Dealing with pile of shame - my experience

[Painbringer]

Hi everyone,
I wanted to start this topic because I think it's something that a lot of hobbyists are struggling with and in the same time I wanted to share my experience as well. I play miniature games for almost 15 years (and some other games as well) - and during that time, I've painted a decent number of miniatures, but I have almost never managed to fully paint a single army. I always got carried away with the "next project", or painted models from different armies in the same time or I bought models much faster than I could paint them. I also was not consistent when it comes to approach to painting. When I started collecting Age of Sigmar in 2016, I changed my approach to painting and collecting - so I finally managed to fully paint my Sylvaneth army (and I am very proud of that). However, as the time passed by, somewhere along the way I ended up - again - with several armies (for both AoS and WH40K) and a lot of models that waited to be built (at least for me it was a lot). However, this time situation was different because my career progressed and my job became more demanding and I also became a father - so when I had some free time, I prioritized something else, not painting. However, all these unpainted and unassembled models really bothered me - because I really like this hobby and I wanted to carry on with it for years to come, but in the same time, all these unfinished models felt like some kind of "mental burden". Sure, over the years I played a lot of games with unpainted models (and that's fine), but I really hated the fact that I was unable to finish what I started. It was also during this period that I realized that I probably have a lot more stuff than I really need.

And so, during the last year, I decided to do something about it, because it was really affecting my enjoyment in this hobby.

First, I reduced the number of models/armies that I have by selling or giving away some of them. Since I usually play once or twice a month (if I'm lucky) now, there was simply no sense in keeping some of my models. Instead, I focused on armies that I really enjoyed playing and that look cool (and that are also fun to paint). It was not an easy decision to choose armies and models to part with, but in the end I feel much better because of that (and it feels great to have less stuff around).

When it comes to assembling models. during 2022 I have managed to accomplish quite a lot working in small batches. I have assembled over 180 models - from small ones like Tzaangors, to large ones like Chaos Knights, Be'Lakor and Kairos Fateweaver. At this point, I have no models left to build - for the first time in a few years. My "pile of shame/potential" (however you want to call it) ceased to exist. I can use these models in my games now. Sometimes, I spent only 15-20 minutes per day assembling the miniatures (for example, a couple of Tzaangors or Bloodletters), and sometimes I had more. But, I was consistent doing this and after a few months, there was no more models to build!

I am also very satisfied with my progress when it comes to painting. I have managed to paint full 1000-point Stormcast Eternals army (with some extra models on top of it, totaling over 1500 points of painted Stormcast models). Besides that, I have managed to paint Be'lakor, Lord of Change and C'tan Shard of the Void Dragon and Illuminor Szeras as well. All of this has been accomplished by doing the work in small batches - 30 minutes here, an hour there. I painted usually early in the morning (before work), during my lunch breaks or in the evening, when my child is asleep. During the week, I was able to get 3 - 5 of these small painting sessions (sometimes more, sometimes less). Occasionally, I was able to paint for a few hours, but that was more exception than a rule. And, same as with building models, things just kept going and I was happy because I was able to see the progress. Also, painting miniatures this way forced me to look for different painting techniques (because I wanted to be as effective as possible in a short time interval), so my painting skills also improved!

Also, I have greatly reduced the amount of money that I spend on miniatures, by simply delaying the purchases. A lot of purchases that I made in previous years were impulsive; the usual motivation was either hype (after an interesting game or seeing a preview) or stress. Turns out that after a couple of weeks, buying some model or unit did not seem that much interesting. After six months of delaying any new purchases, my wish list was reduced from 10 items to two - and those were the only ones I bought (because after six months, I still felt like those models would be a great addition to my armies). Also, I chose not to expand most of my armies until I actually play some games with the stuff I already have.

So, why did I write this? Because I remember topics about people struggling to keep up with their hobby from this forum and from various other websites. Ultimately, this may lead to people just being unhappy about the hobby in general, or deciding to sell/trade/give away everything and do something else. I did not want to do any of these. I know that a lot of hobbyists have families, jobs and other interests - and that is also why I think it was important to share my experience. A lot can be accomplished by being consistent and doing work in small batches. I know this might not work for everyone, but it may help someone who feels the same.  

