Have you ever heard the term “first world problems”? Well this post may come across a little “Oh woe is me, I have too many models to paint”. Please don’t take it that way, I know I’m lucky to be able to afford this hobby and I don’t take it for granted at all. In this blog entry I want to talk about succumbing to the latest shiny model and the consequences. More after the jump.
Ever feel like this?
I recently had a burst of Hobbit activity. I dropped my Black Legion and Necrons and got caught up in the hype of the second Hobbit movie. I bought Trolls, Mirkwood Elves, Hunter Orcs, Azog and Fimbul. It was great, I had so much fun painting them and adding them to my collection. However in the back of my mind I had the dreaded “to do list’ niggling away. While I was painting the Hobbit models I was still buying more models. I bought the Eldar Ghost Warrior box set and Haruspex. So even though I finished my Hobbit models I feel like my “to do list” has grown and it’s about to get worse if I cave in and buy an Imperial Knight.
Some kind of painting nightmare.
I need to fix this feeling of dread. The hobby is suppose to be fun, at the moment it’s turning into a chore as I try to churn through more projects. What I really need is a servo-harness with twin-linked paint brushes, sadly that’s not an option so first things first, I’m going to place an embargo on myself. I will not buy anymore models until I have met some deadlines. For example, no Imperial Knight until I’ve painted 20 Orks, 40 Gretchen (grots) a Heldrake and a Haruspex.
The second thing I’m going to do to alleviate the problem is clear my desk of unpainted models. Instead surround myself with recently painted models. This will trick my brain into thinking I’m more productive then I actually am.
Feeling better already.
The third trick will be to break the “to do list” down into manaegable goals and do a couple of quick achievable projects so it feels like I’m actually getting somewhere. I might pick up five Orks and the Haruspex next and try to paint them as quickly as possible. The Haruspex is the only Tyranid model I own which isn’t painted, so it would be great to complete that. I really want to complete my Second Edition Boxset so I want to start on the Orks and Gretchen sooner rather than later. I want to come up with a fast batch paint scheme which looks awesome and is quick to do, completing this huge project will will be a massive achievement.
Fourth and final trick is to sell off some models. This is a last resort but I feel I can do this with my Necrons. I don’t need the Necron Warriors or the Tomb Blades because the army is complete. It does feel rubbish to sell off some of the contents of the Megaforce, but I won’t get round to painting them and the money can go towards something I want to paint like a Tyranid Harpy or the Imperial Knight.
Oh well, I best crack on, these models aren’t going to paint themselves. What tricks and tips do you have for dealing with the strain of painting.
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I never leave anything unbuilt, as soon as I buy something I will build it, probably undercoat it and usually start putting on the basecoats… and then I get bored and buy something else, so it is that I have a large pile of half painted models and no motivation to finish them all!
Guys, what do you think about using airbrush? I was told that it can speed up your paintimg progress drammaticaly, so I'm going to buy one soon.
I have two 1500point armies to paint, I've decided that I'm not going to buy anything till they are done, or at least till one is complete then I'll grab some Horus Heresy stuff
I have a similar problem in that I didn't used to paint ANYTHING and got a huge backup of about five years.
You can see MY effort to clear this backup here if anyone is interested: http://citadelofpaint.blogspot.co.uk
My way to try reducing the miniatures stock is to write down bought/painted models, with this ratio :
2 painted models for 1 bought. And I afford me a new kit only if I'm positive…
Ok, I'm not very serious these last months as I need to paint hundred of minis before buying any more.
Not sure to be positive again one day… But I try to.
I always maintain a huge stockpile of unpainted models… and I bought a lot last year when I was in London (in fear of another price rise). My secret is to hide away all the boxes in a cupboard, then getting out and painting one kit after another. It might take one or two years until I get around painting a kit after I bought it, but eventually I will get through the pile. Of course, the pile will grow with new models over the time, and so it shall be the sacred circle of hobby for all eternity.
Let me think of what I currently have waiting in my cupboard… a Land Raider, a Land Speeder, a Storm Talon and various characters for my Ultramarines. A large Eldar contigent for my Iybraesil craftworld: 3 War Walkers, 2 Hornets, 2 Wave Serpents, a Crimson Hunter, Wraithguard, a Vyper, Guardians, Shadow Spectres plus a Farseer. There is still some unpainted Dark Eldar stuff as well: a Talos, another Raider and another Venom and Incubi. 9 Mk4 Assault Marines, 5 Death Company, 5 Tartaros Terminators and a Death Company Dreadnought for my Blood Angels project. Last but not least, 2 of the Vampire Counts christmas box sets, 1 battalion, one of the Dark Elf christmas boxes and a Black Dragon… it will take my years to finish, lol.
