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This is the first topic I've ever started on Dakka; though, I've been a member for over a year, i think. Anyways, I've been a 40k fan for quite a few years now. The first time I walked into a hobby store, a Wizards of the Coast to be exact, I was in love with the Warhammer 40k Universe, the Space Wolves more specifically. That was about eight years ago. Since then, I have collected IG but with college and the demands of life I have never had time to complete my army much less go to a store and play a game. My army remains under my desk in my room waiting to be painted. I go through months or extreme motivation where all i want to do is paint, buy new additions, and get to a gaming store to play some friendly games but then after a time my inspiration dies off for whatever reason.


So, now that I have told you where I am coming from (a 22 year-old, athletic, college graduate, constantly working to pay my school bills) The question I pose is simple, how do you Dakkites find the time and inspiration to COMPLETE your armies? Please help because my IG sitting in their boxes unpainted and un-blooded are getting angry with me.

Well, I'm an athletic, 30-something, who likes long walks on the beach, unicorns and pink fuzzy boas...

Every one of us who has been a hobbyist has had conflicts with real life. Many of us who have played this game for years and really enjoyed the fluff eventually found ways to keep ourselves motivated by immersing ourselves in the hobby with other hobbyists. At least that's how I keep going. Seeing friends models, playing games at least a few times a month, etc...

Doing other things that you love helps a great deal. My main hobby is Mountain Biking, and crashing motorcycles... One of my good friends is a Physician, and another is an exceptional guitar player who tours regularly. How he finds time to hang and game is beyond me and I can multi-task my rear off.

I'm lucky in that I work in 3d modeling and heavily involved in the video gaming industry. Most of my friends are gamers, and a smaller portion use games with figures. So i'm never far from a game or two.

Lasfiredoesn'thurt wrote: This is the first topic I've ever started on Dakka; though, I've been a member for over a year, i think. Anyways, I've been a 40k fan for quite a few years now. The first time I walked into a hobby store, a Wizards of the Coast to be exact, I was in love with the Warhammer 40k Universe, the Space Wolves more specifically. That was about eight years ago. Since then, I have collected IG but with college and the demands of life I have never had time to complete my army much less go to a store and play a game. My army remains under my desk in my room waiting to be painted. I go through months or extreme motivation where all i want to do is paint, buy new additions, and get to a gaming store to play some friendly games but then after a time my inspiration dies off for whatever reason.


So, now that I have told you where I am coming from (a 22 year-old, athletic, college graduate, constantly working to pay my school bills) The question I pose is simple, how do you Dakkites find the time and inspiration to COMPLETE your armies? Please help because my IG sitting in their boxes unpainted and un-blooded are getting angry with me.

That's the great thing about a hobby is that it dosen't have to be rushed, I currently have about 12 differant projects going on for 40k and Fantasy and about 30 more saved away plus a few armies to finish putting together and painting. I don't really make time to do them since to me that isn't the point, when I have time I work on them I work on them.

Hmmm both of you bring up excellent points. Haha I'm strangly touched by your responses haha. Thanks a lot for your time =]

I've found that playing against well-painted armies guilts you into painting your own. That's what happened to me, at least.

I know that in my field of work (I cook for a living), not only is time scarce, but so is energy. One of the better ways I've found is to leave a small amount of un-finished models on my work table. My table is in clear view of everything in my room, so I always see what I need/want to finish. Eventually it gets the better of me, and I sit down to knock some work out.

The other way I've found that works is to keep a Codex/White Dwarf in the can. Pick it up for a quick read and suddenly get motivated to get some work done.

Beer, Pizza, and Hardcore Music that vibrates the windows of my house gets me to complete an army.

Yes even an old man like me does listen to Hate Breed every once in a while

I don't really play all that much, so most of my modeling enjoyment comes out of the painting side.

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:That's the great thing about a hobby is that it dosen't have to be rushed, I currently have about 12 differant projects going on for 40k and Fantasy and about 30 more saved away plus a few armies to finish putting together and painting. I don't really make time to do them since to me that isn't the point, when I have time I work on them I work on them.

