I need to a clear out of projects I'm never going to build, paint or use. Though I have added to my hobby with 2 x 1/35 model kits, a gundam kit (will be used in 28mm games) and 4 x20mm modern PLA vehicles whilst in China on holiday. My excuse they were much cheaper than the UK prices 😂 😂 😂.... I need to sit down and decide which periods, genres and rule sets I plan to stick with and anything that falls outside of that will go. Any money made will go towards filling in any gaps for those projects.

Was this from 2012 or 2022?

hmm...not as good as i expected tbh. Shud have used 28/32mm models, more variety and detail imo

I use WoFun Games 10mm Napoleonics so I never have an unpainted mountain - not even a molehill :)

An ever shrinking pile even with judicious purchases ... the secret I have found is to spend more time painting and never buy until something is needed. I don't always make it but I've seen steady progress over the years. Now down to just over 300 unpainted "things", excluding bits and pieces for building terrain (such as roof mouldings).

honestly if I'd known about this stuff years ago I'd have quit warhammer there and then

The coming of Plastic and resin printing has added massively to my pile of opportunity. I started selling off a few armies last year, some part painted and unpainted, 7 YW, WSS and pike all went. 6mm and 10mm all gone,and a lot of plastic 1/72 figures, this year samauri, 5th C Greeks, Persians, and 40k Marines going. Organizing is the most important, duplication is a major problem. Over the last ten years I have narrowed my periods which has helped a lot. Loving your Russian snow 1812 army, look forward to it growing. Cheers Matt French Wargames Holidays

I successfully sold off all my 28mm/32mm scale armies and associated terrain last year. It was hard, a lot of that stuff had been collected and painted over a 30 year period! I decided to focus entirely on 10mm and below scale miniatures instead. I’ve found it really helpful. It’s released loads of space in the gaming room and it’s allowed me to focus on just 5 or 6 periods/games.

I have started using speed paints/contrast paints to speed up finishing my ACW armies. Really making a difference and I am cranking them out. Not sure how they will go on my Naps though.

My pile has to be in 10-25k range, no idea of specifics. I've sold off some, try to paint every week, and plan on selling more at the big conventions here in the US.

I recently catalogued my unpainted minis and was surprised to see the number well over 1000 and it motivated me to get working on those things before starting any new collections.

I've completely gotten out of miniature wargaming numerous times where I sold everything. Early last year was the latest attempt to rid myself of everything miniature related save for paints. At the end of the last year I picked up some Punic Wars stuff but had a hard time motivating myself to get to them. Honestly it feels like miniatures for me are dead in the water.

No, No, No, and No. To your questions Lee.

Another great video Lee you made me chuckle when you said about your mountain of shame where you actually talking about me😅 I have loads of unpainted metal and plastic just starting my Crusade army but will aim to finish this before I start something else.😊

I am at foothills of RPM (Resin Plastic Metal) Mountain. My problem, like many other collectors\war gamers, is that I have 'jumped' around from the base of one mountain to the other for the last 15 years. 15mm ACW and Napoleonic Metal Mountain, 1/72 ACW Napoleonic, Zulu War, Mexican American, American Revolution and WWII Mountains, and for the last couple of years the ACW Napoleonic EPIC Mountain. Boxes of plastic 1/72s and bags of 15mm Napoleonics fill my closet, and now 5 Starter boxes of French, British and Prussian EPIC Resin Mountain added to the mountain range. I need help. My obsession knows no bounds! Ha! Thanks for the advice, I should start selling off the Closet Mountains but on top of the obsession, I may be a hoarder too! Be well and thanks again!

Good point(s)! While my lead mountain is smaller than some, I manage it by sticking to the mid-18th century only, and I have largely managed to stop purchasing figures (ok, except for another couple of Austrian hussar squadrons) until I manage to make a dent over the next few years. I've actually made a plan by creating a To Do list. A "study plan" for the next couple of years if you will. For each session at the painting table (60-90 minutes maybe), I further jot down the sections of a batch that I intend to paint and check each off as it is completed (flesh areas, black areas, musket stocks, etc.). Going back to Phil Olley's two articles on project management in early issues of Battle Games magazine is occasionally helpful to maintain focus. He wrote something like, "Man with no target, hit nothing!"

