Looking back over my past year getting into the hobby I've found I've tended to focus on one project at a time until it was done to a level I was happy with (or I didn't want to continue it any more... all that money on 28mm Romans/Celts... #-o)
This was partly due to time and money constraints, as well as a general urge to finish something before moving on. As I prepare to dive into round two of my ECW painting after finally finishing off my Zombiecide figures, I've been thinking about all the projects I'd like to do in the year ahead and I wanted to ask the forum for advice.
Many of you talk of your lead mountain.
Do you tend to pick a sizable project from it and spend time doing it, or do you pick up a unit or two from one project to paint then tackle an entirely different one for variety?
If you were able to go back to the beginning, would you take a different approach? Finishing one project before starting another? Or would you build up a glorious Mt. Lead all over again?
What other techniques do people have for working on projects? I'm sure there's many different ones out there!
I'd be interested to know how you all approach the hobby.
My last painting session started with a continuation of painting the fourth battalion of 7YW Prussians I am doing for a friend which themselves were interrupted by me painting three battalions of Waterloo British for a friend. Both of these commissions themselves interrupted my painting of several other units for myself which are still unfinished.
My continuation of that last painting session continued this evening and itself was interrupted by a slight diversion of a few figures for a future project.
At the same time I am also reading through two different rulesets when I am not painting.
Quote from: jimduncanuk on 11 January 2019, 10:50:04 PM
My last painting session started with a continuation of painting the fourth battalion of 7YW Prussians I am doing for a friend which themselves were interrupted by me painting three battalions of Waterloo British for a friend. Both of these commissions themselves interrupted my painting of several other units for myself which are still unfinished.
My continuation of that last painting session continued this evening and itself was interrupted by a slight diversion of a few figures for a future project.
At the same time I am also reading through two different rulesets when I am not painting.
That sounds pretty fractured! Do you find you go back and finish them all eventually when jumping about or have you a trail of half finished units awaiting the mood to take you again?
I find I do spend a lot of time planning future projects or extensions to existing ones when not in a position to do any painting - researching time periods, rules, blogs, etc.
Interesting musing.
I go through the typical life-cycle-process: get attracted by an era/battle, reaserch a rulebok and resources, get the figs, plan when and how to paint'em when a, black primer, plan again when and how to paint'em, paint a bunch, plan again when..... at that moment my attention is catched by another era/battle... and all again starts. Nevertheless I use to finish a project each one or two years, but unwilling I end working in several in parallel!! ;D
In the end is Fun vs Free Time. The less time you have for the hobby the more Fun you need to have when you can sit down and paint/read/play.
I have recently discovered that it works for me to work in three projects at the same time. Recently I was painting 10mm Bretonnians, 1/72 WAB El Cid and 1/72 30YW
When I am a bit tired of the 10mm I change to one of the others 1/72... and can work them at the same time
But currently I'm thinking of Ancients again... and it is so fun to paint them... so... :- ;D
I have various methods...
One method is to try and finish a project, my 15mm FIW is a case in point. I worked through it until I had everything painted. But another option is to chop and change a squad of Flintloque elves, then onto 10 mm Mongol medium cavalry, Flintloque, 20 mm road wars etc...
I am also following Azazel's monthly challenge which can randomise things a bit too.
I have various methods...
One method is to try and finish a project, my 15mm FIW is a case in point. I worked through it until I had everything painted. But another option is to chop and change a squad of Flintloque elves, then onto 10 mm Mongol medium cavalry, Flintloque, 20 mm road wars etc...
I am also following Azazel's monthly challenge which can randomise things a bit too.
Quote from: Edmund2011 on 11 January 2019, 11:12:30 PM
Interesting musing.
I go through the typical life-cycle-process: get attracted by an era/battle, reaserch a rulebok and resources, get the figs, plan when and how to paint'em when a, black primer, plan again when and how to paint'em, paint a bunch, plan again when..... at that moment my attention is catched by another era/battle... and all again starts. Nevertheless I use to finish a project each one or two years, but unwilling I end working in several in parallel!! ;D
In the end is Fun vs Free Time. The less time you have for the hobby the more Fun you need to have when you can sit down and paint/read/play.
I have recently discovered that it works for me to work in three projects at the same time. Recently I was painting 10mm Bretonnians, 1/72 WAB El Cid and 1/72 30YW
When I am a bit tired of the 10mm I change to one of the others 1/72... and can work them at the same time
But currently I'm thinking of Ancients again... and it is so fun to paint them... so... :- ;D
I think one of the driving factors for me initially was to have actual armies I could play some games with. Now I have I can take a bit more of a relaxed approach and may consider starting up side projects to add some variety, maybe adding a couple more units to my Crusades armies or exploring other scales again.
