an R/C bird I've seen a few built. Google shows you can still buy it today along with new parts such as engine cowl and spinner

Lode Schildermans
Greg, when is your mancave done. It is becoming time too see more cartoon builds in which you excell

Paul Ridgeway-Le-Gresley
its getting there mate

Peter Hardy
Greg is building faster than Spanjaard!

Chaz Gordon
UK Wiring all depends on the floor construction. If floors are old school with joists and boards, Socket wiring is run under the floor, popping straight up to the sockets from below, with Lighting circuits run above, dropping straight down to switches & wall fixtures, If walls are plastered, original lighting wiring it run in steel conduit buried in the wall, later additions are generally just buried in the plaster, after sealing the cable with moisture proof coating (i just spray gloss paint on them). In plaster walls, similar rules apply, but long vertical runs should be attached to something solid.

Chaz Gordon
P.S. Whether or not that complies with Nth edition regs is not the point, who can tell once it's closed up, we don't need to get permits for that stuff.

Matthew A
Thanks for the info Chaz. Only did basic NVQ and then ended up changing careers due to health.

Greg Baker
Ok, so the wiring is mostly done - the plugs are all wired, fastened and shielded properly, but I'm having trouble getting a new breaker for my electrical panel (seems there's a manufacturing shortage), so some of the new plugs remain just for show. I got most of the drywall up, but I haven't had a chance to mud and tape it yet. That might take awhile, but regardless, the room is now a functional space... so good enough for me for now.

After completely uprooting my model building area, it's hard to re-establish a "flow". I haven't quite figured out where is the best location for some things, but I expect it will be a work in progress for a while. I had a few projects started in fits and spurts over the last couple of months as we were trying to settle, but I decided to sit down with a simple project that should be well within my wheelhouse - a 1/72 Academy P-51 Mustang to try and get the gears moving again. Not having to think too much on how I want to tackle a problem should help me just to focus on the process flow and find out what tools need to be where to get back ina comfort zone.

Greg Baker
Thanks Roland. Never finished is probably true, but finished enough for now at least gives me the option of getting back into the swing of things now that I have some model build space again!

bughunter
I most like the functional flexible doors with the flower ornaments 👍😉

Daniel Klink
Cool Desklamp Greg 🙂

Greg Baker
Haha! I wonder where I got THAT idea, Daniel?

As for the flowery curtains, bugsy... my wife had them hung up in our apartment in Seoul to hide the model building area from the rest of the civilized part of the family room, so they're part of the comfort zone now. 🙂

arron parry
Awesome 🙂

Alec K
Let the fun begin!

Peter Hardy
You are going to have more room than you have had in a long time Greg. Might be time to go to a larger scale! 😉

Clifford Keesler
Nice work room.

Matthew A
Peter the speed Greg works he'll run out of room fast if he goes for a bigger scale

Chaz Gordon
Go Big or Go Home!

Matthew A
He is home lol
But looks like has he plans for some 1:48 to help empty those gallon pots of tamiya paint

Nils Steyaert
very impressive, wish i had a bigger workspace like that 🙂

Greg Baker
Technically not part of my man cave, but I've secured some display space in my home office. It took me a while to add lighting to the bookshelf (with plans to add some to my glass case as well). But I was finally able to complete the reassembly/repair of a few pieces that were damaged in the move. Now everyone is home safe and sound (if only a little worse for wear).😉

Matthew A
I'm making whooshing noises and explosions in my mind just look at 'em

Daniel Klink
Taadaaaaaah 👍 👍👍
[img1]

Lode Schildermans
Love the new place. Now for some new builds

Spanjaard
great looking cabinet

Choppa Nutta
Yp Greg, it's all coming along great man !!
love the wooden display shelf, very classy ! 🙂

Greg Baker
The shelf was there before, but I wired up some LED strips to shed a little light on the subject. It makes a huge difference.

Spanjaard
I am thinking on lighting my shelfs now..

Alex K
Aaawww!!! What a trunk full of treasures! 🙂

Nathan Dempsey
Ooh, that's nice 🙂

bughunter
Light is always a needed in such cabinets 👍 I would say you can add more shelf glass boards to the smaller higher cabinet since you Tintin subjects are not that high. That would allow to build more😉

Spanjaard
it may be easier to buy a new ikea cabinet than to add planks safely to it.... that is the only pity of those ikea Detolf.

Rui S
In Portugal Ikea stop making them with that finish 🙁

Spanjaard
I believe Ikea only sell them now in black or white now, everywhere.

Treehugger
Ah the Ikea Detolf cabinet. Nice looking but heavy af.

I put some black anti draft tape around the opening on one of my two Detolf cabinets to keep the dust away, it works ok and wasn't difficult to do.

