Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I completely ruined my morning because for the Nth time my OCD flared up and caused me to tear apart a few models in my brand-new Primaris collection. My OCD dictates that things need to look neat and consistent and "as if GW made it", as a result I go back to the models that I've already built and redo them just because something that looked good yesterday SUDDENLY looks like crap today.

It's not enough that I compulsively file off mold lines even if the surfaces on which they are will never see the light of day.

I obsess over model poses, which is why quite a few of the Dark Imperium minis got converted and repurposed. I.e. this sarge has been busted down to private and had his arms replaced because it looked to me like he was about to give someone an, um, undercarriage check. There are others who were posed too awkwardly and ended up being converted several times (I'm proud to say that I only ruined 1).

I obsess over wargear. Everyone's gotta have pouches (Rob Liefield says hello). Everyone's gotta have a bolter or a special weapon, a bolt pistol, and a chainsword (rank and file) or a power weapon (officers). I bought an insane number of Burning of Prospero chainswords for that and used them all. I converted this lieutenant to have a bolter on a sling, because dude, you didn't seriously leave home without a bolter, did you? My current obsessive project is power swords for my six sergeants, and while I already HAD a solution (Black Templar swords in sheathes) I woke up one morning and realized that the hilts on those looked entirely too thick and disproportionate. Back to the drawing board. We're talking about not even entire bits here, but rather elements of bits. This all leads to a lot of rework, wasted money and ruined bits. Gak my life.

So, how obsessive are you? Do you approach similar levels of insanity, or are you a bit more relaxed in your modeling endeavours?

[MOD EDIT - RULE #1 - Alpharius]

Boy are we opposite ends of the spectrum.
Me: no barrels drilled, all mold lines still present, superbly basic basing, wargear options are next to meaningless, little highlighting/shading/washing (if any), parts left off or missing if I cant fiddle them into place.

Its bliss

OgreChubbs wrote:[MOD EDIT - RULE #1 - Alpharius]

If that was an attempt at a low-key insult, you gotta try harder buddy (butI think I'll report you anyway, I don't take well to personal attacks).

Ratius wrote:Boy are we opposite ends of the spectrum.
Me: no barrels drilled, all mold lines still present, superbly basic basing, wargear options are next to meaningless, little highlighting/shading/washing (if any), parts left off or missing if I cant fiddle them into place.

Its bliss

Haha, THAT is bliss indeed!

Perhaps its time to learn to sculpt instead of working with models which are often not perfect when made anyway (and might well not be perfect model to model even if on their own the are well proportioned).

Accepting that the concept of perfection isn't singular and that there are many variations depending upon the intention of the creator and the situation. eg some parts might be thicker than perfect because otherwise they'd not cast reliably.


I dislike mould lines and often find that I undertake then pause on projects as I want them to come out looking right but often am met with a lack of sufficent understanding on how to progress to get the results I want (though a good portion of that is just being lazy in learning to paint).



That said I'd say as long as you ENJOY the process then its not money wasted nor an issue. It's only if you dislike what you're doing then its time to consider taking a break and focusing on something else. But if you enjoy tearing down and getting things that little bit better toward your vision of perfection then by all means keep doing it. Your hobby your fun.

 Overread wrote:
Perhaps its time to learn to sculpt instead of working with models which are often not perfect when made anyway (and might well not be perfect model to model even if on their own the are well proportioned).

Would LOVE that, seriously, but lack the artistic inclinations. And while I'm better at sculpting small bitty details these days, crafting entire pieces still eludes me.

I'm kind of backward, spend ages messing and altering and pulling apart and repainting, think it looks garbage, wake up next day and I like what I did

I'm in the same boat. I've torn apart and ruined countless bits because I didn't like how they looked. All the barrels have to be centered, all the backpack top decorations on my Space Marine officers have to be squared, all the stray glue blemishes have to be filled down to a smooth finish and god help me if there is a loose moldline. If there is something crooked, even if its only noticeable if you look -really- closely, I have to fight the urge to tear up the surface of a mini to fix it.This has made me a better modeler, though. And my models look pretty nice for all the trouble. So, kind of worth it.

