I’ve really missed writing for this blog and I want to get back to it. It’s the season for a handful of new exciting videogames and my wife has had no problem enabling my addiction. This, and some painting frustration, has caused my miniature hobby and website to feel abandoned.
He looks good, but he took forever to paint.
Infinity Nomad Zero by Corvus Belli. Painted by Tyler Provick
The main problem is that I really bit off more than I could chew when painting my Infinity miniatures. My intention was to paint to a high wargaming standard; one which averages three figures painted a week. At 10 figures total it would take less than a month to paint my whole army. Meanwhile it’s been just over a year since I started and I only have three miniatures finished. Part of the problem is that I wanted to equal or exceed the quality of the studio paint job. I’ve gone all-in on painting and while I’ve stretched myself as a painter and am happy with some of the results I’ve achieved it’s taking way too long to paint these miniatures.
Have Two Speeds
Which brings me to the subject of today’s post. I like to play with painted armies, and I like to paint the very best I can. Moreso, if I see someone who paints better than me I become competitive and strive to equal their work. This has brought me to my current predicament and is something I imagine vexes other wargamers as well.
I wouldn’t be emberassed to have an Infinity army painted to this standard.
Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada, War of 1812. Victrix Miniatures painted by Tyler Provick
I am capable of an acceptably fast wargame standard which I consider to be of good quality. I am also capable, though not consistently or on demand, of painting to a very high quality. The challenge is to know when to use which. I am frustrated that I’ve spent so long on my Infinity miniatures while other projects languish because I tried to paint my wargame figures like display figures.
What I should have done is to get an Infinity army painted using my army painting style. From there I could have picked any miniature to paint to my high standard for the pure enjoyment of painting. I would have had no stress; with a fully painted army I could take as much time as I wanted.
Once I finish my current Zond Remote I will revert to an combination of my current technique and my quicker army painting technique. I hope this will let me finish up my army quickly without making the difference in styles too strong.
This is something I usually struggle with as well. Although I’m not quite up to your high painting standards I find it difficult not to paint to the best of my ability. I put off painting my Dust Warfare miniatures for a long time simply because I felt it would take forever to get 20-30 of them done. It was only last week that I said “screw it, I’m speed painting these” and actually stuck with it. They won’t look as good as my Infinity stuff, but they will sure as hell look a lot better than bare plastic.
Also, I wanted to mention that I’ve put The General’s Tent as one of my Liebster blogs. It’s one of those viral award things going around at the moment. Feel free to keep it going or ignore it as you see fit.
Looking forward to reading more!