The 2017/18 Hobby Season draws to a close, and how did I do? Well I managed to complete 6 out of the 17 realistic items on my list. On it's own that seems underwhelming but I've done other items off-list and as you will discover/already know one of the list items pretty much eclipses everything I've done to date anyway. When comparing this Season's output to the previous two Season's, which had been ultra-productive, I was not hoping to maintain that level of delivery, but I'm still quite pleased with the result. Aside from the post-Christmas
malaise I think I've been really busy, granted there isn't a huge amount of quantity but quality and mass more than make up for it. I do feel I might be pushing myself a little too hard - I seem to be finishing up later and later in the evening and I think next seasonit's an issue I have to be stricter with myself about as it's not sustainable, but onto what I've acheieved...
First up, the
Deathwatch Marines from Deathwatch Overkill. They seem so long ago now but were a key element to my Genestealer Cult themed Armies on Parade board.
Far from being the quick paint jobs I originally planned, the wealth of detail made their progress incredibly slow. Ben particularly likes them in our Deathwatch Overkill games, he said they were my 'best work'.
But while I was at it I also finished my
Terminator Librarian from Space Hulk. Although this guy was not part of the Deathwatch it really felt like a quick win to tag along with those marines. With such variety in the mix it was no real hardship to include him.
Even before I varnished the Deathwatch and Librarian I'd moved on to my next project going 'off-list' and picking up
two Sentinels to bulk out my Cultists for AoP. It was at this stage I foresaw that I just couldn't get a board done in time and so abandoned the idea of creating a new one and put all my efforts into getting these complete. I was really pleased with the result, I'll get the Flamer to go on the second one at some point.
I even finished
a couple of my futuristic containers to add a little more detail to my AoP board. This made me keen to complete the last three remaining Cubes but other more pressing projects will put paid to that urge no doubt.
And
their Parade looked amazing, despite not creating a custom board. I think it just goes to show that a little creativity with your existing gaming terrain can really add to AoP. The end result was way beyond my expectations, what will I be doing this year?
Rippers were next, I needed them for GT3 and I'd been putting off making them for so long because I was hoping to recreate the old Forgeworld 'swarm'. I managed it with some press-mold extra Rippers with the intention of putting more on the next attempt.
Having finished the Trygon as part of my Big Build I suddenly figured it too could form part of my GT3 army list. So I cracked on with it and
he was next for completion. Now this was the 4th completion in a row that was 'off-list' which is fine because he at least had been languishing for a long time in a box and the results more than make up for having queue-jumped his way to completion :)
Movement bases were next on the agenda for GT3. I feel like I shouldn't be including them for some reason, but I could have easily just sprayed them red and left them but instead they were proper Red Planet BASEd! And the extras made them look cool, if unweildy.
A lot of advice came from you all to solve the problem, sadly it was 'locking the stable door after the horse had bolted'. And only slightly less redundant than the trays themselves - that were so impractical I could barely bring myself to use them and eventually consigned them to just decorating the man-cave.
Fatigue set in mid-January but nothing a few nights off couldn't fix and with only a couple of tweaks required on
the Space Hulk Broodlord he was soon boxed off too. He wasn't on my To Do List, bar his brood of Space Hulk Genestealers being part of the Big Build - to base them and be ready for painting, which I've still to do. I liked his magnetised base though, a neat touch that did delay his progress but well worth the effort.
Following on from completing the Broodlord my
malaise returned. I was super tired and just not motivated by any of the projects I had been 'simmering' while focused elsewhere. I took a few nights off again and then forced myself to just crack on and do the battle damage on
my old skool Predator. Thankfully it took me to the 'crest' and I was able to coast gently through the remainder. You'll have read in the To Done! post just how much this meant to me and right now you couldn't trade me three new Predators [painted] to replace this one!
I then had to finish
the 1984 Citadel Samurai for the Eavier Metal 20 year competition. I had no aspirations in the competition, I just really wanted to take part in the group and I hadn't done anything in the previous 'eadbanger events. I confess I rushed it and there are definitely compromises in finish I regret but it is still infintely better than the original Humbrol Enamel paint job I did 33 or 34 years ago.
Half-way point some off-list but the list was embryonic when I wrote it so all these items can be forgiven, particularly as the results were much better than expected. As last year this isn't a huge model count so far, only 26 things, but this was quality, not quantity and having struggled with fatigue I was finally back in a good head space. Thus I prioritised my 'Big 3' - the Tyranid Hierophant, Old Skool/Nu Skool Razorback and my Armigers with the Biotitan taking number 1 slot but proving challenging at points so even the other two ended up stalling and I promptly painted my display base ready for Double Trouble 3.
With that complete I found out GW Manchester was holding a World Record attempt to have the most Knights in the shop on the day of release of the new Codex. Well there's nothing like a deadline to focus the mind and that motivated me to push past the metallic malaise I'd suffered and bring the
Armiger Warglaives online. I was actually amazed how easy they were to do once that particular hurdle was overcome.
