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Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box

It's an interesting question and also a 'nice to have problem', which I know we have discussed off-line before, Paul.

To my mind you are in fact a 'collector/painter', but no-one needs to feel categorized and your approach is one that suits you well...and is eminently sensible. Painting all the figures in the box also seems to go back to the earlier sets released by Strelets where every figure and pose was different, making these each an individual sculpt rather than part of a bigger 'unit'. For figures which are for display and/or to be photographed, this is ideal.

As a wargamer (retired) and ex-tabletop 'General' (although I use this term loosely given the defeats I frequently experienced) I remain fixated with planning. collecting, organising and painting armies 'for the tabletop'. I continue to live in an absract world featuring orders-of-battle, figure to actual scales and unit base sizes.

The last time I painted an entire set as it came from the box was probably when I was about 12 or 13, and that was a box of Airfix Waterloo British Infantry. Since then, some figures from most sets have tended to remain unused or at least put to one side for later. The ever-growing spares box (which now includes figures for the period 1974-2021), continues to grow as I have become more selective about which figures are suitable for XYZ unit.

But maybe now would be a good time to simply have a go at painting an entire set just as it comes from the box. Maybe.:thinking_face:

Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box

Depends on the era, 20th century subjects one sprue is enough , the earlier the era the more likely to paint the lot.

Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box

Hi Paul I do a similar thing to you only I always have two sets on the go a Napoleonic set & a ww2 set.
I try to concentrate on the nappy set The ww2 set is for when I have had enough & need a break.

I always paint the the whole box & fix them on bases, I also keep a record of how many I paint and how many I have to paint & I try to paint 1,000 a year at least.

Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box - Analysis Paralysis

A friend once told me, "You think too much!" He called my affliction, "Analysis Paralysis." :sweat_smile: I find I just like to look at my figures and take a short "Decompression Session" out of the daily stress of life periodically and unplanned when the feeling hits me.

So I have a few of my favorite figures, loose, just sitting on my shelf above my night stand - A few FFL and Knights - just to look at and "day dream." I keep a small clear box with a few new, current or favorite sprews ready to be cleaned in it and ready to head to the sink and wash them - Ready to go and de-sprew - just a quick 10 minutes any time during the day.

I also keep a small spiral note pad and pen close at hand and just jot down any new ideas that pop up into my head, like how to design a FFL Fort or Frontier Fort, and either write them down or sketch them.

This way with everything just waiting for some quiet time to focus I can jump into it, make a little progress, and then just put it away ready for another go at it later.

So in summary, having just a few of my favorite figures or sprews "in plain sight", ready to have a quick go at it any time, allows me to benefit from a short "decompression session" and I don't suffer from "analysis paralysis" stressing from all those daily chores and commitments and I'm constantly making progress in everything. This allows me to focus on family in big blocks of time and they don't even notice my "mental time outs."

I hope this makes sense because it works for me. It can be very difficult to find that personal time to just be a kid again for myself because of life's demands. :palm_tree: :cactus: :wink:

Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box - Analysis Paralysis

Hi Chaps (I'll make an assumption at this point based on names )
Thank you for your replies. It would appear rather as I suspected that whilst the majority cherry pick subjects to paint, at least two of the six, paint everything in the box. At the outset I assumed I would speed up as I became more experienced. This however is not the case and I feel that I have in fact got slower possibly becoming more self critical. You only have to look at some of the contributions to realise how much room for improvement there really is. So like Steve I am about the 1000 to 1200 a year mark. Covid has probably increased this a bit but you can do too much and it become a chore.
I would say that I like to visit and even voice something on this website and feel that the vast majority are supportive to one another in let's face,is a minority pastime.
So thank you
So now it's back to the Saxons

.

Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box - Analysis Paralysis

I almost never paint my troops. My intention is to play wargames with them but due to moving I have not done any wargames in a few years. My hope is later this year or maybe next year I will be set up to play wargames again.

Do what makes you feel good, they are toys, after all.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Re: To Paint or Leave in the Box - Analysis Paralysis

I expect to paint and use every figure in every box, and I resent it when that isn't possible. I like the idea of 4 identical sprues in a box, as I usually put four figures on a base, and I like to use the same or similar poses.