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| Fear of modelling failure | |
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| Topic Started: 13 May 2012, 02:57 AM (1,163 Views) | |
| deffberf | 13 May 2012, 02:57 AM Post #1 |
Second Lieutenant
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Lately I have seen more and more people relate their fears as to why they havent begun some part of the hobby. This can be usually found with painting but can include any aspect of the hobby. This fear can be so debilitating as to stop people even starting armies after purchasing them costing hundreds of pounds. Fear of failing has led me in the past to not start some aspects of the hobby. These include decaling or waterslide transfers, scenery especially water scapes like rivers etc, advanced moulding, sculpting and LED lighting amongst others I have forgot. I have overcome the waterslide transfer problem and can now place them without any problem. It seems to me that all these fears stem from the feeling of not having the ability to do the models justice or feeling unable to realise this ability. I overcame the waterslide transfer fear with a good amount of research and just good old trial and error or practice. So the crux of this post is these questions... what fears have yourselves had about aspects of the hobby and what have you done to overcome them and what advice do you have for anyone fearing that they will mess up their models and to stop them staring at an army all built but still grey plastic? Deffberfs advice: Personally I have found the tutorial section here on Ammobunker to be most instrumental in lowering or removing my fears and encouraging me to just go and do it. When painting I generally mix basic models in with more converted or complicated ones. This allows me to relax on at least some of the models as if I mess them up I can easi;y replace or redo them. At the moment I have 10 infantry being painted 5 of which are basic. I have messed up on almost all of the faces, just need to go back and redo them this time with a magnifying glass I think 
Edited by deffberf, 13 May 2012, 03:01 AM.
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| Ovaltine Jones | 13 May 2012, 03:26 AM Post #2 |
Warrant Officer First Class
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I've always felt that the best way to get over a fear of modelling failure is to experience multiple modelling failures. |
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| # dean | 13 May 2012, 03:27 AM Post #3 |
Grandmaster of Librarians
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Thanks for posting Deffberf... That's why we have the Tutorial section in the first place. My trepidation is scenic bases, color theory blending (shading blue with red and so forth) and Forgeworld infantry. Hopefully I am going to get help with the color theory, This place helped out with the bases and my dKoK are a bit rough still but practice is the best thing you can do to get over your fears.... That and an acceptance and determination that though you may make a mistake but you will learn from it and get better. That and discovering different methods of stripping minis helped. Edited by dean, 13 May 2012, 03:30 AM.
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| fireangel | 13 May 2012, 05:26 AM Post #4 |
Second Lieutenant
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Thanks for the post!!!!! First off Dean: If you have questions regarding color theory PM me. I teach it to art students. My Fears: Converting: I have several models that I had grand ideas for, then I cut their heads off, or whatever and well I couldn't realize my ideas, and blamo I have hunk of pewter covered in green stuff (see my most recent conversion in my plog for an example of something I may never touch again). Some of the masters on here make me so jealous in their ability to convert and use green stuff. As a result I tend to never attempt the conversions in my head, because in my mind it is better to have a well sculpted miniature, then a hunk of pewter covered in green stuff... Commitment: I seem to have more fear of commitment with my armies then I do women, or my art work. I have been into this hobby for more then half my life, 20 years, and I don't have a single finished painted army to my name. My goal is to have 2000 points by the time I die, but I don't know if that is going to happen. I probably own over 10,000 points of Imperial miniatures. Sloppy Work: My biggest hurdle to finishing my goal of an army is that I can't seem to just quickly paint a basic troop to flush out a force. I get obsessed with detail, and go totally OCD when painting out of a fear that someone is going to see my sloppy brush strokes/poor blending/mold line/whatever. As a result I can't flush out a force. The funny thing here is that I can count on both hands the number of people in the physical world (not online) that have seen my miniatures in person. None of them paid anything near the amount of attention to them that I do, and I don't have a gaming group or fellow modeler to compare work to. The fear is so irrational it's insane, but it is my fear, and totally my biggest issue. It could, in fact, keep me from finishing my entry for this months competition. But.... I'm getting better. I'm learning to let go and just move on to the next model even if my current project isn't my best work. Edited by fireangel, 13 May 2012, 05:33 AM.