[Gitzdee]

Thanks for sharing. I had similar issues i would also like to share if u dont mind.

Becoming a father, more focus on carreer and being a husband equalls less hobby time. As a bonus, everything (not only minis) is getting way to expensive at the moment. I used to buy everything i liked and i ended up with 3 totally unbuild armies as a result.

First i restricted myself from buying anything untill i finish everything i bought and i am happily working on it. Over the last half year i completely build and painted a whole 1000p 40k orks army from start to finish. I traded some primaris for more Orruks. Instead of needing to start another army. Actually being busy with an army and not looking at everything available gave me a lot of pride and joy without constantly thinking and worrying about the next thing. It just feels so good to get things done.

And now comes the best part. I actually managed to do this at work. Instead of looking at our phones for an hour, me and a collegue who also happens to enjoy miniature games started building and painting during our breaks. People actually liked what we were doing and didnt think it was weird at all. We could still be social while doing all this. 

Pushing myself to do this also raised my enjoyment level of this hobby. I became better at painting and building, this made me want to try new techniques. I felt like i was leveling up as a hobbyist.

2k Sylvaneth, 1k Ironjawz and a unit + hero of Nighthaunt left to go, but im working on it. I do have to break my own restriction with the Snarlfang riders though XD.

Edit: Do mix things up, painting a whole army the same paint scheme can get a bit dull after a while :p.

Edit 2: I also lowered my painting standards from painting every single detail to making it look good on the table.

Edited January 21, 2023 by Gitzdee
Cleaned up a bit

[Painbringer]

@Gitzdee thank you! I hoped that people who had similar experience would share their story. As you wrote, making progress in this way raises the level of enjoyment in hobby. The added benefit is improving your painting skills!

Also, it’s great that you have colleague that shares your passion for hobby. I am working in a hybrid evironment right now, so I visit office occasionally - but there’s no one interested in Warhammer among my colleagues. They are great people and wouldn’t mind me doing some hobby stuff during breaks (lots of them are gamers), it’s just they have different interests.

[Gitzdee]

4 hours ago, Painbringer said:

@Gitzdee thank you! I hoped that people who had similar experience would share their story. As you wrote, making progress in this way raises the level of enjoyment in hobby. The added benefit is improving your painting skills!

Also, it’s great that you have colleague that shares your passion for hobby. I am working in a hybrid evironment right now, so I visit office occasionally - but there’s no one interested in Warhammer among my colleagues. They are great people and wouldn’t mind me doing some hobby stuff during breaks (lots of them are gamers), it’s just they have different interests.

We also started playing mtg from time to time and figured out some people at work used to play the game years ago. We would have never guessed. Sometimes some exposure goes a long way.

[zilberfrid]

I do have a pile of potential, but also think that's okay.

I do not make armies, but I paint what I need for Pathfinder sessions, for characters of friends, or because I have an idea for something.

This means the 40 or so victrix vikings I have left are no burden, they just don't have a purpose yet. This is true for most half built sets. I need a good variety of stuff to have the flexibility I want, because I don't know whether this Nighthaunt needs to be a shadow or a ghost, and that Victrix Grenadier might be a pawn on a chess board, or a ww2 pilot.

That said, I also don't buy large amounts of stuff often, and my pop is not physically large.

 

[Celestial Rose]

This is a interesting read, as I very often see people talking about the pile of shame. But I don’t really experience it, at least not in a negative way like some players seem to.

I do wonder if it’s a bit of a perspective/culture that some in the hobby have. The idea of the pile of shame, feeds into the pile of shame that people collect.

For myself I get different projects that I will work on, and pick up kits here and there that may fall into my projects. Often I will get one of minis to paint, and if I don’t feel like working on something specific I will pull something from there. Learn and paint something I can finish in a few days to a week. I haven’t painted all my minis from the privateer press monthly mini subscription, but I have loved getting a mini and going I love this and painted it up and into a project like mordheim, necromunda, frost grave of anything like that. 
If it’s minis you like, I don’t think it’s something to worry about myself, unless your buying things you know you won’t use in the Hype. 
my Age of Sigmar has all been purchased for D&D and other RPG stuff first, but it’s working into a point where I am playing Age of sigmar enough for the interest in it to be there now as well. 
If that’s a pile of shame, then maybe a positive here I think  

 

Hello also, hopefully this is ok as a first post here! 
 

