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My painting had hit a rut. Partially due to waiting on replacement needles, but mostly that's an excuse. I've got two infantry squads and a Predator that are well past airbrush stage. So, I decide to get to work, focusing on the Predator. It's been sitting for months and it deserves to be finished. Besides, I have a LRC coming soon, so hopefully I can finish the Pred, work on my infantry, and be raring to go on another vehicle by the time it gets here.

On to my question. Made some good progress and am on to hard line highlights. There are so many on this! Between that and prepping all the little crannies and such for metallics, it's pretty tedious. It becomes hard to concentrate and get things done. How do you guys cope with this? I've tried frequent breaks, but that often results in being derailed. I'm sure adding to it is I can't seem to get the shade right. Or maybe I am and just don't have a clear idea of what I want. I know I don't want the tank to look outlined. So I've got a tone that is contrasting, but not over much, and keep the lines thin. When they dry, some can't be seen so I feel I have to go over it again and it adds to the tedium. I've thought of lightening slightly more, I just worry of overdoing it.

I listen to music when I paint, it really helps with setting the pace and preventing boredom. Not sure how to advise you on highlighting. On my current project of ultramarine bikers - please check my gallery - I've switched to chipping instead with the highlight colour, then carefully placing black/brown on top to achieve a 3D effect. It's challenging, but I think a little more fun than traditional line highlighting which can be unexciting. At least with the chipping approach if I make a mistake it will just look like another scratch!

I can do the fiddly little stuff for hours with something entertaining to listen to. For me it's things like Totalbiscuit and Jesse Cox terraria lets plays, the TGS pod cast, Girl Painting or WGC YT videos, twitch streams etc. Stuff that keeps the mind busy while the hands do their thing so that you don't get bored. If you're laughing your ass off or otherwise find what you're listening to interesting then the tedium of certain aspects of our hobby (mould lines!) is greatly reduced so you can keep at it far longer I find.