I paint every mini like it's my last!

[sundancer 42933xp 1]

One question @scribbs do you have a dedicated hobbyspace where you can leave everything set up and just sit down and paint or do you need to prep your hobby space?

Reason for me asking is: I think most people need to set up some kind of hobby space and that is on heck of a hindrance. I know for myself had I not build my mobile workstation my productivity would be even less then it already is. And I’m guessing many other hobbyist face the same problem.

[scribbs 14508xp 1]

I don’t have a dedicated space, although I would love one. Please excuse the hastily snapped photo below. Basically I paint at the end of my dining table. I can grab the mat and the paints pretty quickly from the sideboard. Totally agree that this should be a barrier to productivity, and it is for big projects like terrain etc.

However, a temporary space might have helped me balance out to a painting level where I’m content, as stuff doesn’t have a chance to sit on the table forever. Plus I don’t get to accumulate clutter around my workspace, which helps keep focus.

[sundancer 42933xp 0]

So you’re saying you have better self control 😉 Fair enough *g*

And to be honest my work and hobby space is a mess again… has anybody a good idea how I can prevent that from happening every 2 -3 weeks?

 

[blinky465 17028xp 0]

@sundancer – I must have thrown my wallet at the screen at least fifteen times (I was going to say twenty, but I’m not a maniac) but @scribbs *still* hasn’t got a Patreon set up!

In all seriousness, though, I do wonder if the “temporary painting on the table” idea has more going for it than those of us lucky enough to have dedicated painting areas realise. When I paint, I get to a point where I think I’ve done enough, I get up and walk away. Nothing to tidy up, nothing to put away. Just a messy desk piled up with crap.

Maybe if I *did* have to tidy up, I’d a) have a tidier desk to work from, which always makes you more productive! and b) like @scribbs I’d be working to a “deadline” (even an artificial one) – i.e. got to get all these done before it’s time to start packing away (so someone else can use the table, for example).

When we first set up BuildBrighton as a community “nerd group” we hired a room, one night a week, for a show-and-tell session and general “hackathon” where people brought stuff to work on. But the key element was, we had to tidy up and leave at the end of the night. Years later, while we have our own “hackspace”/workshop, many people do hanker after the “good old days” when things actually got done and people’s projects progressed week-on-week, rather than hung around on a shelf gathering dust.

Rather than see it as a downside, I’m starting to think having a temporary work station is actually good for productivity (even if it’s a pain in the arse to constantly get everything out and put it all away again)…..

 

[blinky465 17028xp 0]

@sundancer – it looks like @scribbs has the answer: make your work area non-permanent! It’ll force you to tidy up, you messy bugger 😉

[sundancer 42933xp 0]

I know myself well enough to say: that would work XD

[torros 23816xp 1]

Block, wash and if I’m feeling adventurous a highlight or just use AP dip or future wash with no highlights at all

[scribbs 14508xp 1]

@sundancer Any better self control is forced by circumstance – I don’t have space for a dedicated hobby area; I only get short time windows to hobby due to other commitments. These factors create an environment that promotes forethought and planning, and help me to find a clear stop point.

I don’t want to overstate any of this, as it is very much a case of what works for me/ how I’ve adjusted to what is possible due to other constraints. Different personalities will undoubtedly struggle with short burst hobbying in an impermanent space.

[blinky465 17028xp 1]

One thing I absolutely won’t compromise on is faces (and, in particular, eyes). I used to just slap on some Agrax Earthshade (or Army Painter Strong Tone) over a flesh base and call it done. But since learning how to paint eyes (thanks to a Lyla Mev video about six months ago) it’s the one thing I won’t compromise on. I think they really add to the “wow factor” of a mini. Even if – as you can see – the rest of my painting isn’t exactly brilliant (though these are still only at the “blocking in” stage) a nicely painted face can cover a whole multitude of sins!

