How do you stop....as in its Done!

[Tricksay 2238]

I love to whittle away the hours....painting, sculpting and finishing up with basing....

But I've, on occasion, bought a huge game with many many figures....and I want to actually finish painting the figures - seal and organize, maybe even play?

But, I can't stop fidgeting with them....

One game I've sorta almost finished, but now I look at all the figures (still have to base most)- and I want to start touch- ups on more than half!

The second is Arcadia Quest, which I've kinda started. Made myself a promise that I would do base colour, 1 hilight, and then a wash for shadows. Retouch hilight for metals and be DONE!

Nope...started the repainting last night 😭😇

Guess I'll just give up on gaming...and just keep painting!

So, how do others cope?

[Ghool 2830]

I think your problem might be that not many figures actually are finished.

If the basing isn't done, then technically, neither is the paint job.

 

It's a purely psychological thing, and I assume that if you base them, and put them on a shelf, in a box or in a case, or something similar, you will come to the conclusion that they are 'done'. Once you do this, in your mind the project is complete, and you'll find it much easier to resist wanting to go back and touch everything up.

 

I decide what level the model will be brought to, prior to painting and then bring it to that level and no further. This is especially important where you have a board game with hundreds of models to paint.

Edited August 17, 2016 by Ghool

[Kheprera 36862]

I have minis I've painted, stripped, repainted, stripped, repainted...

 

Some are awaiting new paint. Again.

 

Ghool has it right. I could work more on Sir *BONK!*Scale, but I said "Enough." If I want a better one, I'll have to start from scratch. And I will. Someday.

[buglips*the*goblin 93856]

I get bored of whatever I'm working on and simply declare victory.

[TGP 75080]

I do what Buglips does. Except for the declaring victory part. Instead I admit defeat. But otherwise, what the goblin said.

[robinh 9917]

in my case I bring it to a level that seems right and then...squirrel!

 

 

oh sorry... were was I ....

 

I get distracted by something and start another project.  If the original mini was good enough it goes on the "done" shelf otherwise it takes a dip in a nice pool (of simply green) and back into the storage trays.   I have so many bones from KS I and II (and III on the way) that the cleansing bath is a rare occasion these days.

[alchemist 5721]

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."  - Leonardo da Vinci

[Gargs 5898]

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."  - Leonardo da Vinci

 

 

There is a lot to be said for this.  For me, one trick is to not be afraid to play with unfinished minis.  I'm getting into Warmachine/Hordes at the moment and there are obviously a lot of models to clean, assemble, paint, base, etc.  I told myself from the outset that I wasn't going to wait until they were finished to start playing.  That's way too much money invested in a game to not actually play said game.  That said, I also know that many of the models I have labeled "done" will hopefully seem like absolutely horrible paint jobs to me in a year or two (by comparison to what I can do then).  So I may likely go back and repaint them then.  If I wanted to wait until they all looked great, well then I would never play because as I get better at painting, my definition of "great" will continue to change.  What some on here for instance consider to be "table top quality" would have me doing backflips for accomplishing.  Its all just a matter of perspective.

[Heisler 10734]

Especially in regards to large games, you need to set a standard that you are willing to paint to and stop when you have reached it. You work on one or two units at a time so that you can still feel a sense of accomplishment and save the really fun stuff for last. The proverbial carrot on a stick.

 

It can be done, by following those steps I was able to complete all the miniatures I had picked out for my Union ACW army, which is a tad more than 600 miniatures (15mm) all told.

 

Here are 150 of those miniatures:

Edited August 17, 2016 by Heisler

[Corporea 20712]

generally I procrastinate until very near a deadline and rush to meet said deadline, knowing that no matter what, I have to give the mini up because it is "due"

I sometimes set little deadlines for myself, such as "this weekend I will finish the dragon."  Except mostly I fail to meet said deadlines knowing that they are artificial and I don't actually have to have the dragon done... although I did manage to get most of it done... 

 

eventually though I pick up a new project that interests me more since I paint faster and more efficiently when excited about a particular mini.  Or I give up and call something good enough.  You should see my shelf of shame full of not finished minis... 

[Glitterwolf 205001]

I feel I'm done when I think the mini looks good enough, and I feel I will only make things worse instead of better if I keep painting it.

[CashWiley 36677]

I've never had that problem, as I'm usually tired of a project before I'm finished. So I rush to finish it and get on with the next thing.

 

I have pretty well-controlled ADHD, but it really can kick in hard at times. Also makes it hard to sit down and start painting, and then stay engaged. But once I'm engaged in painting, I can usually sit for hours as I get into flow.

[Sergeant_Crunch 7959]

For me it's usually a matter of getting sick of looking at the figure and declaring it "good enough."  Other times it's a conscious pre-determined limit, like my GW Imperial Guard (or whatever they're calling them now).  I decided while I was assembling them that it would be only base coat, wash, drybrush on the rank-and-file figures.  I didn't even do the eyes on most of them just to get them done faster (something about painting the same basic scheme on about 100 similar figures).

 

And then there's the unicorn.  I'm painting and painting and painting, and all of a sudden *BAM!* I'm happy with it.  I don't want to add anything else because it looks awesome the way it is.  This has only happened a couple times.

 

More importantly though, I'm of the mindset that once I'm done painting a figure I'm done painting a figure other than repairing damage.  I have yet to go back and repaint something, though some could really use it.  I'd rather just get another of the same figure.

[skippen 1828]

At times, I just know it is time to stop.  Also, when I feel that I may throw it across the room because I am so sick of it despite the fact I could do more.  You can always do more, but you need to move on to new adventures.

[CashWiley 36677]

One thing, I know I can probably do great blends if I really take the time, because I've done some pretty decent NMM blending. But it takes sooo long that usually I just want to move on to something else rather than spend twice to three times as long to just achieve smooth blends. So my stuff always looks rough :)