green stuff Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 For most of us, this is a bit more than just a hobby, and we can spend ages on just one mini. So I was curious, What's the longest periode you've ever spent on one mini? No need to count the hours; a general time span will do, but try to think of minis that you did straight through without major breaks (more than a month). The longest I've spent is about 5 months on some GD entries (and yes I did continue to have a social life ... damn thing, cost me the demon ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritual Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I've had things standing on my painting desk for ages, but I assume you mean time spent during which you've been at least somewhat active. In that case it's about a month (40-50 hours effective time). I would never be able to focus on the same thing for hundreds of hours. Also, I can't see what I could do, painting wise, in 300 hours that I couldn't do in 30 hours on a mini (provided it's a normally sized thing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green stuff Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I would never be able to focus on the same thing for hundreds of hours. Also, I can't see what I could do, painting wise, in 300 hours that I couldn't do in 30 hours on a mini (provided it's a normally sized thing). I'd be mighty curious to see what you'd produce for a major RL contest though. I'm sure that knowing other contenders are going to spend 150 hours on a 28mm must get you saying : "Oh my, oh my, what can I do to beat that?". And then ZBAM, the magic kicks in ... or something like that . The above mentionned 5 months was for 54mm scale mini or vehicles by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritual Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I would really like to participate in a RL painting competition some time. Unfortunately there are no ones worth mentioning in Sweden, and I haven't been able to travel to any so far. The concept of competing against people spending hundreds of hours on their entries would probably not affect me that much. I still can't see myself sitting that long with a mini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green stuff Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I would really like to participate in a RL painting competition some time. In case you didn't know, Sven is planning on coming to GD FR 2006 (some time in late April). If you ever plan on getting the Sweedish team together, it would be fun to meet you there. Otherwise, the German GD should be closer to you. I think that's some time in December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritual Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I don't think I can make it! I'm planning a vacation with my gf sometime in spring and it seems Budapest will be our choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green stuff Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 OK, have fun both of you . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 For me about a month on my Dragyri, although more than a week of that was on the base and I was relatively busy. All told she was probably about 50 hours of work I'm sort of like Anders however. I'm not quite sure what I would have done putting another 100 hours into her... My Paint Aid ogre was probably also about 50 hours converting and painting time, but over about 2 weeks since I thought there was a rush on getting them done For him, I think I could have figured out what to spend at least another 50 hours on... He had way more bits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdukino Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I don't think I ever spend over 12 hours on a single mini (though I can spread those 12 hours over a few weeks at times) Painting that is, sculpting is quite a bit longer than 12 hours usually. Frankly I don't think I will ever be able to put 50 hours into painting a miniature ever (well maybe with tons of conversion work and/or a huge display base)... I don't think I can keep intrested in a figure that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artshiraz Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 The longest time ? *blush* ... more than a year? *ducks* I still have a few (make that ALL) my Daemonettes which I primed. I have a color theme in mind I never quite realized on the minis. It just never came out like I hoped it would. In frustration I stoped on them. So now they are standing patiently on my painting desk. Glaring each day at me. And I promise myself I will resume the work ... soon. Ah well... I guess Minis on desk don't count. You probably mean "REAL WIP" minis :thumb: ... That'll still be a year. A year ago I bought a HF Lab Guy as well as the Tiriels. The Lab guy is almost finished by now though I have redone Tiriel (a bit), using knowledge I leech from Klute's Metallics Class :peace: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I've got a few that have sat there for the better part of six months now, not sure if I'll get back to them or not as I have lost interest in them for one reason or another though hope to just snatch one up and have some fun with it here in the future. We'll see I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Theres a reason I paint miniatures and not canvasses. That reason is time. Miniature painting allows for a great deal of productivity. There IS, as mentioned, only so much you can do. If people spend 50+ hours on a mini, its probably because that person keeps correcting mistakes, or is too cautious with the application of paint. The most I have ever spent on a mini would be my GD entry for this year (see avatar) . That took me about 40-50 hours to paint. And a lot of that was correcting mistakes and making changes to the colourscheme (I repainted the robes three times, which cost me about a days work) the conversion took another 15-20 hours. All in all I worked on it for about two weeks. But thats an exception. Normally I prefer to start and finish a miniature in one session, and a regular footmodel in 28mm takes me about 3-4 hours, up to 8-10 hours for more involved models. In fact, all my entries for RH were painted in single sessions (not including conversion work) and two of them were painted in the same day Most of the GD winners I know spends about a day or two on their entries (unless its squads or dioramas etc.) and still manages to win :bird: which is a bit crazy now that I think about it.. Bottom line: Once you master brush control and have a good sense of colour theory and application, minipainting is VERY quick to do. Which is what I like about it And also, I have started minis that have sat on shelves for over a year before getting finished - so I clicked the "1 year +" option. I need to learn to read threads before clicking away :thumb: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Sonny, I agree and disagree. I agree that once you get very comfortable with brushes and colors, you speed up a ton. You can sit down and take on a surface and blend it just like you'd like in try #1 and it does look good. Then progressing around the mini is relatively quick. If you stop there I can see it would be tough to take 50+ hours on a mini. HOWEVER, I think there is another step which can take the miniatures from good to great. I've found that returning to an area that by all means can be considered done, and working it over again with subtle layers, details, freehands, etc, add a ton to the finished product. A lot of the time I don't think this is generally worth it, as it may double the painting time for just a slight increase in overall quality, but in my eyes it's this effort that can take a mini from something that may be excelent, to something that is truely special and unique. Which GD competitions are your friends winning at. Honestly there are a lot of US comps that I can see taking home a trophy with a 10 hour paint job...But if you want to take home Gold in a lot of Euro events I think you probably need to plan a little more work (although with those judges, who knows sometimes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacemunkie Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Steve Buddle is an excellent example of someone who can win Demons without getting totally anal about a piece. I think he said a week to sculpt and a week to paint his ogre. That can't be any more than fifty hours work, probably a lot less. He doesn't go ballistic with flash techniques - no NMM, OSL etc. and just a little freehand. It's just quality work that captures the character of the pieces he paints. A mini doesn't need hundreds of hours spending on it to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Yeah, the Ogre was worked on over two weeks. I estimate it was 60-65 hours all in. But I rarely spend huge amounts of time on minis. That's the longest I've ever spent on a mini. Personally I like to paint a nice mini in under 5 hours. Most of the Spyglass studio pieces (the 28mm ones) are 2-3 hours. My personal preference is for simplicity. I'd probably spend even less time if I could get away with it. Unfortunately the fact that my minis are usually for advertising or GD purposes force me to put more time in... Steve B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacemunkie Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Underestimated that one then I'm definitely from the same school of thought as far as time is concerned! I know I could produce better than I do, but I have the attention span of a gnat. If I don't finish a mini quickly, I just don't finish it. Might go and get some hypnotherapy before I start my Demon entries! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praetorian0_1 Posted November 18, 2005 Report Share Posted November 18, 2005 I'm too rammy, only about a week, then I'm moving on. Not to say that if I'm bored I won't pull one off the shelf and fix him up a bit.:tongue2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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