Where do you draw the line on detailing?

[darkvoivod 7112xp 0]

I’m working on the beginning for my fantasy village, as seen in the projects.
One of the lessons through my long years of hobbying I’ve learned is to make some plans and rules before you start.
I really like detailed scenery, but I know it’s so easy to want to add more and more, so one rule was “don’t overdo it”.
I’m planning some furnishing, crockery, barrels and crates as well as detailed beds and a fireplace.
I’m not going to overdo it on having each building having a complete set of cups, plates and all for every possible inhabitant, just enough to create the feeling that it’s being lived in.

Then I got the idea to put led-lights in the fireplace and I had to stop myself.
It would be very cool. I know I have the skills….
But it would take a project that I already think that’ll take a month and put som much more time in it.
I already have way to many projects lined up, so I need to draw the line somewhere.

I was tempted to put led’s in my Imperial Assault jawa’s as well, making their eyes really glow.
I experimented with NMM on my crisis protocol Ghostrider mini, but the model also had flame effects and, much as I wanted to, I decided against giving it OSL as well, because I already spend so much time on the chrome (also I didn’t want to ruin it).

But sometimes, there’s stuff I know I can do. I just decide “best not”.

What’s the community’s thought? Other people like me, that have to stop themselves from overdoing it?
Or is a project just not finished to you unless you cram every possible idea and detail in?

[limburger 21775xp 1]

I’d say it depends on the kind of deadline that exists for the project.

If there isn’t any then I see no reason to stop detailing.

If you want it finished by a specific date … then you’ve got a hard limit on how  detailed you can go because you’d want to keep everything at the same level of detail. So either every house gets a full set of cups and plates … or none of them get it.

So the best way to stop yourself from adding ‘too much detail’ is to give yourself a deadline that is impossible if you go too far with your detailing …

(although there’s nothing stopping you from doing it for a deadline after the first one … )

[guillotine 16041xp 1]

I generally go by the quality of the model. Awesome sculpt and a quality cast or print — I put more effort (and there’s usually more detail to work with), mediocre stuff — less effort. When it comes to terrain, the use case defines the detail level.

 

 

[darkvoivod 7112xp 1]

I’m not great with dead-lines in my hobbies. So that may explain how others do it. Having times where I just can’t be stopped and some times where I don’t do anything for months, I just work on what catches my fancy for the moment.
There’s also, always the backlog of projects that makes me not want to spend to much time on a project, though.
Still, sometimes it’s hard knowing what could have been.
Boils down on:”Do I want several cool projects, or on awesome one.”

Models do dictate how much time I spend on them, and I do appreciate a simpler project every now and then.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

Depends on the purpose. A diorama is different from terrain for a miniature skirmish game.

You could always go for breadth — enough of a diorama to fill up the table, and look good from a foot away. Then start filling in details for whatever you’d like to do. You can also have more than one stopping point. If you reach it and still have time, you can go to the next goal.

Hobbies should be fun, but I don’t think they always are — and I think that’s okay. With art and creativity, there’s perfection. With videogames, there’s grinding and losing games. I guess passive consumption (eg. books, tv) tends to be more fun, but they’re not productive.

I think burnout, boredom, or having something more important or more enjoyable to do are legitimate reasons to drop or compromise on a hobby project. It’s not like you’re building a new porch or something…!

[sundancer 43074xp 0]

Tough question. Usually I have an image in my head of what I want to achieve but at the same time I don’t plan anything. I’ll just run with it or do some scribbles for bigger terrain pieces. Of course that leads to very long project times and even more unfinished stuff.

Like the others said before: if your goal is a gaming piece, don’t overdo it. Sturdy beats pretty. If it’s for display purposes: go ham. Make it as enjoyable to watch as you can. Otherwise you’ll be looking at it and go “I could have….”

[limburger 21775xp 0]

@ced1106 books can be productive, provided you’re not looking at the pretty pictures with words in bubbles. 😉
Reading the fluff or the rules can inspire new projects or new ideas.

Kind of like this website or the discord … if you lack inspiration or hobby mojo those can be the places to refill.

[captainventanusParticipant 4936xp 1]

It very much depends. I like the idea of really well painted miniatures fighting it out over immersive tables, but practical considerations catch up with reality.

In terms of setting up tables and painting terrain I will add in as much detail as I can – and sometimes I do go overboard – to the principle bits of terrain. I will not spend any time on scatter terrain or elements purely to make it look better. The reason is simple enough it takes even longer to finish and it ultimately often just slows down the game.

For my main 30k and some 40k units I will spend as much time as it takes to get it as good as I can – which will take a long time. For Infinity at the moment I do really quickly paint jobs with the intent to come back later and redo them when I have better skills.

For everything else (which isn’t that much) I have come to the conclusion I am more interested in gaming than getting things perfect so I tend to do simple jobs. Right now I am painting up some Star Wars Legion units, and after much experimenting around decided to keep things very simple because the early models just aren’t that good to warrant spending a lot of time on them.

[darkvoivod 7112xp 1]

The terrain tutor has this triangle on durability/realism/functionality.
It’s something I do try to keep in mind, but there’s still a good bit of realism that can be added on any given project, without comprimising the other two. The deciding factor than becomes: time.

And yeah, I get what people are sayin on what you’re getting from the hobby. When I first started on 40k I had some people I played with who could hardly be bothered with sticking their models together as long as they can put them on the table and roll some dice. Other people don’t even play any games with wat they paint.
I’m somewhere in the middle. Really enjoy everything the hobby has to offer, but I get the biggest when it all comes together on a nice table, with some lovely models, good rules and a challenging, friendly opponent.
But the reality is, it’s easier to get some painting/building done than organise a game.

Is it sometimes not fun? I guess. I certainly need to be in the right headspace to do something creative, but creating something certainly feels more rewarding than playing a computer game or reading a book, much as I like either of those.

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