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What is your biggest problem in the hobby?


carlund

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Something that used to be a problem, but that I fixed, was not having realistic expectations.

I'm not a naturally gifted painter.  Hour-for-hour, I just can't do stuff as well as other people in my circle can (I can spend more time, or have a lower quality, but I can't get the higher quality in less time).  This used to be an issue for me, as I wasn't very proud of my work.

But really it's not about everyone else, it's about me.  I can obviously see that the things I'm working on today are better than the things I did 5 years ago.  That's a good thing.  And I'm starting to try out new ideas, and some of them are helpful (and others I give up on).  And, dammit, even if they're not as good as someone else's, I'm PROUD of my stuff.

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8 minutes ago, amysrevenge said:

Something that used to be a problem, but that I fixed, was not having realistic expectations.

I'm not a naturally gifted painter.  Hour-for-hour, I just can't do stuff as well as other people in my circle can (I can spend more time, or have a lower quality, but I can't get the higher quality in less time).  This used to be an issue for me, as I wasn't very proud of my work.

But really it's not about everyone else, it's about me.  I can obviously see that the things I'm working on today are better than the things I did 5 years ago.  That's a good thing.  And I'm starting to try out new ideas, and some of them are helpful (and others I give up on).  And, dammit, even if they're not as good as someone else's, I'm PROUD of my stuff.

The Warhammer TV painting videos have given me a bit of a epiphany on how to approach painting.  Things I probably would have figured out ages ago had I bothered to look, but the videos make it seem so damned accessible.

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As well as time my main issue is not having a dedicated hobby desk setup - however I hope to solve this problem soon! My spare room is full of the wife's junk. I'm in the process of boarding the loft to store it up there and then hope to create a man cave with hobby desk!

I'm hoping that having all my stuff set up and ready to go will help me just dip in and out for the odd painting hour.

I'm considering doing a blog of my the build/setup if anyone is interested?

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The group I game with all have different side games they want to play so its hard to keep up. We all play AoS but some want to play Blood Bowl, some want to play 40k, so want to play Board Games and I'm on a bit of a rampage of 4th and 5th edition. Makes it really hard to pin down something to commit too.

 

Hardly something worth crying about, admittedly!

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5 hours ago, daedalus81 said:

So a question on this.  I don't have the worst clippers, but I usually get a crummy nub or sometimes a cavity when clipping from the sprue, which I then have to file off.  Are my clippers just junk or is this the way of things?

Squadron sprue clippers are the best clippers I've ever used.  Just replaced mine with new ones after 20+ years of use.

I get very little nubbage, and zero cavities.  If I think there may be a fiddly part, I use a sharp, fresh exacto instead.

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I like painting.  I have the time (well a few hours every night).  I'm just dead slow at painting miniatures.  That gets annoying, causes a lack of motivation as it seems like I paint and paint but no progress is made or I get bored and start painting another army.

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I find it's hard to finish projects. Yes, yes projects never end. But I find that when I'm getting towards the end of that 2000 point army or so, the enthusiasm for that project starts to dwindle a bit and the mind starts seeking out new projects.

You then obviously get much more excited about your new projects, and your current one falls by the wayside a bit.

 

Case in point. I've been building a Chaos Undivided Slaves to Darkness army this year. I've painted most of it, but with the advent of Generals Handbook I need another battleline unit. So that means I need to paint probably 10-20 marauders. Also, I have Be'Lakor, Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount and Chaos Warshrine to paint.

So overall, not actually that many models (Ignoring the Marauders since they weren't even in the original thoughts of the army).

However, since it's "Near the end", I've started grabbing out my Free Peoples and painting them up. I picked up some Ogors to make a fire-themed primarily Gutbuster force. I've also got old world High Aelves and some Amazons for Bloodbowl that I need to paint up. Lots of projects on the desk now, and the poor old Chaos don't even really register a thought when I sit down to paint.

