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I think I'm having a spark of inspiration to get my guard painted up.

I'm curious, what motivates you guys to get the painting done? Clean area, organized paints? Preferred enemy "grey models"? Etc etc.

Also what's the best way to keep your motivation?

Already lost the battle if you need to come up with trick and mind games to motivate yourself to paint if you ask me. Most common trick is to do a squad of uninspiring regulars then reward yourself with a more detailed IC or a vehicle. Then back to doing a boring squad then back etc...

Nothing motivates me. That's why I'm sitting on an ugly clump of unpainted models, that I want to paint, but not enough to actually paint.

Nothing motivates like a deadline!

Set yourself a game date, and commit to having one unit painted by that date. I love having gorgeous models on the table, and if I set the game size right so that having that unit fully painted and on the table lets me paint with a fully painted army as opposed to a mostly-painted army, that helps me finish the job.

Just finished 6 scatbikes and a JetSeer in time for a tournament this way!

1. Deadline. I signed up for Adepticon's HH events and had to get my gak painted in time. I didn't want to disappoint a buddy who also signed up and was playing in the same event...

2. ...which leads to peer pressure. I didn't want to be left out or let him down.

3. I only keep out 1 or 2 unfinished models at a time. The rest are in the cabinet. If I see a table full of unpainted models, I get overwhelmed and quickly lose my motivation.

4. Reading a 40k book or skimming through my codex. I see the painted models and it reminds me that I have gak to paint.

5. I enjoy it. If it's raining outside, I can sit down and listen to a ball game and paint a miniature.

 kronk wrote:
2. ...which leads to peer pressure. I didn't want to be left out or let him down.

This is a good point too! My closest 40k friend only plays with fully painted armies, and it's golden. Also, the looks other people give me when I play with a fully painted army is also wonderful.

It helps me relax, so not quite motivated but in a odd way it is too.

I'm inspired by knowing having unpainted minis in my army is why i lose. It's the only logical reason.

reading up on some fluff and thinking of an interesting theme, actually enjoying the colors your using, etc..
rewarding yourself with an HQ or tank after every squad or two of regulars.
deadlines.
peer pressure.
(for me) using basing as a reward, since i'm good at it, and it's quick, fun, and different than the rest of the army.
I like the idea of preferred enemy: grey models in friendly games, pretty brilliant, if you ask me.

The result.

 Dalymiddleboro wrote:
I'm curious

You are VERY Curious...

its a mix of seeing finished models and thinking WOW that looks cool, Looking at my unfinished piles and dieing a little inside, and seeing Cool paints and techniques online and wanting to try it.

I try and give my units a backstory or at least a cool name and company badges.

Also actually playing games with fully painted units is the gak.

Man, only having one or two models out at a time is a big one. I keep planning to do a bunch of little adjustments on a bunch of models and i get them all out, and all i do is sit there and look at them all and then decide to do something else.

I can't say...
It just comes from inside... really.

The desire to buy a squad or something, to assemble it and then to journey to the local hobby store for paints, if no citadel then look up for alternatives is also a fun thing to do. Then have a small talk with the guy in the shop, who sells Revell and Tamyia kits all his life but is not aware of WH40K and is interested. Then he suggest you some good brushes and etc.

It's just something that makes you to sit, adjust a good lamp for light and start doing it. It comes from the soul, there is no motivation in it....

I just started painting and I'f I didnt had to go to work and do some house stuff I'd paint my whole life. It's a hobby that really kicked me off my sit in front of my Desktop computer. I stopped playing games, I paint instead and read rules...

And I can't wait for the moment when Im gonna start playing with my own army painted all by my self. I don't need motivation, I just love doing it.

But if you need a motivation think about the painting process, think about the end result: what will you show to your friends or post it here and the forums and wait fedback. Dunno really

To paint at all? Because I want my expensive models to look better than just primed plastic.

To paint well? The models are too expensive to not give each model it's due. My opponents appreciate playing against a well painted army, and I really enjoy looking at the results of my hours of hard work. Also, every time I look at my Necron army (that I speed painted and didn't care too much about), I want to punch my past self in the face.

How do I make sure I actually paint my models? It's still a struggle, and I have a lot of unassembled, unpainted models from various armies strewn about my hobby area. What's REALLY working for me over the past year is....I don't base my models until their fully painted and therefor, I cannot play with them until they've been "dealt with." It's a real bummer, but it's super motivating.

Getting more minis.

Wanting to win a local paint competition. Some day I will take it!

Knowing I can tell my friend to 'take notes' as I view their army that is essentially off the sprue..

I don't want my models to be a disgrace to the board I'm playing on.

I assemble unpainted, and procrastinate until there's a tournament that requires painted minis in order to play.

The finished product. Satisfaction.
Being able to buy more minis.
Placing finished minis down on the table and watching people who don't paint really appreciate your stuff.

The shame of fielding a force of unpainted grey, badly painted minis I did years ago and freshly stripped uglies.

I don't buy new models until I paint what I have. I play with painted models only, even though that has meant playing only small-ish games for the last year. I always want something new for each game.

I keep a blog (in my signature) and if I don't have something new to post every week or two, I feel like I'm letting down my followers/readers. If I don't have something done, I at least post WIP pics to keep myself motivated and people interested.

I also keep an area set up to paint and have a fixed time everyday so there is a routine. After the kids go to bed, it is painting time from 8:00 - 9:00. After the chaos of dealing with preschool/toddler age kids, painting is very relaxing and fulfilling and even fun!

Also, some people paint huge batches of models in an assembly line to get them done quicker. But I find that method to be soul-draining and annoying. It may be a lot slower, but I just find it more satisfying to paint one model at a time and get something done more frequently rather than waiting a week or two to finish the whole squad. But I'm not in a big hurry since I only play a game every few months.

If you don't "want" to paint then don't. Now before I get yelled at I'll say I like painted models, I like painting, and if I played pickup games I'd probably get annoyed at grey tides.

You should paint when you want to paint. Now if that's something you agree with then maybe what you're really asking is how to get yourself painting when you want to paint but just don't have the energy to get up, get clean water, make the wet palette, find the right paints, blah blah yawn yawn. I have that happen all the time. I keep enough of my supplies within arms reach that i could start pretty quickly, just need fresh water. I keep a plethora of unpainted minis too: some Vostroyans, some Thallax, some Malifaux minis. I try not to tell myself "you have to these 20 guys" because then I think I'll be spending forever painting and make no discernible progress. It's much easier to get into the mode of "oh man this mini right here is cool, I'm going to edge highlight those leather straps." and then go to town with one or two colors.

I'll be honest with you. I have no idea how to play 40k, yet I've painted already two armies both 1000 points large. I love painting, I get to let my lazy yet creative side out.
When it comes to self motivation I struggle with focusing on one simple task such as painting. And watching TV is way too much of a distraction, so in order to maintain focus on painting and not feel like I'm wasting time I throw on a podcast. I listen to business podcasts,health podcasts, self improvement podcasts, and even adult podcasts (like adult health and what not...). Besides that you can find articles on self motivation all over the place. I believe what it comes down to is habit. You either make excuses not to paint a habit or excuses to paint a habit. One just takes more work than the other.

1) I set myself the goal of having beautifully painted armies to play with.
2) I paint regularly, half an hour each day.

Well, I don't play with unpainted models. Primed is a must have.

My motivation is the sheer calm of mind painting brings me, that and its nice to see the results one gets

The kids arnt around.

Wifes outta the house.

I don't play with unpainted models. So if I want to use that interesting new unit it's going to have to be painted first.