Following on from what I know was a bit a lazy update last week I’ve actually got a new project on the go for you this week. It was nice to do a bit of retrospective for the first update of the year and to be honest it also allowed me to get a lot of the work done up front and not worry about what I was going publish. I know that I wanted to try and break the bad habits I’d dropped into over the last six months or so. It’s one of those things were if you miss one week then missing the week after is a little bit easier and before you know it you’re a month down the line with no updates. Then you start thinking about whether it is worth carrying on not. Now nothing I do here is going to change anything in the world but I feel that it’s good for me to have something else to focus on, especially at the moment. And I also give me a bit of deadline to get work completed and I don’t know about you but I do work better with a deadline. Granted just getting something done to be able to include in an update isn’t the same as having an army finished for a tournament but it all helps.
On the subject of those deadlines for events it’s looking, at least here in the UK, that we won’t be getting out and about any time soon with a new national lock down starting this week. It’s the start of the year so I’m going to try and positive about it, the weather is rubbish and the beer is still being delivered so I’m going to try and make the most of it. I have a few different projects lined up and I’m just going to plod away at them with my only deadlines being having some contend to keep the updates coming. The other thing I’m going to really try and stick to is finishing one project before I start on the next. So painting single miniatures or small squads so I don’t over face myself. Completing a build before starting a new one. Just little things like that but I’m hoping it will keep me plodding on. Switching up what I’m painting, in both scale and genre is another thing that I’m hoping will stop me getting bogged down.
On the front of doing something different I’ve started the year off by going large with a miniature from Nuts Planet in the form of their 1/24 scale (75mm) Silencer Bane from the Tiger series. I really like there models and have had the Strange Jo model on the go for I think a couple of years now without ever being really happy with it. That isn’t going to happen with Silencer Bane though. I may not be completely happy with how it turns out but I’m going to complete it in reasonably short order. By that I’m thinking no more than a couple of weeks. Rather than trying to get everything perfect I’m going to go with the view of getting it as good as I can ‘now’ and then move on. The idea being that the more I paint the better I will get, up to a point, rather than trying to perfect every little bit of model. It’s not like my life depends on it or anything like that and at the end of the day the whole point of the hobby is to have some fun. Or at least it is to me so I’m going to enjoy what I’m doing this year.
I’ve made steady progress with the mini so far taking my inspiration from the only painted version I could find online. Not wanting to stress myself out by trying to copy it exactly I’ve simply taken inspiration from it in the form of the light trousers and green hoody. Because I wanted to make it a little bit less organised military with a full uniform I’ve given him a red jacket under the green hoody which I think gives a nice pop of colour. I’ve also tried to restrict the number of paints I actually use and whilst the final count will still probably be quite high it will be a lot less that I’ve used in the past. I’m hoping this will keep me focused on actually painting and not spending all my time thinking about which paint to use next. I’m happy with the progress and quietly confident that I can have him completed for next week.
One of the things that has slowed me down somewhat with this project has been that I want to do a painting guide for the mini. What that means in practical terms is that each time I add a colour I need to stop painting and take some pictures before going onto the next stage. Nothing complicated but it stops you from really getting into a flow which in turn slows things down. But I’m hoping that it will be worth it by giving me more content to share in the long run. Ideally I’m going to try and do one painting guide a month, no promises but I think that could be achievable.
On a completely different note I’ve seen that Adepticon is looking like it will back on for next year (2022). I should have been there last year and was gutted when it was candled, although with the travel ban from the UK I wouldn’t have been able to make it even if it was on. Anyway it’s something I’m going to keep my eye on as I would really like to go next year if at all possible. Obviously a lot of things need to change in the world to make that possible and I would only go if I think that it was safe to do so. Now that isn’t casting any dispersions at the organisers as I’m sure they will do everything possible to make it a safe and fun event. I was thinking more about the travel arrangements, especially as pointed out earlier the UK is currently back in lock down so we aren’t going anywhere and I don’t what things will look like later in the year. Whatever happens I will be going back whether it is next year or at a later date. But it’s something to look forward to.
That’s it for this week. Hope you enjoyed the first real waffle of the year even if the picture content wasn’t that high. I’m going to nail my colours to the mast here and say that I will have Silencer Bane finished for you all next week so if you want to see him just pop back next Saturday. The painting guide will take a bit more time to put together so that probably won’t land until the beginning of Feb, but if you like what you see next week it’s something to come back for in the future. Until then keep safe, have fun and I hope to see you all again soon.
