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Do you do this? Is it because of a commission or a favor? Maybe its on your 'stuff to be worked on' honey-do list? I partly do it for the experience. A project I'm working on is for an army I didn't really want but did anyway to get the experience in putting together and painting the models (its a Tau army btw). I'm almost done with the project but now I find myself forcing myself to work on some other stuff that I don't really want/like. Does any one else do this?

I do that actually.

Because i don't care for the model, i don't feel bad if i mess up on it.
Less stress as result xD and it usually boost my confidence a little to proceed painting things i do like.

Commissions can start out really fun but turn into a resentful grind after a while, so I know what this is like. Then again, some commissions are a joy through and through, depends on the scheme. I've had this in my own armies too; painting Lootas was like pulling teeth. For some reason I just really didn't like painting them, and as a result they look pretty lousy.

LunaHound wrote:I do that actually.

Because i don't care for the model, i don't feel bad if i mess up on it.
Less stress as result xD and it usually boost my confidence a little to proceed painting things i do like.

I never thought of it like that. I should see these models as practice or test models... but maybe I won't do a whole army of them next time.

For me, it's more doing multiple models unless I break them up with something else.

With my Tyranids, if I try to do two batched of Gaunts in a row, I'll lose all interest. If I put a squad of Warriors or something between them, I still have the urge to finish things.

Lately, I only spend about an hour and a half to two hours painting in any given day. After that, it starts to drag, regardless of what kind of work I'm involved in, be it commission or my own stuff.

But that's only in regards to painting though... Building and assembling, on the other hand, I can do for hours without tiring. Don't know why, but painting feels a lot more like a chore to me for some reason.

I don't assemble or paint models I don't like.

What would be the point of that?
It also explains why I only have certain models from armies when I don't play those armies.

I'm kinda stuck in that right now painting my Devilfishes and Hammerheads.

I just HATE painting Vehicles. I'll paint anything else all day long and not think twice, but when all I need to finish the army are the Tanks.....Dear lord. My normal "one unit a week" paint schedule becomes "The damn tank whenever I get around to it".

I used to try and batch paint my dudes. It sucked as I just lost motivation as Id spend hours and hours painting and not see any progress. Now I do one at a time and finish it before moving on and only keep the model im working on on the desk with the rest out of sight. That way I only have nice looking models on my desk haha

i force myself to paint because eventually i pick up on it and don't have to force anymore. When models start taking their shape and start looking good (or good enough in my case) then it acts as the trigger to actually get me painting.

So how do people motivate themselves to paint figures they don't like or find tedious? Strangely, as I age, I have less discipline than when I was younger. As a teen, I could mass paint Napoleonic figures so I could field a full corps like the rest of the local club. Before I stopped about six years ago, it was all I could do to paint four similar figures from a blister. Now that I'm painting again, I'm careful to only paint three figures or less at a time, quickly dropping it to one when I need to concentrate on tiny details. Trying to avoid a repeat of burn-out like six years ago when it became a chore, not a pleasure.

BTW, I hate painting horses, yet like playing cavalry armies. Have a Unicorn army from Clan War (think Riders of Rohan from LotR, but as samurai) which never even got to the priming stage since I just couldn't face painting all those damn horses.

Ancestral Hamster wrote:So how do people motivate themselves to paint figures they don't like or find tedious?

I try to find enjoyment in all the models I paint. That being said, music tends to help out a bit, or just some background noise to keep my mind going as I'm painting. And like I said before, I don't try to paint more than an hour or two per day. I won't mind working on any particular model, but if I'm staring at it for too long, then I find myself getting bored and frustrated, and it'll eventually show in my work.

If I'm on a schedule though, I break up the routine by building something in the meantime. I've got a couple of projects that I'm working on (one is actually an Apocalypse Land Raider variant), and am trying to find new ways of having fun with them. I plan to make a tutorial for one of them, with picture updates and all. Hopefully it'll come out alright.

I frequently suffer from painting burn out or building/modeling burn out. Because of this I buy my miniatures in bunches and build a few of them over the course of my downtime for a few weeks then I work on painting those. when I get sick of painting or finished with those I can go back to building some of the others.