Seriously. I'm currently working on painting my Necrons, heavily converting The Deceiver, figuring out how to thread lights through The Nightbringer to make his eyes glow, finishing my aquatic Tyranids' Mycetic Spores, Genestealers, and Zoanthropes (and starting a slew of other ones), rigging a pyromaniac Deff Dread for my brother to look like it's on fire inside while figuring out a way to have flaming victims on the base, converting a biker Warboss for him, converting a biker Painboy for him complete with a whole dental chair -esque sidecar setup, converting a Rune Priest for a friend where he's cracking open a chasm in the earth, figuring out the best way to go about giving my Necrons purple glowy rods in their weapons, putting the finishing touches on my Parasite of Mortrex, converting a 4E Carnifex into a Tyrannofex for a friend, rigging my Monolith to be lighted, and probably half a dozen other things I'm forgetting.
I work on whichever one strikes me at the moment, whenever it strikes me. There's no rush. Do it when you want to do it, forcing it will only make you bitter and resentful about it.

Man i hear you on this topic. I have the same problem you do. love the game and fluff, story, etc, but finding time is hard. I find a good way to stay motivated is to pick a smaller army to start with. Dont go Orks or Imperial guard. After painting 50 troops and realizing you have 100 more can be pretty daunting. Maybe try a more elite army, where you can field 40 something guys and some tanks, and you're good to go.

Or just have alot of patience and play IG. If you love a force, just go for it. Heck, I waited 12 years or more for Dark eldar update. 2nd edition models and book were released in '98. Promised myself I would never get into 40K until they updated the DE model range, and it was worth the wait! Always go with the army you like. That will also keep you motivated alot.

I read plogs.

While it doesn't motivate me on the gaming side of the hoby, seeing other peoples stuff, particularly conversions, keeps the hobby side well motivated.

I try to paint 1 model a day. After work (I'm a shift worker on a 5 day roster, doing 10 hour shifts), I'm usually a bit knackered. So I paint a model - even if its just putting on a base coat - then go for a run, eat, and eventually pass out.

'course, when I buy new models I'm like a kid on Christmas and build/convert it straight away. Many a Saturday has passed me by without even eating while I put stuff together/convert.

Although, I have found that doing a group painting day with a club or some mates does help get stuff done, and you learn a bit too.

I just got my painting mojo back after about two months of nothing, I finally packed up my paint tray from the coffee table so I wasn't looking at it all the time and then suddenly, now I want to paint again!

I simply don't.

I only paint or convert when I feel like I really want to.

I keep motivated because I really enjoy the game, and I love how two painted armies look on the tabletop. Spectacle is a big part of the hobby for me. Painting itself is something I find relaxing and therapeutic, and is pretty much my only way to relax these days.

I usually am motivated, I just spend too much time on the interwebz, lose track of time, and then it's dawn and I'm sleepy.

I find the motivation from various sources. I'll see a nice conversion and it'll give me idea, I'll be very bored in my very very rare time off so I'll get some done then, or I'll simply finish all my work extra quick to get time on a Thursday to go down my FLGS.

Wow, this is awesome! I never expected so many replies =D

Thanks everyone, so much. Maybe I'll start putting some of my guardsmen on here for people to see and their unfinished convertedness seen by everyone will get me into painting them!

Lasfiredoesn'thurt wrote:how do you Dakkites find the time and inspiration to COMPLETE your armies?

I don't get it. You can complete an army?

I find the best way to finish/get motivated to paint your minis is to find a friend that has a similar taste in music as you and just sit down maybe grab a beer or two and just paint with one of your buddies while listing to your favorite tunes.

I don't keep myself motivated, I just do it when I feel like it. Not as productive, but you don't feel like you're forcing it.

I think the key is patience. Not in sitting there and doing it, but in being able to wait months or years to finish several units. I work two jobs on-site and translate from home. And of course I want to hang out with my friends and I want to make time for books and video games. It's hard to find time for this hobby because it's so demanding.

Basically I try to be satisfied to plug away at my army and get a game or two a month. Playing keeps me motivated to paint and painting keeps me motivated to play. But I don't rush either and find that I don't get demotivated or frustrated that way.

Basically I try to be satisfied to plug away at my army and get a game or two a month. Playing keeps me motivated to paint and painting keeps me motivated to play. But I don't rush either and find that I don't get demotivated or frustrated that way.