I'm not too fussy about gap filling, though. On Rhinos/Land Raiders I don't really bother because it would probably make the model look worse. Plus, the GW studio doesn't really bother either soo...

(I also will ditch models that, while usable, I feel don't measure up to my standards due to poor modelling/sculpting)

Ogre wasn't being insulting, but honest. If you're not just slinging hyperbole in the typical fashion, you probably do have a bit of an issue and if that's something you see throughout the rest of your life - could be an actual condition worth looking at.

In your original post you're very much complaining about issues you feel you have...and Ogre was addressing that fact.

Now, if you're just spouting hyperbole and you're not "actually" genuinely obsessed with stuff, then you're just a stickler for hobby practices...big deal. Lots of people are.

I heavily enjoy making things look unique and tweaking things. Many of my space marines and guard are made from 3, 4, or even six models. I don't understand the obsessive part, though. Unless it's just obsessively converting things, in which case, yeah I do that.

But once it's done, it's done. I rarely ever change anything.

Though I did recently go back and change my Chapter Master from holding a Power sword and a Lightning Claw [I'm sure that was good in 3rd. Right?] To give him a relic blade and a terminator stormshield, jump packs, and a servo skull because he didn't _look_ right.

So maybe 6/10 on the scale.

The guy 'in bliss' further up the scale makes me twitch uncomfortably.
In the nicest possible way bro, I never want to play your army.

I used to be like that. then i simply stopped caring when i noticed i never got anything done.

its easier and harder for different people but at some point you gotta except that good enough is good enough.

I used to strip entire armies because i saw a different formula for the same yellow that i liked a little more on some blog. probably about 7 times.

or when Gw switched formula and i cant complete an army with the same look. (rip charadon granite)

I think the main concern I have for you is: are you having fun?
Can you point to a few models you are "happy" with?
I am unsure if you already have, but you may want to have that level of dissatisfaction assessed.
In the end you may be a person with high standards and are getting to the stage where you can achieve them.

Well, enough about you...

Me, I am obsessive a bit of what happened before.
The more I practice my hobbies, the better I get at them.
I am usually quite happy with what I made today.
Stuff I did before... well...
I have torn up "perfectly good" fully painted squads due to my standards changed (a year or two later).

I die a little inside.

It takes me a long time to finish things because I can always find something else which can be improved or some new detail to flesh out. I also sometimes break things apart and reassemble them. I have my limits, however. I'll eventually get sick of working on the same unit and call it good enough.

Well, I did start a thread about pose awkwardness.

And I wont give some people in my squads (bolter sergeants) straps for their guns unless they all have them...subsequently that neat little command squad arm will never be used...

M.

I file off most of the mould lines.
I don't drill barrels unless it's heavy bolter sized.
What looks "good" to me day-to-day is the same, day-to-day.
I convert specific models and leave r&f as is.

I loathe Rob Liefield's art style.

I don't think I have OCD at all. I'm happy like this.

Every single model must be completed to the absolute best of my ability every single time. This includes prep work, painting, and basing. No exceptions. Ever. It's a terrible approach for completing armies, but it's great for becoming a better painter.

The only thing I don't do is repaint models, even if they're in the same army as things I painted better recently. If I did that, I'd never learn anything and I'd never get anything done. There are some limits to my OCD, but not many.

I have to agree with the lot of you that I spend the maximum amount of time per model making each as "perfect" as my skill set allows me to. Sometimes it backfires because if I rush on a model and it ends up looking slightly less carefully painted than the rest in my army it drives me nuts.

I also sometimes feel my painting techniques get better as I get further into a project so that by the time I'm done with the 10th model, it looks markedly better than the first and it drives me nuts having them at the table together. A lot of my "tester" models for new color schemes make up the back rank of my armies, because I can't stand looking at them up front.