[RandyRyan]

I share the pain of amassing a bunch of projects, and finding balancing life as a husband and father leaves less hobby time than I’d perhaps like - that said, I am happy with my choices!

the main thing that has lost out for me is gaming. I’m yet to play a game of third edition and don’t have any plans at this point. Mentally I’m playing the long game - my eldest son is 5 now and I started playing Fantasy at 10, so he’s halfway there 😅

I find it easier to snatch an hour here and there for painting, rather than the half-day commitment of a game.

I have somehow painted over 3000 points of Slaves to Darkness since their 2nd ed release. Painting has become my main hobby - rather than what it was as a kid, where I’d begrudgingly slap some colours on so I’d be allowed to play at GW. 

I’ve been distracted by many other shiny things over the years, but like you have embraced selling off things I realise I won’t get to. Armies for Cities and Orks have been sold off, as well as a bunch of impulsive LotR I purchased recently.

My pile of potential does have more in it than I’d like, but I am happy I will get to it all eventually - or I’ll sell it off for something for my main forces!

[Gitzdee]

I must admit that, like some of u mentioned, the main focus of why im in this hobby is also shifting. I used to plan out these huge armies and focus towards them. Lately i find myself gravitating towards Warcry. It lets me enjoy every aspect of the hobby and doesnt take half a day to play. I can also build some small warbands from models i like and dont invest in a whole 2k army project.

I also got the Frostgrave book last month and can start building some stuff with that game in mind. I also used to dislike painting and now i actually enjoy sitting down and take my time to paint.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Gitzdee

[Celestial Rose]

Skirmish games I think are great for small projects, if you want the goal of completion. I think the way battletech is set up is great for it as well, since you can set your projects up in small chunks of 4,5 and 6.

and RPGs are great for just random projects, so that is always cool!

this may also be why the pile of shame spread out from GW games, for many years they had no small games. 
so you sorta started big, and had to start big. The GW culture, influenced the game culture. 
necromunda I keep buying for painting, and being able to at some point in the future just say, I can play necromunda makes me happy enough to buy more for personal projects like that. I may have even buy space marines, since kill team is a possibility.!
And a lot of historical games will have plenty to play at every stage until you have truly epic army, your project never stop. But you never need to overwhelm yourself ether. 
 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

My personal most salient pile of shame experience was with a Tomb Kings battalion box when I was just getting into the hobby. That box came with a, to me at the time, overwhelming amount of models. I believe it was 32 regular skeletons, 10 skeleton horsemen and 3 chariots. I believe I picked up an extra Tomb King and Liche Priest, as well.

As a beginner hobbyist, building all those skeletons and getting them painted was do tedious that I stopped after finishing the first 16 skeleton spearmen. Never even got to play a game.

At the time, I believe my mistake was following two piece of advice that I know work for some people, but do not work for me. One: Paint your boring models first and then reward yourself with your fun character models. For me, all that did in the beginning was take the joy out of printing. There is nothing more soulless than batch-painting skeletons, and the thought of having to paint 30 more after struggling with a unit of 16 was not pleasant. Two: Don't play with unpainted models. I think some people fall into this state where they lose their motivation to paint stuff if they can already use it in games. It just turns out that this is not my psychology at all. Using models in games is the thing that actually motivates me to paint the most.

I think my lesson I learned from this is that what helps you manage your hobby progress is different from person to person. For me, I already enjoy painting. I know I will get my models painted eventually. I really don't have to push through batch-painting infantry when I don't have an immediate use for them in a game. I can skip around different armies for variety or buy new releases that I am excited about, because I don't have a problem with abandoned projects and over-buying on new stuff. But I know that is a lot different for other people. So in the end, I would say it really depends on what obstacles you face in your hobbying as an individual. 

[EntMan]

Great thread, this 😃

I did some assembling and painting today for the first time in months. Interesting comments above about doing small bits for role playing games. What got me off my pile of shame butt was making and painting a few of a box of Deathrattle Skeleton Warriors, because one of my kids is about to run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign for us and needs some skellies to pit us against.

