"Let's Discuss Unfinished Hobby Projects" Topic

I've expanded the hobby magazines I read with regularity to three now: White Dwarf, Wargames Illustrated, and most recently Fine Scale Modeler. One of the features I have been enjoying the most are the editorials.I came across a guest editorial recently where the author talked about having between 600 and 700 model kits to build. As he put it, if he were to complete a kit a week, he'd need to live to be 100 to finish them all. And that's if he doesn't buy any new ones.

I wrote an article about my perspective (that of a Wargamer) on the never-ending supply of projects. Please take the time to read and comment here.

link

Over the course of my life, I have built model rockets, cars, planes, ships, and armor. I have built or worked on several model railroad layouts. And now I am painting model soldiers.

Having a never-ending stream of projects is part of being a modeler. Non-modelers can have a hard time understanding this.

BTW I have known many model railroaders who have actually finished a layout, some filling a basement, and then rip it all down a few months later and start again! I've even helped them when I lived up north. (Man, I miss building layouts!)

Indeed, unfinished projects! I have many of them! This sometimes brings me down, but other times it lifts the spirits.

Unfinished Rules Projects:
Din of Battle 2nd Edition for Piquet
Guns of Liberty 3.0
Coehorn's Wars (Siege Rules based on Piquet)
Junta! (Banana War rules based on Piquet)

Unfinished Terrain Projects (15mm):
Rivers (actively working this)
Making town\city\village sections for all different periods
WWI Trench Terrain (working on this since 2003)
Vauban Fortress terrain

Unfinished Miniature Projects:
I'm almost afraid to list this one. I may cry. All 15mm unless marked otherwise.
SYW (French, Prussians, Austrians)
18th Century (Russians, Poles, Turks)
WW2 Pacific (USMC, Japanese, Indians, 14th Army, Dutch)
WWI (all major powers)
Taiping Rebellion (25mm) – Nearly complete
Plains War Cavalry & Indians
Ancient Greeks and Persians
Mexican American War
…
I think I will stop now. Getting overwhelmed…
Eric

"I came across a guest editorial recently where the author talked about having between 600 and 700 model kits to build. As he put it, if he were to complete a kit a week, he'd need to live to be 100 to finish them all. And that's if he doesn't buy any new ones. "

Then he's a bit of a plonker, then, isn't he?

Alternativey Christot, he may collect model kits.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

Talking about them would involve taking stock and inventory, and that's not going to happen…

Hmmm… Napoleonic French (underway) and Napoleonic Russians (next).

Then some 15mm late war British at some point and a little bit more for the Germans.

Add in some more WWI British and Bolsheviks (I have enough to run a game).

You guys *finish* hobby projects? Not in my house. Nothing is ever finally finished. I can always add another battalion, another command figure, just one more cannon, it's wafer thin…

Now if you want to bring up the subject of projects that I've purchased and never even started to work on, I hang my head in shame.

"Armies are never finished. They are just abandoned"

Ralph

I try hard to 'finish' the current project.

IMHO I'm not doing too badly.

Next up are 7-9 Hansa-Brandenburg W-29's. Got the kits, the paint, and project is slated to start August 1.

Unfinished (meaning within 3 feet of my painting table) are three Liberty bombers (90% done); 1 Salmson 2A2 (85% done); 18 Romans (just need to do the basing and touch up one shield); and one Gotha Bomber (about 20% done).

When August 1 rolls around I will put all the other stuff aside and work on it secondarily.

Now I have set aside about 200 Napoleonic figs (no one plays this stuff in my area any more so why paint it) and a couple hundred 15mm ACW (I have too much stuff already so it's hard to get motivated about these -- most of them are bases for standard bearers so every unit will eventually have its own flag.

I generally stick to my primary project until its done. The three foot category often includes the odd terrain piece and something I work on when I'm waiting for paint to dry.

The set aside stuff isn't 'unfinished' it is merely sleeping! ;-)

mjc

I am just pleased that I have 3 "gameable" armies.

I have managed to persuade the missus to do base colours on my miniatures.This will increase production time by quite a bit so get them involved people.The catch though is to sit and watch a chick flick or perhaps a nice dinner or box of chocolates,small feed compared to time lost doing the first coats.