Ancients are fun, I'm really looking forward to the Greeks coming later this year. And will likely do many projects in the era in the coming years...
I do agree on the fun factor, it's not something I ever want to become a chore. Saying that I do enjoy setting myself a bit of a challenge at times to finish some units by a certain date for instance.
Quote from: Maenoferren on 11 January 2019, 11:21:46 PM
I have various methods...
One method is to try and finish a project, my 15mm FIW is a case in point. I worked through it until I had everything painted. But another option is to chop and change a squad of Flintloque elves, then onto 10 mm Mongol medium cavalry, Flintloque, 20 mm road wars etc...
I am also following Azazel's monthly challenge which can randomise things a bit too.
Out of interest, do you find one method more rewarding than the other? Or just different?
Had a look at the monthly challenge and some of your blog posts, excellent work and the challange is very interesting, I can see that adding a lot of fun, especially if you've a lot of different pieces to hand.
I concentrate on a single army at a time, assuming I've got the figures. Dragging out the individual armies' time on the table would frankly be rough on my peace of mind.
Quote from: FierceKitty on 12 January 2019, 12:52:29 AM
I concentrate on a single army at a time, assuming I've got the figures. Dragging out the individual armies' time on the table would frankly be rough on my peace of mind.
Yeah, there something very satisfying about completing a project rather than it sitting half done for a long time.
Quote from: mmcv on 11 January 2019, 10:57:33 PM
That sounds pretty fractured! Do you find you go back and finish them all eventually when jumping about or have you a trail of half finished units awaiting the mood to take you again?
Yes, I do get completions, just not as quickly if I didn't help out others who cannot paint for peanuts.
I try and stick to one main project and get it to a usable size at least. I will get diverted while doing it, either just to have a break from doing the same type of figure , or because I need something for a game.
Currently I am doing French Foreign Legion for North Africa. I have two units done and another 4 units and 5 HMGs half done. I got diverted to painting a squad or Early ww2 Germans after playing a game where I did not have enough riflemen. I will then return to FFL with renewed vigour. Provided I don't get diverted again.
I normally have one main project on the go and several I am finishing off or adding to.
I tend to have one main project on the go with others waiting their turn :-w
This is assisted by being on the far side of the world from most temptation, figures take weeks to get to New Zealand
I typically do both sides of a project and try and break up the project into sub-projects that give 'balanced' forces ready for the table at each stage
For example my last AWi project had three British sub-projects (actually 2 British and 1 German) and three American (actually 1 American and 2 French)
As each pair of sub-projects was completed I could field larger and larger forces
I also tend to work in batches so I'm not doing too many figures at once but can still get in a rhythm doing several of the same figure
I also regularly post in the Painting Diary sub-board http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/board,19.0.html (http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/board,19.0.html) I find this helps keep me focused
If I take too long I get chased for piccies ;)
It really is a case of experimenting and finding what works for you
Oh Lor!
I have well planned projects. I scope out what I need and sometimes a buying schedule. What happens then is that the Dark Lord introduces giraffes and I am distracted.
However there is usually a main theme and at least one other going on at the same tome. At present the main theme is probably Ww1 with tiny Pacific as the back up. These are just a diversion from the real main theme which is Korea. I like to have 2 or 3 things on the go which are very different. This gives me a bit of Varity when painting.
Currently have TB archers, WW1 limbers and tiny PBY Catalina on my painting table.
I have found it the best way to keep the butterfly mind happy.
Armies take so long to get together that distraction along the way becomes almost inevitable, for me at least, but I think once you have a few 'usable' armies, so that you can always get a game to the table, pace and direction of progress matters less and you can direct 'it' rather than the other way around.
The lead mountain is simply our capability and energy / motivation to be able to paint and base fast enough is outstripped by a roving eye and the sirens of retail therapy!
I have lots of projects on the go, but in true wargames butterfly fashion am easily distracted. Painting time is limited due to the usual work/life balance issues, so I tend to paint when I'm in the mood and what grabs me at that time. This approach works for me.
Thanks for all your comments, interesting reading! :D
I think Norm hit the nail on the head, with armies taking so much time to put together your interest can shift quite dramatically. Past few months I've had less time for painting so has been slower progress. Though as orcs said, it's good to get to a usable state before moving on.
