Minor Madness - or a goal, maybe (Painting challenge- day 60 update pg 3)

[syrinx0]

Enjoy your painting.

[Dr. Zombie]

That is some goal!

I have a rule for myself that I should get at least 30 minutes of hobby time in every day. That way it is easier to collect successes. And usually those thirty minutes turns into an hour or two. I find my biggest challenge to be to get of the phone/tv or computer. But once I am at my hobbydesk i'll gladly trade an hour of TV/phone/computer for doing hobbystuff.

[FifteensAway]

So, this is day 10 and days 1-6 got to 72 finished and table ready figures.  Then a medical procedure on Monday took away my dominant hand for a few days and today just had other stuff going so still at 72 (correction, 74 - forgot a couple of casualty figures).  Goal still stands.  The 72 finished were all French Foreign Legion - with another 50 well along the way.  This will finish my two actual legion forces, the classic uniform force and the other in madder trousers.  Hope to be back at it tomorrow - maybe some tonight but not going to finish.

Then the AWI is up. 

[LordBrentlake]

Congratulations on a good steady start and commiserations on the medical hiatus.

Keep going, we’re with you.

[FifteensAway]

Photo evidence of table ready work so far:



The "Madder" Legion - with madder colored trousers.  Painted three full units of 18 figures plus two casualty figures, the mounted command figure (two already painted) plus one casualty figure, the pack mule train of 10 animals, five men, and two casualties, the two casualties for the mounted chasseurs (already painted), and the foot command of three figures and two casualties. 



Most of this already painted but added 13 casualty figures (plus two more for another unit of mounted chasseurs), three figures to crew a 'machine gun' and the gun, and most of the mounted company mules without riders - one mounted rider and two mules already painted though enough work on them to 'match' to the others I am counting it as two for my total.  This is the classic legion force.

Naval group of similar size with main unit painted but still need to add the casualties and some other bits, same for zouaves, marines need two units to get painted and other bits, and then the main train with two units of tiralleurs, and high command still to paint - though all is primed and ready (may add two more casualty figures).

That puts me at 72+54 figures newly table ready = 126.  But only counting 124 as part of my 100 day challenge per above.

90 total pieces AWI Spanish force nearing completion with another force of 90 pieces of Germans ready to move in behind them.  That will use up my 'started' figures.  After that, figures are either primed and ready to paint or 'raw' figures to prep.

We'll see if I get those AWI figures done by day 20 - 90 is highly likely but not sure about the other 90.

[mikedemana]

Great progress! I like how you have them boxed up already... 

"Not only am I finished, but I have them in a box on the shelf ready for a game...!" 

Mike Demana

[FifteensAway]

Just finished the next 180 figures as part of the challenge, two AWI brigades - one Spanish, one German, 90 total figures each.  Each brigade includes a gun and two generals.  That means I've done 306 figures in 20 days! 

Progress will slow as the next two brigades, one French with five battalions and one Loyalist in green coats of four battalions are primed but no more.  They will move to the painting table tomorrow.

And just under the wire - not quite midnight for me.  Photos soon, Germans still need bases textured and sealed.

[LordBrentlake]

Another milestone reached. Well done.

Onwards and upwards.

[snitcythedog]

Progress will slow as the next two brigades, one French with five battalions and one Loyalist in green coats of four battalions are primed but no more. 

I like how you casually throw around that you are painting battalions and brigades.  Kudos on you for keeping up with the task at hand. 

[FifteensAway]

Here is the promised photo:



The Spanish are on the top, the Germans below.

Should note that I did a lot more than two hours per day to get those 180 done, was working to make up for those missed days and am pretty sure I've made up the missed hours, maybe a little more.  Also, I am painting to meet the 3' rule and game table standard so no fancy paint jobs, just good enough to put on the table.  Or, as I like to think of it, how would my 10 year old self feel about having these paint jobs - and he'd be ecstatic to have these.  So, while not great, good enough to keep me happy. 

edit: I also finished 54 FFL figures to get to the 306 number: 72 + 54 + 180.  Those 54 were nearly done on day 10, added a few extra casualty figures I realized I needed when finishing them up, casualty figures get a little less attention.