Breaking it up really helps me avoid getting too burned out. Although I have a pile of dark eldar warriors on my desk now that need building that I just can't seem to sit down and finish.

I prefer to reward myself for my painting. I'll tell myself that if I can get these steps done or put this much time into a step I find tedious or unpleasant (loots, tact marines, Dire Avengers) then I'll let myself do these steps or put this much time into a model or other thing that I'm really looking forward to (Land Raider, Jump chaplain, TK chariots).

Also, a deadline helps. I painted more in a week before my first tournament then I had in months previous.

And like others have said before, I try not to do the same thing twice in a row. I make sure there is a rhino between tact squads, or some cavalry between groups of rank and file.

I play music and with my excellent ex military training I go into automaton mode.

Had to. I play horde guard... oh if I ever thought about the amount of models I would have to paint it would be horrid.


Also, I hate, HATE fielding unpainted models. I Don't know what it is, but I just don't do it. So if I need a model for a a tourny/ set game, I'll undercoat it, throw some paint to make it table top ready, and blam.

Er...I paint Cadian Imperial Guard so I often find myself painting some minis that are a bit boring (such as fifteen melta gunners). I tend to paint them in stages. Now I have a large force painted to a tabletop quality level which need shading and detail work. I still have 30-40 more that need the basic paint job.

I can make myself paint infantry and vehicles without too much trouble. It's the heavy weapons that give me trouble.

Tactical Marines. Curse you, you faceless grunts! Not as bad as Assault Marines though, hence why I threw in the towel on my BA army.

Sternguard, Grey Hunters, Scouts and other Marine bodies I love painting though. They have personality and so I try to make each one individual. Standard Tacticals though can just Get Out of my lists and never be painted. I'm looking at you grey-plastic Raptors combat squads.

-Loki- wrote:For me, it's more doing multiple models unless I break them up with something else.

With my Tyranids, if I try to do two batched of Gaunts in a row, I'll lose all interest. If I put a squad of Warriors or something between them, I still have the urge to finish things.

Pretty much the same with my Orks, Love them to death, but so much detail work on so many models. Been doing some old marines I never finished to break up the monotony.

My advice for all the Horde-Army painters: Invest in an airbrush. It may not do the detail work you want, but the basecoat and secondary coats will be a lot faster.

When i was painting my 1st Guardsmen platoon I started batch painting them but ran out of steam about 15 models in... So i painted the rest in groups of 3. Spending about 10 - 15 minutes on each man, but only ever doing 3 at a time. Every couple of days id comeback and paint a few guardsmen. Some times i'd only do 3 men a day, sometimes id do 6. Took me aaaaaaaaaaaages to paint up 60 men but i got through them in the end and i didnt end up hating them for it.

I alternate most of the time - paint one model I don't care for and then one I really like.

It's mostly the repetition that gets me, if I paint a unit for example. One is fine and enjoyable, 10 are a chore :-).

Having something on in the background also helps, be it music or a TV-show. Right now I'm combining my hobby with a Friends DVD marathon - still 7 seasons to go :-).

Cheers,


IK-Painter

Iur_tae_mont wrote:I'm kinda stuck in that right now painting my Devilfishes and Hammerheads.

I just HATE painting Vehicles. I'll paint anything else all day long and not think twice, but when all I need to finish the army are the Tanks.....Dear lord. My normal "one unit a week" paint schedule becomes "The damn tank whenever I get around to it".

Bingo. I really don't like painting the oh-so-many tanks which is needed in the meta game of now. Here's one hoping the 6th edition won't need quite as many...

In any case, it often happens that I start painting on a model I like, then stop and can't make myself begin again. Can take half a year before I finish it. Though, I don't recall myself painting some model that I don't like, really (apart from tanks, then)... Why buy models I don't like the look of?

I try to put models that I don't like between models that I really want to paint. Wanting to get to the good models is enough motivation to get the sucky ones out of the way.

I'm painting 30 odd of the same Guardsmen right now, I tend to do 3-4 at a time in a sort of rolling batch system.

I watch or have TV on whilst I'm doing it, Breaking Bad at the moment.

I have a tank that's had some work done on it but After painting a Valk the other day it just seems so samey and thats waiting until the men are done.

