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Hello Dakka,

So, I've been having problems with painting models lately, I can't get the motivation to do anything! All I do is spray paint them add a few details and get tired. I usually end up starting a new army,(reason why I have four armies.) So now I have a lot of models sitting half painted on my desk.
My question is, how do you motivate yourself painting models?

Thanks,

Tyranid Horde

I promised my (loving, adoring, faithful, and infinitely forgiving) fiancee that I would paint all my models before I buy more. It makes it much easier to finish projects. Just slap on an old movie or TV show and go to town.

I try and paint small batches instead of large ones. Usually I shoot for 3-5 models, although I've been pushing 8 or 9 with my IG infantry simply because there's so damn many I need to do. It helps when you can actually see your army forming together.

I also try to do easy stuff from time to time like put models together/prime them. Helps things move along.

I've had same problem, but I find it helpful to paint with friends. Somehow it makes me complete more in less time.

Ya put something on in the background, or paint with friends ususally speeds up the time i take painting.

Another think to consider is doing it unit by unit. I have found that the more I have sitting infront of my the less motivated I feel to paint them because I think I wont get through them in time.

Yeah, I've painted with my friends before,(managed to get 8 genestealers assembled and fully painted in a couple of hours.) its fun but getting together is the problem.

I've been breaking them up into segments, as well as making sure to alternate between regular troops and nicer models I care more about. The big ones are a break from a bunch of nearly identical little ones.

key is always have a movie playing in the background that way its not as boring! I have the same problem btw (without the four armies) Also if you can get into Dublin try paint at the local GW or Gamers world it helps because ur not sitting there by yourself I hope that helps with your motivation problems other than that i cant think of much else except the painting with friends if they're into warhammer.

Everyone has said the solution I found to be most promising: TV/movie. You sort of subconsciously watch the TV without realizing it. Make it something you've seen before, though - that way you aren't watching the show but merely listening!

I'll give watching a movie a try. I'm nowhere near Dublin, I live in Donegal and my closest GW is in Belfast 200 miles away. After that there's no gaming club near me either. We should organise a game sometime Kravus

It helps me to have the TV on, but not in view. My sculpting room (it's actually a closet) is in a separate room from the TV. If I can see it, I don't pay attention to sculpting, but if I can only hear it in the background I can listen but still focus my eyes on the subject at hand. I still prefer music (probably for the same reason) but I'm too lazy to move my laptop from the living room.

chunk it down, make it more managable, heaps and heaps of unpainted grey/ primed minis are just too daunting- get out 5 models at a time and go to town- congratulate yourself when your done, display them and be proud- then rinse and repeat.

music helps too, personally i find visuals too distracting

the "no more purchases till these are painted" method is tough to stick to but works wonders.

of course nothing beats painting with a mate!

I like to paint while listening to random stuff I downloaded of youtube on my mp3 player

There's a few things I do to make sure I don't get bored when I work. The first, like everyone has said, is to multi-task. I use to watch a Baseball game, but I found that when the Braves tanked so did my painting so I changed over to music; and not just one type of music either. I listen to a very wide range of music so I never get bored with what I listen to (Yes, even classical and omg showtunes!).

Now the second thing I do is more concerned with actually starting to paint. There's nothing worse than putting painting off; yet it is just so easy to do! So what I do is have a year planner in my painting room; one of those large ones that has the full year on display. Next, get yourself a big ass red marker, now every time you sit down to paint cross-off the day. Your new goal is to get as many red X's in a row, and then always try to beat that number next time. Even if you only get to paint for thirty minutes, it is still thirty minutes of painting done!

The third thing is to have work at various stages of development. Some people like to buy and do one thing before buying something else and that's great, but I prefer to have three things going at once. One in prep-stage where I'm removing mold-lines and giving things a bath. The second in undercoat / Drying phase. The third is actual painting...