Now just have to wait for the kids to gain a steady hand.

There a no unfinished projects. Just ongoing ones. Even if some of them are hereditary……

Here's my completed and uncompleted list.

Completed.
WW2 Skirmish 20mm
WW1 Naval 1/2000
WW1 trench warfare 15mm
WW1 aerial combat 1/72
ACW 15mm. I have enough done to do a divisional battle on each side.
Nap age of sail, 1/3000

Not completed.
ACW ironclads 1/1200
1812 great lakes 1/1200
WW2 aerial combat 1/300
Amish Rake Fight 1/72

My list of unfinished projects is indeed long, but most of the entries are rulesets in various stages of non-completion. Some have even reached a playable stage.

Miniatures-wise, I'm doing fairly well there. I won't know the final numbers until I complete my inventory project, but of the ones I have good counts for, I have about 75% of my collection painted and ready for gaming at a moment's notice.

I think this could be a good discussion.

First, one must consider that the mind of a wargamer is a creative one. It constantly sees an items and converts it to uses that fit the

I'm coming to the end of my life. I'm not worried about the end, I worry who will get my miniatures and books!

I have three sons who have moved on to live their lives their way. They never got my obsession to collect all the miniatures in the world. My daughter never played with dolls and toy soldiers are yucky to her. My long suffering wife wants my hobby building for her obsession, pottery.

So my question is, who should I bequeath my books and miniatures to, or should I have them put my mortal remains in the building with all my toys and light me up? I always liked the "Viking" movie with Tony Curtis, seemed a fitting way to go.

AS always,

Hairy

Well, Hairy, the Little Prince probably would like some – he certainly tells me that he plans on keeping all of my minis!

It's tough to call a project completed – armies, as astutely noted, are never actually finished – I have been working on my ACW armies for about 25 years and I am still adding brigades and batteries, just a little more slowly than previously

I have lots of unpainted lead/plastic – right now, I have the following on the work table:

- 28mm German Fallschrimjaegers
- 28mm Prussian SYW infantry
- 15mm ACW Confederate and Union infantry
- 28mm GW Dwarfs
- 28mm Perry War of the Roses (almost done!)
- 28mm Fortified Manor
- 28mm WH40K Guard
- 28mm WH40K building
- 28mm War of the Roses infantry (non-Perry)
- 28mm Mexican infantry
- 6mm Austrian and French Napoleanics

The title implies there are actually people who complete hobby projects and now some folks have claimed to have done so in their responses! I can see no other realistic explanation that this is positive proof there are alien beings disguising themselves as wargame hobbyists!

It would be nice to hear from some of the oddballs who actually do finish stuff – if they have any tips. Maybe it's just a personality thing.

The only thing that is kind of working for me is sticking to one project and not letting myself start anything new until the first is done.

If I start something new while I'm still "thinking about the next step in the first project" or, "I'll get back to the first one, just want to do this, won't take long" – the first one is normally doomed. Of course then Project 2 gets to a tricky or boring part, enter New and Shiny Project 3, cycle repeats.

How about finished projects?

UH……UH…….UH,

Oh Hell, never mind.

Thanks for the depression session. Think I'll go cry now.

Or. better yet, order more minis to lift my spirits.

Yea, that's the ticket. Thanks.

I have quite a few ongoing projects. I am trying to finish what I have before I buy new stuff.

200 28mm Perry French Naps
12 15mm Superhero figs
12 28mm Cowboys/Mexicans
36 Orcs
6 Warg Riders
6mm French Naps
10mm Roman Army
28mm Malifaux figs

Craig, I think it's a personality thing. I have a friend who got into the hobby eight years ago. He looked around, realised he liked to play 40k and he liked Ultramarines. Now he has an enormous army, can get a game in every week if he likes and can tailor his force for any type of fight or mission. I, on the other hand, in the same time, have started WW2 Early in 20mm, WW2 Late in 20mm, WW2 Late in 6mm, Vikings in 15mm, ACW in 6 and 28mm, French Indo-China in 15mm, GW LOTR and probably some more I can't remember right now.

