[unofficial weekender] Cutting budgets, adjusting consumation of content.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

> But I’ve said before – I came for the videos, and stayed for the community.

I actually come for the ads! (: Unlike, say, every-bleeping-one else who throws a random not-interested banner ad in your face, Beasts has that nice column on the side, so you can browse for what information looks good to you. Oh, sure, OTT still has that BANNER IN YOUR FACE, but it’s not the only thing here. And Beasts is the only gaming site that has the KS weekly column. I don’t use it as much, since KS finally got the memo of recommendations at the bottom of the page, but at least I can skim the video thumbnails to see anything interesting. KickTraq news articles are interesting, but broader than my KS interest of gaming.

> @sundancer – as the one guy who’s probably kept the (forum-side) of the community limping along for literally years now, I don’t think anyone could take your comments as anything but constructive!

Agreed!

> (I really, really dislike Discord).

No opinion about Discord, but I might look at one if I run out of the gaming forums I check in with after a bout of painting.. So far, all I’ve seen used are its chat features, so the server has to be focused only on what I’m interested in. At least with FB with miniature painting, you can stick a picture there to look at.

[blinky465 17027xp 1]

Anyway, enough griping.

It’s Bank Holiday weekend, my wife and I have agreed we’re having a stay-at-home day today, so I’m actually “doing hobby”!
I didn’t get the Demon Ship game when it launched – mainly because it wasn’t actually a launch and the author has confirmed that the files are still not ready for release.

So while I’m waiting for the rules to become available, I put together some floor tiles (from the Kill Team stls from Dragon’s Rest) and start making some clip-together 3×3 boards.

What’s with the weird laser-cut bit of mdf with holes in it?
Well, that’s for my 10mm, 0.5mm thick disc magnets.

One thing I really liked about the Demon Ship previous was the creator had put magnets in his terrain – so not only did they all lock together, but they all stuck down firmly onto the board.
I figured I could do the same with my minis, and that way, when you move a piece into a square on the board, they’d always sit in the dead-centre of the square. That could actually prove useful for a slightly different project I’m working on….

In the meantime, it means that my board, terrain and minis are all nicely pulling together, making it really hard to knock anything over or accidentally nudge things around.

I’m still really excited to see how Demon Ship plays.
But even if the game itself stinks, I’ll end up with some cool terrain and some nice mix-and-match floor tiles to play other games with too!

 

[sundancer 42900xp 0]

I may still yet be tempted; but, like my own recent personal blog, without engagement from other community members, it’s a bit like shouting into the void.

@blinky465 I hear you. I still have more then one personal blog but those are more like a public diary and not a place of communication. (Especially since I’ve deactivated most comment sections due to spam issues)

It’s Bank Holiday weekend, my wife and I have agreed we’re having a stay-at-home day today, so I’m actually “doing hobby”!

It’s a long weekend here too but we’re visiting my best man and we will have a nice grilling and eating. What’s that mini on your pictures? Weird looking bot. No doubt it’s 3D-willed into existence but the design reminds me of something. Can’t put my finger on though.

[blinky465 17027xp 1]

It’s actually plastic, not 3d printed resin. From memory, I think it was from e4M miniatures.
It’s *very old*.

[a27cromwell 3185xp 0]

pledge –  having moved recently I need to set up my hobby bench and sort out my stash of kits , building supplies and kit parts . Have wasted the last month sorting my cd / dvd / book collections which means I spent a lot of time watching movies , listening to music and reading books  I forgot I had . Where did the time go ?

I don’t spend much time on BOW anymore , even let my membership lapse when my Visa card got hacked ( long story , sketchy ebay purchases ) I realized I hadn’t watched a Weekender or XLBS  in months , just lack of interest . I really liked the old format of the crew together in the studio , this remote stuff isn’t for me .  There was a time most Weekender /XLBS got 150 plus comments , now most have under 50 , so I assume a lot of people don’t like this format either . Unboxing videos  get very few comments now for some reason . To be fair many sites have gone to remote broadcasting or are using twitter / FB as they’re main means of communication . I don’t think Rubicon have posted on their main site in over 6 months and all new release info is via FB , god I hate FB .

I’m retired now and have a bit of cash in the bank so I pretty much buy what I want when I want it . As most of my local hobby shops have limited 28mm WW2   stuff , I’ve been ordering it  direct  from Warlord . Rubicon , Bad Squido , etc. Not to mention buying a ton books  on various WW2 subjects . Always fun to track down  an old book you used to have in the 70s and have dish out 10 to 20 times the original cover price because it is long out of print .

