Unfulfilled Projects

dazza36

dazza36

Lord
So my painting mojo has been absent for a while now and it's given me plenty of time to reflect on all my half finished projects I've started but never finished and was wondering if I'm the only one or if more of you are like me ?

My first project I think began probably 20 years ago when I got back into the hobby. The plan to paint up a lovely Perry Dwarf army. It started well and not only did I manage to collect plenty of the models but I was also painting them ! However at some point my enthusiasm began to wane and I moved on to the Kev Adam's greenskins that I had also been collecting and then soon after I stopped painting altogether.

A poor picture of my dwarfs from then
project3.jpg


When I came back for the second time (10 years ago) I'd fallen out of love with the dwarfs partly down to not enjoying the colour scheme and also due to my style of painting changing. So the whole lot were dispatched to the dettol !

My new plan was to paint the dwarfs as individual knights each with their own heraldry. This although more enjoyable was a very slow project and after painting probably 20 - 30 models I became distracted by other things. One thing I did really like was my plan of using doubles to create 2 units, the first a general unit and the second being a longbeard unit signified by changing the hair colour to grey/white.

Dwarfs
project1.jpg


After that I think I became aware of BOOD Dwarfs and really liked the cavalry so bought some up and then decided to try and convert them, this was mainly due to the fact I wanted the figures to have a more of a action/movement look and also as I wasn't overly keen on the fatness of the ponies. This was very time consuming and I quickly moved on collecting and painting Orc/goblins again ! This project lasted the longest and I painted up a large amount of my lead but still have lots to paint. Then I went back to my BOOD dwarfs and painted up some units and started work on more but got distracted by this time Skaven which again I painted up close to half my models then became bored and when I got my mojo back I had bought some Eldar and then after painting a handful I moved on to Squats which leads to the present day.

BOOD Dwarfs
project.jpg


Orcs
project2.jpg


So where do I go from here ? I love painted models and I'm desperate to try and complete at least one of my armies but which one ! Obviously some will be a lot easier than others due to figure count but at present I'm really unsure. So how many others out there are like me with half finished armies gathering dust on a shelf waiting to be finished ? Or are people my disciplined than me ?
 
Some lovely painted models there! Have not seen BOOD models before and they don’t appear to have been archived on the usual sites? They look good and in keeping with the Perry dwarfs.

As far as painting mojo, perhaps stop feeling under pressure to complete a big army? Set a small points value as a target for an event and set deadlines to complete units?

Its too easy to get distracted collecting the next models and get bogged down with an even bigger backlog of models that may not to used (not talking from experience oh no…!).

Oh and I box my models away rather than on a shelf where they can gather dust. ;)
 
dazza36 said:
Or are people my disciplined than me ?
Click to expand...

I came back into 25mm WFB less than 2 years ago.
I knew that doing everything from scratch would be a big ask so I set smaller goals.

I have done both of my armies, but they are only about 50 models per side.
So that was not too much of a stretch.

I am now working my way through the terrain I need/want.

BUT, the temptation to start an Orc force, or some Dwarves, or maybe even just a small Chaos Warband is strong.
However I know that ultimatley that is not what will make me happiest.
And I think that is key, what makes you happiest?

If you know that, try very hard to stick to it, it will pay dividends in the end?


PS: This is lovely:

project1.jpg
 
I feel like your dwarves are about to fight the War of the Austrian Succession! :grin: All silliness aside, they look fantastic!
 
I don't think I've ever managed to paint an "army". These days I'm afraid it has to be what takes my fancy in the moment. I've been meaning to try to "finish" my Squats for about three years, but not quite felt in the mood. Recently I was feeling a bit more interested in doing some so primed up some bikers and finished prepping the rest. Those bikers are being worked on now. I doubt once they are done I'll feel like tackling any more for a bit, but I simply don't know. All I can say is I love your work and your recent Eldar/Squat stuff has been inspirational.
 
Those are things of beauty! What are BOOD dwarfs? it's not a term I know?

Not having any options to play really, and not needing to have painted models when I do, I'm just picking what takes my fancy to keep it interesting. I'm doing them in batches of 5 or 6, to as best a standard as I can. I'm trying to include a couple of spearmen and a couple of crossbows in each batch, to slowly build up those units. Then picking a slayer or longbeard or whatever else couple of models for variety. I've no project to complete but just painting for the joy of it and seeing what I can do.
 
Never finished an army ever, but I buy faster than I paint.
Had an entire company of Word Bearers, only painted about 40 before I sold em on to start another Plague Marine army. Sold that as well.

I am painting Fantasy stuff faster, I think I just burned out with marines and didn't realise.

You will get there eventually, just keep at it, all good things come to those who wait. Apart from a government mandated super model wife, I'm still waiting for that.
 
I feel like I'm being gaslit if the new standard for 'half finished projects' is 100 dwarfs! Mine normally stall at 5 - 10 figures 😀

Your stuff looks beautiful. I have found that I recovered my painting mojo by just painting what I fancy, and adding them to any armies in the background. Clearly this means that the chances of any large actual 'armies' being completed is remote but I'm enjoying the painting.
 
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i restarted in 1999, but only decided to focus on 'finishing' some projects withinthe last ten years or so.
for fantasy, i have 'completed' my wood elves and human mercenaries, and am close to doing the same with dwarves, goblinoids and skeletons. my skaven i expect to be ongoing.
none of these are army book compliant.
all my sci-fi forces are much smaller. i have 'completed' my pdf, space slann (with amazonian allies), and jokaero, but others are subject to my whims as i see figures i like that could be incorporated into them.
i find the way to progress is to mix up what i paint, as the mood takes me, so it never feels like a chore.
 
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