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| # Digits | 13 May 2012, 08:13 AM Post #5 |
Shadowkin
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Great thread idea, hopefully a few will take things from it as it grows. Lots of things scare me..... 1) messing up the construction / painting on that large and expensive fw chunk of resin. I know of at least two people who have messed up big style with resin titans and I know I would too so it's that that's stopped me buying one. 2) painting - I know I say it often enough, but I REALLY DO HATE IT!! I can't help it but it takes me ten times longer to paint than others and it's only half as good. Luckily I'm also anal about not putting untainted minis on the tabletop, otherwise I'd have a lot of grey and green. 3) Homogenus looking armies. To me, you HAVE to stamp your own take on the hobby. I am not good at building armies that look the same as everyone else's. I already know my painting isn't great so I have to mess with conversions and the like. I think this is my not wanting to conform, but it is also what keeps me interested. I have WAY TOO MANY half built armies of stock figures that no longer do it for me. |
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| ☺The Antipope | 13 May 2012, 10:43 AM Post #6 |
COMFORT COMES
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Ugh. Eyes. I usually start a model with eyes and I hate doing it. The actual thought of starting the model this way can lead me to days worth of procrastination. I literally avoid picking up a brush out of fear of it. Also, water slide transfers on curved surfaces. I've tried Microsol/set and all that stuff but I can't do it. Freehand, no problem, I don't fear it. But the transfers... The transfers and the curved surfaces... I dread it. Another fear I have is the 'difficult second album'. Usually, If I paint the first model for whatever project and get pretty happy with it, then anything that follows it is usually compared unfavourably. This is especially a problem for me with GW style projects, because you will be painting the same thing (in variants) over and over so there is bound to be some ups and downs in quality. Also, painting black. I hate it. I know the theory. I can't apply it. Part of me fears conversion, though I do love it. I like the challenge of making something as well as I can, from only the bits I have been given on the sprue. I hate cross-pollination between manufacturers (in my own stuff). Other people do great things with this. Recently Ash made a fantastic wheeled vehicle for his Guard. I couldn't do it. PP converted with PP, GW converted with GW and so on. I love preparation. I love filing moldlines off and filling gaps and pinning and God, basing, I love basing. Then I prime it. Suddenly the mini is pure. Untouched. A potential masterpiece if I only I can harness my waxing/waning power at the right moment. A primed mini to me is like snow that hasn't been walked in. Brush strokes are dirty footprints in pure white snow. I wish I could unknow everything I know about stripping mini's. But then I'd just go back to my old way of throwing away a mini I didn't like. And I hate to repaint stripped miniatures. It's never the same the second time round... I was quite gung ho with painting when I was a nipper. I used to just do stuff, but I find a perfectionist streak has grown into me as I've got older and learned more till now I'm almost completely afraid to do anything hobby wise at all. I need to see a Psychiatrist. This is a great idea for a thread! Edited by The Antipope, 13 May 2012, 10:54 AM.
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| Ovaltine Jones | 13 May 2012, 11:00 PM Post #7 |
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Warrant Officer First Class
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Basing is by far my weakest link. I understand the principle, but I've never been able to fit basing into the natural progression of building and painting a model. Do you prepare the base, then stick the figure on it? Do you build the figure, then base around it? Do you paint the base or the figure first? My worst hangups are all conceptual, though. I'm a slave to composition and color theory; I can't conscience putting paint on anything without a definitive plan. I usually have a very clearly-defined visual 'feel' for the model in my head, and the difficult part is creating a plan in detail that captures that. |
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| fireangel | 13 May 2012, 11:14 PM Post #8 |
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Second Lieutenant
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My process with bases is as follows: Build the base prior to putting the model on it. Prime miniature and base together. Paint base after the model as the last step. Seems to work great for me. |
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| ☺Tepok | 13 May 2012, 11:34 PM Post #9 |
Untermensch
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Don't really see any reason to be afraid of modelling... you can always take it apart or strip it if you [well, someone needs a cool off period] up. Lukas |
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| ☺Easy E | 14 May 2012, 12:44 AM Post #10 |
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Captain
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Only two things scare me, and one of them is nuclear war..... What's the other? Two part casting. Its not so much I'm afraid of failing at it, I'm afraid that all my screw ups will make it cost prohibitive. |
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| fireangel | 14 May 2012, 05:05 AM Post #11 |
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Second Lieutenant
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Tepok: You've never attempted a conversion an a now OOP miniature before have you? Cutting off the head of a sergeant to do a swap can be a very non reversible thing with GW's release schedule. I still NEVER got a chance to get another blister of the original Jes Goodwin Wolf Scout sculpts from 2nd Edition, but I have some cut up bitz you can play with if you want............ Man that project hurt... |
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| DaHedd | 14 May 2012, 07:54 AM Post #12 |
Warrant Officer Second Class
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Ive destroyed many a model and regretted it. Lots of head swaps and conversions that havent quite worked. Ive knackered a few model kits (chimeras and russ mostly) experimenting with stuff from the FW masterclass books (3 russ sat in paint stripping soloution in the garage as we speak) and ive got a whole guard army i want to "digitify" because i think they look naff now having looked on the Bunker and Warseer. Not to mention a fairly expensive and totally failed casting experiment. Wrong type of resin, wrong type of rubber. I`ll eventually post some stuff on here. But dont hold yer breath lol. |
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| Brother Vogt | 14 May 2012, 08:34 AM Post #13 |
Captain
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For me its cutting up arms, bodies etc to attach to other bits and trying to get them to look great. Several people on here do it excellently but it terrifies me to create the waste. Also, new painting techniques. Using washes and drybrushing were revolutionary enough to me when I started my orks a few years ago and the idea of highlighting and colour mixing still causes me sleepless nights! |
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| Mortare | 14 May 2012, 10:05 AM Post #14 |
Lieutenant
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I like to plan a conversion, work out how to bring it to fruition and then build it. I am proud of my efforts. I then accept that I am a poor painter and it gets undercoated and left. This stems partly from many years spent away from the painting side of the hobby, together with a general lack of time. I know that if I practice I will improve, but finding the time to do anything is too hard right now vs real life. I have to say that the new How To Paint book has been very good, if only because the detailed shots show that the figures aren't all perfect, they just look nice from a distance. Perfect for tabletop quality |
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| ☺The Antipope | 14 May 2012, 10:15 AM Post #15 |
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COMFORT COMES
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Unless you are going for sand and static grass (as per standard) then I would advise making the base before the model is even primed. Then you can make sure it stands on it properly, check that elements don't over shadow the model itself of even add elements id there is not enough going on... As to the second part I agree with you. I think when I was born, my soul went into two parts and one part became you. And that sounds way too gay. But you are a good painter... Your Blood Angels are great. Edited by The Antipope, 14 May 2012, 10:16 AM.