[JackStreicher]

I did quite the same in a way (in the hobby since I was 9 years old, that puts me at approx. 23 years of Tabletop hobbying)

I used to have a bunch of armies (I still do). I once thought I’d catalogue all lf my minis (I figured I’d own less than a thousand). As it turns out it was more than 1800 miniatures. So I have been doing fell sweeps, looking at models asking myself „Do I want to paint this? Will I paint this within the next two years? Do I like the model?“ - if any of those answers is maybe or no I‘ll sell them, not looking back.

I also gifted entire armies away (3K of Nighthaunt for example) and it felt good. Sold my Sororitas and almost half of my Marines. As it turns out: having less feels better than hoarding.

So I am trying to strike a balance between having a variety of armies to choose from while reducing the overall amount of minis I possess.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by JackStreicher

[EonChao]

Everyone's threshold is very different. I'm not yet at the point of selling up stuff in my pile of shame/opportunity but I am making a point of working through it. I'm very much the sort of person who gets bogged down and fed up with working on large batches of things in one go so I've been using a hobby streak approach to instead break up those squads and units into 30-60 minute chunks a day, just chipping away at them. It's definitely taken some of the weight of my backlog off of me and is encouraging good habits so it's been working but I'm also trying to be aware of what I have and trying to establish why I have it.

[EntMan]

I find it easier to not buy it in the first place than sell it once I've got it. Sadly Psychology backs this up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment_effect

Edited January 23, 2023 by EntMan

[Popisdead]

in 2019 i painted 335 models.

 

I just stopped caring what other people thought.  instead of 5 hours a model, i went to batch paint 5 in a night.  Work on heads, weapons and don't think too much about boots.  I got this from Maxime the Eavy Metal painter.

I still did my eldar nicely just not as nice as "OMG this is amazing".  People knock over my models all the time and they get wear and tear.  Plus over time the value of them is lessened.  My 2005 era wood elf army that won ever painting contest it went in,.. well it's 2005-good and a chunk of those models had to be repurposed and I have a mortgage, house, 2 kids and hobbies outside work.  

It's okay to do things "fine".  GW has really led the field in this regard with washes, basing, contrast, etc.  While people will get butthurt GW didn't "invent" that, they made it consolidated and easily accessible and the base level for what you can do to get a whole army painted and based.

Today people shouldn't have piles of shame like they did 20-30-40 years ago.

[EonChao]

The problem is that it's hard to get into that mindset. I used to think I had to sit down and paint everything in one go. I'd grab a unit of something and feel like I'd failed if I hadn't at least blocked in all the base colours in a single day. Or I'd get into a good routine and something unrelated would send me into a low mood for the next week or so and by the time I'd get back to it I'd have tidied everything away to remove the clutter and not want to start all over again. Or I'd compare myself to a friend who could paint an entire army to a better standard than me in a weekend. All of it builds this mental barrier towards the painting aspect of the army that begins to make it feel more like a chore. And then if you have friends who play with unpainted minis... well then why shouldn't you? It's a really easy slippery slope to get onto and hard to pull yourself off it and back into a good routine.

My current hobby streak, I've painted 33 models since New Years Eve. Just spending around an hour a day working on them. But to get to that point took a lot of discipline and self care about my approach to the hobby. Especially finding out what works best for me. And a lot of people don't get to that point very quickly.

[Gaz Taylor]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:36 AM, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I think my lesson I learned from this is that what helps you manage your hobby progress is different from person to person.

100% this!

It’s your hobby and you need to enjoy it. It’s okay not to do stuff for a bit and come back to it when you want to get enjoyment from it. 

[pnkdth]

I've gone through this nonsense throughout everything. Be it in MMORPGs or tabletop gaming and it is really hard to shut off. Most of the time it comes down to wanting to start lots of cool projects but never finishing them. Advice doesn't help, being told to just do X doesn't help, indeed, the shame only keep growing because apparently it is so easy to "just focus" and get things done. After that it just keeps on piling on and on...

