My hobby space looks like an episode of hoarders. Thanks for the video Benji! This is motivating me to clean up more.

I wrote down all of the models I painted in the previous year and realised that it wasn't many (less than 60). Knowing that can really help when making that next purchase. For example, a new boxed game might have more minis in it than I painted last year!

I don't buy new models till I have built and painted the last ones. Kind of a little reward for getting it done.

Hi mate! I agree 100% with what you say in the video as I experienced it on my skin in the last year! Great tips!

Definitely think it's worth finishing a project off before moving onto the next. I'm 6000pts into my primaris Ultramarines army, probably 2 or 3k left to paint and I don't paint fast although I do paint nearly every day. As a bit of a palate cleanser I've been painting the odd warcry warband here and there, with a monster or two thrown in too.

Thanks for this video, really helpful for me, I will give it a try.

There is some sage advice in this, Benji. I need to work on keeping a tidy space and reducing my projects in flight to one or two at the most. Since January 1st I have been working on #hobbystreak by making sure that I am hobbying for at least 20 minutes a day. Because my jam is more crafting and terrain making, as well as getting back into the flow of producing content for KZfaq, I am including those activities within my go by streak criteria too. I have a lot more to work on and the advice provided here is inspiring. Thanks for producing this.

Great tips Benji! I spent most of last year scaling down my collection and inventorying the lot. Made me address my spending habits as well as encouraging me to finish off projects. This year’s goal is to up the % painted to get to 100% within 18 months.

I really enjoy batch painting large armies and watching the progression take place generally I will have a commander or hero undercoated and sitting on my try as my next project by having my next project staring at me helps me with my motivation to complete the army I am working on. If I start a project I will not start another until completing the one I'm working on OCD May be in play . I really like your approach to the hobby and enjoy your content many thanks.

Fantastic video, full of good ideas. For me the most important is to keep the painting desk uncluttered. I found out the hard way that my output is inversely proportional to the untidiness of my workdesk, and grinds to a complete halt when a certain level of entropy is reached.

Agree fully on the clear desk when finished session. Is great as you can just jump back in.

15-30 minutes a day is what I've been dedicating to the war against the grey! Thank you for the tips and another great video!

I've slowly implemented a lot of these tips throughout the years as I find my tiny little apartment couldn't hold many of my mini's. First, I set aside a little corner of my studio for my 'hobby corner' that more or less consists of a little basic desk, a plastic shelf and a couple of tubs that I keep my paint selections on top of along with some some of my basing materials ect. The other things that did was make the vow to myself that I would only have two armies going at a time - one 40k and one Age of Sigmar- and that I couldn't by any more mini's until what I have was completed ( I do have some palette cleansers here and there but nothing huge). As I am someone who doesn't buy frequently, I do tend to buy a large section of the army at once to work through. I find that if I put on my desk only what my goal is to finish during 'X' amount of time and leave the rest in the box it does help a bit. And hey, if I get a wave of 'I don't feel like painting' I can always build something from the pile to give myself a break and still be working on my army. I'm sure that my methods are flawed beyond redemption but they work for my for the most part. XD

cleaning down after really helps with keeping me on track - I've also had a recent check through the pile of potential and offloaded a few items I'll never get around to

This is all really good advice! Completely agree.

Shout out from January of 2022. Cheers!

Clear desk policy is such a great shout. Loving the videos man.

Excellent suggestions, I really appreciate your motivational suggestions. Thanks!

I have to say that's very close to the changes I made last year and it helped me a lot. In addition to this, I made a spreadsheet list of what I want and have with the prices as well as a painting planning both put together made me realize what I can realistically paint in the next months and stopped me to add to the pile of shame (and spare a few bucks).

I hit the like button when I saw the tray tip, and the video just got better and better from there!

My big hobby goal this year is simple "always take my time with a model" if I feel like I want to rush something to just get it finished then I pack up and go back to it the next time. There's nothing worse for me than having a bunch a minis painted but that I'm not happy with the quality of. Clean and tidy desk is key as well although I've never had a problem with this one!

People who completely parade ready a box before buying more miniatures need a mental evaluation.

Just found this video … and what can I say, I was inspired by your message to paint at least 15 minutes a day and it works. Thank you so much.

Set this video to double speed for added productivity

Great Vid Ben!! You rock!!

Great tips! I'm joining in the "January 20minutechallenge as I didn't manage to get through my Dunland army like I wanted to last year. Not even sure I'll be able to achieve it every day with current lockdown status and childcare requirements, but it's something to aim for at least, and I've only missed one day so far. Another thing I've started to do to get more organised is to magnetise and box up my painted minis to help protect them better (they were scattered around in other boxes or on shelves previously). I'm also going to do the same for some of my unpainted armies that are in various other bags and boxes. Some need stripping and gluing to bases, so I'm hoping to remove these barriers to painting and I can more easily identify any gaps in the armies.

