Lead Adventure Forum

Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Spinal Tap on August 30, 2020, 07:56:31 AM

Title: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Spinal Tap on August 30, 2020, 07:56:31 AM
I'm nearing the end of my small post apocalyptic project although, like most people, I'll keep adding a piece of terrain here and a small group of miniatures there. I've already gone through this process with fantasy and sci-fi genres in the past 2 years that I have been skirmish wargaming.

I've found the process quite tiring mentally, in no small part because of my obsessive nature to get things finished, sometimes sitting up all night to complete something and using a hairdryer to move the drying process on quicker so I can finish items. My pattern in the past 2 years since I started miniature games has been to see either miniatures or a rule set I like, research it a fair bit, buy stuff, make stuff, paint stuff until it's done.

This has led to corners being cut sometimes to get things done in a certain timescale and the miniatures have not always been painted to the best of my ability - great for getting gaming but terrible for ego!

I am considering breaking this cycle by playing the games I have and merely painting miniatures that I like for no other reason than I like them.

I have seen figures in all sorts of genres where I think they look great but I have nowhere that they might fit in with the games I play so I have discounted them.I love the look of the Oathsworn animals, Gaslands cars, Brigade's Starships for example but have no real inclination to get more rules and actually play the games.

My intention is to start buying and painting miniatures I love and, perhaps, make small displays, completing only a couple of models per month but to the best of my ability.

Do others do this or are miniatures you buy always destined for a game?
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: AKULA on August 30, 2020, 08:26:57 AM
As someone with a degree of OCD myself, it doesn’t sound like your current cycle of painting is healthy for you.. what you’ve described is “mentally tiring” or a chore, rather than something you enjoy....if anything it is leaving you unhappy.

The time factor sounds like a self-imposed deadline...I can’t imagine that anyone you game with would put that pressure on you, certainly if they knew the impact it was having?  I used to start a new project every year, straight after Salute, with the aim of putting on a new game at the next year’s Salute...again, self-imposed, and it kept me focussed, but lots of the “mental tiredness” you described..driven on by the fear of letting people down once I’d said I’d run a game.  Also, like most gamers, I’m a magpie...something bright and shiney...have to have it, so the side projects piled up at the same time.

About 18 months ago though, I drastically cut down my number of active building/painting projects to just two - Judge Dredd & Game of Thrones - even then I’m only working upon one or the other, at a time, as the mood takes me....and I’ve been firmly in the GoT groove for much of the last year...point is, I can now indulge my desire for completeness but I’m not up against a deadline.

The other change from before is that I also took the decision about the same time to pick a game or two that I’d play, when my lad fancied a game, BUT I’d buy everything I needed for it ready painted - we joined in a participation game of Cruel Seas at the York show, he loved it, so I chose that as a starting point.

Don’t get me wrong, I still want to get the Game of Thrones (and Judge Dredd) on a table, but I feel like I’m only painting for me, so I’m enjoying it more than before....the funny thing is, I’m actually more productive than I’ve ever been in the last 35 years, in terms of painting as well.

In summary, your plan to paint for enjoyment is 100% the way to go.

 ;)
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Emir of Askaristan on August 30, 2020, 08:57:09 AM
I've been there too - "having to paint" to finish things for a show and feeling self pressured to complete. Usually there were other things going on too and overall it wasn't a good place to be in.

Breaking that habit or chain can be difficult, but your plan is the way to go. Painting for pure fun - a nice mini or unit or something you've always fancied and keeping it to a short amount of painting time each session helps. You'll find you enjoy it and the mindfulness that comes with painting returns.

Good luck.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Captain Blood on August 30, 2020, 09:55:46 AM
I usually paint figures that are going to form parts of armies I intend to play wargames with (which don’t always happen ;)) I guess most of my ‘armies’ end up with somewhere between 75 - 300 figures. Typically 150 - 200.
I have built up around 15 fully painted armies over the last 20 years (my second wargaming life - I had a 15 year complete break after my adolescent wargaming life). My armies mostly include both sides of any given genre or conflict, because I tend to play with small groups of friends who may not always be able to field the opposition, so I build both opposing sides.