Just about the only way I've dealt with it is to make my projects much smaller. Army projects just makes my brain go into overdrive and ends up taking all the fun out of it. It seems my jam is skirmish games, writing fluff, focusing on small squads/individual models, and just build stuff from there. Just so weird how, initially, the meta took over my mind, that I had to play to "be a gamer" and participate.

My only advice is to stop comparing yourself to others and focus on what got you into the hobby. That is the only thing that matters. That's the stuff that'll make you happy.

[Flippy]

On 2/1/2023 at 6:09 PM, Popisdead said:

Today people shouldn't have piles of shame like they did 20-30-40 years ago.

It is true that the painting itself is more accessible now. The paints & accessories are better and (more importantly) there is a wealth of tutorials available for every technique and effect you can imagine. That is all very good. At the same time I feel that the expectation bar is set much, much higher - and this can intimidate people from doing things just "fine". It would also seem that it is actually easier (i.e. cheaper) to buy a lot of plastic today then it was to buy a lot of metal 20 or 30 years ago.

[CommissarRotke]

6 hours ago, Flippy said:

It is true that the painting itself is more accessible now. The paints & accessories are better and (more importantly) there is a wealth of tutorials available for every technique and effect you can imagine. That is all very good. At the same time I feel that the expectation bar is set much, much higher - and this can intimidate people from doing things just "fine". It would also seem that it is actually easier (i.e. cheaper) to buy a lot of plastic today then it was to buy a lot of metal 20 or 30 years ago.

Not only is the bar set higher today but I'd also argue we all have less TIME than adults did 20 or 30 years ago too. All the little chips add up to actual obstacles. Yea I can totally paint for only an hour a night but if that hour doesn't include cleanup and I have other chores or I got home from work late... guess what I'm putting off again

[woolf]

small batches is 100% the way. main thing imo is to reduce "start-up" barrier. I live in an apartment so don't have space for a hobby room but did get a small cupboard and wetpallet so I can paint even for just 15-30 min when there is time without basically any set-up. and if not already have it, get an airbrush and use it as much as u possibly can  it saves hours

[Chikout]

In the light of recent news, I should mention that I set myself a fixed budget for GW products of £250 a year. That means the number of minis I buy each year has gradually gotten less. I also have given my self a challenge that if I want to buy a new mini, I have to paint two first. So if I want a box of 10 minis, I have to paint 20 from my backlog first. I've made an exception with starter sets like Dominion but I try not to buy a new starter until I've painted more than half of the previous one. 

Back in the day I used to have hundreds of half or unpainted minis in my collection but as of today my backlog is just 35 minis. I'm hoping to clear that by the end of the year though I did order my first ever Kickstarter last year. 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

13 hours ago, woolf said:

small batches is 100% the way. main thing imo is to reduce "start-up" barrier. I live in an apartment so don't have space for a hobby room but did get a small cupboard and wetpallet so I can paint even for just 15-30 min when there is time without basically any set-up. and if not already have it, get an airbrush and use it as much as u possibly can  it saves hours

I have just started a new job for which I have moved to a new city. This has made it difficult for me to make time to paint. But a thing I have been doing is working on bases when I have time. Taking 15 minutes in the morning to slap some texture paste and a few bits on a base is possible. I can let everything dry while I am at work and then prime it in the evening. Then maybe paint the base up the next day before work. It's not a lot, but it helps to keep thing moving. And because a miniature really looks a lot better with a proper base, it also keeps me excited about the progress of my collection.

[EonChao]

I do mine in the evening, just 30 minutes to an hour before I go to bed, then see how it's dried the next morning for some more if I have a day off

[Kaleb Daark]

well, this thread has been very interesting.

Reading all your insights has hopefully stirred some motivation in me, but for some time life has taken some turns for me that have made my mind just seem like a fog at the best of times and motivation just seems the most distant thing on my mind.

here's what I've got that is still boxed and unmade and still in celophane.

As you can appreciate, I'm hoping for some major enthusiasm injection soon as I still find myself wanting and buying.

The shocking thing is that I've got warscroll cards and things from previous editions that are still in their celophane and unopened, and are now obsolete!

Edited February 24, 2023 by Kaleb Daark