That was a good video, interesting and thought provoking. I certainly agree about the tidy desk - I spend time every session to tidy, clean, clear and organise. Knowing EXACTLY where a tool is can be really important if you're in the flow, or currently recording :D Finishing projects is also a good point - the buzz you can get from seeing it completed can then inspire the next. As you know, however, I operate differently with regards to the NUMBER of projects ongoing at once. I currently have a model railway I'm building, the Haldir's Elves for our challenge, some Blood & Plunder minis, a 1:24 scale post apocalyptic diorama, a scratch built great house out of left over packing materials from Christmas, a plastic tower from Renedra and very shortly the challenge from Encounter Terrain will also start. Oh, and the Battle Games in Middle-earth terrain as well :) I thrive on this - I find it so easy to go and do something of an evening because at least one of those projects will excite me :) as you say, it does take all sorts and I am an odd-ball. Really REALLY enjoying the challenge and it is eye-opening that in the first week two of those days I'd have not painted at all without the impetus - so maybe one thing you missed off your list was "friendly challenges and co-inspiration with friends?" It bloody well works!

Last year I wanted to keep a track of the models I had painted, but I also catalogued those in my pile of shame. I found it really satisfying moving models from the unpainted to painted side of the document, and it helped motivate me to keep my paint count higher than my PoS count

Fantastic! I've been doing the painting ever day thing since January first and already got 4 models done! Next step is cataloging the collection :P

Late to the discussion Benji but I found that taking part in hobby challenges is a great way to motivate my self. I started doing this in December of 2020 and have continued it through till now. I am on the verge of completely finishing all my 28mm collection go from bare plastic to painted miniatures. As of typing this I am working on twelve seraphon and have just the carnosaur and about five other 28mm miniatures left. I am saving one of them (Abaddon the Despoiler) for when I feel the inspiration to start collecting the Black Legion. Now that I am running out of miniatures I have decided to never again over burden my self with miniatures. I want to finish a project first before buying more miniatures and only in moderation so I don't ever wind up with a huge pile of shame.

I did a spreadsheet inventory of all my models in 2019, shocked me massively, sold several armies and didn't buy anyything for several months. Then 2020 came around, and while I've finished a huge amount of models, I also bought as much as not more than I painted, so I'm at it again. I think its just a case of giving yourself rules and sticking to them, as you've only got yourself to blame

I’m apparently the only person in this hobby that enjoys the building and painting part more than playing the game. I can’t buy enough to get behind…

Some really good tips here. I started taking inventory last year and there is A LOT to be finished in my cellar. Not only LotR, but also two Fantasy armies (my beloved Empire and Bretonia) but now also two 40k armies (Custom Space Marines and Speedfreek Orks). I think the labelling is an idea that I will apply on the weekend. I have some printer labels left that are the perfect size for the side of the euroboxes that I am using for storage.

Very useful thanks!

Wow, I thought I was the only one who audited and used the label maker to identify my piles of shame! I'm glad that I'm not alone!!

nkce one, I've got commison on, got to finish off my Kings of war Dwarfs army, Finish my Grim Dark Future Army and my Frostgrave Warband for a new campaign , but I can always do something everyday. my best advice is to use a wet pallet and try and use cross over paints on multiple projects.

I'm not buying anything new until ove finished the Space Hulk set i bought last year. I'm over half way and finding the promise of a reward at the end really motivating.

Clear and clean desk policy is a good one, also having some sort of organising and uniform stacking/sorting etc really gives you a professional feel and a different frame of mind when it comes to painting, having literally everything in your hobby being easily accessible and visible makes it more appealing! Also, Bob is my grandad, not my uncle ;)

Watched this video on release but came back to it today. I made an Excel spreadsheet of all my models. Pretty obvious to me now that I need to make a few cuts as there is stuff that is just never going to get painted...

I made myself a rule at present that I am not allowed to buy anything hobby wise unless it furthers me painting my current projects. Currently I have Kill team stuff ongoing and I won't be buying anymore until I have fully painted my 3 Kill teams

@ 2:24 Ow! That hurt!

I set myself a challenge for this year, paint at least 1-2 hours or do hobby stuff for at least 1-2 hours every single day. So far I am managing to do 55% of the days, so I'd say that's pretty damn productive.

I have amassed a fair amount of Orks for my Ork army. I build and paint one maybe two boxes at a time. And every couple of boxes paint some dnd single models or monsters. This year I will be splitting my attention between Orks and the new heroquest. This genuinely helps with burnout

Agree and disagree on building up a backlog. Agee that those pictures of 300 gray models prolly wont ever get done. But i disagree on only building one at a time, because there will be days not suitable to prime, nor you having the interest in glueing stuff together which might just futher delay any progress on your amry. So my tip is, get a 11/liter ikea box with primed and ready to go with models in it. which i also made a rule with my self, no buying more until it's empty.

