Armies are never truly finished

I used to struggle finishing armies as a younger man. Career chasing, chores, party-going, computer gaming. It's why I was in and out the hobby so much I think. Since returning to the fold the last 4 or 5 years though, being older and generally more disgruntled with the world and contented with little company, I've actually been doing well finishing my armies. A big help has been my other-half who actively encourages me to "do a bit of painting'". So of an evening, its myself with my models and her with her tv/ipad. But they key is, we're together. We're enjoying each others company and doing what we love but actively engaging with each other's interest. It's great. I love it. I wouldn't want to do anything else on an evening. I've finished more projects in the last 4 years than I ever had in my 20years of wargaming prior. A great little product and I could definitely see myself buying one as it would suit how I do my thing here.

I have a 17-month-old toddler who is currently smack dab in the middle of a 'daddy-phase', i.e. the only time I'm free to do some hobbying is the two hours between her falling asleep and me following suit. So, insane as I am, I just bought the Epic Battles Waterloo British Starter Set last Saturday (thanks to your painting guides getting me hooked), and am right now looking at 1000+ little dudes waiting to be clipped out, cleaned up, and painted. At this rate, this will take me years, but heyooo 😂 Baby steps.

Very envious of your office - lovely set up! I make do with a painting tray that gets stored on top of the bookshelf. It's easy to take down of an evening and do a bit of hobby on the dining room table. My kids are a bit older, so there's less call for me to entertain them - just drive them to and from their many social engagements!

Great video...the first of yours I've watched. Kids obviously limited my hobby time, but bizarrely my output shot up as I focused far more to maximise the limited time I had. My output fell when I got my own hobby room in the attic as I couldn't fix on one project, and absolutely bombed when I got an iPhone about 5 years ago. I'm trying to get back into regular painting now and have a few commissions which are helping me focus. I do these in my campervan after dropping my middle lad at college which is quite a way from where we live.

Loved this video mate. I am so lucky like you to have such a nice room to work in. My kids are older though now so I've graduated to them not being around :) Which is awesome for hobby, even if a little sad :)

From the mid 90's to the early 2000's I painted miniatures freelance for adverts such has for Wargames Foundry, Copplestone Castings and a few others but also painted armies for private collectors. I always struggled to get anything painted for myself and any army I got close to completion I ended up selling before I did lol.... mostly down to mortgage and bill pressures. I burnt out in 2004 and got to the stage where I did not enjoy painting at all and went back to full time employment in a office based job doing something totally different and then retrained as a wildlife ranger and did not paint much for number of years. I have painted bits on and off over the period since but never finished a project but something changed last year and I got a nostalgia blast for Fantasy miniatures and decided to start painting a couple of forces but this time for myself. They are the first fantasy miniatures I have painted since I left Games Workshop as a studio painter in the late 80's but with the introduction of speed paints and altering a lifetime of a single painting technique from back in the mists of time I am now enjoying painting again. If I will ever paint have any complete armies for myself it may not happen lol but this time I am going for the Dragon Rampant style and sized armies and in the main they are smaller than Warhammer Fantasy. All the best finding some time to complete your own armies but keep enjoying any spare time you do have. All the best, Darren Matthews

This is the sort of product I could see myself using, as I lack a proper permanent hobby desk at home and also travel around a lot which I think prevents me ever getting into the flow of painting on a consistent schedule at a space where I can dive in without much faffing with setting up. I'd be interested to see a follow-up video down the line after you've given it a good go to hear your thoughts on how it has or has not improved your productivity outside of your hobby room - whether you end up using it regularly, only rarely when traveling etc., or not at all.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with your solution. For me it is about finding what time I can to get some hobby in and part of that is being somewhat accessible to the family. I do my painting etc in a sunroom next to the lounge room upstairs where I can see what is happening and also importantly they can see me too. I bought a lamp on Amazon that can let me paint after the afternoon is over which is often when I get some extra time. Compartmentalising the work to be done also helps me. I will consider what I can achieve in the time I have available whether that is build 4 infantry or do the boots and belts of a batch or half a batch (8-12 infantry per batch). Long term I will need some sort of carry case for paints etc because a consideration I need to have is the weather and it gets very hot here when nobody is home which means I should move the paints down stairs where it is naturally cooler particularly on the tiled floor. Doom scrolling on the phone is also not great for hobby achievements or much of anything and I have been very guilty of wasting time looking through Twitter etc which really isn’t time well spent. I’ve made a conscious effort not to do as much of that and it is also helping

Always informative to find these hobby products whether they are paid or not. Looks good

Best thing was having a stent fitted for my 60th,so finished work in heavy industry and just do hobbytime now,have had a triple bypass two years later so have cast and painted 1000 40mm syw and a couple hundred or so 54mm hg Wells type armys,15 regiments for acw,star wars figures,hundred or so lord of the rings figures and about 5 other historical periods,oh and tided up my 100 or so action men,just wish I'd done it years ago wouldn't have had time for work.

That’s cool but mines still bigger lol. Got mine in mind to organize my space better. Like the idea that it’s a means to get more hobbying done, I’ll have to see if I can use that same idea .

I would go swimming with the kids… one day when they are a bit older they won’t want to go with ‘dad’ anymore… it will be cars and girls lol

I have to just stick with one project until it gets to a point where it is 'finished' - by that I mean, in the case of a Warhammer army, where it hits a point of around 1,500 to 2,000pts. It can be a bit gruelling but I know what I'm like, and have the trail of half finished or barely started projects in my wake as proof. Now, none of this happens quickly - I'm lucky if I can finish ten infantry/five cavalry a month but progress is progress. I've also found that taking part in things like the Old World Army Challenge to be useful as there's a community aspect there that helps with motivation (in fact,m the OWAC and similar is the only thing that has lead to me completing anything in the last few years). Picking something that motivates and inspires you is another one. I've not had a completed 40k army since the early '00s (and that was DG) because I really fucking HATE painting space marines in 28mm and this fact (combined with the birth of my second child a 18 months back or so) is the reason my HH2.0 IVth Legion force sits with a whole two units painted. Can't even be bothered to get to 1,000pts (though the fact that the few games of HH2.0 I had made me realise that I didn't actually like the game didn't help). I do only have a few nights a week I can really dedicate to doing any painting though. As I work 60 miles from where I live so any day I'm in the office is a bust as I can't be arsed when I get home. I also have to travel internationally intermittently (though I once painted a unit of Zombies in a hotel room in Azerbaijan). I normally try and get some painting in between the baby going to bed and the oldest going to bed so as that I can spend a bit of child-free time with my wife. That equates to, nominally, a maximum of 5-6hrs a week. The reality Is I normally only get about 2hrs a week, if that.

Hey Stu, where did you get the movement trays from? :)

I said ilk di a 3000 pt army. 30,000 pts later. And still growing.