QFT

It's difficult at times...when I was building my Orks I really did reach a point where I didn't even want to look at another batch of boyz...so...I just took a break..worked on a side project...played my guitar...did everything and anything but paint....until I had the desire to do so again.

The Motivation comes and goes...the thing is to capitalize on it when it's there.

I like to write my own fluff.

It helps me stay interested in the force that I am currently working on (I have a few), and also allows me to sort of, um, change things that I don't like.

For example, I used to play Dark Angels, there were of course, things that I didn't like about them, and I would always say "Gee person who cares nothing about what I'm talking about, I really wish I could change this." to which they would always reply "God your so obsessed with that game, you seriously need to stop your spending all your money on those mineratures, it's like a drug or something." which is the wrong thing to say, since I would always react by screaming "HERASY!!! You shall be cleansed by the purifying light of the Emperor!!" then I would beat them into unconciousness with the nearest object and tatoo an aquila onto their fore head with a 20 inch knife. Ya, I had proplems.

But now the conversation goes more like this "Gee person who still cares nothing about what I'm talking about, I really wish I could change... oh wait... I can!" then I would imediately hunch over and erase half a page or so of fluff and rewrite it. The other person in the room quite quickly leaves the room, fearing for their life. Really wish I could change that... oh wait... I can! I just need a eraser! I mean... blunt object! WOO HOO!

I understand the OP's position quite well; I work full time and am currently going to school full time. I generally have very little "free" time for 40k. What I find helpful is to set aside a day, few hours, whatever each week or so for "40k" time and stick to it. Since my own painting skills are atrocious, and I wouldn't want to "ruin" the beautiful models I've spent good money on, I am paying another to paint my army thus saving me that much more time for other aspects of the hobby. If money is an issue as well, for either buying more models, paints, ect., I would suggest something along the way of a change jar where every time you have some spare change in your pocket or lying around, collect it in the jar instead, then when the jar is full, use it for 40k, buying one item at a time if necessary. Finally, I find it important to have a good and supportive group of players/hobbyists that you can regularly/semi-regularly meet with to play a game, share your ideas for your army, discuss rules, paint/assemble with, and just be supportive of each other. I can honestly say that I've essentially put my own IG army on hold for the moment, but that is only to get that much more work done for my SoB and WH Inquisition while I still can. As far as when an army is "complete" it really is up to each individual. I won't consider any of my armies complete until I can field the entire FoC of units that I want from AND to have them all painted. With over 200 SoB, 100 Inquisition, and 600+ IG of just infantry alone it seems like quite a daunting task. But I don't try to do it all at once.

I appreciate all of these posts so much. I find that Dakka gets me back into the spirit pretty quickly..

I took an earlier postee's advice and lined up a single squad out in the open in my room. I have my converted squad of veterans sitting on my desk..Shotguns primed and ready for assault. Tonight... I Paint.

Also... I had an idea enter my mind. A silly idea that will cost me some guap but an interesting project that will spike my motivation. Here it is: I have all of these cadians right? Right. Why not buy a squads worth of FW Elysians? I can work on a new paint scheme for them while still being able to use them in my primarily cadian IG force. I think it sounds like a viable idear. What say you?

The main causes of demotivation are the feeling that you have an impossible task because it is too large and you aren't good enough at painting.

What I do is book myself into an event such as Platinum Devil. This gives me a hard deadline by which I need to complete my army.

I don't try to make my models Golden Daemon winners. I concentrate on assembling and painting them to good tabletop standard and I just do the amount I need for the event. When the next event comes around, I add some more models.

Going to the event is very rewarding since everyone admires everyone else's armies and terrain, and we take pictures to put in the gallery, and do battle reports.

Another tip is to assemble and paint on a production line system. It lets you complete units more quickly.

Set yourself a firm but realistic target.
Don't try too hard.
Work out the most efficient system to do what you want to do.
Sprays, washes and dips will get your models up to good tabletop standard quickly.


My Tervigon, converted and painted for Platinum Snow Devil, Dec 2010.


My Tau terrain being fought over by Chaos and someone else.

How I stay motivated? I don't -.-
Stick to the other's advice

Jeez, motivation? Ugh, don't think I've painted anything in months now. Generally speaking, I'm motivated either by the look of a finished army, or deadlines for tournaments and such. As I rarely attend tournaments, the former tends to be my motivation.