 

I probably should get involved with patreon as I’m a member of about 100 youtube sites , but,  I really don’t know if I could afford it . What I am doing is buying merch , t shirts , albums , commerative one off figures .   Its a win / win as they get most of my money and I get a cool t shirt or special version of a cd by helping out the band .

 

[horati0nosebl0wer 19610xp 0]

Sheesh, I’ve been away too long. Who are all of you? What am I doing here? Why is my tea cold? Eh, nevermind all that. Hello again all.

Pledge: Come around more often and finish off one more figure for my project.

Posts and the time reading: inhalation is the way I can get around to doing most of this stuff anymore. Scheduling was always a thing I’ve been poor with.

Buying minis: I’ve wobbled between ascetic restraint and epicurean excess. I think that to spend on a couple of models and getting them painted is alright as long as they get paint. The budgeting of cash is for large time investments that will need work instead of just saying they’ll be painted. Going from single figures to building armies is the process of learning this lesson. Having a small budget has helped to keep me on track for the next project should it require that buildup of time/resources. It means more if I work harder for it/there is scarcity. Could this be the antithesis of FOMO or its basis?

Cash to the creatives: I don’t really share much of my wealth with many other creative people. The crazy crew here is really my regular expenditure in that department.

In an effort to stay on target I will go back through the thread and read at length. I’ll have the time when my car gets a full set of tires replaced. In the meantime I’ll tease a hobby idea for a build I had at random from February which I’ve started. I’ll complain now that skeletons aren’t easy to work with.

[sundancer 42900xp 0]

Where did the time go ?

*points in one directon* that way. @a27cromwell

god I hate FB .

I wouldn’t say I hate facepage but it’s clumsy, chaotic and not really fun for me. Every time you look away everything changes. And sites using it as sole outlet will fall flat on their face one day.

What I am doing is buying merch , t shirts , albums , commerative one off figures . Its a win / win as they get most of my money and I get a cool t shirt or special version of a cd by helping out the band .

I think that is the most substantial way to get anything from patronage. Having ‘early access’ to videos or music is nice but it really is just a luxury item.

Hello again all.

Hello there Mr. @horati0nosebl0wer

Come around more often and finish off one more figure for my project.

Thumbs up!

It means more if I work harder for it/there is scarcity. Could this be the antithesis of FOMO or its basis?

I think it’s at least a point of leverage to get out of this FOMO loop some of us are getting trapped in.

I’ll complain now that skeletons aren’t easy to work with.

What is not easy with skellibobs? Prime grey, zenith white, drybrush bone colour, brown wash, a bit more drybrushing and done. I love skellibobs! And brainmatterbeige! And washes!

It’s a Monday that feels like a Sunday. And taking time to read and reply feels good. I really need to keep this going. It’s good mental exercise!

[horati0nosebl0wer 19610xp 0]

Grognardia Espinosa!!! Yes, let’s mix the memes here and make sure there’s something interesting to read and look at.

Considering the slow process of articles and the slow food, there is the same kind of merit to project builds and even this website. The Spring Clean is just a friendly nudge to work on things but there are those projects that do take time to be well hashed out. It might well be our clumsy thumbs that aren’t on the same level as the refined process painters/hobbyists but the development is what counts for payoff for the self. I’m reminded of the passage regarding participation awards in Starship Troopers and how much value is put on them. The Golden Button program is a shout out on the actual development side of things to promote continued good work.

@sundancer :getting pitchfork and torch ready”): Heresy?! … oh not that kind… I guess I shouldn’t get the *fun* stuff out either. What kind of trase is this that we can’t get normies in for?

[sundancer 42900xp 0]

Pitchfork… that reminds me of something.

And for today I will leave the PC and have a (hopefully) long good night sleep.

“What kind of trase is this that we can’t get”

Help me out here @horati0nosebl0wer What is “trase”? I can’t make heads or tails from it. Is it a typo or a slang the dictionary doesn’t know?

[holly 12044xp 1]

I pledged to get some work done on all this WarCry terrain I’d accumulated in the last year.

Not too shabby to get from bare plastic to zenith primed and painted, dry brushes and weathered over a couple of days.

Of course, I still have plenty to finish, see next picture. But! They are all primed, and have at least a first coat of something on each of them!

Thinking I’ll set up a project log for this also. But agree with the other comments that the project system would benefit from an overhaul as some days it’s almost unusable, and I’m still sad that a number of projects are irreparably broken – lots of text, pictures and progress lost.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19610xp 0]

Trase? Sheesh I must’ve had a moment of oddspace as I quickly typed before work.

