Painting Goals Motivational Thread

[ashmie]

This week I av been mostly painting.........Romans Imperial age 1/72 scale for a game of Field of Glory in August. Gaul Vs Caeser.

Next month I'm going to revisit my 3000 point ongoing Orc and goblin fantasy army and after that Mordheim skaven and possibly the tolling bell thingy.

Last month I completed my fantasy Wood Elf army for a battle with Primach that didn't happen but it was good to have that target.

I love painting deadlines. I finished all my Ultramarines and my goal this year is to totally paint everything I own before I buy any more.

I haven't bought any models since January, so far it's working. I must be half way there now and feeling like I've turned a corner with the hobby. Things are less serious now, I don't feel like I must paint every waking moment. I have broken the back of my big armies and are just left with odd units here and there to add. The last 2 years or so have been really productive and I'm looking forward to having a break when it's all done and more time just to enjoy the games and painting the odd independent model. Batch painting is best for deadlines but does tire easily.

Long live skirmish games. It's great fun just painting a few models and then being ready to play.

[me_in_japan]

my goal this year is to totally paint everything I own before I buy any more.

good luck wi that. I've had that goal for...oooh, years, now...

Long live skirmish games. It's great fun just painting a few models and then being ready to play.

abso-freakin'-lutely. I have 2 40k armies, a mordheim gang, 2 necromunda gangs, 3 BB teams, a malifaux gang, and a Warmachine army. While I managed to get one of my 40k armies done for naghammer last year, I cant help but feel my eldar will never, ever be finished. Everythinge else, however, is already done (bar mali and WM, but I just started playing them a couple months ago, and theyre getting done, one at a time...) Skirmish scale games are the way to go for sure.

painting the odd independent model

be wary of this, as independant models can sit on your shelf and look at you just as well as an army of unpainted space marines can. I have several doing it just now. The prob is that you cant justify painting them fast, because the painting itself is the end goal. This means (for me, at least) that you feel compelled to do a good job on them, which takes ages, and can lead to soul-destruction. (especially if theres an unpainted army in there too, saying "hey, you took 4 months to paint him. you coulda done 50 of us in that time...)

[Primarch]

...because the painting itself is the end goal.

This brings up a nice point. Why are you painting your models? Are you doing it because you feel you should be putting painted models down when you're playing, or are you painting because you like painting. If its the former, then soul destroying production line techniques and tabletop level quality is what you need. If however, you're in the latter category then by all means spend 4 months doing one guy and making sure that each model is better than the last.

I'm somewhere inbetween. I prefer painting single models, but my skills ain't that great so they come out looking tabletop standard. Plus there is no way I could spend 4 months on one model. (4 hours is ok though).

[Admiral-Badruck]

I reckon a model is only done when I say it is. I mean I hope to have my orks all table top ready this year but this does not mean they are done at all. They can be worked on I the future but they can be put to use in tournaments and still get most of the paint points.

[The Other Dave]

This brings up a nice point. Why are you painting your models? Are you doing it because you feel you should be putting painted models down when you're playing, or are you painting because you like painting. If its the former, then soul destroying production line techniques and tabletop level quality is what you need. If however, you're in the latter category then by all means spend 4 months doing one guy and making sure that each model is better than the last.

That's an interesting question. I don't want to say I feel I should be playing with all painted models - I hate to make a value judgment like that, and I've played my share of games with unfinished models - but I definitely think that playing miniatures wargames with fully-painted armies using nice terrain looks really really boss. It also hits my collector's urge just so - having X points of fully-painted models to use in a game is a nice, measurable end-point to a process, and I get satisfaction from hitting it.

[me_in_japan]

They can be worked on I the future but they can be put to use in tournaments and still get most of the paint points.

interesting, that. I cant go back to a model once ive "finished" it. Some of my minis (fire dragons, fr example) have been sitting in a half-finished state for a while now, but I never thought of them as "done". I think once I base a model (base as in ground-texture, not base-coat) i cant go back to it. Thats a purely personal choice, mind you. I just like the closure.

I have 2 painting modes. One is get-some-slap-on-em-for-a-game (eg my nurglies, escher, beastmen) and the other is do-my-best-to-raise-my-game (eg my eldar, and single minis). The most recent minis ive done, the witch coven, are in the former category, but ive noticed that theyre significantly better than my nurglies et al. I think I might take a stab at doing some eldar, fast-style, and see how they turn out.

[Admiral-Badruck]

If I could not go back and paint or work on models I would be in some real trouble glad that is not the case.

[Primarch]

They can be worked on I the future but they can be put to use in tournaments and still get most of the paint points.

interesting, that. I cant go back to a model once ive "finished" it.

For me, I often go back to models I had done or half done. Very often its to paint them in a totally different scheme or to repurpose them for something. I've done this with marines before and I am currently redoing some old models for use with Secrets of the Third Reich.

If you dont want to go back to half painted models, strip them and start again or dont leave them half done.

[Admiral-Badruck]

Re-do is the big name for the game espesialy when dem get new kodex wiff new stuff.

[Primarch]

Re-do is the big name for the game espesialy when dem get new kodex wiff new stuff.

Or you painted them 10 years ago and your skills have improved since then.