"Taking the Pledge" Topic

I’m going to commit myself in public in regard to my miniature-related New Year’s Resolution. It comes in two parts: (1) I can only buy one new figure for every two I have painted, and (2) Each month I will set up a target amount of painting to get done, and post it on TMP; the following month I will confess how close I was to my goal the previous month.

I had been doing “1” for the last three or four months, and doing pretty well at it – until December. Then Neotacha and I decided to treat ourselves to a bunch of pulp figgies for our anniversary… And when ordering her Christmas presents over the ‘net, a few figures for myself kept sneaking into the orders.

My target for January:

A. Finish my Ogre Army. Specifically,

Five Ogre “bulls” (three of which are almost done)

Four Ogre Ironguts

The Tyrant

The hunter and his two kitties

26 gnoblers

10 gnobler hunters

I am not including the gnobler servant models included on the ogre sprues.

B. Paint any six character/monster/animal models

Ah, this is great! I have made a similar resolution...(paint two, buy one)...but only after I paint 120 minis! It will probably be 2010 before I start buying again (:-)
Now let's see how fast I paint!!!

Happy New Year!

Ioannis

I too have set myself a set of Targets for this year....

So far I am ahead of schedule (it wont last I assure you).....I've completed my 10mm zulus and am busy rebasing my 15mm ACW - Target date Feb 28th

Also by the end of feb I hope to have painted 150 15mm ACW figs.....

Oh well I can dream...

I have not set myself any targets on the buying front because I can't resist all those lovely figures on the market...

I look forward to seeing how we all do.....

MH

I'm trying to buy fewer unpainted little men, and am putting he dough saved into custom, finished terrain. It is not realistic to suggest that I won't spend the dollars. I am nearly 50 years old and have a lifetime of spending habits as a record.

I do keep a personal painting journal, and I have some seen some nifty wargaming blogs that do keep public progress a record. I though it would be interesting to track something like that publicly but decided that I'd rather put the time into painting figures than trying to make wrassle with unfamiliar technology.

Kevin

As a warmup for my resolution, I swore to myself that I must paint at least one hundred 28's while on holiday (this is up from the three to four I finished over the last year ; ), and so far I have completed
18 Men of Gondor (GW)
18 Mordor Orcs (Gw)
14 Republican Romans (OG)
24 Viking Huscarls (OG)
6 Reaper minis
8 WOTC Star Wars repaints
I have two days to make up the balance of 12! I think I might make this one. Making my goal is almost scary in a way, like some sort of Apocalytic sign of the impending end of the world.
If I do, my resolution will be to paint ten minis each week, every week. Period. And if pigs had wings there'll be bacon in the treetops tomorrow. :)

A 1500 Necron army by early february. There, that's my first goal. Beyond that I want to do a couple of sci-fi gangs for a gang-warfare game (plenty of mini's to pick from, rules & setting as yet undetermined), build cool terrain for that & the Necrons, and paint more of my space horrors collection. Which will of course keep expanding throughout 2005, so I'll never finish even half of it.

1500 points that is, not 1500 robowarriors ;-)

I can quit buying minis any time I want to. In fact, I've quit hundreds of times.....nothing to it!

2005 is the year I resolve to buy and paint more minis than any previous year.

I'll manage at least half of that statement.

This is the year I resolve not to make any resolutions. I usually only keep them until around Jan 2 anyway, so why bother?

Good luck one and all. I am hoping that by going public, I will more likely keep the pledge for a longer period of time.

good luck Mark...there is a small deserted sandy isle off the tip of South Padre where you can spend the year...no phone, no fax, no internet, no post...perhaps if you live there you'll remove all temptation and keep your resolution , and the Padre will visit you monthly for your confessional. Now, back to painting the Cossacks that I resolved to finish in 2004...I may have to take the next little mound of sand next to you and Neotacha!

I like the sound of this alot. No I like it alot alot.

my current goal. finish and base 17 shocktroopers by today.

finish the workbench report chapter 1 tommorow.

undercoat, paint and base 500pts of additional SF figs the day after.

may I dance the jig at Tyburn if it aint so.

Fairly safe, aren'tcha Scurvy? They don't hang folks at Tyburn hill anymore, do they? Or were you offering to do some bizarre Celtic dance?

it was Tyburn docks. Where they hung all the pirates cus under some old law the juristiction of the law dogs of the sea ended at the high water mark.

Im sure they dont hang folk anymore but... Im damm sure they would be willing and ready to make an exception for me.

Progress is looking good at this stage. 5 figs done 3 only needing some grit on the base and 3 more needing complete basing.