In a few hours when the sun is up and it is warm enough, I will seal the Germans and, when dry, flock the bases so that the figures will be table ready with a final seal of the flocking.  The goal is to get figures painted but I want to have them table ready, too - and avoid a mass of bases to flock!  A little bit of flocking as I move along.  Figures are pre-based for painting as you see in the photo which helps.

I calculate I've averaged right at 15 figures per two hours or 7.5 per hour which is great since my goal was to average 6 per hour.  Of course, most - not all - of the first batches had a start, generally just skin and the base uniform color, some had a start on facings.  The new units don't have that head start so 6 per hour is more likely going forward.

I will be mixing in other than AWI figures, still working on FFL and pulled out the German force for my Slightly Cracked Colonials (Scramble for Africa but not quite) and got them started during the last ten days.  I was actually a tiny bit disappointed that I didn't get 14 FFL casualty figures done to get to a nice round 320 figures and 16 per day average.  Oh, well.  Still making great progress.  Those two new brigades, since the French have five battalions and a second gun, will tally 205 figures.  But will I detour into those colonial figures first?  I will detour into finishing the FFL - those casualties and wrap up the naval force, a smaller detour.

But will miss a couple more days in November for a great little convention nearby and then the holidays and wife's gigantic Lemax holiday village needs to be set up, that might cost some lost hours, too.  So, I will continue to try and get over two hours per day while I can.

And thanks for the moral support along the way, it is appreciated and it does help to keep me going.

[mikedemana]

Your progress is amazing and inspiring. Me? I painted the trim on one base coasted 28mm droid for today's progress -- took me more than a half hour to do just that stage of one figure!   

Mike Demana

[vodkafan]

Making it routine is the important part, I feel. Every morning, I wake up, having some juice to drink while I peruse the news, then head downstairs to my hobby desk. I put in about an hour there, painting or modeling. Then I do my exercises/workout. By the time I'm done and showered, it is lunch time. It is an excellent way to start the day for a retiree! 

Mike Demana

Start the day? I would be ready to go back to bed after that lot 

[syrinx0]

Nice progress!

[FifteensAway]

Day 30 update: 90 AWI - green coated Loyalist brigade, 28 FFL figures - mostly dead = 118 total

306 + 118 = 424, just over 14 figures per day on average so far.  I'll take it.  Too late to texture bases but did get everything sealed.  Just one photo for now of the Loyalists drying after sealing:



French brigade of five battalions plus ten guns and crews in process - but that digression into Old West might slow progress on those but won't stop.

Probably won't happen but if I maintain the daily average I'd get to 1,400 table ready figures by end of challenge!   . I'll be happy if I make it to 800.  Some figures, like Old West will go slow since not in uniforms, every figure unique.

[FifteensAway]

So far this ten day stretch is a bit of a challenge but mostly because of prepping terrain for the Old West, not from lack of painting mojo.  Before I head back for some time at the painting table, a few photos:



Showing both the Spanish and the first "Hessians" with bases textured now.



Just those Hessians and the artillery and general.



The Loyalist brigade before painting got started.



The French and their artillery before painting.



The 20 French Foreign Legion figures with textured bases - all put away in their boxes now.



Only the casualties were recently painted but this is how my FFL mule mounted companies will work - mounted, on foot, and the mules with holders and, of course, the dead.  Two units.



The Loyalist brigade now painted and bases textured and sealed.  There is the Royal Regiment of New York, Butler's Rangers, The Queen's Loyal Rangers, and the King's American Regiment.



General Fraser in red, General Kospoth in blue with a loyalist infantryman - why not?  And a loyalist designated howitzer.

The French continue to make progress.  And the Old West is getting a lot more attention.  Lots of scatter terrain in the mix to go with the figures.  Probably put more focus on French to clear the table for the Old West figures since game is now in December so a bit more time - not enough time but more.