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| # Marovian | 14 May 2012, 06:35 PM Post #16 |
High Lord Admiral of the Imperial Fleet
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A very good topic this one. I am scared of the new. So, basically, everything. Let me explain. When I do something that I want to do well, it annoys me if I can't get it right the first time. So when I see Digits casting, I want in. When I see Dave38x weathering, I want to do that as well. Same with converting, blending, what ever. I have tried things in the past, and do now, but of course, it generally doesn't work the first time. Certainly not as well as I would like. And I find that puts me off. So when I see people doing all this stuff that expands the hobby, I become scared of making mistakes, knowing full well that if I make them I will lose my mojo. The really, really, annoying thing with me is that if it is something I am not that bothred about, I am quite happy to keep trying. So new stuff at work, or stuff that I HAVE to do but am not really interested in, I do over and over until I get it right. Then of course, I am a perfectionist and not willing to settle for adequate, so if I can't do something to my exacting standards I have a hissy fit and move on. |
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| ☺Ash | 14 May 2012, 07:05 PM Post #17 |
Lieutenant
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Great idea for a topic, it's like modelers anonymous. Hi, my names Ash and I hate painting red as it always looks crap . . . Sounds like we're all, for the most part, in the same boat;we all want/need the amount of time/money/patience/effort invested in any project to be reflected in the finished piece. If the results don't live up to the expectation/visualised finished look, its really frustrating. I know for me that's why things quite often end up sitting half done in a box for months at a time, and why I quite often don't do anything for half a year at a time. Call it mojo failure/apathy one thing I have noticed is that I always come back to painting. . . |
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| Valdez | 15 May 2012, 04:29 PM Post #18 |
Lieutenant
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Ash I don't bloody believe you! Especially if it's about buildings!  As for me I am afraid of ... hmmm... everything:P It is weird because usually in day to day live I am chaotic and I don't care if I am shaved properly, my shirt is ironed etc. but with my hobby I am getting horrible perfectionist. On top of that I am crap at painting, so even if I do something I am not totally happy with result so it is just easier to not touch another model, especially if I really like it. I also hate this how I can see project in my head, I know how I want it to look, but when I am attempting to build it I can't find a way to do it... I haven't try to put anything big together yet, and as I have a full ork army box that probably another thing I am afraid of. Or maybe I am afraid I will again want to convert everything:P Well exactly similar problem:P And for me another weird thing is that I love new things and I am scared of them at the same time... I am just weird person:P Edited by Valdez, 15 May 2012, 04:31 PM.
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| sparks | 15 May 2012, 06:05 PM Post #19 |
Warrant Officer Second Class
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Weathering a tank. Scratchbuilding vehicles. 54 mm Military/historic models! |
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| deffberf | 16 May 2012, 01:21 AM Post #20 |
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Second Lieutenant
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This has become an interesting thread. The replies have been quite revelationary in their nature even form some of the more accomplished members. One major or common theme is the pressure we put on ourselves in seeking the perfection of the finished piece or pieces. This is probably likely to stem from the fact that we post our works on a public forum inviting critique. I say this as from my own experience I am prone to try and emulate one or anothers work here and if its not at least equal to that standard I am dissapointed with myself. But I can see light on the horizon... There is a word that will fix approximately 99% of our fears. Its been mentioned before in the thread but it simply is a question of PRACTICE! They say practice makes perfect and I am inclined to agree. Dont worry if the first marine is a bit dodgy, put him to one side and do another. Never mind if the first squad isnt quite right just go and get another box and try again. Only from our mistakes will we learn. However there are a few exceptions making up the 1% where practice is not possible being... the model being worked in is irreplacable, our own physical abilities like eyesight failing (but this can be remedied) or just not able to spend the time practising. So generally in the main we can overcome these fears.Luckily help is at hand, closer than we all might think. Here on the bunker we do have the Tutorial section and theres also the Masterclass section where help is available on all aspects of the hobby. You just have to ask Deff Edited by deffberf, 16 May 2012, 01:26 AM.
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