2022 Hobby Manifesto

Hear ye! Hear ye! 2022 is an election year, and while this hobby isn't a democracy I am standing on the hustings and haranguing you to join me in Making Warhammering Great Again!

<Message: I care>

Here are my pledges for the hobby in 2022. I'll lay them out in bullet-point form and then I will explain them, and explain why I think you should get in on them with me. Or not, as the case may be. Whatever. It's just a hobby.

DANFORTH'S 2022 HOBBY MANIFESTO

Pledge the First: To participate in all 12 of the monthly challenges on the Warhammer 40,000 MeWe Group

Pledge the Second: To buy no new models in 2022

Pledge the Third: To experiment with new tools and techniques

Pledge the Fourth: To do something hobby related every day.

Let's break it down;

Participate in the challenges. First off, the challenges aren't super-hard - "paint a character", "paint a vehicle". They are as hard as you want them to be - but, more importantly, they are communal and structured. Community is a really important part of this hobby - if you haven't already, join a social media group, a forum, hang out in your FLGS ... all three or more! We shouldn't underestimate the value of peer pressure in pushing us to get something done ... and we shouldn't denigrate that notion, either (more on that later).

Structured challenges with other people get you engaged in your social hobby in a social manner. That's a good plan.

Buy no new models. This isn't just to resolve the "pile of shame" problem. I could buy no new models for two, three, four years and still have a pile of shame. I am going to guess I'll die with a pile of shame. If anything, this is just to stop that problem getting worse. To jump on the political analogy I started with; the pile of shame is national debt but buying new models is the deficit. We'll never fix the national debt but maybe we can not add to it for a bit.

The real reason is that I don't need any new models and I certainly don't need to buy them now. The FOMO (fear of missing out) problem is very real and that is how companies drive sales. "I've got to get it now - got to order it immediately!" No, I don't - the models are going to be available in a year or so and maybe then I won't want them or need them. Let's be chill and relax. I can make a list of the models that come out and buy them in 2023 if I really want them. FOMO is kinda stressful. The hell with that noise.

Full disclosure on this "no new models" - it doesn't apply to paints, tools, glues etc. Nor does it apply to components or even models I need to finish a project I've already got pieces for (although there are limits - "this head would be perfect for the driver of the command tank of an armored division" is stretching it!) And it won't apply to genuinely limited-edition pieces where FOMO is legitimate. But, in general; no new models.

Astute readers will notice that - combined with Pledge the First - this means all my challenges for 2022 will be existing projects. Trust me; I will have no difficulty with that.

Experiment. I do like the way I paint and build models, but it's always good to learn new things. I intend to buy some new paints (different brands), to try new techniques like oil washing, to get some tools I've heard about but not used (a wet palette, for example). I've also recently been banging out models with quick methods, and have been pleased with the results. My work often seems stiff and stilted to me, so trying something new might be fun.

Do it every day. This is kind of a crazy one, right? Every day? What if you don't feel like it? Doesn't that risk turning it into a chore and ending up with you hating the hobby? How can it be a fun hobby if there is a requirement to do it?

First off, the hobby is massively diverse. Painting, modelling, writing, planning, designing armies, even talking with your hobbymates - all of these are part of it. It's not just sitting down and slogging through painting something. There should always be something you want to do.

And if there isn't something you want to do .... do something anyway! The hobby is fun. It is what we chose to do and - let's be honest - sometimes we don't know what is good for us.

Sometimes we get in a funk and we don't want to do anything. We get down and we procrastinate or waste time with pointless things rather than doing something that we will enjoy doing (or at least just enjoy the end result - a painted model, for example). This emotional slump is natural - but that doesn't mean we should let it get away with it.

There is value in forcing yourself to do something - or being forced by peer pressure. I had an awful October in 2021 but I forced myself to complete my #Dreadtober project and I felt great when I did.

The hobby is a fun thing and so - even if we force ourselves to do it - we will enjoy it (the serotonin kick is real!) And if we don't enjoy it, we should get a new hobby ... and force ourselves to do that! We need recreation, we need mental diversion, we need something that pushes us to develop new skills. We, frankly, need hobbies that are creative and add order and beauty to the universe. At the end of each day, we should ask ourselves not if we produced and consumed - if we merely survived - but if we added to the beauty and order of the universe. Did we hold back - even reverse - entropy? Did we get as high on Maslow's pyramid as we could?

Why do we not do something with our hobby every day, on a single given day? Because we don't feel like it - because we are tired or down or busy. But we should see those days are the ones when we should have recreation - those are the times we need it more than ever! Are we really tired to the point where we can't do something - or are we just mentally-drained and need a recharge? Are we down and need a pick-me up? If we are too busy, why is that? Doesn't that mean we need to take a step back and say "You know what? 24 hours in the day and I should sleep for eight and work for eight and the mechanics of life take 7 more but . . . I can find a moment or two"? And if our life is structured so that we work for 16 or whatever and we don't get enough sleep ... we've got bigger problems than not painting some goblins but, damnit, forcing yourself to make time to paint goblins might solve those problems by shaking up your toxic work-life balance.