I don’t ever regard any one of these collections as ‘finished’ because I will always come back and add a few more figures / vehicles / buildings to any given setting, sometimes years later, if something new comes along that takes my fancy and will fit in.

Adopting this mindset certainly helps counter the ‘I must finish this at all costs’ urge - which normally ends up turning the latter end of any new army painting project into a slog and a chore, because you’re no longer painting because you enjoy it - you’re painting because it has become a task that HAS TO BE FINISHED before you can move on. Which absolutely ceases to be fun.

So perhaps try to think of your collections as ‘finished for now’ rather than ‘finished for ever’. The open ended nature of the former reduces the pressure to round off any given project as a ‘must do now’ - although I’m sure all wargamers and collectors suffer from that urge to some extent.

But to answer your original question (lol), outside of that army-building process, yes, I also buy random small sets of figures or even one-offs just because I like the figure or figures, and want to paint and own them, even though I have no intention of building an army for that period, genre or setting. I have bought a LOT of Lucid Eye figures to satisfy that urge :)
And I can tell you that it is quite therapeutic. Just to sit down and paint a figure or a small group of figures just for the fun of painting something that takes your fancy. It provides a relaxing and enjoyable counterbalance to (and break from) the drive to keep painting volumes of figures or models to build out / finish an entire army.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Plynkes on August 30, 2020, 10:46:02 AM
I recently returned to the painting table after a long time away, and painting individual figures just for fun has been my way of easing myself back in. Frankly, I'm loving it. Some of the minis I've been doing have been from projects, but I'm  not painting with any particular project in mind, and many of them aren't ever going to be part of any game. I am just painting them for fun.

Actually I do not remember a time when I enjoyed painting as much as I am enjoying it right now. So I urge you to give it a go. If you are anything  like me you'll have a blast.

Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Spinal Tap on August 30, 2020, 11:10:46 AM
Looks like it's nor just me then that's made this newbie mistake; thank you for the wise words of you folk who have been doing this much longer than me.

I guess most of my ‘armies’ end up with somewhere between 75 - 300 figures. Typically 150 - 200.

I can't even imagine this scale of endeavour.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Captain Blood on August 30, 2020, 11:13:54 AM
 Well they take me a very long time to accumulate and paint :)
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Gibby on August 30, 2020, 11:47:16 AM
Quote from: Captain Blood on August 30, 2020, 09:55:46 AM
So perhaps try to think of your collections as ‘finished for now’ rather than ‘finished for ever’. The open ended nature of the former reduces the pressure to round off any given project as a ‘must do now’ - although I’m sure all wargamers and collectors suffer from that urge to some extent.

This is excellent advice, and about where I'm at with my collections.

Last year I painted nearly 400 figures, all for a few projects I really felt pressured to get "finished". They were pretty much tabletop standard, so look fine, but it is a little bit demoralising knowing that I could've done each one better (albeit slower). I felt the self imposed pressure of HAVING to get stuff done, to the point where I'd feel almost guilty for doing anything other than painting in my free time.

Now I've got a few "game ready" forces under my belt, I've slowed down again to paint for fun and to try my best. I can add to those previous projects (future Gibby can worry about the new figures looking much better than the older ones...) as and when, so the idea that any force is always open for expansion is a good way to take the pressure off. No finish line; no deadline! So long as you have enough to play something with (let's face it, most genres have rules covering tiny skirmishes up to mass battles) then you are also getting the gaming side out of the minis as well.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Harry Faversham on August 30, 2020, 01:00:31 PM
Quote from: AKULA on August 30, 2020, 08:26:57 AM
As someone with a degree of OCD myself, it doesn’t sound like your current cycle of painting is healthy for you.. what you’ve described is “mentally tiring” or a chore, rather than something you enjoy....if anything it is leaving you unhappy.
 ;)

It sounds worse than working, put like that!!!

 :o
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Orctrader on August 30, 2020, 01:56:59 PM
Quote from: Spinal Tap on August 30, 2020, 07:56:31 AM
...merely painting miniatures that I like for no other reason than I like them.