Nice, glad to see I'm not the only one with the inclination for excessive detail

For me, I'm always looking for my models to look good. I hate mold-lines and non-cut flash. Paint spillage out of the lines also drives me nuts, but, I just keep pressing on.

On a note, the Tyranid Gaunt models are notoriously badly sculpted, and I can vouch for this as I just built 120 of them. :(

I'm obsessive too. But the hobby is supposed to be therapeutic. Sounds like you enjoy perfect models. The trick is getting past your obsessions and getting complete models for the tabletop or display case.

My work is pretty slick though. Comes with the territory. I paint single parts of SM models and assemble after each piece is painted. So the assembly kinda comes last which is very exciting and pushes me the slow down and think about composition pose.

 womprat49 wrote:
I'm obsessive too. But the hobby is supposed to be therapeutic. Sounds like you enjoy perfect models. The trick is getting past your obsessions and getting complete models for the tabletop or display case.
My work is pretty slick though. Comes with the territory. I paint single parts of SM models and assemble after each piece is painted. So the assembly kinda comes last which is very exciting and pushes me the slow down and think about composition pose.

Says the guy who's avatar is a colour wheel... hehe.
Funny, I could never get into that method since I found the join prep irritating to try to blend those areas.
I usually would look for a partial assembly and only join in covered or hard to see areas (or where there is a logical seam).

I don't repaint anything but I rigorously remove all mould-lines, and sometimes leave bigger monitors in partial assemblies even if I may not end up painting the model for like a year...

It's taken me like 7 years to fully build as I buy about 9 armies now, only painted a couple models. I finally have pretty much all of my favorite armies so after I finish building these last few Tyranids it is MASS paint time!

I feel like if mould line removing was a profession, some of us would be making so much money!

Bought a bunch of shoulder pads from FW with legion markings on them but discovered that they look different when compared to a normal one on the mk3 marines.

Removed them from the models that I had used them on and put them by the side since the difference between the shoulder pads made it feel to much wrong.

I'm the same way as you, more or less. I'm always looking for extra bits on eBay to complete my models, and I collect DKoK so they don't always come easy or cheap. The bit in particular that I'm the most obsessed with is the holstered laspistol (and also empty laspistol holsters). A couple of weeks ago I bid on a collection of FW bits, solely because I noticed one holstered pistol in one of the photos, so I was really happy to find I had bought 6-7 of them. Pretty much everything else in that box was junk though.

The reason I needed the pistols, in artillery crews of three men, one man is supposed to be armed with a pistol (even though it's not in the rules, but that's how the models are equipped), and I've already used three pistols to equip the rapier gunners, because they looked really vulnerable without a side arm for self-defense.

In my army, every figure has to have either a rifle or a pistol, if they're not armed with a special weapon.

I only play with fully painted models. Tend to do my best to differentiate models in an unit by changing details while still mantaining the same color scheme. I do my best to tie in every unit I paint into a global setting/theme, and while I tend to get the most effect with minimum effort while painting (use a lot of washes) I give my best on almost every model. I get REALLY nervous when a piece breaks and take a long, long time by filing and cutting and trying to glue it back together. Took me 2 months to finish my Arkanaut Frigate, but I glued and painted it properly. AND ONE OF THE ENDRINS IS A SLIGHT DIFFERENT COLOR BECAUSE I FINISHED ONE OF THE POTS AND HAD TO USE ANOTHER!

That said, yes, I am a bit obsessive son some models, but depending on the model...

 Zingraff wrote:
I'm the same way as you, more or less. I'm always looking for extra bits on eBay to complete my models, and I collect DKoK so they don't always come easy or cheap. The bit in particular that I'm the most obsessed with is the holstered laspistol (and also empty laspistol holsters). A couple of weeks ago I bid on a collection of FW bits, solely because I noticed one holstered pistol in one of the photos, so I was really happy to find I had bought 6-7 of them. Pretty much everything else in that box was junk though.

The reason I needed the pistols, in artillery crews of three men, one man is supposed to be armed with a pistol (even though it's not in the rules, but that's how the models are equipped), and I've already used three pistols to equip the rapier gunners, because they looked really vulnerable without a side arm for self-defense.

