How many projects at a time

[digid]

I seem to have too many projects going at one time. I am not talking about buying new stuff to add to the pile, but actual projects that you are currently working on. I seem to have multiple things on the bench more and more all the time. I used to limit myself to 1 army and 1 terrain item at t time, but have lost control. I now have way to many.

Currently on the bench is about 80 vikings.
I have about 30 western figures for Dead Mans hand.
About a dozen buildings etc.
A hand full of figures for FrostGrave
A bunch of Pulp Figures.
More germans for Bolt Action
A few 15mm Chariots for Fustus Furios that looked like it would be an interesting game.

I seem to hop back an forth on the projects, I am getting stuff done, but sometimes its a bit discouraging, looking at all the projects on the work bench.

Anyone else with this issue? Any advice on keeping focused. Time to paint and hobby has been hard to come by as of late. Work, Family, stuff around the house. I used to try to get in 1 or 2 hours a day, seems as of late I am lucky to get in 2 hours a week.

Digid

[Major_Gilbear]

I currently have about 10-11 projects on the go, and started another small one yesterday.

I'm sure you'll getter better advice on focus from those who post after me - as undoubtedly they get more done than I do!

In my own defence however, I would say that I do this for fun. I therefore don't see any reason not to have a variety of projects to plug away at as the mood strikes me - afterall, progress on anything is still progress.

One thing I do try and do however is stick to doing one unit/squad/gang/group at a time for any given project. Not only do I get a better consistency that way, but by breaking projects down into unit/squad/gang/group I actually stand a decent chance of completing a useful block of work for any given project.

However, I don't have all the projects out at the same time on the table. Not least due to space considerations, but also due to the distraction factor. I'd rather get a project out, and then work away at it until I either complete it, or until I get very strongly pulled by another WIP project - in which I will swap the projects over. This also protects my WIP so that I can pick them up again without worrying that they are dirty/dusty/damaged in the meantime.

Another is that I do try and sit at the hobby table for a bit most days - even something silly like applying a wash, doing a single pass of highlights, drybrushing bases, etc., all helps to make progress. If I don't sit down at the hobby table though, it's just too easy to drift off and get distracted by low-engagement stuff like TV or surfing the internet. And although it can take me a bit to get started, once I get going in an evening, I do actually always get into it (which should be obvious, since I do it fun afterall!).

Finally, and this touches a bit on the way I tackle painting a unit/squad/etc at a time: I am in this hobby for the long-haul. As long as my models do get painted, then over a period of time I will inevitably end up with enough stuff complete for most projects.

[AKULA]

I've certainly got less projects on the go than I did previously, due to my protracted house move, but I tend to categorise them as follows:

Planning - lots of scribbled paper all over the house, dozens of webpages over on my browser, and book purchases that don't necessarily get read anytime soon....

Hoarding - ok, so the project has made it past the first hurdle, but I'll still want to get a decent pile of "stuff" together before I actually do anything - I tend to work best in focussed stints of work, so I like to have something decent to go at.

Build - not just scenery, although often its this stage that grabs my attention first, but also figures, often including commissioning new sculpts.

Game - now and again something gets finished, but let's not dwell on this stage!


Planning
-Modern Naval
-Zombies 15mm


Hoarding
-Game of Thrones 15mm
-Game of Thrones 28mm


Build
-Star Wars 1/2256
-Aliens 28mm
-Battlestar Galactica 28mm
-Stargate 28mm
-Apocalypse Isle 28mm


Game
-Zombies 28mm
-Space Opera 28mm
-Pirates 28mm

[sukhe_bator]

You are by no means alone in having several plates spinning at once...