This is all I have ever done.   ::)
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: PeteW on August 30, 2020, 02:09:28 PM
Quote
My intention is to start buying and painting miniatures I love and, perhaps, make small displays, completing only a couple of models per month but to the best of my ability

Good plan. I consider myself a painter, and paint figures for the enjoyment of it. I don't game at all.
I paint what I want to, when I want to with no guilt regarding unfinished figures. I'm pretty much at the stage now that I only paint 1 figure at a time, so I can enjoy the process and avoid that conveyor belt feeling.

Paint for yourself, have fun, and learn from the mistakes

P
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: dadlamassu on August 30, 2020, 02:20:57 PM
In about 60 odd years of building, painting and collecting I have several armies (both sides in each period) of over 200 figures a few over 300, some in the 50 - 150 and quite a number in the 10 - 50 range.  I am not a great painter and so paint to a fair table top standard for almost all my figures though a few get "superior" paint jobs when the mood or the figure inspires me.

But I also have several groups of figures not related to my collections in 20mm, 25mm, 30mm, 54mm 75mm etc just because I liked them and painted them for fun.  Actually almost all my figures are painted for fun.   

About once a year I painted against a deadline for the public participation games we used run at shows. 

So paint away on whichever models you like, fill the shelves and boxes and cupboards.  It does not matter if they never take the field so long as you get satisfaction from them.  (I have lots of figures that have not seen action yet but will some day ... probably)

 

Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Sinewgrab on August 30, 2020, 02:27:12 PM
I moved away from the painting on deadline a few years ago - I went to a 'making games with what I want to add to my current collections' instead of collecting specifically for an event - and I don't regret it.  As someone who is constantly fighting the "ooo shiny" syndrome, it was necessary.  I've accumulated 30 or 40 armies that have 100 to 200 models painted, and at least that in stuff I didn't get to before I moved on.

Of course, I've been at it since I was 13, and a good chunk of those are Warhammer 40k and Fantasy, which I no longer play, but I can't bring myself to sell off painted figures.

If it tires you rather than relaxes you, do something different.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: has.been on August 30, 2020, 03:21:12 PM
Paint what you have to = misery.  (I know, I've been there).
Paint what you want = happiness. (That is where I'm at now)
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Spinal Tap on August 30, 2020, 03:36:35 PM
I've spent a very pleasant hour tabling all the miniatures and terrain I've worked through in the pat 12 weeks for my post apoc games.

Really pleased with what I've achieved (which is part of why I drive myself) but am drawing a line under the project for the time being: I will still be adding things on occasion but not to the exclusion of everything else I enjoy.

Thanks for the input, it's really helped to put things in perspective.

Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: tallyho on August 30, 2020, 10:45:19 PM
My army's number in the thousands.


Quote from: Spinal Tap on August 30, 2020, 11:10:46 AM
Looks like it's nor just me then that's made this newbie mistake; thank you for the wise words of you folk who have been doing this much longer than me.

I guess most of my ‘armies’ end up with somewhere between 75 - 300 figures. Typically 150 - 200.

I can't even imagine this scale of endeavour.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Cubs on August 30, 2020, 11:29:42 PM
As far as the hobby goes, if it ain't fun, I don't do it. Of all the reasons for why I choose to collect and paint miniatures - because the conflict, the figure range or the rulebook interests me (most likely combinations of those) - feeling pressured because I need them for a game never applies, for the simple reason that I don't actually game with the figures. Oh, I make plans to game, I kind of, in a way, sort of plan a force around a ruleset (or two) just as an excuse to collect the figures, but they never actually get used in action. That way I can guiltlessly swap between one half-finished project and the next as the fancy takes me.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: syrinx0 on August 31, 2020, 01:24:11 AM
Gaming plans have definitely grown more vague over the last decade while the painting plans have actually improved as I have focused in on painting what I like.   While I have some larger projects, I have no set dates for completion on any of them.   

I do try to lay out multiple units in a winter painting plan for priming sessions while the weather is better but even then its not a hard and fast commitment.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Paratrooper 42 on August 31, 2020, 01:32:52 AM
I paint what I want when I can - my job prevents me spending too much time on the hobby so I try and make the most of my limited painting time.  I'm an average painter which helps as there's no point me agonising over the details as I don't have the skill to pull it off  lol.