So, that is my manifesto. I am going to try to stick to it. And if you've read this far, consider if you want to try to stick to it, too. And if you don't - or if you want to do something similar but not the same, or if you want to just kinda do it but not formally - that's cool too.

It's just a hobby. :)

#Dreadtober 2021: SARS-CoV2 "Vivian"

This year, I participated in the #Dreadtober challenge - paint a Dreadnought model (defined as something with legs whose base is 60mm or larger) for Warhammer. Many people participate and they paint all kinds of things - traditional Dreadnoughts, but also Knights and other walkers.

My Adepta Sororitas army is mechanized and every squad has its transport ... except the Machaenix Canonical and the mechanics! I wanted to build a unique model; a recovery vehicle with a crane to pull damaged vehicles, but also manipulative arms and tools, as well as a space where tools could be kept and various repairs and fabrication made.

I started with the Mortian Medium Crawler and added the manipulative claw turrets to it. I didn't choose a main weapon (because I wanted to count this as a RH1N0) and instead bought a crane (which I didn't end up using). My original idea was to use the Mortian set fairly unmodified, but then I saw the Genestealer Cults Goliath Truck - it had a great civilian industrial look, and would merge well with the crawler. I also found the Galvanic Servohaulers kit and that was also civilian industrial. So, a few eBay purchases later and I started assembly.

I sliced the base of the Crawler up so I could insert spacers to expand it out, and used the "cowcatcher" from one the servohaulers in the front.

The manipulative claws were attached into the wheel spaces on the cowcatcher.

I attached the Goliath assembly to the model, adding in a Servohauler engine to fill in a space I'd cut out - this gave it the broken symetry that is good for 40K. I then started to assemble the big crane, figuring out where it might go. Some trimming - a little over enthusiastic, because I had to rebuild it later! - allowed me to use the side of the original crawler.

Some vague posing, to see how it all might go together. There are many manipulative arms, which I like for a 40K salvage vehicle.

The legs! So many pieces, each needing cleaning up. The Mortian kits are very nice and well-cast, and the resin seems good and solid.

The legs were assembled and added on ... but there was still a need for a rear section!

I used the two halves of the last Servohauler (mounted upsidedown) to make the sides of a sort of "rear bay". I was inspired by various maintenance trucks I saw, which have a rear bay flanked by lockers containing tools etc. I used the Goliath side pieces to detail the interior. Finally, I added some small columns to support the crane turntable.

The final detail (other than minor additions like hooks and weapons and do-dads) was to add in a pair of supporting legs which could be deployed when the crane was static, similar to many real-world cranes and so forth. They have wheels to move them, but when they are lifting things they deploy big outriggers to stabilize it. I built the one on the left side using pieces of threaded rod so it looked like it might be able to move outwards, because the turntable was offset and so the center of gravity was too.

Now on to painting!

The initial scheme was all done with spraycans - I gave it a nice undercoat of rust-red primer and then lay down a nice but uneven gunmetal. Then, bright red (concentrating on the bits I wanted to end up red) and then some basic masking and gunmetal. The result was a patchy, rusty metal and a nice bright red that (because it was over a smooth gunmetal) tended to rub off the high point when I touched it :)

I then started with the legs, picking out joints with different metallics and using a gold paint pen to do the trim (those things are great - super easy to use and a good effect). Then, I used a wash made up of Lahmian Medium, black poster paint and brown woodstain over everything. I rubbed a lot of it off with a tissue, leaving it in the recesses. I really like that wash - it is a great way of quickly adding industrial grease.

The red got cleaned up with some highlights and Contrast red, giving a really bright color. I started with transfers, sealing them in, and started on with details . . . 

I knew I wanted crew, so I got some Reaper mechanic / scientist figures. A quick paint job - they are going to be hidden in the rear bay and won't be clearly seen (full disclosure - you can't seem hardly at all!) - and they were good to go.

The big crane was undercoated yellow and then given a basic paint job of flat colors . . .

. . . and then a wash of the industrial grime.

The rear details - they look great! And you won't be able to see them at all!

I bought a couple of other Reaper figures to be crew - very Steampunk, but I love it. I cut one down to convert her to fit in a hatch, and converted the other with a big bionic arm so she could be pressing a button.

And then . . . final assembly!

I really like the girl in the purple.

You can barely see anything in the rear bay under the crane.

"They're after me Lucky Charms!"

These are the squad of mechanics (which I painted ages ago) this model is the transport for.

And that's that! A big and crazy project, but I finished it in time and I am really pleased with it. Quite unlike anything else I've done, but I do love it!

Let me know what you think!