Maybe its just a bad ,dark morning in Tradgardland.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Musing darkly
It is early Saturday morning, coffee mug in hand. I am up trying to work up enthusiasm for the mind numbing paperwork needed for my return to work on Monday. I am getting nowhere. I say to myself that I am fortunate to have had a long holiday and I should be ready to return to the fray.I am not.
My mind has gone over the half finished ( or should that be half-baked) hobby projects that lie as ideas in jotters and bitty lead/plastic around the house and in the shed.Little to show for years of spending and collecting that is valid.In some way I wish I had concentrated all my efforts into a few grand projects but I am also glad I have been a butterfly flitting around the hobby.Fickle fellow me.Nevertheless there is little of quality and originality in my hobby output and whereas I often gain inspiration from other's hobby work all I can see is the more disciplined,better achieved and more eloquently described work of others...
Maybe its just a bad ,dark morning in Tradgardland.
Maybe its just a bad ,dark morning in Tradgardland.
Its the morning and the fact every wargamer see new shiny stuff and all the old project go out the window, lol.
ReplyDeleteThe dreaded return to work...do not worry, after a few hours you will forget you ever had any time off!
ReplyDeleteAlright, let's make some metaphorical lemonade out of them that lemons.
ReplyDeleteJust like me and, oh let's say nine out of ten other wargamers, you've got lots of projects that over the years you've started with great enthusiasm and then, after a brief lead-buying frenzy, sorta petered out and consigned to the back of the cupboard. It's something I've always been absolutely terrible for, and until last year I'd have to say that I didn't have anything in my wargaming collection that I'd consider complete and polished.
So don't think of them as failed past projects. Think of them as head starts on a potential new project. Rummage through the cupboard, find something you like, and make your first order of business to bring it to completion.
My whole return to wargaming last year wound up being largely based around a pile of figures and vehicles I'd acquired eight years ago. All of my projects for this year are based on mining the lead and resin mountain.
Go for it!
My New Year's resolution last year was No More Lead Until You Have Half The Current Projects On The Table.
ReplyDeleteIt worked quite well, made me go in directions I didn't expect too (re-purposing 18th century pirates into Space Pirates, starting WW1 and 1848 and Fantasy armies to use up various figures). The one downside was when friends knew I was building 7 Years War up they gave me their unfinished projects so i have gone from a nearly done 3 Brigade French army to a 4 Brigade French and 4 Brigade British/Hanoverian (unpainted)
PS The extra French Brigade is of course to be provided by my Imagi-nation, Saxe Maerchen :)
ReplyDeleteSome good advice above.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I suspect more of us have unfinished and barely started projects than disciplined projects like a few certain people.
To me the bottom line is "are you having fun?". If you are then it's all good. If not, then it's a good idea to take stock and see what you can do, especially in the short term, to get to where you are having fun. Maybe that means finding a way to bring one of those unfinished projects to a stage where you can feel you've accomplished something. Maybe that means putting together enough finished forces for some smallish actions. It doesn't take a lot of figures to play some games, but it depends on what you're interested in. If you're not into small skirmishes you will likely need more figures finished, but it is possible to play battles with only a few figures per unit, depending on what rules you use.
I sympathise, having been in the same boat at times. Looking around a work-shed full of half-completed projects that have been that way for years is no fun.
ReplyDeleteThe pattern broke for me when I decided to focus on a few, smaller projects. I decided to limit my ACW collection to just a brigade apiece. That gave me a definite goal to aim for, and a great sense of accomplishment when I completed basing the last figures.
I can't add much to all the sound and friendly advice above, other that to say likewise I have attic eaves groaning with unpainted figures for half finished projects. I did try and discipline myself last year to 3 or 4 periods, painting in alternate fortnights which worked for a while, until more temptation came along. The main thing is to enjoy planning and painting and try not to think about what you have spent over the years! I live in fear of dying and Mrs. Atticus selling all my stuff off for what I told her it cost! Keep your pecker up
ReplyDeletecheers
Mike
Alan,
ReplyDeleteIt is the protracted agony of marking over here - 1000 pages of course papers, etc etc, argh!
But seriously though, the one project or many at a time doesn't need to be a moral affair. All of this is in the end is a diversion and exercise for imaginations that refuse to roll over and go to sleep. And thank heavens for that, stick a fork in me and turn me over when that happens to me! It is clear that you take pleasure in taking the measure of a new idea, in pursuing many different stories and in the the creation of painting. Those seem to be your goals and you are always at it! Sounds like progress to me even if it is a tortuous way to accumulate big old school armies! And you are getting a game in from time to time, so I'm envious of you at the moment. If you are feeling at a bit of a loss, maybe make yourself a rule to play out a little scenario at least every other week, and no sketching out a new project if you haven't yet played your game! No pudding until you have eaten your meat!
As for butterflies, well, they fly up toward the sun and spend their time flitting amongst the flowers while the beavers and moles go in one direction only; they make progress but in a tunnel one only sees earth and a single bit of light up ahead (or is it a mirage...).
It is all good, Alan!