Donald Dickson II
Good Lord. Not just model advice, but building construction advice as well! LOL

RThe electric looked fine to me. Conduit isnt needed in single family homes in the U.S. I believe its the same in the great white north. My only critique on the walls would be that you did not have any horizontal studs as fire blocks. Just had to add that.😉

Greg Baker
All comments are welcome!

I am trying to figure out how to add some shelves to my Tintin cabinet. It is indeed the IKEA one and has a lot of wasted space, but I'm not sure how to add shelves that don't run the risk of falling and flattening whatever is below them.

I am curious how horizontal studs work as fire blocks though. The wiring was done to code... no conduit, but metal plates protect from screws and all the wiring is high enough off the floor in case of flooding.

Clifford Keesler
Very nice collection.

Tom ...
Strangely surprising to see you with so much space... eh, would the real Greg Baker please stand up...

Donald Dickson II
They slow the fire from vertical travel inside the walls. Without them, all that blank space between the studs are like chimneys. It wont shoot all the way to the attic like it would with old balloon frame construction, as the floors act as fire blocks as well. But without them, the fire can travel up inside the walls with ease then travel along the floor above until it finds an opening and come out there. It slows that process down giving us enough time to get there and put it out.

Theoretically.

Łukasz Gliński
Love the pic #15 😮

Choppa Nutta
Hey Don would filling those cavities with sand be a good idea as it is something that might not be too difficult to do as an after thought by making holes in the top of the plaster boards ?
Whacky idea I am sure but would it work do you reckon ?

Erik De Smet
Filling the space in the walls with Rockwool insulation would greatly improve their fire behaviour, but it's a little late to do that now. Might be useful if Greg has more partitions to build in his house. After all, we do not want his beautiful Tintin collection destroyed by fire.

Choppa Nutta
This is why I thought sand might work as you only need to make a small hole at the top of each partition and pour it in, although it might be a bad idea for other reasons but it might be a useful and cheap fix ? 🙂

Greg Baker
Thanks Łukasz!

Also, Erik, the walls are filled with Rockwool insulation. You can see one of the bags in pic #4. 🙂

Donald Dickson II
I am pretty sure that much weight would bow the sheet rock and cause it to rip loose Choppa.

Choppa Nutta
I knew there would be a reason it was a bad idea !! 😄 😄 😄

Chaz Gordon
For future reference, it's well worth the small extra cost to Use 90 Minute fire resistant Sheetrock. Here it's only about 40% more, and sheetrock is not that expensive, so it's only a small addition to the Project cost. Also, use steel 2x4s if you really want to be fireproof. (They're not that expensive, but a bit different to put together.)

Spanjaard
if you want to add more space to your Ikea Detolf, somebody seem to have done it quite nicely. see album
Completed | Album by Ondrej.Skarka

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks for that link Spanjaard. I've been looking at the Detolf.

Spanjaard
and one more way to add new planks to the Ikea Detolf Vitrina | Album by VSN77 printed from thingiverse.com/thing:3692309

Greg Baker
Oh... now that is handy!

John Thomas
Very nice work

Chaz Gordon
I do find that most display cases are either too shallow or lack the ability to put enough shelves in. I've gone for the Ikea Besta range for my wall mounted cabinets. The doors are a little thick around the frame, but I've used that to hide LED strip lighting, so everything is front lit.

JD
How can you sit on them hard ass barstools? 🤔

Nathan Dempsey
Wow Greg , I didn't realize you had that light on a swing arm. Are the models carved from Tungsten? How is everything not melting? 😄

Slavo Hazucha
This fine looking workspace could even accommodate a 48-scale kit!😉

Greg Baker
Nathan, since it's an LED bulb, there's very little heat coming off it.

Slavo... it's being considered😉

Spanjaard
yeah, i have the same light (hanging from the ceiling, i may get a second one). My girlfriend complains it can be seen from the street 😄 😄 I love it. looks like daylight even in the middle of the night

gorby
That a pretty amazing space you have now Greg. Compared to the tiny area you had before, it must feel like your working in and aircraft hangar.

Urban Gardini
Light is good, more light is even better!

Matthew A
Who makes the bulb? I've not seen one like it before

Spanjaard
i got mine from Amazon. i think it is straight from China....

Clifford Keesler
Neat work room Greg.

Matthew A
Found the garage led light bulbs. Some look like their from star wars - I really want
a basementt now lol

Donald Dickson II
I have two of those in over heads in my basement. They are flipping awesome

Chaz Gordon
If we had those basement furnaces in the UK, I'd be really tempted to leave the area visible and decorate the equipment steampunk style. Also a good place to put a proper shop compressor for airbrushing, you'd only have to run it once a month.