My advice would be if you're not enjoying it, do something different.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Diablo Jon on August 31, 2020, 10:24:46 AM
I hardly ever game so I paint armies and build scenery for fun with the occasional solo game thrown in. Generally I enjoy painting and try to paint stuff I like sometimes an army requires a unit I really don't fancy and ill bite the bullet and paint it but those can feel like a chore. The other problem I encounter is starting some miniatures, with enthusiasm, but then for some reason they aren't turning out how I envisioned them, that kills the enthusiasm. Then I struggle to finish them to the point I've had half finished minis sit around for months, even years, that I just cant face finishing off.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Captain Blood on August 31, 2020, 10:44:31 AM
Quote from: Diablo Jon on August 31, 2020, 10:24:46 AM
The other problem I encounter is starting some miniatures, with enthusiasm, but then for some reason they aren't turning out how I envisioned them, that kills the enthusiasm. Then I struggle to finish them to the point I've had half finished minis sit around for months, even years, that I just cant face finishing off.

I think that happens to all of us :)

I have a whole box full of primed and / or half painted figures. Dozens of them. Figures I started full of enthusiasm, but just couldn't get on with for one reason or another.
I have now learned to put them away, rather than push to finish painting something I am simply not enjoying.
Occasionally I will go back a year or two later and finish one or two of these off, if I find I need them for something. But if they've sat there for years (and some of them have), I'll probably just give 'em a respray and move them on via eBay... I've had that kind of clear-out a few times, and am probably due another one :)
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Sinewgrab on August 31, 2020, 03:13:37 PM
What the good Captain says is truth - I just recently sold off my entire unpainted 4th edition Warhammer Dark Elves - because I had never painted more than one of them.  After collecting, I found painting them unappealing, but it took me about 20 years to admit I wasn't going to paint them.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: OB on August 31, 2020, 07:55:17 PM
I too only paint figures I feel like painting.  That means projects go on hold for a while others temporarily take there place. 

Everything still gets done in the end so it really isn't a problem.  This is our hobby not our work it is there to be enjoyed at our own pace.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Bearwoodman on September 01, 2020, 09:17:04 AM
I am currently (and unwittingly) more or less following Captain Blood's advice (just on a smaller scale). I have a handful of projects on the go (including a 28mm fantasy army, 20mm WW2, and some Sci-fi vehicles) with no end date or deadline for any of them. When I get some hobby time I dip into whichever one I feel like. Or just paint a random figure that fits with none of them for a bit of variety.

It probably helps that my small gaming group have enough figures and terrain between us already to play our favourite games, so we do not have the pressure of needing to finish a lot of painting in order to get a game in. Anything we produce now is a bonus.

We have also in the past (whisper it) played with unpainted or part-painted figures. No one would claim that this is ideal, but by separating the gaming from the painting it takes the pressure off the latter. If the game is fun those unpainted miniatures are likely to have received some attention the next time they hit the table.

Occaisionally in the past I have felt a bit of pressure to stay up late in order to get something done for a specific game; usually a piece of terrain for a Frostgrave scenario or similar, but never a project that has felt overwhelming.

I did have a situation once where a good friend of mine was keen on a new game and we went halves on a starter set. I was not so enthusiastic on the setting but was happy to join in because of friendship and because I knew he was willing to try things other games I had suggested. But when it came to it the models were large and detailed and started to take much longer than I had expected. It did not fire my imagination and it began to feel like a chore, and I could not help but think of other things I would prefer to be painting. In the end I did a couple of key characters as best as I could and the rest of the gang received basic base colours and I left it at that.

I am now much more wary of making commitments of that sort, but also much less likely to try and rope reluctant friends into spending painting time or money on games they are not particularly interested in. Which is why I am going to have to do both sides for any historical game I want to play. Given my slow rate of painting and lack of focus and discipline it means it will be years before I will be in a position to put on a game of e.g. Chain of Command, but that is a different problem to the one we are discussing in this thread. In the meantime I intend to just try and relax and enjoy the slow process of assembling forces.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Spinal Tap on September 01, 2020, 12:49:37 PM
Sage advice from all of you - thanks.