Planning;
GOT/LOTR 3 to 4 scratchbuilt half timbered houses for medieval hamlet
GOT palisaded marching camp

On back burner;
25mm GOT Tully 'scorpions' and crews
25mm GOT light cavalry
25mm GOT Ironborn
25mm LOTR Rohirrim
25mm LOTR forces of Saruman
15mm Transcaspian railway scratchbuilt armoured trains, locos and buildings

Currently on work bench;
25mm Karstark, Rosby, Rykker, Hornwood, Glover, Tallhart factions and skirmishers

The trick is to stay on point and focus on getting small jobs done. It helps that my 'workbench' at work has very limited space before it looks very messy. The 'distraction' and space considerations factor in.
For example this weekend I assembled just 4 Fireforge figures to turn into Karstarks, which I will be adding greenstuff cloaks to this week. They needed round bases for transport, so I did a batch of those as well. I also wanted to convert some of my more generic proxy Ithiliens culled from C13 and C14 figure ranges into potentially more GOT skirmishers. A run of the mill re-basing job that will almost instantly treble the number of skirmishers I have...

Keep it small and achievable and you will soon find the list gets a little smaller each day. I agree with Major Gilbear, concentrate on one squad at at time. Since I started working on 10 man House factions, my GOT project is progressing by leaps and bounds.

[Vanvlak]

Focusing is good - probably a max. of 2 projects at a time is healthy, as it allows for some respite from any project becoming a bit of a chore.
I am rubbish at this unfortunately, and in spite of my best intentions I am down the road to hell, to the extent that I am planning to just have fun picking at this and that instead of planning projects I never finish.
 

[vodkafan]

As many as needed to actually stop me finishing one 

[Daeothar]

Oh good god; the amount of projects I have running is staggering. But I only have 1 to 3 on my desk at any time. I'm like the Major up there; I do this for fun, so everything I paint/convert/sculpt is 100% win.

Right now, I have 2 projects on my desk; my ongoing fantasy undead army (WHFB Vampire Counts), which is mostly rank and file painting right now, and a small side project; a squad of Khorne berzerkers led by Khârn the Betrayer. I'm only in the conversion and building rpocess on that one.

So, just for the heck of it, I'll try to list all my ongoing projects here. This might actually be an eye opener for myself too. For concience's sake though, I will not list the packed away unpainted ones that I have not even started on yet...

- X-Wing repaints and DIY ships
- Generic Scifi space combat
- 40K (Imperial Fists, Dark Angels, Fiery Lions (DIY chapter), Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, Dark Eldar, Khorne, Necrons)
- Space Crusade update
- Necromunda gangs (Esher, Cawdor, Arbites, Genestealer Cult, Scum etc)
- Gorkamorka Orks
- Infinity (Pan Oceania, Haqqislam, Aleph)
- Dropzone Commander (Scourge, Resistance)
- Deus Ex cyberpunk
- Battletech @ 15mm
- WHFB (Warriors of Chaos, Vampire Counts, Chaos Dwarfs)
- Myth
- Hero Quest update
- Frostgrave bands and terrain
- Warmachine (Khador, Cryx, Cygnar)
- Pulp (for an RPG campaign)
- WWII (Fallschirmjäger, but soon also Dutch)
- Tanks! (Germans, US)

Damn...

OK; that was a bit sobering. Especially since I haven't even included those projects I have collected miniatures for, but haven't even started on.

Most of these projects have ran for many, many years though, and get taken out of the cabinet or box whenever I feel the mojo to continue on one or the other. So I'm working on all of them to some degree. Some get a lot of attention, others lie dormant for years, but when the mood strikes; pop, they're on my desk.

What can I say? I have the attention span of a concussed goldfish...

But in the end, in the precious hobby time I can free up, I can do whatever I want and feel good about it. I tried sticking to just one project, to finally finish it, but then it quickly becomes a chore and that's where the fun ends. Sure; there are stages in every project that are tedious and less fun, but I don't mind those, as long as the inspiration is there.

I do admire those people who decide to start a certain army and then actually do and finish it within the year! my hat is off to you ladies and gentlemen, but I have long ago accepted my own limitations and know that I won't be able to do so and keep it fun at the same time.

What I'm trying to say here is: don't fret about having too many projects, as long as you have the space to store them, have at it. The thing is; I do always have all of my projects in the back of my mind, so when something comes along that triggers a certain project, I'm all over it. It's when you start forgetting that you have a certain project on the backburner stored away somewhere that you might want to consider maybe shutting it down.