Im gonna give the 20 min challenge a go!

TIL "rationalize" means something completely different in the UK lol. In the USA rationalizing is how we got into the pile of shame in the first place

My backlog consists of a single miniature that I assembled yesterday and undercoated today after owning it four a few months. Granted, it's my first, and I've been so very scared of fucking it up that I've put off actually building it for a long time. I'm proud of how (mostly) great the undercoat turned out (two thin coats ftw), but now my anxiety is spiking that I'll mess up the rest of it. But at least my pile of shame is more like a pebble of pride right now. On the other hand, I feel the overwhelming desire to buy more models already. Why is assembling them so much fun?

Great advice! I feel bad walking by my pile of shame everyday.

I have a dedicated music/ paint studio, problem is getting time to be in there ;) Is your dog a Havanais? Looked like it, I have two of them myself.

8:11 yeah sure I do that looks at desk errrmmmmm maybe not

I just start throwing base coats on models when I have free time. I don't think about being neat, the thought of that puts me off. I can correct them later when I have more time to focus on details.

Who built your shed space for you? And what shelving units do you use behind you?

Nice video as always Ben - doubt I'll listen to any of it but smarter people than me will no doubt be helped :-) Damian

Well I agree with all of your points but don't do many of them as I am one of the few strange people that does things a little differently. However 20 mins a day is good practice to get into and your productivity levels go through the roof. Nice video dude

The nice part about being broke is that you don't have a pile of shame

I had a 600+ backlog. it sucked. sold a few hundred (though I did buy few hundred more..) painted 100 per year. and after all was said and done. 10 years later or so. I'm now at 68 minis left. its still an annoying number. I think healthy is20 - 30. cause you do want to have some left. you don't want a completely clean desk. working on a few things at once can work for you. or maybe you don't want to paint just the one set you have. so I'm aiming to lose the last dozens of overboard minis till end of 2022

"Knowing what you've got" can really become a problem sooner or later, especially if you can't afford (due to the lack of free space maybe) a dedicated tall shelf with transparent doors to store your minis. I myself do not know how to handle this problem.

I cannot work with a completely clear, clean, tidy work space, I need some degree of clutter.

Dont be so negative! Its not a pile of shame, it is a pile of opportunities :D

Yeah, I have a huge list of things that I want to paint but because I have a huge list, I don't want to try and paint it. In my case though, it's repainting 40k armies that were stored poorly. But the lack of new rules for them causes gridlock. For instance, my Primary Army is Craftworld Eldar.. I have about 12000 points of them. I bought them in 1993 to present. I need to repaint the entire army. I don't have new rules, so, randomly picking a force could be bad. I have a chaos marine army, they also lack all rules, So, painting them could be wrong. I own a Marine army made up of entirely circa 1989 citadel marines. So, first born mono-pose white metal models. I have a harlequin army, this just seems like tons of work to paint, I want more confidence before I tackle it. Now, you see true gridlock. At the end of the day, I want my eldar army fully painted. So, this is what I am working on, but, I don't want to make real Craftworld Decisions until I see the new rules. This means I can paint the Aspect warriors because they aren't Craftworld specific. But, that leaves me in a bind.

I have everything build I just don't like painting the same miniature over and over again

I just did not buy any model since almoast eight months now... It moast certanly increases the presentedge of paintet models. But I don‘t wanna give myself a timelimit, because I know, that the qualaty of finished models will suffer. And I already did many of the Infantry models almoast a year ago. (150 Models in 3,5 Moths) Now it‘s time to paint all the cool models. 🎉

Looking at this some I agree but some of it 0I don't. To me a hobby doesn't need to be productive, because a hobby is something that is done inorder to remove stress. Doing a hobby as if it is job seems a bit paradoxical to me, as I do my hobbies to avoid micro-managing things as I already do that on a daily basis. Finishing a group/single model for me can take a month to be done and that would be fine as long as I enjoyed the process.

Remember to like and comment to appease the almighty algorithm 😁👍🏼

You have way to little subs for the quality that you have in each video

*shaking head* Binning those bits of styrene sprue... When you should be chopping them up and putting them in spare pots of Tamiya plastic cement and extra thin cement to make liquid styrene you can use for filling the gaps of plastic miniatures with the very material they are made out of! Or put those bits into a glass bowl with a varying quantity of pure acetone to melt them down into liquid plastic that you can then force into metal or ceramic ( make your own with plaster or Paris ) moulds to produce plastic scenery parts for bases and table terrain. As for the Dymo tape printer; why are you wasting that tape printing labels, that's what permanent markers and shaky handwriting is for! Use the tape on your large flat surface miniatures like tanks, combined with a micro chisel or scraping tool to add additional panel lines and details to the surface, using the tape as a guide! The tape works in exactly the same way as professional scribing tape you otherwise have to import from East Asia!

So Nice 💘💘💘💘💘💘