I like Paul's idea of building up projects incrementally and had actually been changing my ECW plans a bit to get some smaller armies on the table rather than the "do one big army then the other" approach.
That way I can have a big project on the go but do mini projects to add to past ones to expand. A few of you seem to be taking that approach, and is quite appealing.
I quite often listen to audiobooks, lectures and podcasts while painting and try to listen to ones that cover the period that I'm working on to keep interest high. However, as I'm also listening to things while going to work or making dinner I either run out of things to listen to on the period, or get onto another period and start thinking about a project there!
Yes, I have both a lead and a plastic mountain. I also have sufficient figures painted up now to play WOR, Dark Ages, Italian Wars, SYW, ACW, FPW and WWI games. Consequently I now tend to do what Steve does and add units and scenic material on a whim. I have now reached the point where the big purchase has ended. Time and finances are against that at the moment. But it does mean that now I can pick up units to paint that really interest me, rather than feeling under pressure to complete stuff to keep others happy. I think my only regret is that the Boer War will either never happen, or if it does I will be in my 70s.
First up, I try to avoid describing hobby activities as Projects.
It sounds far too much like what I do at work, and Project has a very specific definition there.
I'd hate to have any of my wargame stuff measured by project standards.
I'd certainly fail on any measure of finishing by deadling or staying within budget.
There are obviously other gamers who take this stuff far more seriously, so I've o intention of criticising their language.
These days it tends to be rules that lead me into a project.
Some introduced by gaming friends, and some discovered on-line through forums like this one.
If impressed, I'll sketch out some small forces - possibly progressing to purchase, painting and play.
My problem is that rules that look good on the page don't always produce an enjoyable game.
Or sometimes the game wears quite thin when you realise it's another rehash of "Romans can't lose".
I wish I had a better sense of - these rules are interesting, but will also make for a great game.
It's a very subjective call.
I attempt to exercise control, and that equals one set of figures under development at any time.
However some sets get shelved, occasionally abandoned, but usually ready to pick up when life allocates me some leisure time.
To balance this, I definitely experience different painting moods.
Some days I'd like nothing more than to spend an hour slapping base colours over 48 figures.
Others, I'll spend the same time painting shoes or hat-bands in 12 figures.
I find it helps to have a production line in both senses of the word.
1. Mass production - and keeping batches at similar stages of completion.
Always do the task for all figures of the unit - otherwise you'll spend half your next session looking for the guys without painted hat bands.
2. A continuous flow, with batches at different stages of completion.
This seems a contradiction, but I'll have primed units, basecoated units, and units undergoing final detailing.
I can then select a unit requiring the sort of work that suits my mood.
What I won't do is split individual figures form a unit (see point 1).
This approach results in overlapping projects (I said it).
As one approaches completion, there is only fine detailing to be done.
So as one winds down, I start another one (either un-mothballing an old set, or starting afresh).
Hi Steve,
I can completely understand the reluctance to use "project" in a hobby/work context, though for me it's not a word we use often in work so having a hobby project at home doesn't feel like a job. I do enjoy the planning and experimental stages, as well as scoping out what potential rule sets are out there to get ideas for flexible basing, etc, and admit to having some docs and spreadsheets for ideas and figure ratio calculations and army list plans. Means I can invest time in the hobby when I'm not actually at my painting desk. Even been jotting down some ideas for my own rule set to play around with for a future samurai project.
I think I'm reluctant to spend a P+P fee on a small order of just a couple.lf bags, so tend to wait until I've a lot done, then buy a load more figures all at once to work on next so they arrive as the current project winds down, like yourself.
I do tend to batch paint a unit or two at a time. A lot of my painting is done in small doses, when I have 30-40 mins here and there, so doing production line style painting fits well. Then when I have a longer stretch to do something can take my time over the details.
Usually more than one on the go; one being prepped, one just primed, one initial painiting done, none of which could be conected, and there could be a kit under construction as well. Variety, as they say '...is the spice of life.' ;)
Basically, always!
It's not quite the same thing, but I have anything up to half a dozen 'projects' on the go at any one time.
Very rarely, I'll have just a couple on the go.
Even when I was doing all the Korean War figures (Does that count as one 'job'....or do I count all the different nationalities & Summer and Winter kits as separates ?)......I was converting 30mm master metals for one of Leon's friend's firms.
I like doing those.....But the desk does get VERY messy with all the white metal dust, all over the place !! ;D ;D ;D
Cheers - Phil
I have projects, yet unfinished, that started in the 70s.
