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Wow, whole lot of people in this thread think converting is fast and easy.

I believe its because with converting, you have more hands on, much more. You have various tools, and a wider array of sources to pull your creativity from. Just off the top of my head, you get your dremmel, (with at least 5 types of bits in various sizes) hobby knife, hobby saw, anything and everything around the house, plasticard, and various GW and non GW model kits.
You then clump it all together exactly how you want in your personalized creation.

With painting, you get paints, brushes, air brushes, and tape. You then apply different styles of using the brushes. You might have a few types of paints, but in the end, its just paint on the model. It's less creation, and more finalization of your model. To some people, they don't need a finalization, they don't need their creation to be in color, and others might feel like they simply cannot do the model justice.

Seriously. Converting uses anything and everything and the end result is generally not something repeatable if the conversion is drastic enough. A truly unique model on the table. It can take weeks of just planning the parts you are going to use. Lining them up, cutting them down, test fitting, filling gaps...

My exocrines are my pride and joy on the table at the moment. The fact that my Malanthrope only cost me about 25 bucks to make also makes me super happy.

 Orock wrote:
What is the illness called that afflicts me, and is there support groups for it. I can spend days converting all kinds of stuff, but when it comes to making it beautiful afterwards, I just lose all motivation.

See, I'm similar but not quite the same.

I too love conversions and despise painting. However, I actually like painting my conversions - it's painting other models that I struggle with.

 Swastakowey wrote:
Converting is fast and easy with instant results.

I'd like to refute this most strongly!!

Converting a model takes careful planning in order to not balls it up - you might start with a couple of bits which go together just so, but after that the quality of the conversion is down to time and skill.
To start with an abstracted part and create a model around it is a very time-consuming process; the opposite is not generally true as GW and FW have gone to great lengths over the years to create 'bits' for easy 'customisation' (the building options for a land raider for example) but that is not converting imo.
The true skill and quality of the build of a model is in how the 'realism' holds true when observed closely - abscence of mold lines or joins, proper alignment of parts like doors, tracks and hatches, custom scaled equipment or weaponry, accurate limb geometry - these all show off the skill of the build.

My M.U.L.E took a week and a day to build and about the same to paint and i think the build is definetly better than the paintjob!