The silly thing with me is that these deadlines are not even around getting stuff done so I don't let other people down - they are just self imposed.

I get an idea, I make a list, I start making/doing, keep adding and refining list, start wanting to see the completed work, refine list some more, then add even more ideas, want to see the finished article even more, add a few more things to the list etc. until it becomes unmanageable.

I have now deleted my Zona Britaniya project list and will be adding bits when I feel like it.

If anyone sees me making a list please slap me.

 :) :) :)

Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: warrenpeace on September 10, 2020, 04:41:45 AM
I've never really gotten into painting. Would have been nice to have figured that out 18 years ago. Would also have been nice to find a rules system that required only a handful of figures to make a new faction of some sort. Pulp Alley is doing that for me now. Only need from 1 to 12 figures to make a new "league" (about 3 to 7 figures is typical). So finally started painting again last weekend after 3 years off. And there's no current pressure for a specific game.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Sinewgrab on September 11, 2020, 02:32:45 AM
Quote from: warrenpeace on September 10, 2020, 04:41:45 AM
I've never really gotten into painting. Would have been nice to have figured that out 18 years ago. Would also have been nice to find a rules system that required only a handful of figures to make a new faction of some sort. Pulp Alley is doing that for me now. Only need from 1 to 12 figures to make a new "league" (about 3 to 7 figures is typical). So finally started painting again last weekend after 3 years off. And there's no current pressure for a specific game.

I am going to politely not comment - because I know you, and the snark is trying to come out, Warren.
 ;D
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Spinal Tap on September 11, 2020, 06:30:14 AM
Quote from: Sinewgrab on September 11, 2020, 02:32:45 AM
I am going to politely not comment - because I know you, and the snark is trying to come out, Warren.
 ;D

You really should  lol lol lol
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: bluewillow on September 11, 2020, 08:36:52 AM
I need to do something similar, I do get board with hanging out large armies so I tend to get some terrain or even some fantasy figures for a break from historical legions of men. I also paint large scale 200mm busts of figures that are great for a break. This winter I intend to paint in more of a haphazard way doing little dioramas and table clutter.

Cheers
Matt
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: nozza_uk on September 25, 2020, 01:34:50 PM
I'm fortunate enough that my job hasn't been significantly impacted by Covid and the lockdown the UK had earlier this year. That said, I am working longer hours from home, which impacts hobby time.

I was very enthusiastic when the initial lockdown started. I managed to complete all of my outstanding building kits that had sat untouched for years. I progressively worked through my lead mountain until I had less than 100 unpainted figures left. I found my investment in 'Contrast' paints really paid off and allowed me to address projects that I had long forgotten about and helped me tackle over 300 zombie figures I had been avoiding! Seems I'm a sucker for a bargain too, as I found lots of figures packs that had been bought in various sales.

However, as lockdown restrictions lifted, I found that I actually wanted to spend less time painting and more time playing. So much so, that I haven't touched a paint brush in 3 months. What has rekindled my interest in painting is that I've purchased a number of rule books over the course of the summer and I need to build up the required army lists.

I'm now at the age where I paint for enjoyment and not because I have to.
Title: Re: Painting miniatures for the sake of it?
Post by: Pijlie on September 25, 2020, 04:02:24 PM
In reply to the original post: no, I don't always buy minis for a specific use or project. On the contrary.

Over the years I bought a lot of minis without even knowing what to use them for, simply because I liked them. I enjoy painting for painting's sake. Sometimes figures have been finished for years before a ruleset arrives I can use them with.

Sometimes you could call it a project, like Vietnam of Prehistorics, but at the time I start painting I have no idea for what rules I am painting them. That usually comes along in time. My experience is that it is more fun to buy and paint minis that you enjoy painting and then go looking for a ruleset that you enjoy playing than picking a ruleset and start sloughing away at painting an army you might not enjoy painting.

In my absolutely not humble opinion the only waste of time in hobby activity is when you are doing something you do not enjoy.

STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY AND MOVE ON!!!!

But seriously, when you catch yourself not wanting to paint specific figures, go and paint something you do enjoy.