How to stay motivated?

[DarkElf27]

When you start not having as much free time to work on painting and building your minis, how do you keep yourselves motivated to do it, to start and finish your projects? I'm in a bit of a rut myself, I'm finding it kinda hard to work on models right now.  

[Lady Blodwynn]

It helps to set clear goals ahead of you, to not put too much of a load on your schedule at once and to know when to stop for a while so you can focus on something else.

Work on one squad at the time, keep a list of what needs to be done to reach certain point amounts. Start at 500 points and paint those models first, then move on to 1000 points, then 1500, 2000, 2500 and finally, 3000 also known as the lofty realm of Apocalypse. wink Keep the loads small and manageable if 500 points is too much, settle for batches of 250 points instead.

What also really helped for me when I was busy painting up my Guardsmen was the "reward" scheme: I fully paint one regular unit and as a reward, paint say, a HQ or Elites choice next. This works perfectly for Imperial Guard units where your regular Troops choice is (especially now!) made up of numerous separate units making up one choice as a whole. Though in my case I had to pace it out a bit by allowing myself to paint a single Command Squad model every time I finished up an infantry or heavy weapon squad.

And when I got tired of painting my regular army I switched gears and just started painting a model I bought for just that purpose: painting. In my case whenever I got fed up with painting Guardsmen I'd work on my Huron Blackheart instead, turning it into a special project for the display cabinet of my local GW store.

If all that doesn't work, go do something else instead. Read a book, watch a movie, go outside and run a few miles! xp  

[Asmusei]

I download and watch shows like Burn Notice, Big Bang Theory or Legend of the Seeker to watch while building/painting. I also find having two different armies to work on for painting helps; go from painting Chaos pawns to Ultra Marines for my Chess board once I start getting sick of them.  

[DarkElf27]

Asmusei

I download and watch shows like Burn Notice, Big Bang Theory or Legend of the Seeker to watch while building/painting. I also find having two different armies to work on for painting helps; go from painting Chaos pawns to Ultra Marines for my Chess board once I start getting sick of them.

That's an idea, but I get too involved in whatever I'm watching when I do stuff like that. I'll have to go through Netflix and find something not quite interesting enough to hold my attention...

Lady Blodwynn

It helps to set clear goals ahead of you, to not put too much of a load on your schedule at once and to know when to stop for a while so you can focus on something else.

I have pretty set goals on my main army, I just get bogged down in how long it takes to paint them in the detail I want. sweatdrop  

[notmuch_23]

I never have a problem building anything. I don't know why, but I have an innate desire to put s**t together. For example, I have at least 2,000 points of Orks. All I've painted to a tabletop level is almost a mob, two big gunz, three deffkoptas, and a battlewagon.

With My Imperial Guard, I have two Chimeras, two Chrinomeras (Chimera conversion from a Rhino), at least 5 infantry squads, two Valkyrie/Vendettas (one I built using a drop pod and plastic), three Bane Wolves (only one is a standard GW model), a Basilisk, four Leman Russes, and two Griffon conversions. All I've painted are two Chimera hulls (haven't even done the turrets), a scrathbuilt Baneblade, and ONE infantry model.

Honestly, I would MUCH rather build than paint. So as far as painting goes, I feel ya.

Can't understand not wanting to build something though...  

[Vikki Stardust]

DarkElf27

Asmusei

I download and watch shows like Burn Notice, Big Bang Theory or Legend of the Seeker to watch while building/painting. I also find having two different armies to work on for painting helps; go from painting Chaos pawns to Ultra Marines for my Chess board once I start getting sick of them.

That's an idea, but I get too involved in whatever I'm watching when I do stuff like that. I'll have to go through Netflix and find something not quite interesting enough to hold my attention...

Listen to internet radio shows. We listen to the RadioDrome for our fix of pointlessly fun discussion regarding any type of exploitation movie that's out there.  

[Sean King]

I drag myself out of the house forcibly and take myself to the shop to paint. Getting away from all the horrible tempations I have at home is really important.  

[Van Evok]

-have a plan and stick to it...
e.g. paint a single miniature a day and you will get full company of marines in less than 4 months.