analytics

Monday, July 20, 2009

Getting (and staying) motivated...

So yeah, I start working on a unit or a couple of models and then the evil computer says "Hey look, I got games here!"... and the next thing I know, its four days later, I cant find my cats, and there is the weird aftertaste of pop-tarts on my tongue...

Ok, its really not like that. But I usually do bite off more then I can chew, and there is a closet full of stuff I bit. Right now, Ive got my Red Scorpions and my Purge Chaos Marines sitting on the shelf, awaiting paint... Ok, not entirely accurate. Of my Red Scorpions, 1 unit, 1 dreadnought, and 1 character need paint. The Purge are a bit further behind, but seeing as they are about twice as many points, I think they can get away with it. They have a Great Unclean One, a pair of Spawn, a unit of Terminators, a unit of Possessed, and a Havok squad to go... and maybe a rhino. I cant remember if that was finished or not.

Both of these armies are in the same shape, basic armor colors are done (dark grey for RS, black and green for Purge), but some of the models still need to be finished.

Ive considered the painting for points system, but decided its not for me. I need to get what I have painted, not add more to the mountain...

I tried something different to get the ball moving today. I chose a single Chaos Terminator, and painted him, all that needs to be finished on that model is the fly symbol and basing. Im thinking I might try doing that to finish the rest of these armies, just do them one at a time. Not efficient at all, but swapping between RS and Purge models might kill off some of the boredom...

Another thing Im considering for motivation I stole from Goatboy, he puts up pics of the models he worked on the week previous. I might actually make myself fight with the camera and start an "end of the week report". Maybe. I should look into building a lightbox first...

6 comments:

Kevin said...

Ah, I know that feeling. The thing that motivates me most is whenever I am painting with my buddy alex. When we work together (on separate models, but we're in the same room :p) we both feel more inclined to finish painting whatever model/squad/vehicle we are working on. Painting motivation is certainly hard to come by. Though your weekly top 10 usually motivates me to do something useful!

Mitch said...

I agree, soemtimes its difficult to get things done. I had a similar problem, I was working on my 8k of salamanders, working on a 3.5k commision, and building a new IG army. I noticed what I was doing and sold off the IG completely. At the point I finished the commision, which was completed last night, and delived to its owner today. Now I will take 1-2 months to finish up my salamanders. I need to finish abunch of units, but I will work on them till they are done. Then its my WHFB Dark elves that been in a box for 2 years :D

Mitch
http://ottawagamer.blogspot.com/

Monkieboi said...

I can never stay motivated if I have unrealistic targets. Painting a 2000pt army is a totally unrealistic goal to set oneself. The brain of a normal human just can't cope with that kind of commitment to painting plastic models.

However! Sitting down of an evening and deciding, "right! I'm going to paint a terminator/dwarf/ratogre/loota/whatever!" is pretty easy and achievable, and in no time, well a few months, you'll find yourself with an entirely painted army. Today, I finished basing my assault marines, the only thing that my vanilla marines need now is sealing that one last unit. Sure it's taken about a year for me to get through it all, but one model at a time is so much more rewarding, and, in my opinion, gives you a better end result, because you've taken your time to give each mini your best paint job!

Unknown said...

Meh, 2k of space marines really isnt that many models. My Purge force is 2250, and under 60 models. I think my real problem is that my painting table doubles as my computer desk (or vice versa), and I am very easily distracted.

I just need to force myself to turn off the computer and Im pretty sure the models would almost paint themselves....

Space Hulk Enthusiast said...

I paint and or model a little bit every night. On the rare occassion, I'll take the night off.

I found that finding a good environment (I work by myself in my studio) is key.
Get everything set so that you can work uninterrupted during the time you've been able to set aside.

I use the painting point because I want to be like everyone else and it's kind neat to see how I fare with the rest of the world so to say.

I do try and break bigger projects into smaller, more manageable chunks that have shorter completion times so I can track progress and see that I'm getting it finished.

Unknown said...

So, after reading comments this morning, I shut my computer off for two hours (trust me, thats more significant then it sounds), and finished that terminator, started and finished a RS tac troop, finished off a Spawn, and started work on a Chaos Marine and another Tac Troop...

I think I have finally found what will help me do the painting I need to do: turning off my computer and doing the damn work!