The thing is, a well-painted face doesn’t actually take *that much* more time than block-and-wash. Contrast paint here is doing a lot of the heavy lifting (Guilliman flesh) with just a t-shape of Kislev flesh on the nose, two upside-down triangles for cheeks and a line across the forehead/browline.

[torros 23816xp 2]

My view is with all these techniques like wet blending and 3 stage highlights etc to me you cant actually see the effect really stand out on the tabletop so why bother or do people feel they need to paint  for social media now

What I hate seeing are   people saying they have painted it to tabletop standard as though its  some sort of an apology for not using all these fancy techniques so   they don’t get nasty messages on twitter and Facebook.  Be proud of what you have achieved

You tube has a lot to answer for

[bali 3441xp 0]

The time I put in varies a bit but I’m pretty firmly in the slower category it seems but a lot depends on the model.  Animals, monsters, etc with few detail items and relatively limited colors can go pretty quick while more detail intensive stuff takes longer.  Some minis also particularly grab my attention and will get more time.

All that said I think my “fast” is slow for most.  I would guess I don’t ever get a mini done in under a couple hours with most stretching out over a few days (not of straight painting of course).

I do subscribe to the idea of painting groups of minis to speed things up if they’re going to have a fairly uniform color scheme.  I find a grouping of 3-5 works pretty well to balance efficiency and not feeling like it’s a job though I’ve done squads of 10 or so when it makes sense.

[captainventanusParticipant 4936xp 0]

When I got back into wargaming 5-6 years ago I wanted to get everything perfect and not to waste a single model in the process. Nothing ever go done because I was tinkering around for just the right colour combinations, looking a new techniques. Youtube is doubled sided here, a great wealth of information, but there is always going to be something else.

The result was that we played infinity and when though 8th edition 40k playing with grey armies. And it was a paradox because we were perfectly happy to play like that or with fully painted perfect models, but not with just good enough ones. As I did know what the final army recipes were going to be anything that needed to be built in subassemblies for painted never hit the table.

With a busy job and travel I would never have gotten things complete though. And the reality was time was the most valuable thing. Now I have given myself some interim armies as practice projects which will make the table more colourful in the short term while I work towards my main army goals. Buying extra models and their cost is nothing in comparison to the lost time worrying about getting things right first time around or not having something ready for the rare weekend we can actually play.

[danlee 22437xp 0]

Once the kids were old enough to be mobile I couldn’t have a dedicated hobby space anymore. It really killed my ability to paint until I bought a mobile paint station that I could just put on a high shelf when I’m done painting. Now I use it every day.

[phaidknott 7023xp 0]

Of late I’ve found painting 28mm a chore, getting all those details, layering, shading etc etc to get the mini looking how I want it (regardless of how many I’ve got to do).

But I’ve found moving down in scale (6mm, 10mm and 15mm), suddenly the joy of painting is back as I can still do detail work on the minis but now I’m batch painting multiple minis and more importantly reaching that critical mass where I feel that I’m progressing forwards through the lead mountain.

Black undercoat, “patch” painting (leaving the back undercoat showing at the edges of each colour to add definition), wash and a very light drybrush and I’m done (in 15mm, 6mm get the undercoat and patch painting only).

I think every time I’ve gone and done an army in 28mm my enthusiasm just slowly drains as I wade through them trying to make them look as good as I can make them. When I move down in scale I find it easier to do a more “workman” type of paintjob (where it’s still tidy, but not overly fussy). I think the urge to spend more time on a mini is directly related to how much I spent on that mini (or I just can’t skip corners on a mini that cost me £8 vs a 15mm figure that cost me £0.50p).

So cheaper figures actually bring back the joy of painting (been doing some Heroics and Ros Ancients), whereas those expensive masterpieces where the mini is just SOOOOO good just end up on the to do pile as I’m scared of messing the damn thing up and prevaricate painting them until I “hit the zone” in my painting with recent practice and effort.

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