 

Maybe I just need to crack down and just do it. Take off everything but Be'Lakor and others off my painting desk and only do those. Be'Lakor is a bit daunting, as he's obviously supposed to be one of the key models in my army and I want to do a good job.

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5 hours ago, someone2040 said:

However, since it's "Near the end", I've started grabbing out my Free Peoples and painting them up. I picked up some Ogors to make a fire-themed primarily Gutbuster force. I've also got old world High Aelves and some Amazons for Bloodbowl that I need to paint up. Lots of projects on the desk now, and the poor old Chaos don't even really register a thought when I sit down to paint.

Completely agree that this can be a bit of a killer and I'm prone to doing this too (realised I have 1000 points of Ogors in the cupboard and would love to do a dark aelf army too).  What I try and do now is to not buy anything new until the current painting project is done, it takes a bit of discipline but does mean you've not get anything too shiny waiting.  I also only have two items on the go at once - one painting and one modelling.  Once the modelling item is done (and undercoated) it gets popped into a cupboard ready to be painted.  Work pretty well for me, the only bit that throws me off is when something limited run comes out as there is a limited time frame to purchase it.

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Mine is painting, sticking to one project, and actually getting the balls to meet people and play. I am the slowest painter ever, and as soon as something new and shiny comes out I want it (that's across 5 or 6 game systems too), and I find it difficult meeting new people so I haven't really played much. So in essence my hobby atm pretty much consists of buying and building models!

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16 hours ago, AdamJ said:

As well as time my main issue is not having a dedicated hobby desk setup - however I hope to solve this problem soon! My spare room is full of the wife's junk. I'm in the process of boarding the loft to store it up there and then hope to create a man cave with hobby desk!

I'm hoping that having all my stuff set up and ready to go will help me just dip in and out for the odd painting hour.

I'm considering doing a blog of my the build/setup if anyone is interested?

This is my most consistent issue. Due to my work i tend not to live in one property for more than a few months at a time. My wood elves only got 'finished' (I'm constantly adding more) when I had tournament pressure and a week off.

I haven't had a dedicated hobby desk setup in years. It massively effects my productivity. I even find I'm less motivated/ inspired because I have to pack away every time. When I have a desk full of miniatures I feel like painting. Hopefully my upcoming more permanent move in late Sept will improve this.

My other issue is time/ reward. If I have a unit to paint on commission I never touch my own stuff, and when the commission is done I tend to not fancy painting for a while (its a chore painting for other people, even if the financial reward is nice). I find that the Playstation and Netflix login sounds get played rather more often than is ideal on an evening too.

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On ‎2016‎-‎08‎-‎31 at 10:51 AM, carlund said:

I am having my first child in January. I am already trying to figure out how to work out the hobby situation with a newborn. 

Maybe a playpen fence around my painting station? Like that prison fence in the walking dead :)

Me too, My plan is to learn how to paint will movieng a stroler with my leg ;) 

But I think that having a job and a child forces you to have that 1-2 hours per week for "Me time" and the best way to have tchem is to give that 1-2 hours for your better half.

Now on topic my bigest problem in the hobby are people, not all but some it is hard to find people that see the hobby as it is fun time not a competition on life and death level.

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23 hours ago, MechaBriZilla said:

I have hobby ADD.  I just tend to jump from project to project, without necessarily finishing.  I don't see it as too much a problem though, since the painting and reading are the base of the hobby for me.  Time, as for everyone, is an issue.  So I don't get to play a lot.  But I'm mostly ok with that.  Obviously I'd like to play more, but responsibility to my family and job come first.

As for those of you with kids.  One way to get a little more hobby time, while getting quality time with the kido, is to seriously let them paint.  As soon as they can hold a brush, and are a little aware of what they are doing, go buy some cheap-o brushes, and some water soluble paints. (Finger paint works fine.)  Then grab some extra models that aren't a part of your army, can even be a non-GW model, any cheap-o will do.  Give your kid a pallet, brush, and the cheap-o mini, and let them go to town while you paint.  They love it because they get to be a part of what daddy is doing, and you'll love it because you get some time to paint, while not neglecting your child.  Not to mention, if you get them a nice rotation of models, you can wash them off after a while and give it back to them clean, and they probably wont even recognize it as one they already painted.

