Motivation lacking

[fsn]

Dear Gentlemen of the Forum.

I painted a big chunk of a Norman army a couple of months ago.

All I need to do is to finish off 60 light archers. That's it.

... and yet.

... and yet, I'm struggling to pick up the brush. The little blighters are sat on their painting sticks, undercoated and base painted, and I just can't seem to muster the motivation to get 'em finished.

Any hints or tips?

[sultanbev]

Get that all the time, especially when painting figures for eras I'm not interested in.
Leave them there for a few days, go make some terrain (free card buildings or a plastic kit) or read a book on a totally unrelated subject. The mojo will come back, sometimes you need to give it a chance,

Mark

[Techno]

I'll phone you up, and give you a load of abuse.....That'll be good motivation. 

Cheers - Phil

[FierceKitty]

Get a Byzantine to insult you, so that you're trembling with eagerness to meet him on the field.

[Techno]

I'm not phoning you up.....It's dirt cheap to phone Nobby...I dread to think what it'd cost to phone Thailand.

Cheers - Phil

[steve_holmes_11]

Divide those 60 stragglers into 4 groups of 15 (of 2 of 20, or 5 of 12 or....).
Make each group about the size you can paint in 45 minutes.

Finish them off one unit at a time.
You may require several passes, on each group.

[FierceKitty]

I'm not phoning you up.....It's dirt cheap to phone Nobby...I dread to think what it'd cost to phone Thailand.

Cheers - Phil

No need. Lee insults me incessantly.

[sunjester]

No need. Lee insults me incessantly.

That's coz she knows what you're like! (Or is that what you like?).

[FierceKitty]

I wish I knew! Mysterious oriental women, you know....

[Techno]

Nobby phoned.

Threats seem to have worked. 

Cheers - Mr Motivator.

[fsn]

I am now fired up.

Thanks Techno!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Woot

[Techno]

I am now fired up.
Thanks Techno!

You're welcome, Nobby ! 

How far did you get with them ?

Cheers - Phil

[fsn]

Base coated tan, and first run through with red-brown.   

They're not uniformed, which  I always struggle with. 

[fred.]

I very good suggestion I was given with non-uniformed figures, is break them into groups, and paint each group the same. Then mix the groups up when you get to basing. This gives the speed of painting uniformed figures, with an overall mixed look.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

They're not uniformed, which  I always struggle with.  

Dat be easy -line up the colours that you want to use up, dark to light - check the areas of colour on te figures - say trousers, jacket, sheild, hat. paint the trousers on first figure etc, then count down the stick untill you have gone as far as the number of colours. paint again. Once you reach the end of stick start next colour on unpainted figure. 2nd and subsequent colurs can be added to figures which already have paint on them.

IanS

[fsn]

I very good suggestion I was given with non-uniformed figures, is break them into groups, and paint each group the same. Then mix the groups up when you get to basing. This gives the speed of painting uniformed figures, with an overall mixed look.

I like that idea.

Dat be easy -line up the colours that you want to use up, dark to light - check the areas of colour on te figures - say trousers, jacket, sheild, hat. paint the trousers on first figure etc, then count down the stick untill you have gone as far as the number of colours. paint again. Once you reach the end of stick start next colour on unpainted figure. 2nd and subsequent colurs can be added to figures which already have paint on them.

Oooh ! Mathematical! I like that too!

I was toying with the idea of a spreadsheet to randomly assign colours ... but decided to paint instead  . 

[fred.]

Mine and Ian's suggestions are pretty much the same (I think I should be worried...)

For me it definitely helps to know that I am doing 6 (or whatever) colours, therefore about 1 in 6 should be that colour. Otherwise I think I have too many green or too many blue.

I do realise this is worrying about nothing, but it is the kind of thing that stops progress in painting.

[steve_holmes_11]

I very good suggestion I was given with non-uniformed figures, is break them into groups, and paint each group the same. Then mix the groups up when you get to basing. This gives the speed of painting uniformed figures, with an overall mixed look.

Warning, may depend on figure count and scale.

I used to do this with 6mms, but found the resulting kalaidescope of irregular troops simply didn't catch teh eye at arms length.
Imagine 6 units of 64 figures using 6 main colours.

I now split the figures into unit sized groups - or multi-unit groups. (If your unit is 24 figures, then 24, 48 or 72).
Each unit has a dominant and a secondary colour, then a bit of variation on details like belts, scabbards, helmet plumes.

Done right there's a a dominant colour scheme for each unit, but variation between figures.
It looks good in a battle array.
With the right sized groups, a single group can receive one coat in 45 minutes.
45 minutes being my painting duration between breaks.

[Sunray]

The motivation for me is ALWAYS a game.  I have British Falklands infantry in various stages of Nigerian Federal cammo - waiting for the next game date to create a deadline.  Perhaps I will have the Saracens to transport them into action by then ?