In my army, every figure has to have either a rifle or a pistol, if they're not armed with a special weapon.

I like the way you think

What kind of junk bitz are we talking about, though?

 Infantryman wrote:
I like the way you think

What kind of junk bitz are we talking about, though?

- Mismatched lasgun arms that I can't use because none of them line up.
- Lots of engineer surplus items, almost enough shotguns to arm one unit (I guess the original owner equipped them with special weapons).
- All sorts of odd parts for earthshaker/medusa carriages, such as those curved boards the back wheels are meant to run on, ammo boxes that are more or less complete. I received enough to those boards to equip 4-5 carriages, so I guess the original owner bought as many earthshakers and/or medusas (this also fits with the many holstered pistols I got, because I guess he didn't bother equipping his artillerymen with them).
- The extra tank track links some Macharius chassis tanks come with, I received an odd number of those, 3 or 5, which means that even if I wanted to use them, I'd end up with one extra. I guess the guy bought 2 or 3 Macharius type super heavies.
- A couple of really horrendously painted soldiers, that I plan to test paint removal fluids on, in particular a product which is mostly Ethoxylated Alcohol (CAS Number 68439-46-3) and water. This appears to be what's in Simple Green, which is unavailable in Norway.

With the exception of what I assume to be a set of SM combat knifes, everything else originated as accessories to various DKoK kits, and while I plan to keep them as spare parts, to compliment kits I already have, and/or for scenery projects, for the most part it's just useless junk.

 Olgerth Istaarn wrote:
So I completely ruined my morning because for the Nth time my OCD flared up and caused me to tear apart a few models in my brand-new Primaris collection. My OCD dictates that things need to look neat and consistent and "as if GW made it", as a result I go back to the models that I've already built and redo them just because something that looked good yesterday SUDDENLY looks like crap today.

I can't comment on your peculiarities but I find I have to tell myself frequently that "it's good enough". I'm not particularly skilled in either converting or painting so imitating 'Eavy Metal quality is out of the question right away... but I find myself overly concerned with "fixing" miniscule little things after the fact and ruining more than I fix. My decorative wing bit was glued a few seconds ago a tiny bit askew? Well, I'll just twist it a smidge while the glue is only partly set.. and *BAM* the piece comes off completely and I wish I had never touched it in the first place because now I have a glue marred surface. Sometimes it really is better to measure twice and cut once and then just leave well enough alone!

I obsess over wargear. Everyone's gotta have pouches (Rob Liefield says hello). Everyone's gotta have a bolter or a special weapon, a bolt pistol, and a chainsword (rank and file) or a power weapon (officers). I bought an insane number of Burning of Prospero chainswords for that and used them all. I converted this lieutenant to have a bolter on a sling, because dude, you didn't seriously leave home without a bolter, did you?

I find nothing wrong with that and think it's rather sensible.. but I'm a bit biased though.



I'm building a second model of that same sculpt (it's my favorite sculpt of the past 5 years from GW) and am finding it difficult to *NOT* give him a sensible bolter in the same spot now that he's being upgraded to a Jump Pack Captain.

I think its fine to obsess about the pouches and extra girbbles

personally why i absolutely love all the new primarus kits

Ether they are snap fit and have them properly attached or they are specifically molded to fit on the model.

i cant stand trying to glue the normal 40k pouchs onto any normal marines (specificly the double big pouch and the bolt pistol.

it never fits right :X

 Desubot wrote:
I think its fine to obsess about the pouches and extra girbbles

personally why i absolutely love all the new primarus kits

Ether they are snap fit and have them properly attached or they are specifically molded to fit on the model.

i cant stand trying to glue the normal 40k pouchs onto any normal marines (specificly the double big pouch and the bolt pistol.

it never fits right :X

On a similar note, I don't think I could go back to "normal" marines period because of the proportions which contribute to that never fits right issue. If I go on, it'll likely just be one offs or small 3-5 man squads of primaris done up as different things. YMMV.