But as long as you are having fun with them, as sporadic as it might be for some projects, for pewter's sake; keep at it! This is a hobby after all, and it's meant to provide relaxation and distraction from real-life, so you can regain some energy for the daily struggle.

So it better be fun!

[robh]

How many projects at a time?

All of them.  I don't call any project finished until it gets abandoned and sold, there are always new figures or units that can get added.

Probably 40+ different games/collections underway currently (although "underway" includes things for which I have bought and paint stripped or assembled figures but not yet started actual painting). From where I sit now in my painting room I can see in progress figures for 12 different collections (although 2 of those are major re-basing rather than new work).

I did try working on only 1 project at a time but found that it tended to reduce the amount of time I spent painting. If I did not fancy continuing with what I was painting rather than working on something else I would go and play XBox or PC games instead.
For me jumping from project to project is much more rewarding and productive.

[Julfdi]

On the worktable: Active right now:
painting,  in various stages of readiness
- for Hail Caesar:
- casualty markers for Hail Caesar
- Gaulish light cavalry unit
- Gaulish infantry unit
- Carthagene African veterans
- Carthagene spearmen
- horde of various elephants

for Pike and Shotte era:
- field fortifications for artillery
- unit of landsknechts
- unit of very early reiters

waiting finishing touches on bases and varnish - for Hail Caesar
- more Gauls
- Italian light cavalry
- Poenic citizen cavalry
- Spanish Scutarii
- Italian medium infantry
- Italian light infantry

In boxes and shelves of the painting station,in various stages of painting, not actively worked on, but ready for inspiration:
- platoon of republicans and nationals for SCW in 15 mm plus some odds and ends
- Ottoman silahdars, janissaries and irregular infantry for By Fire and sword (15 mm)
- various reiters, musketeers and pikemen for By Fire and Sword
- 15 mm crusaders originally intended for SAGA now expecting to see action on Lion Rampant
- quite many samurais and servants on 28 mm for Ronin and maybe Lion Rampant
- houses for Central Europe

On assembly and basing line more Iberians for Hail Caesar.
Primed and base coated some houses, walls and camp

Since winter is coming and I do my priming outside I may concentrate next on assembling and priming stuff I want to paint until spring - probably mainly noble poenic soldiers and their allies. Maybe some turks for sheer fun they present.

I should also finish those troops that need basing and those annoyingle numerous units requiring "just some more details". My opponent is getting his legion ready  so Hamilcar should get ready.

I have tried to get more ready units by concentrating on one or two units at the time and pushing until I actually finish them.
To a certain extent I have made progress even though I let myself start with new fun units even though old projects wait my attention.
I do get inspired by actually seeing ready units and game-ready armies so pushing to completion actually adds to inspiration. I am still seeking for the ideal batch size though too large batches become a chore as well as doing too much repetition of same stuff. (By Fire and Sword gave me trauma on horses that is only slowly healing - now I know I need to finsih the horses off any cavalry before working on the fun part, ie the troopers.)

[Severian]

Hmmm. All depends what you mean by "at one time". I generally have a project that's my primary focus, and most of what's on my painting table will be to do with that (although there are usually a few stragglers). So at the moment it's goblins and dwarves for Dragon Rampant & HOTT (and any other fantasy rules I can tweak the basing for).

Every few months, though, the pendulum of enthusiasm abruptly swings to something else - or rather, I gradually sense a falling off of enthusiasm for what I'm currently working on. Then I know I'm ripe to switch; the trick then to redirect (or revive) enthusiasm towards one of the many half- or quarter-done projects boxed up and waiting for their time to come round again.

So, right now for example, I think I'm coming towards the end of my current fantasy stint; fortunately a visit to SELWG yesterday and a look at Simon Miller's game there set me thinking, so I'm now slowly unboxing Early/Middle Imperial Romans and endless undercoated Germanic hordes for another crack at a project I started about five years ago. I expect I'll get a couple of cohorts done and maybe a warband or two before I lose steam. But it's all progress, and a chance to fill in gaps in the project with anything that's caught my eye since it was last unboxed (about six months ago, I think).

