Planing a project´s tips.

[HerbertTarkel]

Taking a break when you lose the vibe or mojo is good advice. Pushing through no matter what only makes so much sense: this is a HOBBY. It should be FUN. If you’re not having fun, take a break, clear your head, and come back. Read about the period or whatever to find the inspiration later again, and bam, you’ll be back to the project with a fresh start.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

As an agnostic rules/fig heterodox , i never worry much about a set of rules ultimately losing its initial appeal, causing me to drop painting for them.  I am  more than capable of using the figs in some other game I want to play.

Mashups are great for odd figs that you don’t want to go whole period on but still wanna paint. This past weekend I ran a “Doctor Who and the Tear in the Fabric of Time” scenario with Republican Romans, Ancient Britons with Wolfhounds and Budicca in her chariot, WW1 Germans and Tommies, Daleks, Sontarans, Genestealers, Space Marines(very old beakies) Napoleonic  French Dragoons and British Rifles (including Sharpe and Harper), Apaches, Pinkertons, Mohicans, Ma Jenkins and her gang of female bank robbers, Chinese warlord forces from WW2, various Torchwood steam Punks and other VSF units such as the Scotland Yard special unit, Sherlock Holmes and Watson, the witches of Mayfair, the Time Bandits and Pure Evil, Dinosaurs, Robots, The Master and Davros…all on the table at the same time, quite the hilarious, fun game.

[HerbertTarkel]

Apache helicopters would tear that lot up! 

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

The wolfhounds turned out to be pretty nasty, even more so than old Space Hulk genestealers or even the Daleks…who got trashed by a T-rex.

[HerbertTarkel]

The wolfhounds turned out to be pretty nasty, even more so than old Space Hulk genestealers or even the Daleks…who got trashed by a T-rex.

T-Rex is the ultimate APEX PREDATOR! 🦖

[Easy E]

I typically complete one "big" painting project a year.  I have been painting 200 to 500 28mm equivalent miniatures a year for the last 5 years.  However, I am not an expert. 

Secondly, my motivations are different from yours when it comes to my projects.  My hobby is also a source of income and painting projects often indirectly lead to money, so that is a big motivator to finish a project.  I do not make any money off projects that I do not finish.  A finished project allows me to advertise new rules, showcase stuff on my blog, and help me get the word out on the things that do make me money. 

Here is how I approach a painting project:

1. First I plan out what I need- This is typically two forces to showcase a new set of rules, a red team and a blue team with some variant/slightly larger list options.  I write up the what miniatures I need and I make a list.  I then go scour the market for where I can get what I need at the price and quality I am willing to pay. 

2. Purchase - I purchase exactly what I had on my list from the places I decided to buy them from.  There is no excess purchases. 

3. Batch Ready- Next, I typically decide what core units I need for the Blue Team.  I know from my planning phase what miniatures these are.  I then assemble them and prime them all together.  They are ready to be batch painted.

4. Batch painting- I then batch paint these core units.  Typically this is batches of 20-50 infantry models/10-30 Cavalry models in a go.  The process is skin, shoes, pants, underclothes, armor, weapons, heads and helms.  I use a variety of colors, but usually apply one color to every third model or so.  Once they are all batch painted, I apply a wash.

5. Finishing- Once the batch is colored and washed, I move onto basing them all.  Then, as a last step I spray seal them all.  This process takes 4-8 weeks depending on time and weather.   

6. Next Batch-up- I then move onto any remaining units to finish the Blue team and paint them using the above batch painting method so all of the Blue Team is done. 

7. Repeat for Steps 3-6 for the Red Team.  Congratulations  You have two armies in about 2 -6 months.  I often paint a few palette cleanser 1-off models between Finishing and Next Batch-Up to keep me fresh, but always go back to my core project. 

8. Paint other stuff I want to paint that isn't part of my core project.

That is how it is done.  I plan-my-work and I work-my-plan.  I do not wait until I feel like painting.  I do not make any model look like a show piece.  I do not wait for inspiration. 

