I have a tendency to get hyper-focused on things from time to time. Writing a book, for example. When I’m writing, that’s what I do for fun. I begrudge every evening away from the keyboard because I want to finish the job lest inspiration run dry.
Long Live Death was written in six weeks. The core research started eight months earlier, but nothing has ever flowed so smoothly. It is good to be in the groove.
The same is true with miniatures. When I am ready and able to add models to my collection, it is obsessive. I don’t have the eye strength that I used to, so I have to back off from time to time (though I’m thinking of getting one of those desk magnifiers), but I tend to get a lot done.
This is in large part because I don’t paint to create works of art, I am instead making soldiers for a battlefield. That is to say, the expected viewing range is about 24″ away, that is looking down at a tabletop, rather than gazing up close. My friends used to joke that I was the “king of the two-tone paint job,” but I always used at least three colors, plus a black wash. The wash is really important, as it can bring out details in the sculpt even if they aren’t highlighted by different colors.
As to the variety, that is colored by my experience in the military and also at reenactments. Put simply, dust is real. So is dirt. People loving around tend to acquire stains and grime, and that dulls the overall appearance. Having everything in parade gloss shine just doesn’t work for me.
For the past few weeks I was hammering away at 40k armies, but I’m now turning to fantasy figures. This is a natural progression for a guy who generated his own rulebook, (more on that some other time), but after playing without figures for a few months, our Dungeons & Dragons game is now going back to tabletop miniatures. That means new character models and also filling out the monster collection.
While I have a formidable collection of miniatures, it is geared towards martial formations, not small parties of dungeon dwellers. Collecting these will be very different, as they will come in ones and twos, not tens, twenties and thirties.
I should add that the “Pile of Shame” is unknown to me. I buy miniatures, assemble and paint them. Right away. Quantity is not an obstacle.
Shortly after getting my first “real” job, I decided to take the plunge and buy a massive Imperial Guard army – in metal. Luxury! It was quite the undertaking, but it was my obsession and I approached it like a military operation, establishing an assembly line where models were put together, and then painted in a series of colors and coats in batches, so that there was a continuous flow of figures across the painting table and into the storage box.
For those who do not know, painting a figure is not something one can do all at once. It’s really about adding a series of colors for each step, and one can open a given color, and add it to a batch of 10 models, and then while those are drying, add it to another 10, and so on. Once several batches have been done, the first ones should be dry enough for the next color, and so on.
This process can be accelerated by using a small space heater – though one has to watch the temperature, especially if plastics are being used.
I’m not quite at that level now, but things are moving at a good clip. It’s not really about long sessions so much as repetitive ones. Do do a little, get a snack. Do more, have dinner, and then a bit afterwards. Before you know it, they’re all done.
One might say it is in the family nature. My grandfather enjoyed woodcarving, and after he retired, threw himself into the hobby. He was not a very conversational man, but his spoke eloquently with his hands, and his projects tended to come in torrents, just like me. He would get into a particular subject – say big horn sheep or various water fowl – and that is what he would do for a long time. His work area would be filled with photos, sketches and schematics, and tools set out for the task. He’d make lots of whatever interested him, and then move onto the next thing.
I inherited an unfished big horn sheep and also a rough cut of a carousel horse, abandoned on his work bench. I think that’s one of the things that drives me to finish what I start.
Chateau Lloyd 
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