But I'll probably keep a good few dwarves and goblins on the painting table, for a change from painting uniform or mostly uniform units. And for sheer fun, of course.

But as for how many projects I have that stand a good chance of making the rotation: well, from time to time I make a list of all of them that are even nominally alive. When I last did this, about a year ago, there were at least two dozen; I've probably added a couple since then. Of those, maybe eight to ten are things I've returned to in the past couple of years; but I've certainly bought the odd figure for other things deeper down the lead pile..

I used to worry about all this a bit; but my firm conclusion now is that this is a hobby, and I need to allow myself to enjoy it as I enjoy it. It's great to finish projects once in a while, but mostly I do this to relax and have fun. One of the myriad ways it's fun, for me at least, is the endless planning and replanning and repurposing of dormant projects.

In fact this is in one strong way a return to where I started in the hobby, three and a half decades ago, when my ambitions always far outran my income and I spent long hours planning armies I could never afford to buy. These days, I buy more, and probably plan a bit less (time is shorter now than when I was a schoolboy!); but it's still fun to do both.

I suppose to sum up my approach, I've tried to accumulate a critical mass of very different projects so I can more or less bounce around between them without finding myself compelled to start something completely new (well, not too often anyway).

[Elbows]

I only have maybe four or five major projects I've done.  When I start one, I tend to concentrate heavily on it, until it's up and running (ie. playable).  Then I add to it sporadically afterward.

I have a massive Old West collection/project.
I have a large dungeon crawling project.
I have a collection of gladiators which are done.
I have a Battletech project which is effectively done.
I have a large old school 40K project which is 70% done.

I don't mind small side projects (ie. skirmish warbands for small games, etc.) but full scale projects are limited by storage and terrain/etc.  If I do a project I normally go pretty heavily into it.

Painting/building-wise I keep stuff unassembled/primed until I'm ready to paint/build it.  I do my best not to allow a build up of stuff on the painting table.

[Corver]

I know the feeling and talking to Deothar doesnt help, as we give each other ideas! I used to game with him when we lived nearer.

Just bought the pike and shotte starter set plus dragoons 2nd hand for a project next year.
Doing AZW british and Zulus to follow
Doing Boer War for the men who would be kings, Got ACW cavalry and artillery to convert using perry afagan war british.
With Bolt action 2 got another 2 boxes of germans for a Early war German force to fight the Early war Dutch I pre ordered. Plus desert rats and afrika corps to finish.
Frostgrave gnolls and cultists and of course pre-ordered barbarians
Tanks -Germans -British
AWI Americans need finishing
Just bought Napolionic french box from victrix 2nd hand.
And this is all before crisis, the best wargame show in EU (outside UK) where no doubt more nice figures will catch my eye.

I do think this time ive gone too far. Problem is people at the club keep selling stuff! 
Old wargame stuff never dies, it goes from one attic to another.

I kind of have an 80-20 rule when i only ever finish 80% of the models for a project. I know this and therefore buy 120% of what i need to negate this effect hahahhahahahha

[Davout]

I break up the actual things I'm working on in terms of scale. I don't like to have more than one 28mm project on the painting table but I can mix that up with smaller scale (10mm) projects.

Currently I've finishing my Dark Eldar (28mm) and working through a large pile of 10mm fantasy figs (Dwarfs and Vampire Counts) for Warmaster.

In terms of planning and hoarding...well that list in near infinite.

[jambo1]

I must have about 10 projects at various stages of total non completion and just starting another!!   I sold of a load of stuff that was never going too happen so have pruned down a bit!! Really should focus but I tend to flit bakc and fore.

[Inkpaduta]

Have just one, 10mm Vietnam. Finish that and I could do whatever I want!
But, I just can't seem to find the interest to finish it up.