Of the rest all but 3 just need final highlights and the final 3 need a wee bit o paint on the faces and 2 of those need some puttees finished as well as highlighting and basing.

At this stage I will be putting up pics today of the work in the doghouse.

say Neo did your pirates ever arrive?

It is not a resolution but a project goal to paint about 130 VFM 28mm WWII miniatures by the end of February. I also have a terrain board to finish.

Yes, they did, Scurvy, thanks. I meant to email you about them last week - they're absolutely stunning - but I've been a bit distracted with holidays and family.

My brother goes home tomorrow. You will get a properly gushing email sometime tomorrow afternoon.

I have to finish two 20mm plastic figures a day before I start on anything else. It worked fairly well last time I tried it- even though it only went for 6 weeks until I got sick of it.

'Twas a hill indeed, Scurvy. The name comes from the brook (burn) passing by Hay ("aye") Hill: aye + burn = Tyburn. The closest landmark in modern London is Marble Arch; there's a plaque on the north side, just where Bayswater Road begins. (Too many nights making me way back to the Columbia Hotel, or I wouldn't know this...) A bit of a way from the docks; sorry.

link

You may be thinking of Execution Dock at Wapping:

link

As to the pledge: I don't need a resolution. *I* don't have a problem (sniff). ;^)

Allen

Oh, right about the time I make a resolution like that, "X" company, who's line of minis I own 20% or less of, will announce they are going out of business. I love the game, what to do? A couple of thousand bucks later, and a truss for the UPS guy, and the mountain of unpainted lead gets another hefty addition...

I think you got me bang to rights there Al.

well where ever it is you better set up the scaffold and get a good hangman. missed the deadline by 2 figs. (I will knock em off tonight but it will be after the witching hour.) I forgot Carnivale was on tonight and thats one show I have to sit and watch fully insted of painting at the same time. In fact I recommend the show to anyone that likes superior cinema.

Oh and if you could be so kind to line the route with english roses all teary eyed for a rapscallion fallen from grace I would tip me hat to ye.

on your way to the gallows can we chuck rotten fruit and anything else we have to hand at you? ;-)

Rotten miniatures and old paint pots would be more appropriate.

Yes, sales and boxed games (viz Mongoose's Starship Troopers) can do serious damage to a pledge like this one, but you do the best you can...

By god I flatly refuse to hang until they get a better sort of crowd. What do you think this is Alien?

A soccer match?!

Ahh, the above conversation has reminded me of a very funny moment in a very dull class in grad school. The class was Tudor/Stuart England, taught by a prestigious but, frankly, dull "Boston Brahmin" professor. One day he was talking about the Tyburn executions, and mentioned one particular execution - a highwayman, I believe. One of the students asked "How was he hung?" The Prof blinked, and solemnly replied "His wife never said... he was HANGED by..." and then he went on with a description. Didn't even crack a smile, although most of us lost it.

I hear that his real name was "Frank" Turpin, until they saw how well hung he was. Then they changed it.

I pledge to only buy figures that I may get around to painting, one of these days.

I pledge to only buy figures that interest me at the time of purchase.

I pledge to only buy figures that I may have a use for sooner or later.

Good luck with that, John.

Okay, I'm definitely making this pledge myself. What a great idea!

Well, of course that only takes effect after those zombies I just bought on eBay...

And obviously those halflings I told my friend I'd go in with him on from DiscountHobby are exempted too, since that agreement was prior to this post...

Oh, and that order of 10mm medievals and fantasy stuff I was planning with my other friend from Pendraken certainly gets grandfather-claused as well...

Hm...

JJW-T.C.H.

jjwhite, I think you have more grandfathers than my students around exam time!

Michael has been rubbing off on me. I actually sat down at the painting table and finished off a stag that'd been half-painted for 3 years now, a stalking lioness, and some bits and bobs of the scenics variety. Well, the basket and crates were new, but unpainted.

I have started 2 of my ogre army, and found (in the course of sorting Ral Partha minis) a mostly finished ranger type from one of the "Silver and Steel" sets. She looks like she'll be a joint mini - when MW sat down at the painting table, he picked her up to try a better flesh wash than I could achieve.

I will attempt this pledge (no more minis until I paint the ones I have.) This excludes the order coming in Friday, and the 3 e-bay auctions I have (and the preordered Strohm knights) but I will try to keep to the ones I have. The only thing that will 100% break this pledge is the release of A Cynwall Dragon-rider. Otherwise the ophidian book I will buy (and it will come with a mini) but that will be just about it.

I pledge to paint two figures for every two figures I prime.