From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

Good news for working again. I start tomorrow… er today for you European types, subtract a few hours in the past. I suggest watching the Korean Netflix series Sisyphus might make more sense on that time travel thing. Anywhat, more minis are done and I feel good at pushing through more commission stuff. I don’t recall the caster of the viking. The troll is a Ral Partha for Shadowrun fom 1991. More stuff is on the way in future.

Building up armies or developing the grandest Golden Demon winner in my head is not as good as finishing a skirmish level warband or painting pieces for the tabletop. In the end I have nothing to show for my time spent other than an empty project with only information and ideas. Drawing down the big think to something manageable and tangibly concrete really should be done instead of chasing the dream all the time. Like in many other parts of life, you can dream but it won’t get you anything but frustrated unless you do something about it.

Here, I’ve got big ideas which I’ve put to private and have them collect dust because I have limited time/money. I kick off the dust from time to time and play with concepts. The best part is showing off the big things when you build them, even as I myself build my own, takes time to consider how to go about the big build. An organic piecemeal approach is great for the disjointed and nonlinear/not uniform creation but larger effort needs a little planning and creativity sometimes just is sporadic.

I think, perhaps, it would be good to look around you lot and start to nurture minds to the direction of my thoughts that these things are done for me. *curls his mustache, steeples his fingers and sits back against the comfortable high back chair that suddenly appears* As any good villainous mastermind, one should aim to move the pieces without even needing to touch them… mwahahaha.

All jokes aside, finding the right level of engagement and production for the scale of idea might be something for any hobbyist here to consider. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, you’ll end up with a Pile of Overwhelming Potential (aka Pile if Shame) if you don’t.

Some patron painting done as I keep a move on finishing more from the PoOP. Both are from Reaper respectively. The troll came with with a rock or pig option to fling and stands about 60mm to the top of the mohawk (roughly 90mm to the top of the pig).

Bertok, human barbarian SKU:02924
Two headed troll (Bones) SKU:44120

Why I stop doing mini work from time to time can be pinned to analysis paralysis. I get wrapped up in my own head and think of the detail work instead of doing it. The comparison of my own work to that of others and the downgrading of considering my own talent and capabilities, not in the the spirit of being humble but of self worth, and this leads to turning away from the hobby out of discontent with my own achievement.

I’ve come to this thinking by doing work in my head regarding other areas of my life and I was struck by the layout of the most recent book from Mig Ammo which Gerry reviewed. I think that it addresses a core notion which hadn’t quite been articulated as a visual answer. It boils down to the sliding scale of painting levels clearly. It gives the reader high quality painting porn photos (no other way to put it, but its true) of even simple technique and then going along the path to more detailed and time intensive work. It addresses level of need for detail. Where does one need to end up to perceive making good looking work?

Scale of project and of figures makes the detail level scale. I’ve dived into painting a friends epic Eldar force and the mesh masking technique I used on my leader for the Arabian Knights at 28mm has a whole different look on a Fire Prism at 6mm. The 2 inch-2 foot rule becomes clear only through experience or seeing examples in situ. The rank and flank of an ACW or Napoleonic will be different than the skirmish warband of Warcry or Space Station Zero. The zoo is full of very different animals from our mini world.

I’ll be back to more painting as I ease my mind. Here’s something that crossed my path in suggestions that poked at issues regarding other artistic ventures I’ve had.

Then I found this

Good news for the work front, I might be back to building again. I don’t look forward to the prospect of being in the cold come winter. My hope is to get a shop position at that point. The downside is less time for minis. I’ll be sure to push out as much work as possible before that happens.

Sculpted damage to the armor is on the model but I added a couple extra dings on the edges. The edge highlights really popped for me and I’m pretty pleased with the model overall. It was a random purchase that I think came out better than anticipated.

Feathered wings came to my attention and I put up my note on the matter in my Arabian Knights project. This was a good opportunity to test out a working idea.

I don’t remember the range the model comes from but I do recall it being featured in the Saga Age of Magic book.

Note: the eyes were not added while on my porcelain throne

Having done some hobby and moving things around I failed to notice what can fall as I was deciding what next to work on. I found out that a hard drive placed precariously on other things can and sometimes will fall on minis. It happened to land on my leader figure for my Arabian Knights when it decided gravity was a good law to follow.

Sometimes you get lucky. This is one of those time I happened to as the only thing that broke was a foreleg. The shield popped off and so did the rider. There were some stress fractures in the other legs but that was the extent of the damage that I saw. I have since reglued the leg and will be repainting touchups. I am thankful that is the only thing I need worry about for the build.

A stream of consciousness blog… sounds like an idea. With that to mind I will address the good feeling of gift giving/sharing hobby with younger people or others in general and establishing a tradition of gaming among friends and family. As people, we can spontaneously create things that are bonds between us which are personal and without greater impact than maybe a small group. This is organic and without any greater import than the people directly involved. What becomes of a whole lot of people that do this is a community with tradition. There is a cultural growth and norm development that includes handing down from the past to the future. The experience of where our hobby comes from, the names of people who did impressive things or personalities which inspire to promote positive sentiment and a few tales of guidance all make for an overarching subset of people.

Are we a subculture?

My gift to my nephew arrived all safe and sound that he reported via text message. It makes me happy to see that I have the impact of being able to guide a younger nerd with his own hobby and impart my insight when I am asked it. Thankfully I have more years with my other nephews as Otterpups to warp guide their little minds… lol

The limit of caffeine was reached and dopamine levels pushed well beyond normal in dealing with getting laid off of work Friday morning a couple hours into my shift. What else does one do than, get a haircut/beard trim, go home and have quite a bit of coffee before a marathon session of paint slinging into the small hours of the morning?

I admit it was not all hobby time. I caught Zoolander No. 2 in the break time and had a few laughs as well with the Weekender and XLBS. Music in mass quantities has also been taken in and the discography for Heilung has been listened to in its entirety. It seems only fitting for painting Vikings to listen to them. In my painting fervor I even included one of the rune stones I purchased from what was to be an Indie of the Week previously covered.

This has been a mental health weekend. I’m now dealing with the part of rehashing a resume and looking again. I might finish up quite a bit more for one of my projects now to feel like I’m being productive somehow.