Home > Hobby > Hobby: The Stuff You Hate

Hobby: The Stuff You Hate

Posted on December 5, 2012 06:30 am by Thor
Materials

The materials

This past weekend I had a lot of time to do some hobby work. After The Standoff I’ve taken a break from painting. I spent months preparing for that event and fully painting up a 1,500 army. Though I was glad to get that painting accomplished, it also left me burnt out. So, I had all this time to get some work on my army accomplished and I spent most of it doing a hobby task I dislike.

For me the task I’m talking about is making foam trays for my army. Though I’d love to buy some nice Battle Foam I just can’t afford it. I have too many armies to drop that kind of cash every time I need a new tray, and that’s pretty damn often. So, I go the budget route and make my own. I save money for sure, running me around $4 a tray (cost has gone up since that original linked article I did), but I have to set aside time to measure, cut and glue foam; which is not exactly my idea of fun. I generally put it off as long as I can and then churn through a bunch of them at once, such was the case this past weekend.

I need to get painting again and to do that I need safe transport for the models once completed. Once I have the tray done for a unit I can then put paint to primer. So, as much as I hate working on these trays it was my way of forcing myself back into the painting mindset after the hiatus. It’s so easy to slip with painting. Take a long enough break and you just lose all motivation, even with things you enjoy doing. In fact, I started on a model last night with the intent of just base coating it and I went from bast coat to wash to starting to highlight it. So, I’d say my mental break is over and it’s back to painting again.

Despite not enjoying the process of making the trays, I did have a great sense of accomplishment when I was done. I made six trays over the weekend, enough to put the rest of my army into a tray that didn’t have one. It’s one of those things that seems insignificant at a glance but really pulls things together. So, while there were other things I’d rather have done, I’m glad I got this accomplished.

So, what is it you hate doing in the hobby? I know everyone has that one thing they just dread doing.

About Thor

I began playing 40K in 2006 and have been an avid player and hobbyist since then. Blogging has become my outlet for all those random thoughts regarding the game.
This entry was posted in Hobby and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

  • TheRhino

    I have half a tube of Hold The Foam glue if you want it, since I no longer make my own trays.
    I don’t have a particular thing I hate doing, except maybe cleaning up. My desk is always covered in bits of plastic, paint dust, glue residue, etc. I just hate cleaning.
    As for the getting back to painting, I did so last night. I’d finished off a couple Rhino hatches earlier this week, and finally had the time to sit down and do some airbrushing while the wife and kid were out shopping. I planned to just prime a few pieces, but when I was done priming, I loaded up some green and put a basecoat on my Aegis Defense Line Comms Array. It went smoothly, so I blasted a basecoat on a plasma cannon Marine. Then I got really into things and tried airbrushing the helmets for my first five Sternguard Vets using zenithal highlighting. Now I can’t wait to get home and work on finishing those helmets once my son goes to bed.

    • http://creativetwilight.com/ Thor

      Sure, I’ll take the glue.

      Surely you dislike cleaning mold lines? I hate cleaning mold lines. Necessary evil.

      Airbrushing is still a new toy for you at this point, right? I can see spending more time doing it than anticipate, especially with the setup and cleanup time involved. May as well make it worthwhile.

      • TheRhino

        I’ve had the airbrush for a year or two now, but have onlyused it for priming and basecoats in the past. The zenithal white didn’t work out quite how I expected, but I realized that’s because I used a different successionof paint colors, and left out one key color I use when painting normally. (My Ultramarine Highlight glaze/wash before pure white)
        Mold lines only really bother me on metal models, as they’re easy enough on plastics. Theone exception is helmets. Mold alignment on helmeted heads is terrible, and you always end up with a divot next to the top vent or with mangled earpieces.

  • JustHippie

    Basing and assembling metal models. Especially the metal models part and since my Daemons are 90% metal I’ve had my fill.

    • http://creativetwilight.com/ Thor

      Doing one here and there makes me cringe, never mind almost an entire army. No thanks.

  • http://www.creativetwilight.com/ Kamui

    I dislike removing mold lines. There always seems to be something that looks fine the first time through then jumps out like an extra arm the next time you look at it.
    I also dislike priming. Spray priming almost always misses spots and you have to wait for it to dry. Brush priming is tedious.

    I wouldn’t even mind batch painting if the models were already cleaned and primed for me.

    • http://creativetwilight.com/ Thor

      I’ve never had any problem spray priming. Sometimes I have to hit a model 3 times, standing up and laying down front & back. Other times the model is posed in such a way I only have to hit it once. I know some people will stick it on something they can pick up and hold to spray it all around in one shot.

      Primer I use dries in 10 minutes so never had to really wait on it. Often I spray it, let it set a minute and then by the time I get it upstairs and ready to paint it’s dry.

      • http://www.creativetwilight.com/ Kamui

        There’s usually a few places such as between the legs, under the chin, armpits etc. that aren’t coated. Do you take them off the base to prime? I usually prefer to glue on my basing materials first so that the primer will seal them down.I’m always worried about over coating and losing detail, so it’s possible I’m just not coating them well enough.

        I usually leave mine to dry over night because it smells for a while even after you can paint over it and it bothers my wife. When I want to start painting right away I brush on primer. It doesn’t take a much longer than spraying and then touching up but sometimes it knocks off some of the basing materials.

        • http://creativetwilight.com/ Thor

          They are glued on the base when I prime. Over-coating hasn’t been an issue for me. When I tip them to get those annoying spots I’m aiming right at it with a very short burst. I do also have brush on primer for those few spots I may miss and notice when I’m ready to paint.

          I use the Krylon black primer and the smell isn’t noticeable but then again I’m probably numb to the scent.



Home > Hobby > Hobby: The Stuff You Hate