Sometimes I break up the painting by building something or just matching up arms for the torsos that I'm painting, just to help with the eyes and stuff.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've read them all and will use the ones that best suit my temperament. Breaking painting up with other projects seems like one of the best ones: there are plenty of figures and molded resin bases to prep.

@Rurouni Benshi: Based on your user name and avatar, you might be interested in this news link: Rurouni Kenshin returns *Warning* Pop-up Ads at this site are NSFW.

Tau models are actually some of the easiest to paint, depending on detail level, I can finish a FW in 10 mins.

Which model has you frustrated?

Ancestral Hamster wrote:Strangely, as I age, I have less discipline than when I was younger.

Yes, this is strange.

Normally, discipline comes with time.

If you have to force yourself to do something because you don't like it, it becomes a job, and not a hobby.

im2randomghgh wrote:Tau models are actually some of the easiest to paint, depending on detail level, I can finish a FW in 10 mins.

Which model has you frustrated?

I'm actually done with the army. It isn't so much ease of painting its just that it wasn't something I really wanted to do.

chromedog wrote:

Ancestral Hamster wrote:Strangely, as I age, I have less discipline than when I was younger.

Yes, this is strange.

Normally, discipline comes with time.

If you have to force yourself to do something because you don't like it, it becomes a job, and not a hobby.

My discipline was waning towards the end of the Tau Project

Now I'm debating on forcing myself to work on some Menoth or to sell it to make room for something I really want to work on.

I have trouble with batch painting the faceless LoTR SBG hordes. Moria Goblins for example. Even trying to get relatively small numbers of figures done (say, 20-30) it's a painful grind. Why do it? My wife likes LotR and the games around it, so when I get a chance to set up my paint table, I try to work on those. She's able to help with things like basecoats, but she's still a learning painter, so the painful stuff falls to me (including fixing the basecoats).

So yeah, still working on a batch of 14 archers. It would be easier if I wasn't trying to get a decent job on each one. I guess mid-high tabletop level with eyes and pupils picked out. And the little bastards are tiny!

Funny though, I did a blister of three of one of the goblin elite types in a couple sessions over a weekend (this is fast for me), so I think it's the grind of doing so many as much as the figures being uninspiring.

One of my other things I'm trying to do at the moment, is start on as few new models as possible, and instead try to finish off stuff (units, individual figures) I started but never finished. I seem to have hundreds of figures in this state...



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Unfortunately, this noble idea is what made me dredge up those damned goblins!

Maybe I'll let myself start a troll for them after I finish the little blighters.

chromedog wrote:

Ancestral Hamster wrote:Strangely, as I age, I have less discipline than when I was younger.

Yes, this is strange.
Normally, discipline comes with time.
If you have to force yourself to do something because you don't like it, it becomes a job, and not a hobby.

Possibly strange, but not that uncommon in my experience. As I get older, I become less and less interested in doing things I don't want to do, especially as relates to hobbies. Maybe it's because peer pressure isn't as important, or I just have less free time (B/C wife, child, house, etc...) and want to spend that time doing what I enjoy and following my hobb impulses of the moment. Whatever the case, I've got far more unfinished projects than I did when I was younger, and many more projects that I haven't even started yet.

That said, I'm only 29, not exactly the pinacle of age-ed maturity.

As to the OP...

In general, for figures I like, but don't feel like painting, they just get put away until I have a game coming up where they could be used. An upcoming game is usually enough impetus for me to get painting. As for figs I don't much care for, I don't do comissions and I don't enjoy painting as much as converting and playing, so painting for a friend or club event is really the only time I'd subject myself to painting something I'm not interested in. Just such a situation happend this week.

My club has a post-halloween Zombie game coming up this week. I'm not much into zombies, but I knew it would be a fun time with friends and I wanted to do my part for the game so I painted up 37 of the monopose vinyl-plastic "Bag O' Zombies" figs (see attached pic of unpainted zombies.

I used some real fast-and-dirty techniques (dips, washes, etc) and only spent about 3 hours or so on them including basing. I'll post up a how-to sometime later. They're not great figs, but I'm really glad i did it. I didn't spend any $ on it (had the zombies lying around for years), the results look good in a horde (not so great alone) and they'll be a great help for the game. Seems like as good a batch of reasons as any for painting up a batch of figs.