Reply To: Is Anyone Happy With What They Paint?

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A few years ago I got bored at work and set up a spreadsheet to track my collection and my painting progress.  Over the months I started adding new features like tracking what I bought and when, and what I got painted across each year.  This has helped me become super aware of just how much I get done in a year, and how fast the pile of shame shrinks or grows each year.  At times this encourages me to seek “quick win” projects to make some fast progress.  It generally helps provide me motivation to paint more and buy less.  Seeing everything in numbers so easily really helps me understand my hobby situation and keeps my eyes on the prize of getting 100% completion one day.

Last year was awesome for progress.  Had I not won a Mythic Battles: Pantheon kickstarter pledge and found £440+ of 40k for £10 at a boot sale I didn’t mean to go to I’d have gotten down to 123 unpainted models.  Less than half a years work.  The end would have been in site, even with another kickstarter dropping in April.  As it is I’m back to 270 models (11 all done and just need varnishing) with 87 arriving in a few months.  I’m not catching up this year after all.  I might get close though.  I don’t mind falling behind due to prizes and bargains though, but it would be good to be comfortable in double figures one day.

Going fast and having a drop in quality doesn’t have to mean low quality.  It means finding the techniques and paint schemes that give you the highest quality you can get without eating too much time.  It means finding short cuts and maximising your down time.  Not every aspect of a model needs to be painted to the same level either.  One of the most important things to learn is that you can brush paint 3 similar guys just as fast as you can 1 (When airbrushing it can be a lot more).  You lose time waiting for paint to dry, mixing up new paints and cleaning your palette.  Painting the same colour on a few guys at once maximises the efficiency of that spent time.

Another speed up is to have your next project prepped before you finish the current one then you aren’t sat around waiting for any glues to dry, primer to set, or even for the initial mould release agent soapy wash to dry.

More and more I am becoming a fan of having a side piece.  When I’ve applied a wash that is taking its time to dry I can go and do some work on that other mini.  I may end up spending more time on the main mini but overall I’ve gotten more work done for my time.