ozymandias
New member
OK so this is basically an excuse for me to procrastinate from work for a few minutes. I figured it would be interesting to set out some of the things I have learned in my years in the hobby and to see what words of wisdom the CMON members can add.
1. Children are the curse painters - I learned this one the hard way when working at GW back in the 1990s. Having done a instruction session with a 12 year old, he knocked over the pot of open paint. I handed him a tissue to wipe the pot and... well he turned the open pot upside down to wipe its bottom spilling paint over everything he had done and everything else out on the table that I was working on.
2. Rule 1 applies to animals too - I should have figured this one out, but my newly acquired cats have a love of my miniatures... so its back to the drawing board on the plague bearer squad.
3. You can't paint with an "orrible bit of yaks tail" - quoted from an old White Dwarf, but its true. Love yer brushes and they'll love you.
4. Thin your paints - 'nuff said. There's load on the forum on this topic.
5. Practice makes perfect - for those of us that aren't Davinci, the only way to improve is to paint. It is easier to have some where set up that you can return to, but if leaving minis out means that rule 1 or 2 is going to be an issue have an option that allows you to pick up and carry on easily.
6. Buy minis that inspire you and paint them how you want - Historical miniatures aside, its a fantasy hobby. If I read another post asking what miniatures to buy or what colour to paint them, I'll scream. To my mind the joy of the hobby is creativity - whether that is painting something that scores 9.8 on the site or whole armies for gaming - therefore paint what you enjoy and enjoy what you paint.
7. If in doubt ask... I think I have learned more about the hobby from the folks on the forums than I would have ever figured out myself. I'm sure that the painting instruction DVDs are brilliant (I can't believe people make money from getting other folk to watch paint dry
) but the personal approach can be invaluable.
9. Branded hobby tools, brushes etc are overpriced - chances are you can find everything that one of the big wargaming companies produces for less if you shop around. I don't beat myself up for buying from GW or Privateer Press or any of the other big companies if it is convenient but I find half the fun is finding stuff for the hobby.
10. You don't need tons of paint or equipment - I'm guilty as hell on this one. As Mrs Oz says, my hobby is collecting paint. However, that being said, I recently took a small selection (8 paints, two brushes, a hobby knife, glue and a file) on holiday recently and realised that I was far, far more productive.
11. Set yourself goals and stick with it - Yep, I'm terrible on this one as well. I must have about a dozen projects on the go at any one time. And it is no coincidence that I really finish many of them before my enthusiasm wains and I am distracted by the next shiny thing. Honestly, if I'd known that first time I saw a minature (a GW beaky marine in case you are interested) I was getting into an addiction that is worse than crack, I might have taken up fly fishing instead. I'm like a magpie and surfing the net looking for the next mini that grabs my attention. So no more. I'm resolving to stick to a project and finish it! (So time to rescue the reminents of the plague bearers from that cats and get started).
12. Living in a desert has its challenges - ok so this one may not be generally applicable. I'm based in Dubai which means: (a) the drying time of paint is a New York nano-second (technically the short period of time measurable being the period between a stop light changing and the taxi driver behind you hitting his horn); and (b) getting hold of anything hobby related is difficult (there's only one hobby store and its stock is limited).
13. The price of miniatures is only going to go one way - when I started in the hobby GW used to sell 5 human size miniatures for 2.50 pounds. Everyone whinges about it, but that the problem with the addiction that is the hobby. Stricter application to rule 11 helps in terms of costs. But I'm not so optimistic about my ability to resist...
14. Buy it when you see it... Ok so this runs completely counter to rule 13, but on the rare ocassions that have seen me resist temptation it ends up costing me a fortune on ebay later. For example, I didn't buy the chicken dragon when it was in the stores, I didn't buy the vorag miniatures from Ilyad before they went bust, I didn't buy Zombicide season 1 on kickstarter, I didn't... oh what the hell I'm just sounding bitter now.
15. Rackham was great - *sigh* how the hell they screwed up that company is beyond me. Hopefully legacy reprints of the miniatures will stratch that itch. But if not, rule 14 may be the end of me as I buy up stuff on ebay.
16. Never ever, ever raise an issue relating to GW on the forums unless you want it to kick off....
Well that has served the primary purpose of passing the afternoon. Any one else got any pearls of wisdom (or indeed thinks that most of what is write is lunacy), please chip in.