Hope that helps

stinlin wrote:Everyone has said the solution I found to be most promising: TV/movie. You sort of subconsciously watch the TV without realizing it. Make it something you've seen before, though - that way you aren't watching the show but merely listening!

That's exactly what I do (I know "Dawn of the dead" and "The Thing" by heart, I don't need to watch the screen). I also try to focus on a restricted number of models at once (no more than ten).

Thanks for all the help guys! I think from now on I'll buy 1 set instead of letting myself get another. (and another and another) I'll follow some of these instructions you all suggested.

Podcasts are also an amazing way to keep yourself from getting bored while painting.

May I suggest Life After the Cover Save, Dice Like Thunder, and The Gamer's Lounge? They're three of my faves.

Or if you're interested in something not 40k related, SModCast with Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier and Tell 'em Steve-Dave with Walt Flannigan and Bryan Jhonson are two I like as well.

You could start a blog on dakka dakka so you are giving yourself something to work towards.

Firstly, clear off all the models on your desk and just have one character or a small unit on there. There is nothing more demoralising than a huge lead mountain sitting in front of you and you can only paint one figure at a time anyway.

The next step is to decide upon the approach you want to take. If you are really interested in getting all you stuff painted in a set time period then arange a tournament with your mates where all models need to be painted this way you will have a deadline to work to and this can raise your motivation and productivity.
Alternatively if there is no pressing need to get your stuff painted then dont preasure yourself, everyone goes through dry patches where they just dont fancy picking up their brushes. In this case just leave it for a while and come back to it when you feel ready. If you force yourself then something which you enjoy can become a boring chore.

heres how i have mine, i have 6 blog sites up at all times, i constantly trawl through top artists, looking at beautiful work thinking how could i achieve that, i also have my most relaxing playlists, on going IE Ryuichi Sakamoto or similar, as above poster says, i keep very few miniatures on my work area BAR my project, which in my case are commissions, so this week - unit of blood raven's plus character.

Thats what I'll do! Keep few models on my desk, listen to music and start up a blog to see what Dakka thinks of my models. Thanks again!

Personally i just grab a model throw on a movie or some music and start painting until im done the model and once im done if i feel like painting another one i grab another one and go to town. repeating the process until i cant paint any more.

I need white noise to concentrate... on TV I throw in Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama (why comedy cartoons? I have no idea). Also old Godzilla movies or episodes of Red Dwarf... those work well.

I agree with the ideas of clearing off your painting area so you can focus on just your current project (also keeps you from getting depressed by the mountain of unpainted minis) and working on a few figs at a time. 2-3 is usually a good size for me as it's more efficient but you finish them more frequently than a whole squad so you get nice little perks as you finish the little groups.

Stay focused... maybe paint one of your armies 500 points at a time (give or take) so that you're approaching the larger problem is bite-sized pieces.

I used to have a specific group of 6 CDs that I'd listen to whenever I was doing metalwork in the shop... but for some reason I haven't gone back to the for painting.

if your able to, listen to music, chat with someone, or watch TV at the same time. see, you take micro breaks, literally, seconds to respond, and thats enough of a break. you feel much more interested when you've got friends around you.

Music is my muse for painting (6 Music from the BBC), I get all Zen painting and listening to good tunes.

Like others have said, I won't buy more figures til I've finished all that I have (although that bit the dust last weekend when I bought some Killa Kanz with 2 Deffkoptas, 4 Nobz and a Warboss still to go!)

Also, another spur is to keep the "best" figures or ones which you think you'll enjoy more til you've got through the "lesser" ones, e.g. in my AOBR set I told myself I couldn;t do the Nobz or Warboss til I'd finished the myriad Boyz! (Which I've now done!)

Hope this helps...

What you need my friend is inspiration! I find researching some awesome paintjobs on models that i'm about to paint helps me want to paint and try out new things, for example I love the work by Raff so i looked up how to weather and found so much good stuff I couldn't wait to try it! I now have two finished wolf guard terminators that look sweet! imo of course, so get looking and get inpired and then get painting and show us!