I have a ton of minis and I don't even game any more, just paint. I take comfort from the little known fact that a mini painter cannot die until his last model is painted, thus making me virtually immortal 😛
I really think there is no right or wrong, as long as you find you are in the right mental state. I used to be quite strict about limiting my shopping to only what I was about to paint. But then I felt the inevitable pull for various new releases, etc. so I also have a bit of a backlog. What I do is keep them neatly stored in my basement, still in their packages so that I am not confronted by them daily. I have found I actually like this system quite a bit as it means I have a good variety to draw from when I start my next project with little to no planning. Just paint whatever catches my mood at the moment. So rather than looking at my backlog with dread, I am actually quite exciting about the prospects in the pile.
What I think is most important is that you enjoy what you are painting. I am wrapping up the Dark Vengeance box and I was complaining to my wife how much I am not enjoying the bikers. She was a bit incredulous when she heard me speak of my hobby as a chore. And she has a good point. In this case, they are a minor hurdle and I have a good reason to want them finished. But if you ever look at your stash and groan about the prospects of painting some of it – then sell it or trade it. I think the key is to not feel obligated to paint something just because you have it. Sometimes we all make mistaken impulse buys.
Burnout is tough, but I find what helps is to take breaks and do outdoorsy stuff and focus on work for a while. Then come back to the paint station and crank some work out.
As far as an embargo, I've done this before and it really helps. I personally call them spending freezes. They work for stemming the flow of models in, but they don't increase output.
I'm doing my own embargo for very similar reasons and I wonder if it's a symptom of this "golden age" of the hobby – with so many new systems, Kickstarters, etc. I felt I wanted to give myself time to enjoy the stuff I already have rather than adding more stuff to the pile.
As a result I've pledged not to buy a single miniature or game (board, tabletop, console) for the whole of 2014! So far so good.
Good luck with your own embargo 🙂
I have a problem motivating myself to paint too. I improved my paint station. I store all my models away nicely with their own army boxes, and I only keep the models I am working on on the station! it works better but still I am not the greatest painter so i get fed up too easy haha. Also lately I've been selling off mini's that i just dont want to use anymore. Sold all my high elves, bretonians and going to go through my Orcs and goblins and Vampire counts to sell off what I don't use or want!
I got back to the hobby with the release of the Dark Vengeance box set. All models of that set are still on their sprues! I keep thinking to myself that "these are collection figures", "I gotta be at my prime to paint them", "just paint some other models to rub off the rust" etc and never get to paint those models.
So I came up with a similar idea to yours, I broke down the types of models I wanna paint and shelfed others that await assembly. That way I can surprise myself from time to time thinking I just received new models 🙂
Just bagged my own copy of 2nd edition 40k for a cool £60 on ebay. So I'm in the same boat as you!
Bunk up miniature until you are retired, then you have all the time in the world to paint 🙂
I got back into the Hobby in October 2012 after buying Assault on Black Reach off eBay and I still haven't finished it. My plan is to finish painting ALL of the models I currently own BEFORE buying anything else and then I'm only going to buy single boxes at a time and finish them before buying anything else. No more big box sets that will take months to complete. I really want some of the new Tyrannid models and very nearly bought some but I keep telling myself "they're not going anywhere, buy them when you've finished what you've currently got"
Every now and then I take stock and have a sell off, selling projects that I suddenly realise will never come to fruition… then of course I spend the money earned to buy more "Ooooh shiney!" 😉
Take a break, enjoy some game time with what you have already painted. Single malt helps too 😉
I have recently bought lots of night goblins, reallly lots of them (about 200 I guess, and lots of squigs and cool stuff) I think it really helps to break down the army in pieces. I have almost finished enough for a 600 pts list. After that I will paint enough models for a 1000 pts list.
I have far too much to paint too so he way Iuse is to have multiple projects at the same time but at different stages.
This way if a night I don't feel like spending time on blendings or edges (sort of thing I don't like) I always have more "imple" things to do like basing, priming, modelling.
The next day I'll probably be more patient and I will do my blendings. Or maybe Ill just add the details on some nearly finished models.
This way it helps me to work on multiple projects without getting bored.
As I always paint batches, completing a batch can take some time so working a little bit on multiple projects helps me to maintain a steady flow of finished products rather than having to wait finishing a model before starting another and having finished models only evrey other month.
I know some people like to do just the opposite so I believe it really is up to every painter…