1. Children are the curse painters - I learned this one the hard way when working at GW back in the 1990s. Having done a instruction session with a 12 year old, he knocked over the pot of open paint. I handed him a tissue to wipe the pot and... well he turned the open pot upside down to wipe its bottom spilling paint over everything he had done and everything else out on the table that I was working on.
2. Rule 1 applies to animals too - I should have figured this one out, but my newly acquired cats have a love of my miniatures... so its back to the drawing board on the plague bearer squad.
3. You can't paint with an "orrible bit of yaks tail" - quoted from an old White Dwarf, but its true. Love yer brushes and they'll love you.
4. Thin your paints - 'nuff said. There's load on the forum on this topic.
5. Practice makes perfect - for those of us that aren't Davinci, the only way to improve is to paint. It is easier to have some where set up that you can return to, but if leaving minis out means that rule 1 or 2 is going to be an issue have an option that allows you to pick up and carry on easily.
6. Buy minis that inspire you and paint them how you want - Historical miniatures aside, its a fantasy hobby. If I read another post asking what miniatures to buy or what colour to paint them, I'll scream. To my mind the joy of the hobby is creativity - whether that is painting something that scores 9.8 on the site or whole armies for gaming - therefore paint what you enjoy and enjoy what you paint.
7. If in doubt ask... I think I have learned more about the hobby from the folks on the forums than I would have ever figured out myself. I'm sure that the painting instruction DVDs are brilliant (I can't believe people make money from getting other folk to watch paint dry
) but the personal approach can be invaluable. 9. Branded hobby tools, brushes etc are overpriced - chances are you can find everything that one of the big wargaming companies produces for less if you shop around. I don't beat myself up for buying from GW or Privateer Press or any of the other big companies if it is convenient but I find half the fun is finding stuff for the hobby.
10. You don't need tons of paint or equipment - I'm guilty as hell on this one. As Mrs Oz says, my hobby is collecting paint. However, that being said, I recently took a small selection (8 paints, two brushes, a hobby knife, glue and a file) on holiday recently and realised that I was far, far more productive.
11. Set yourself goals and stick with it - Yep, I'm terrible on this one as well. I must have about a dozen projects on the go at any one time. And it is no coincidence that I really finish many of them before my enthusiasm wains and I am distracted by the next shiny thing. Honestly, if I'd known that first time I saw a minature (a GW beaky marine in case you are interested) I was getting into an addiction that is worse than crack, I might have taken up fly fishing instead. I'm like a magpie and surfing the net looking for the next mini that grabs my attention. So no more. I'm resolving to stick to a project and finish it! (So time to rescue the reminents of the plague bearers from that cats and get started).
12. Living in a desert has its challenges - ok so this one may not be generally applicable. I'm based in Dubai which means: (a) the drying time of paint is a New York nano-second (technically the short period of time measurable being the period between a stop light changing and the taxi driver behind you hitting his horn); and (b) getting hold of anything hobby related is difficult (there's only one hobby store and its stock is limited).
13. The price of miniatures is only going to go one way - when I started in the hobby GW used to sell 5 human size miniatures for 2.50 pounds. Everyone whinges about it, but that the problem with the addiction that is the hobby. Stricter application to rule 11 helps in terms of costs. But I'm not so optimistic about my ability to resist...
14. Buy it when you see it... Ok so this runs completely counter to rule 13, but on the rare ocassions that have seen me resist temptation it ends up costing me a fortune on ebay later. For example, I didn't buy the chicken dragon when it was in the stores, I didn't buy the vorag miniatures from Ilyad before they went bust, I didn't buy Zombicide season 1 on kickstarter, I didn't... oh what the hell I'm just sounding bitter now.
15. Rackham was great - *sigh* how the hell they screwed up that company is beyond me. Hopefully legacy reprints of the miniatures will stratch that itch. But if not, rule 14 may be the end of me as I buy up stuff on ebay.
16. Never ever, ever raise an issue relating to GW on the forums unless you want it to kick off....
Well that has served the primary purpose of passing the afternoon. Any one else got any pearls of wisdom (or indeed thinks that most of what is write is lunacy), please chip in.