And, biggest bonus of all, someday they may get into it, and want to paint and play with you for real.

This was a really good tip, I will definitely buy some cheap brushes and paint.

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Scratch the time and tiredness I mentioned earlier; being in Australia, in the outer suburbs of a city, my biggest problem is that I don't drive. That, mixed with only finding out what day I have off (other than a Monday, when everything is shut over here) a day or two before, makes getting out to hobby stores when there'll be something on very difficult. So I never actually meet anyone, which means I only ever game with the missus who isn't all that bothered (although she tries, bless her :) ), which zaps my motivation big time. If I was gaming more I think I'd definitely be more motivated to paint. Then game. Then paint. And so on ...

So it looks like I either need to get the wife more into wargaming so that she doesn't get bored halfway through a game and throw it away (starting to get there on that one, I think :P ) or start a Monday night gaming club in my garage. Or learn to drive so that I can drive half an hour to the nearest gaming store before work instead of having to deal with a 2 hour trip each way by public transport. Suddenly that gear stick's looking ever more tempting! :D 

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5 minutes ago, tjgreenway said:

my biggest problem is that I don't drive

Actually that's a good point (I'd forgotten as its one of those things you just get used to).  The AoS scene in the South West UK isn't that great, the local gaming club (which in fairness is quite big) is mostly historically orientated and our public transport links are really poor in the evening (and not much better on Sundays).  Not having your own wheels does impact fairly significantly when it comes to the gaming side of things - painting isn't a problem as a lot of stuff can be mail ordered and I can pick up a few supplies in town on my early Friday finish.

Yes I know there are ways round this - as @tjgreenway I could learn to drive (costly) or set up my own AoS club, however both require significant time investment which is something that appears to be in very short supply for most of us!

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2 minutes ago, RuneBrush said:

Actually that's a good point (I'd forgotten as its one of those things you just get used to).  

It completely bypassed me too when I first replied; growing up in the UK, I was always at least a short train journey from the nearest city so never needed to be able to drive, so it didn't really occur to me. It's amazing how much you take that for granted. 

Pretty much any 20 minute journey by car over here will take you 2+ hours by train, though, so it's well worth getting your licence. Or pressurising the AU government to improve their rail lines, but I think I might have a better chance of getting my head round the wife's gearsticks (not a euphemism, I promise :P ) .

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I had a buying issue, I cleared it by listing everything I will want to buy, and then bought it. It helps I'm not too interested in the newer items though.

Painting I got over as well when I figured I should stop being too much of a completionist, and that unpainted models aren't worse than scraps of paper. Painting too I've been holding back from because I don't have an airbrush to speed everything up, or a setup to make airbrushing clean indoors.

My biggest issue is getting games in. I have a gf now, so I've requisitioned my game-store games back into private time. I think I'll be trying to get her into playing, she seemed to like the idea of the Brets however and I don't think she'll ever like the rules of 9th Age/Old Fantasy.

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One thing that's always bothered me is I don't actually like painting - For me, I don't get anything out of it but damn every time I put a un-painted model on the table someone let's em know. It's just like shut up, it's not part of the hobby I enjoy as much as painting is part of the hobby you do enjoy.

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24 minutes ago, AaronWIlson said:

One thing that's always bothered me is I don't actually like painting - For me, I don't get anything out of it but damn every time I put a un-painted model on the table someone let's em know. It's just like shut up, it's not part of the hobby I enjoy as much as painting is part of the hobby you do enjoy.

Well to be fair the game is not only about your enjoyment. Try to look at it from your opponents perspective, if you came to the table with an army you put effort into you want to see the same from your opponent.

I get that you don't like that part of the hobby and that's fine, I'm just saying that if you do paint your models it will make it a better game for your opponent which in turn should effect you positively as well.

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