I do pull-out and set-up my painting station every time I am going to paint.  When I am done painting I tend to re-pack and put it all away.  I do not let projects sit out on my work space.  I use my painting space for other tasks when I am not painting. 

I hope that helps.

[Khusru2]

I would say 'don't buy the whole project in one go'. It may seem less cost effective but it is more cost effective than buying so much you either tire of it or don't even start painting in the first place.
Break it down into do-able chunks. See how long that takes you. You might find your ideas change or just change your mind.
You can see in the sale section that projects get jetisoned quite frequently.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

I would say 'don't buy the whole project in one go'. It may seem less cost effective but it is more cost effective than buying so much you either tire of it or don't even start painting in the first place.
Break it down into do-able chunks. See how long that takes you. You might find your ideas change or just change your mind.
You can see in the sale section that projects get jetisoned quite frequently.

A good plan, but make sure your pace is such that you figure out that you do indeed want to complete the project before the next batch of figs you need go out of production.  When i finally got around to finishing the few Bretonnian knights i had bought from a cutout bin …30 years ago !!!…deciding they made great “Elf-Knights” for a Victorian styled Arthurian force and wanting much more, the damn things had become collectibles and were selling today for massive amounts of money. 

[Elbows]

Yeah, if you do "buy too much" up front...just keep it in boxes so you can recover most of the money if you flip them later.

[Funkmachine7]

Get an idea of the scale in terms of numbers.
Hope that you can every thing from a few suppliers.
Try to start with a minim viable goal, a half dozen painted gladiators is finished, even if the painting is simple, you can add more models or better paint later.

Don't go "oh i can paint all of dr who, each dr, there companions an a signature monsters, there's what 13 dr's an around 3 companions each.. an theses guys at black tree mean they a few quid each.."
 
Well now i'm hunting for the end (no one has done 13 yet in a non chibi style) an the odds things to fit a completionist goal that has explained to include parts of the explained media.

There's been months of ebay an etsy hunting.

my blakes 7 project was far easyer, with one suppler an me getting most of it all at once.

[DaveCrow]

I try to have a plan. A set of rules comes first along with some basic research. From that I hope to get some idea of what I will need to at least put on a reasonable basic game.

My favorite miniatures scale is 15mm and my favorite game scale is skirmish. Manufacturers pack 15mm in anywhere between 6 and 50 per pack! I am sure where this leads is obvious...

I need about a dozen Native warriors for my Song of Drums and Tomahawks, I currently have thirty painted and double that again in reserve. And that is just one faction for one game...

I mostly solo play, so my British Redcoats will serve duty in the '45, the F&IW, and the AWI.  Yes, I know the uniforms are different, but it is 15mm. I really do not want to paint pretty much the same figures three times!

I pick a scenario, settle on the figures needed, paint those, assemble terrain, play the game. Then figure out what I need to add for the next scenario. Because of the generous packaging of 15mm figures I have enough of a minis reserve to allow me to expand as desired. I do find it helps me sustain enthusiasm to paint some infantry, then an artillery pice, then a couple of civilians, then do a building, then more line infantry, and so on. Rather than painting a battalion of 500 identical foot soldiers all at one go.

[mikedemana]

I need about a dozen Native warriors for my Song of Drums and Tomahawks, I currently have thirty painted and double that again in reserve. And that is just one faction for one game...

I mostly solo play, so my British Redcoats will serve duty in the '45, the F&IW, and the AWI.  Yes, I know the uniforms are different, but it is 15mm. I really do not want to paint pretty much the same figures three times!

I agree that there is a "close enough" for uniforms -- especially in the black powder period. We may be accosted by a button counter at a convention, but if you put on a good looking game, they will have a harder time nit-picking. Oh, and thanks for playing Song of Drums (my first published rules set...  )!

Mike Demana