It's clearly part of the Wargamers Syndrome. I've found the beauty of LotOW with its posses is that you do get projects done…

It depends on your definition of "finished" doesn`t it??

If by finished you mean totally complete, never need to add to this again – I feel this is impossible in our hobby, as you may well turn around tomorrow and find a brand new range of figures or a unusual kit not available before, etc.

If you mean – I can now game with this without additions, then this is quite do-able.

My Rif War project has enough figures and stuff to run quite large games fielding both sides plus additions and allies. But, I still add stuff as I find it…….

My WW2 NW Europe German Volksgrenadier Regiment can be fielded as is and is quite complete, but i can`t resist extra horse-drawn transport or a field kitchen or a cycle recce platoon, etc, etc.

Its all a matter of scale and of course madness :-)

Based on some of the posts here, I find myself sadly lacking and in an attempt to catch up I have placed another order.

Usually I am able to complete a project to at least a playable level. Easier when like me one prepares for a demo using a set minimum of figures. Still, some projects linger like my samurai and Koreans for the Imjin war and though my Boxers are veteran Asian pirates by now they have yet to see their first legation……

But even the "finished" project are forever expanded.

we get backed up on projects too. sometimes it is due to other priorities in life and sometimes it is due to a lack of focus. right now our unfinished projects likely number about 2 dozen but i'm committed to halving that number before the end of the year….

Since I am the main person in my group that comes up with each new period we play, learns the rules, runs the games, paints the miniatures, builds the terrain etc.. I guess I'll never be finished.
I do how ever get projects done to the point where I can use them, but there is always something later that can be added.

Right on on my table is:(all 15mm unless stated otherwise)
WWII Germans and British
WWI Germans, Russians and French
Half a dozen terrain pieces to work on.

Projects completed (playable) but have figures to complete just to add some flavor:
WWI Air about 25 1/144 scale planes
WWII Air about 50 1/300 scale planes for the Med.
Italian and Austrians for 1859 in 10mm
Medieval Italian Armies in 10mm
1/3000 WWI and WWII Navies
WWII USMC and Japanese 15mm for IABSM!
WWII Americans and Italians 15mm for IABSM!

New Projects that are being organized:
WWII 28mm Russians and Italians for NUTS!
AWI 1/72 British and Americans for Sharps Practice
Seven Years War 15mm French, Prussian, Austrian
Franco-Prussian 15mm

I think that is it for now. Come back in a week and I'm sure I will have something new to add. :-)

So true.

I NEVER consider an entire 'army' as a 'project'. Usually its a regiment. Sometimes a battalion or a division.

Airplanes are always a push-pull. Do I do a 'squadron' with squadron markings or should I do one plane from every squadron so I can show off and preserve the historical markings of each unit (like my Salmsons -- 8 planes one representing each squadron that flew them in the American air service).

Saying you are going to do an entire ACW army is just . . . wrong. The army constantly changed its composition and you will be changing your stuff from battle to battle. Better to be flexible and generic in your endeavors.

mjc

I have never finished a project, in fact I have many that I have rules and figures for, but nothing is ready for going on the table.

As many have said, I do not think that a project is ever finished, while I have plenty of microarmor for games, I keep getting newer/better/cooler models as they become available.

I do have many started and perhaps someday get a few of them to a playable level. In the mean time I have some good friends who have lots of cool toys to play with……

My WFB Skaven were finished until the new model kits came out. I'm not playing the army but I still had to have the new bell & wheel. My IG core army was "complete" long ago but still grows. My Orcs need a lot of work but they are waiting now as I have gotten into WAB and have a new Warlord Games Dacian army to work on once I finish some Talascans for my clubs Aztec campaign.

All in all though, not too many unfinished projects at the moment. WAB2 could change that though as I get more into historicals…

An army is only finished when you can put it all on the gaming table and the table collaspses. Then you build a bigger table.

Vcarter ,does gaming by the tonnage rate excessive,troopwo fields a 1/1 ratio Gretchin Brigade that makes gamesday megabattles like big toof look pathetic?