@blinky465 An interesting bit of plastic. I’ve been watching video on plastic mold injection recently and it’s rather intriguing to see other aspects of related hobby. It made me think about the die making for Kingdom Death and the Siocast which is going on in the industry.

@a27cromwell Hobby areas? What are these things? I’ve heard of places called houses where such things are kept.

@holly another project to pore over is most welcome

 

[sundancer 42900xp 0]

Of course, I still have plenty to finish, see next picture. But! They are all primed, and have at least a first coat of something on each of them!

@holly the plastic is now protected! Also I like working on such large pieces. You don’t need to go into every detail that is sculpted on but if you want you could spend hours on in. Or just SlapChop[tm] it.

Hobby areas? What are these things? I’ve heard of places called houses where such things are kept.

That are those things not for us @horati0nosebl0wer Like the Denziens Den or the lair of @laughingboy [project link] or the delicious dungeon of @warzan For us there is only a small space on the table to paint and build.

I almost said: what a weird Monday morning only now just realizing (for the god knows how often time) that it’s actually Tuesday already.

[blinky465 17027xp 0]

@horati0nosebl0wer – I love these kinds of videos; and it’s interesting to see resin-based moulds actually being useful (even if they’re relatively short-lived before they start to “blow out”). I just found the e4m miniatures website, but I picked up those mechs in a boxed set from a discount store (probably The Works or Poundstretcher or something) over 20 years ago. From memory I don’t think they were more than a couple of quid each as I got a couple of boxes of mechs and a couple of boxes of space marines and back then I wouldn’t have spent more than a tenner in a day (and I needed a couple of quid for the bus fare into town!)

Space Rangers – 5 Plastic Miniatures

Mechs – 5 Plastic Miniatures

They actually look far better painted up than the raw plastic. You can just about see in the photos that they’re being produced from some pretty old moulds – the details are not very “crisp” and the space rangers in particular were quite “soap-y looking”.

In fact, looking through their metal minis, there are quite a few in there I recognise too

Future Skirmish

I think I’ve probably owned pretty much the entire two website pages at some point or other (I did a mass giveaway a few years ago and filled a Henry Hoover box to the brim with minis to my local gaming club, so don’t have any now, if they were unpainted). I’ve still got a couple of their troopers around here somewhere – some of the first minis I ever tried Quickshade on.

@a27cromwell – I think most bands these days depend on merch sales to pay for their touring. It’s a great way to support artists. I’ve even started buying CDs again (not quite ready to jump onto vinyl, but who knows…) I don’t think I’ve played a one of them (I always get the download option too). But it’s *something* tangible for the artist to sell. In fact, I quite like the idea of playing an LP – having to plow through the tracks you’d otherwise be tempted to skip. Some of my favourite songs today are B-sides or tunes I never really took to straight away, but slowly crept up on me after repeat exposure.

@sundancer – Tuesday you say? All I know, from the bruises on my arm, is that it’s the day after pinch-and-a-punch-for-the-first-of-the-month day. Looks like it’s a short week for some of us (and again next week for us Brits, as we’ve been given a day orf because some posh bloke is having a fancy hat put on his head next weekend). What with the bank holiday at the end of this month too, come June I’ll have absolutely no idea what day bin day is any more!

[sundancer 42900xp 0]

@blinky465  those e4M minis do look nice and the set for 5.95 is really tempting but 12GBP shipping plus taxes…. another win for Bre[REDACTED – NO POLITICS]

What with the bank holiday at the end of this month too, come June I’ll have absolutely no idea what day bin day is any more!

So C-19 all over again in regards to “What day is it?!”

[danlee 22433xp 0]

It seems I’m always busy on Fridays when the new thread starts so I’ve missed a few in a row.

1. Time: how much time do you take to read articles, news and forum posts? Do you just inhale them or do you read them properly? – I hardly read any these days. I just use the overview in the Weekender.
2. Money: adjusting hobby budget. Do you set aside a fixed amount of money each month for your hobby or do you just “buy whatever pleases you”? – I’ve always worked to a budget.
3. Mental state: Have ever stopped giving money to some creative person (patreon, ko-fi or similar) because you needed to adjust your spending and how did it feel? – I did review them about six months ago and cut out some I just wasn’t using anymore. I didn’t feel bad about it.

 

 

Just finished some new Arc Worlde minis. https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1794968/

 

[Author]

Posts