hobby/painting burnout

[nusphigor]

Hey all!
I wanted to ask you all how do you handle hobby / painting burnout?
any tips on how to manage it?

[Ramell]

My advice would be to not force yourself to do anything hobby-wise. Just build models and paint them when you're in the mood. 

Taking a break entirely could also help. And maybe trying out new projects, individual models or units, if you want to do something but can't motivate yourself for your main project.

[LameBeard]

I agree - it’s a hobby, you are allowed to take a break. No need to force it. I have a couple of tips though:

1) I find reading acts as inspiration. If I read a Gaunt’s Ghosts novel, I’ll want to build and paint an Imperial Guard army (we’ll at least a squad). So choose reading carefully.

2) I find phases on 40k mixed with other games can help. Sometimes I do Sigmar. Been a while since LotR. Watching the movie can spur that direction.

3) Stuff is a burden. We almost all buy new models whilst neglecting half-finished or not-even-started projects. It’s easy to feel guilty about that. The answer is to get over the sunk cost fallacy, and pick some stuff to sell. Depending on its state you might not get your money back, but more than likely you are providing treasure for another hobbyist. It is progress against the pile of shame in an opposite direction. Once it’s gone you will feel good, because it is a form of tidying - both your hobby space and the mental space that half finished Land Raider was occupying.

if you have the opposite problem, that you’ve painted absolutely everything you ever bought, then all I can say is “I salute you! No wonder you feel burnt out!”

Edited August 14, 2022 by LameBeard
Typo

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

For me it’s easy.

I just stop until I feel inspired again.

for example I got burnt out repainting old marines, so I stopped for a while until I got reinspired for the guard and began repainting my guard.

 

kinda got burnt out on that, but I just picked up a gravis captain, which I’ve been putting off due to money issues since he was released, now I’m excited to build and paint him.

[Lord_Ikka]

I do a couple of things- 

1 ) Paint in small groups when doing a large project. This means that while I still paint in efficient job lots, I'm not burnt out by painting the same trim on 20+ models for two hours. Finishing half of a unit of ten can make me inspired enough to go ahead and forge on to get the rest done.

2 ) Mix up my stuff. By this I mean that I'll paint X amount of models for my Necron army, then switch to Marines for a while, then back to Necrons or do a random mini just for a break. Painting the same scheme over and over can tire out my brain.

3 ) Getting an airbrush for the base layer colors. For me, this really moved my painting turnover into high gear- painting the first, main color (like SM armor or Necron metals) was the worst for me, it took me forever to do with a brush and really burnt me out. With my airbrush, the most tedious part for me is done in a fraction of the time. 

[Son of Sacrifice]

A few ideas that really help me:

 

1. Paint a one or two day project, a character or objective marker, something different. 

 

2. Tidy your workspace. I find that clearing up my desk, putting things in their right place, and boxing up any projects I'm not going to finish soon really helps me to get back on the horse. 

 

3. Go back to "finished" models and add to them. My dreadnoughts are a prime candidate. I go back and add more damage, rust, and detailing to cables, exhausts, weaponry etc. Give yourself an easy win. 

[Marshal Mittens]

I listen to pod casts / reviews / battle reports while I hobby. 

[Xenith]

Been feeling it in relation to 40k recently - the game itself has such a high mental load it's hard to relax and throw dice. 30k has been awesome, like meeting up with an old friend. 

I will never paint more than 5 marines at a time anymore as I get burned out on that, so I do combat squads. Is there a particular part of the hobby you're struggling with?

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

13 hours ago, Lord_Ikka said:

I do a couple of things- 

1 ) Paint in small groups when doing a large project. This means that while I still paint in efficient job lots, I'm not burnt out by painting the same trim on 20+ models for two hours. Finishing half of a unit of ten can make me inspired enough to go ahead and forge on to get the rest done.

2 ) Mix up my stuff. By this I mean that I'll paint X amount of models for my Necron army, then switch to Marines for a while, then back to Necrons or do a random mini just for a break. Painting the same scheme over and over can tire out my brain.

3 ) Getting an airbrush for the base layer colors. For me, this really moved my painting turnover into high gear- painting the first, main color (like SM armor or Necron metals) was the worst for me, it took me forever to do with a brush and really burnt me out. With my airbrush, the most tedious part for me is done in a fraction of the time. 

i've bought 2 airbrushes so far and both stopped running very quickly. one was a handheld battery powered model, the battery wouldn't recharge, the other had a small compressor, but now i can't figure out why it won't work. :/

[infyrana]

1 hour ago, Inquisitor_Lensoven said:

i've bought 2 airbrushes so far and both stopped running very quickly. one was a handheld battery powered model, the battery wouldn't recharge, the other had a small compressor, but now i can't figure out why it won't work. :/

Cheap pump compressors can be a waste of time.  I have a cheap one that overheated constantly, and a decent Sparmax one which runs extremely well.  Never tried a hand held battery one.  I wish you luck getting it sorted! 

[frankendoodle65]

In my experience the way to get over hobby burnout is to be totally honest with yourself. If you're feeling burnt out it means you're working on something you don't enjoy, or maybe just approaching it wrong. Hobbies are meant to be fun and relaxing, once it starts feeling like work you're doing something wrong! 

I love building and converting/ kitbashing, I can enjoy painting but it easily becomes a chore. My 40k chaos minis are great fun to build with near endless conversion possibilities, but painting them is such a chore with all the trim and mutated bits that I just couldn't face it any more and took months (a year maybe?) away from the hobby. I have half finished chaos terminators sat on my desk mocking me.

However, in the last few months I've built, converted and painted 30 tactical marines, two Praetors and a contemptor for a 30k force, that's crazy fast for me and I'm still feeling the drive to crack on with more. I really thought about what draws me to the hobby and focused on it. The Sons of Horus are just chaotic enough to scratch my converting itch, but not so over the top that they become a chore to paint. I've generally been building and painting them in groups of five which really works for me, it's so satisfying to finish a group of minis and put them on the display shelf, but it's a small enough group that I can work through them within a few evenings and not feel overwhelmed.

 

Sorry that turned into a bit of an essay!

[sbarnby71]

For me, as I don't game, only build/paint, when I get bogged down in painting I turn to building again, it almost goes against the try and relax it's meant to enjoyable, but I set myself a really hard build challenge, like really, really hack some models to pieces to get a new pose that no-one else has, might take me days or weeks, but by then if I've not messed it up big time, I'm eager to paint again.

I guess as I don't game, all of my minis are one-offs, no units, build, paint repeat, so the challenge of something different each time helps.  So build something wild.

And as others have said, keep the units small.  If I do build and paint a unit, it is never more than 3, that way I don't get bored with painting the armour, paint the gun, etc.

Edited August 16, 2022 by sbarnby71

[nusphigor]

Many Many thanks for your replies guys!