If I don't have at least half a dozen "active" projects and three times that "on the back burner" it's because I have more than that!
I have not finished anything, and I have been painting toy soldiers since 1973...
;D
Eg, I have just sat down after preparing some 2mm/3mm scenery for painting (used a Brigade Models factory as a stand in for the Tishamingo* Hotel in Corinth), whilst at the same time adding completed 10mm French standard bearers to half a dozen FPW command stands.
*I think that's how it's spelt. Can't get up to faff about looking it up.
Quote from: Leman on 13 January 2019, 04:18:11 PM
Eg, I have just sat down after preparing some 2mm/3mm scenery for painting (used a Brigade Models factory as a stand in for the Tishamingo* Hotel in Corinth), whilst at the same time adding completed 10mm French standard bearers to half a dozen FPW command stands.
*I think that’s how it’s spelt. Can’t get up to faff about looking it up.
And women say we can't Multi- task !!
From my limited experience, only having (re)entered the hobby about a year ago and currently on my 4th & 5th armies that will fight each other, I'd say 1 project at the time. I tend to go overboard/get gready/develop an OCD on whatever is my current project and build up a mountainous lead pile on that alone. I want all the various types of troops and in convincing numbers.
This drive towards completeness comes with a drive to complete. Doing more than one project at the same time would leave me unfulfilled for too long, and if there is one thing I do not want from a hobby, it is frustration (believe, I've had my share of that in other hobbies).
So:1 massive multifacetted project, preferably with one or two armies i can later find more new enemies for (in my case1870-1900 Colonial Brits, many different enemies after the Afghans I'm starting out with.)
For the last couple of years I've been trying to concentrate on a single project at a time, but it's really not easy as I'm so easily distracted.
Take care
Andy
Quote from: Ben Waterhouse on 13 January 2019, 12:00:48 PM
I have not finished anything, and I have been painting toy soldiers since 1973...
Curses. I think that means you've been at it a year longer than I!
Quote from: FierceKitty on 14 January 2019, 01:38:09 PM
Curses. I think that means you've been at it a year longer than I!
8)
1967 with Scuby miniatures (after visiting him in Visalia, CA.)
My first painted miniatures were Airfix figures painted (well, for a certain value of "painted" at least) in a hotel in Scarborough. Self, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents had virtually taken the place over. Second week of the holiday I was diagnosed with chicken pox and forbidden to go out with the rest of the tribe so was left in the care of my grandfather. He was a carver and painter of exquisite wooden toy yachts as well as Foreman of Joiners at the naval dockyard, so had some knowledge of Humbrol paints so I became the proud possessor of a box of figures, a random collection of paints and a brush. If painting hands and faces pink, guns brown, boots black and blood splats on the dead and wounded red counts as painted then that was my start. I felt there was no need to paint the rest because the plastic was the right colour for their uniforms anyway!
That would have been the summer of '62 or 63.
Shortly thereafter I graduated to Airfix ships and Fletcher Pratt rules and started real wargaming, exchanging marbles for measuring tapes!
As a child I remember being told by my older broither that I was too young to paint ... but my first semi-serious figures must have been 1973 when I bought Altmark's German Combat Uniforms 1933-45. It was the first time I'd seen camo smocks; all the film and TV depictions of German soldiers wore coal scuttle helmets, jackboots and beautifully tailored jackets with bottle green collars. Thus, my Airfix German infantry (1st type with the sPzb 41) got liberally daubed with Airfix gloss brown and vivid green - also gloss. The paint was so thick, it did resemble a shapeless smock.
Happy Days.
To be fair, my painting hasn't improved much since then.
You're right, Nobby.
The Airfix paints were so 'thick' back then !!
I can remember repainting a Subbuteo goalkeeper's hands, where the paint had chipped off.
It looked as though he was wearing a pair of salmon pink boxing gloves. :o
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 15 January 2019, 08:19:01 AM
You're right, Nobby.
The Airfix paints were so 'thick' back then !!
I can remember repainting a Subbuteo goalkeeper's hands, where the paint had chipped off.
It looked as though he was wearing a pair of salmon pink boxing gloves. :o
Cheers - Phil
And were in those little screw top glass bottles with an " interesting " smell...
Now painting 2/3mm ACW scenery, French FPW standard bearer bases, and setting the table for a run out of From Shako to Coal-scuttle. At the back of my painting table are the 15mm dismounted WWI German dragoons.