One of the BIG 3 was complete but despite that success, mentally I was fatigued again. I had the potential quick win of the Razorback. Just a few nights work to complete or attempt to overcome some of the hard slog on the Biotitan so I could feel reinvigorated. I actually got sidetracked with the future containers but it prompted my return to the Biotitan and
I became completely focused on getting it To Done! This was my Project Z, on my To Do List for years and I'd finally got it built and painted this season so I could scratch it off the list. I had 26 days left of the season, what else could I do in that time?
Obviously crack on with my Old Skool Razorback, but simultaneously
I was finishing up the three future containers, which were completed ahead of the Razorback, thanks to not needing any Tamiya Clear products. The end results are pretty cool, I just wish you could still get these tubs so I could make more :(
And the Razorback was finished just a few hours later, with the Las-Plas armament just taking a little longer with it's Tamiya Clear elements but also the Heavy Bolter Turret was also complete. I thought I really needed another of these Rhinos to utilise the spare turret, but I found out the Las-Plas is no longer an option, so that was a waste of time and it looked so cool too! I suppose I've an Old Skool 'Crayola' Whirlwind that can scratch that itch insetad, maybe next Season. But that means the Big 3 did get completed before the end of the Hobby Season, but could I get the Shadespire Chosen Axes done too?
The answer to that question is of course I got it done. Much like last year I went to the deadline on my Hobby Season. I had said I wouldn't do that this time around but couldn't help myself.
I have finished the Chosen Axes but obviously haven't taken their picture aside from the one below. I've also got a couple of WiP shots I should have made into a post today but didn't organise things properly. So expect a few more posts to tie up the 2017/18 season even as we enter the 2018/19 one! I'm immensely proud of them, which is making the thought of selling them that much harder. Luckily there is no rush at the moment so I can enjoy them for now.
There we go, 16 'projects' of varying scale I'm pretty chuffed with that. I'm also pleased to see how productive others have been. We all hobby in different ways and thankfully the Hobby Season is flexible enough to accommodate those apporaches and it really has created a structure you can adapt to help you get something done, thanks for taking part.
With a third of my list done it does mean two thirds remain for next Season but there are definitely some new items to surprise and delight, see you on Tuesday for my 2018/19 Hobby Season To Do List. But lets not forget the Big Build...
The Big Build was my scaled down expectations to build miniatures. Ironically it was more of a Great Build than last year's attempt, but I'm really pleased with how much I built and how much then fast tracked through to completion. These Genestealer Cult Sentinels [shown previously] were one of those items from build to completion.
My Trygon was next to be built, the base and pose particularly difficult hurdles to overcome.
The Space Hulk Broodlord also was a challenge due to the magnetised base.
The Rippers for GT3 were next, the 'green stuff' ground bursting Rippers have been a pipe-dream project for years now. To finally give them a go was such an achievement and they came out alright too. I also got them painted as well so I'm really chuffed at that goal achieved.
Then along came the biggest build to date. This project had been lurking in the background for nearly 4 years. The sheer scale of the task with balls-out bravado to properly pin the legs so they didn't bend and magnetise it, just meant I could never fully commit alongside other projects, they always took preference. But I would have a go every now and again, last year saw some significant progress but then it stalled again and finally there was a window of opportunity to finish off the little bits and get it ready to start painting...
In the midst of beginning to paint the Hierophant, Forgebane was released and I used my Google AdSense money to secure the box just so I could add these guys to my Knights. I did a bit of conversion work on the Armigers, making their poses a little more dynamic and magnetising the weapon options. Not sure if I was canibalising my efforts on the Biotitan but it was good to have more stuff on the table so I can have a variety of projects to work on simultaneously - the very purpose of the Big Build.
When I should have been focussing on my 'Big 3' projects I only went and cannibalised yet more of my hobby time by building this Sanctum Imperialis. It was actually on my Big Build To Do list so I don't feel too bad about it and y'know 'go with the flow', but it did slow progress elsewhere and added to me already large list of projects. I did hope ti would also fast-track it's painting but I know I'm going to find this a challenge so it'll probably stall.
Yet more terrain, the last of my Mentos Cubes Future Containers. After the feeling of success completing the OOCL containers I found the last three cubes and they sat staring at me in mute silence for months. The difficulty of fitting them in among all my other projects was resolved in 'building' them during my lunch at work. With the reinforcments done they were then just about finding spare moments to get around to painting them. I was a little overzealous with the sand added to the bascoat but glad they're at least ready for paint.
Funded by my Best Painted Army win from Double Trouble 3 I picked up the Shadespire Chosen Axes expansion for something fun and different to paint, mainly in a bid to see what they'd go for on ebay and perhaps then fund the actual game. They were so easy to build it's almost a crime to include but tough, they were built and I'm claiming it.
And there are various other things started building [two new Knights] and paused [a load more press molded Rippers] after some attention. Maybe they'll mature next season who knows?