Hello,
I'm writing to talk about motivation. More specifically assembly and painting a project as huge as an IG army. A bit on planning as well. I have found since I have had my child no motivation to do anything but help kid, go to work and play Black Ops 2. I often find that I go through huge periods of no paint or assembly. Then other times I whip up stuff so fast I even surprise myself. So how do we keep engaged and motivated, interested if you will in completing hobby projects? Here are a few things I like to to do feel free to add to the list.
1. When I'm in a slump and I still feel the need to start up again I look to get motivated! What motivates me? Sometimes I scower the pages of WD or the Internet looking for something similar to what I'm doing and get inspired. Maybe I watch Starship Troopers, Dune or Apocalypse Now. Just to name a few. Maybe ill get into a 40k novel? Maybe my wife just seggest..."why don't you finish something today?" There are many things you can do to find your inspiration. For me a upcoming tournament usually gets my gears going to paint and convert. If all else fails pull a NIKE and just do it!
2. Where do you start? So you've bought 2000 points of guard! Holy Carp where do I start?! I like to start with an HQ and two troop choices. Build up to a legal list. I like to set an overall goal of how I want the army to look. In my army i want allot of infantry and tanks! So this is where the plan part comes in. More on that later.
3. What color scheme do I run? I find that on some projects I just cant nail a scheme. This time I decided to run with Cadia. I like the fluff (a kitten was just murdered) and I like the color scheme.
4. Planning! Have a plan. Set long term goals! For instance, I would like to have an Apoc IG infantry company, a Leman Russ company and one or two Baneblades. This will give me a great Apoc type army and keep with what I feel my army should look like. Notice I said look not what Internet list tell me I should run. Yes there are things you prolly shouldn't take but who cares. If you want conscripts, and I do, take them.
5. Theme it! Theme it! Theme it! For me its the 13th Cadian regiment (motto: The lucky Bastards) on some planet during winter fighting against a massive orc invasion! Yes I have Orks and will blog them here to. I will paint the bases alike and theme all my bases around a lightly snowed ground with tufts of dead grass and other bits lying about. Its basically a double theme. Orks vs Guards in a fight to the bitter end! Even Cadians can have a theme. Base work, unit naming and back story! Ill write that soon! These things can make it fun to keep going.
6. Plan some more. Short term goals should be reasonable. Those of us that have kids and the like will know its hard to find time. It is there and the support of your family is critical. Earn your time here. Play with your kids, instruct them in things. Love your wife and take her on dates. These things will earn you "time to play with plastic doodsmen".
Lets say .....this week ill assemble X regiments or vehicles and get them prepped and maybe base coated. Then Ill do one ten man squad a week or a vehicle.
7. Streamline your painting. If its taking you a week to paint one dood, that's too long. At least for me. So I have developed a method for getting the PBI (poor bloody infantry) done quickly. Get them battle ready! A basic scheme with 5-6 colors and a wash can get you on the table quick! More on that in a future article!
8. Also try centering your army around a piece of special terrain like for me is the Wall Of Martrys set.
9. Use a reward system when painting. For instance when I paint both of my platoons I'll do some vehicles!
10. This is important! If you want to finish painting some time this millennium stop trying to paint like the White Dwarf. Its hard if you strive to excel at painting I know. But sometimes its not worth the stress. Use the three foot rule: If it looks great at three feet from the table its a good paint job!
Well that's all I have for now. I hope this help some of you. It certainly helps that I write this out! Thank you and Happy New Year!
A Chinese man says....a little every day makes allot tomorrow. I keep forgetting t
