Unfinished Business and Model Frenzy

Last week I mustered the courage to sift through the ever-growing heap of models I have which have collected some dust over the counters and in the open. The models include both the GW brand that I have prioritized as well as some old favorite scale models of planes and tanks from Revell. Read on to see my thoughts on the hobby and a remedy to the increasing-number-of-models-syndrome.

As the title picture suggests I have organized almost all the kits awaiting assembly (save for a few very large boxes, such as the CSM Battleforce and the Dark Vengeance set) in an entire shelf of an IKEA Detolf brand cabinet. During this reorganization I also had a chance to overview what is currently on my bench, waiting for completion and this made me realize that it will be very difficult to keep up the pace with the amount of purchases I have made since I began writing in this corner in March 2014. Add to that the kits that are on the way to my address and you can pretty much guess why I got concerned. Needless to say this means I’ll have to keep my model appetite in control before I go bankrupt by purchasing new models every month.

Also on the cabinet I have a few projects that started but didn’t get to see the end of it simply because I was lulled by the prospect of larger, nicer looking or simply newer models or events that I needed to meet the deadlines about. Looking back at the new project entries I see that I have left the Possessed squad and my first Nurglings unfinished, moving on to new kits. I can go on and on about the reasons but in the end one just has to realize that an unfinished model will stand glaring from the display stand no matter what excuse is used. In the spirit of “leaving no model behind” I’m planning to take care of the models as soon as possible, perhaps as a parallel project.

The possessed squad and other marines await.

So many bits that need assembly.

My assembled marines seem to judge me from within their confines.

Yeah I got some unfinished orks too… my pile of shame.

A few weeks ago Greg from Feed Your Nerd and Dave from Confessions of a 40k Addict initiated the hobby resolutions movement for 2014 and 2015, check it out here. So here’s a “Rest of 2014 Resolution” I put together which should help me overcome my scatter-minded approach to the kits:

Kit related:

• Stop getting new kits. GW isn’t helping, with the upcoming really cool new flyer for Dark Eldar and the latest releases, but discipline is key. Already spread into way too many settings in WHFB and WH40K. Got a good feeling about this as I have acquired possibly all the stuff I need to finish the current models, be it paint or tools.
• Finish off Dreadknight and deliver to owner. How hard could force weapons really be? This may be the longest lasting project I undertook so far, gotta close that door. DONE!
• Complete the Maulerfiend project. There’s a few new techniques I want to try out so it’s not gonna run super fast, but I’ll manage.
• Clear all unfinished projects. This includes the Possessed Marines, Nurglings and the CSM Battleforce troops. The pieces needing assembly can wait but I simply cannot accept assembled and unpainted models at this point.
  • 5 Possessed CSM
  • 3 heaps of Nurglings
  • CSM Battleforce – 9 troops. Need to rebase some too.
  • Chaos Spawn (just started but it still counts!)
• Get large box kits done first, be it Khorne Berzerkers (their box is huge!) or larger kits or battleforces, to make room for arriving kits. Kits lying around makes me feel bad!
  • Khorne Berzerkers
  • Helbrute
  • Mutalith Vortex Beast
  • Nagash
  • Tyranid Trygon
  • Dark Eldar Ravager
• Prioritize the Chaos related models for a coherent army look. This is just a hobby and it’s there to have fun, but a structural approach is necessary for people like me. No point in going “ooh shiny!” at all those kits.
  • Bloodcrushers of Khorne
  • Helbrute
  • Mutilators
  • Obliterators
  • CSM Terminators
  • Rest of the Battleforce (bikers, Rhino)
  • Khorne Berzerkers
  • Warp Talons
  • Screamers of Tzeentch
  • Plaguebearers
  • Bloodletters
  • CSM Terminator Lord
  • CSM Aspiring Champion
  • CSM Sorcerer
  • Mutalith Vortex Beast

Blog related:

• Set up the showcase page on blog. I’m close to finishing 2 more projects and I got the Heldrake in the pocket. Wouldn’t hurt to have a nice display on site with a handy link. Gotta learn how to take quality pics with the camera too.
• Set up the Facebook page for Roemer’s Workshop. I’ve left it unattended for way too long. No more laziness.

There. Planning is half the battle, and I have a hunch that I’ll manage just alright. Let’s see if I can get these done before the end of the year. I’ll update my progress on this page both as a reminder for myself and just to see progress slowly build up. It should offer some nice feedback for the end-of-the-year post.