The Hobby Secret and the Light Bulb moment

Hi guys,

I recently had a light bulb moment while sat painting some terrain.

We, as miniature wargamers, spend more time on Hobby than actual gaming. Well the guys in my gaming group do and I certainly do so that got me thinking.

FYI: For any muddles (muggles to the wargaming world - I just made that up) reading this when we say Hobby we mean the actual building and painting of our models and terrain.

Time is a precious commodity. Firstly, unless you have other plans that defy nature time is limited which adds value. Secondly, businesses spend millions trying to convince us to spend time with or on products and services via adverts, marketing, promotion and offers. Again, this adds value to your time. Your time is worth alot guys. So why would a reasonable person waste it?

Like I said before we as wargamers spend a fair amount of time on the Hobby side. We assemble models, make terrain and paint. Oh we do like a good paint don't we. Playing the game and the social getting together is the real draw for me and I bet alot of you are the same. Thats the end result. The achievement for investing your valuable time. The more you invest the better the end result.

The light bulb moment came sitting with my two year old daughter painting terrain. We had quality time together and we got some terrain painted as a result. *Bing*

In our working lives we manage our time as we have to reach certain goals during the day. We have to finish our work. If we don't we don't get rewarded (paid or allowed to continue in employment). So why not apply that way of thinking to our Hobby. So I did.

We have all had that recurring phase of the "can not be arsed" to paint, model and sometimes even game. Too many of these days and we have lost a member of our happy waring family. So how do we avoid this? Well we all work, we all have family and muddle friends, some of us have young children and we all have real life problems and trials on a daily basis.

A friend said I inspired him to do more Hobby with my Hobby mantra. A nugget of what I thought was common thought but I guess it is not so what is it? What is this secret??

"Do something when you can everyday. Make it a habit"

This sounds impossible doesnt it? Granted sometimes it is just not possible. Real life likes to throw us curve balls in various shapes and sizes so sometimes it is impossible. However, I bet most of the time the justification to not paint or model or even read some rules is just lazyness. Think about it. You know I am right.

I do more hobby now than ever yet I have alot less time. How is this possible? Simple, I do something to put towards my Hobby each day. Somedays I paint, some days I build, or read, make army list and a million other little ways. I used to waste my time. Id watch tv or play a computer game. There is nothing wrong with that but I have noticed I do them alot less now. My time is otherwise invested.

I have a paint station (thanks wife) that takes two minutes to crack out and I keep a small squad of guys in the box ready to paint. That has been a great help and I recommend it to anyone. Organisation in the key to time managment. 

I jump at the 20-30 minutes of time when my daughter decides to paint or is interested in something I am doing and we get to spend time together and have fun. Maybe when she is older she will want to do her own Hobby with me(fingers crossed).

Doing the above means you are investing time in your Hobby that we have established is valuable so therefore, you are adding value to your Hobby. I amazed myself with what I can get done in a short amount of time. A full Soviet Army made and painted for Bolt Action in a few weeks, an American Army, Blood Angels, Imperial Fists and soon I plan to start 30k Thousand Sons. I have made loads of terrain, read rules and made lists. I have organised myself.

Thanks Robin you have made your Dad a better time manager and a better wargamer.

REMEMBER
"Do something when you can everyday. Make it a habit"

Cheers
Capt Tycho

Bolt Action: Stalingrad Soviets (Paint Guide)

Hi guys, after a few hours research on google (how did we cope without it) for uniform colours the first thing to note is that the Soviet Army uniforms come in a wide range of colours and shades. At the time they came from various sources and the Soviet Union was a vast area with millions of soldiers. Hmm, what to go for then.

I guess the classic "look" is greeny yellow sort of Khaki colour but the photos on Warlords Infantry box shows a more yellow/brown colour.

So I decided to just make something up! I knew I wanted a yellowish colour so decided to prime with a black primer rattle can (GW) then used Desert Yellow (Army Painter) rattle can which gave me a dark yellow base.

The plan was to use a wash over the entire model after painting all the base colours. One wash to rule them all.... 

So as far as the bulk of the models goes the yellow base was perfect. I then blocked in the flesh, weapons, helmet and straps. I then highlighted the flesh but at this point decided to leave the helmet the base colour and not highlight. It looked better darker.

If you plan on doing this or any other wash technique be sure to make the painted areas lighter than you want as the was will darken the areas as well as add definition to the piece. In terms of washes I made my own magic blend...

Gone are the days of making your own washes (thank goodness) and I like the GW range of washes but the following would work with any wash based product. I did not use inks. These radically alter the colours and would not suit what I wanted to achieve.

I started with 1 part Nuln Oil (GW), 1 part Baal Red (GW old name), 2 parts Flesh Wash (GW old name) and 4 parts Earth Shade (GW old name). I used an emply pot and made a full pot to use for the army. I even used it on the stone bases to break up the grey.

The final effect is great and I am happy with it. I plan to grubby up the units except the inexperianced squad to show they are new to the field.

I did plan on an all over light drybrush of Khaki but the models just do not need it. If it aint broke why fix it.

With the above techniques I can knock out a squad in two hours. To the standard achieved I am happy with that!

I have put some photos below including a paint list. I did use a metallic on the metal areas before washing as am after thought.

Any how 60 more dudes to paint so I will do another blog in a few weeks when more progress it made.

Enjoy.