My (relative) financial poverty is the biggest factor in the size of my lead mountain. This stands at 115 figures, all 6mm and all 'overflow' from my completed ACW project. So the 'lead mountain' problem is not one I, or I suspect others wargaming on a shoestring face. However, the discipline of restricted resources can be replaced by self-discipline and this attribute is, at its heart, core to all the problems arising from 'the lead mountain problem', as well as many, many problems both in the hobby, but in wider society. So, cultivating self-discipline, and knowing when to apply it and when to relax it, will have benefits far beyond the time and effort spent.

I've made the resolution to not buy any new figures this year, so far so good but it's only the first weekend of Febuary and I've still got Hammerhead and Partizan to survive.

Zamoyski’s “1812” has been in my book 📚 mountain awaiting a full read-thru for about 15 years now. How sad am I? 😆😂🤣

1812 nice, 1807 and pre better for me. As I've said before, my lead pile is practically nil. I have some plastic sprues with figures and bits on which may get painted if I need any, or passed on to my youngest brother and nephew if I don't. I am working my way rather slowly through the Zombicide 2nd ed and it is hard going. I'm well on the way to completing the first 40 and then the others which are about 24 in total will be started. The main problem is the excessive detail on these figs.

I have given up on reaching the summit of Mount Lead and am selling or gifting unpainted figures and models that are not part of immediate projects. Regular assessment of my SABLE (Stuff Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy) means that this is an on going process. If a thing has not progressed since my last assessment, it is gone. Ruthlessness is a new skill but I find it is cutting into the things that are spreading my efforts and getting in the way of enjoyment of the hobby. It helps to co-ordinate with games and periods of common interest with fellow gamers. I am also reducing the footprint of existing collections to allow me to store them and use them more.

My mountain is small, but my painting pace is now glacial.

I use Brushage app on my android phone to keep track of projects and colour palettes.

As a professional game designer, I consider a game of abstraction of the system that simulates real life through game mechanics. And depending on the accuracy of the simulation correlating to the real world, how "realistic the game is." When you design the game, you sometimes have to balance between playability and the fun of the game to make compromises in reality because, let's face it, realism isn't always fun. Depending on how much fiction or abstraction defines the game is realistic.

My latest technique for painting cavalry is to rest the rider on its horse, spray the complete model with a brown primer. I then remove the rider and prime it in white or grey. The advantage of this method is that there is no paint on the horse where the rider will sit, making the glueing process easier when both fingers are complete.

A painting journal is an essential tool and a well reccomended addition to any miniature painters arsenal. Very useful for revisiting old projects or adding new units to an old army and trying to match the colours you used previously.

I have a collection of scraps of paper - one for each project. A proper journal is a good idea!

I am a new minatures gamer and you have really helped me along. I will start this now.

I make a index card for each project. Listed at the top what its for then each line in the card has a block of paint and its number/name and then what parts on the model used for.

Brushrage is a good app, more like a project journal than just a paint inventory as paintRak is

Never thought of doing a painting journal though coincidentally, I'm currently faced with adding a tank to a unit painted years ago and want to match the colours, so I should've done it long ago. And not just painting but making stuff too, matching glues with materials, other things learned over the years. Will start journaling today!

Great tip! Just downloaded Paint Rack. Hopefully it’ll keep me from buying duplicates…of which I now have many.

A paint journal is a great idea... I painted a small Tyranid force years ago and then recently decided to add some more units to the force. The problem is now trying to match the new with painted old minis. I've pretty much got them close but if I'd written down the original process I wouldn't be trying to guess the exact colours and steps I originally took.

Hi Lee another really helpful video. I was writing down painting guides on bits of paper and then could never find them when returning to my figures I finished 2 months before. So I will definitely get myself a small book in the next couple of days 😅

I’ve been painting minis for about 6 years. I’ve watched 100’s of KZbin videos to improve my painting. Not one person has mentioned a paint journal until you!!!! I’m surprised I didn’t think of it myself! Thank you! Def food for thought. 😊

An enjoyable episode thank you. A lot of good advice. I have long kept handwritten notes of what paints and mixes I have used on given figures and paint schemes for horses. I have last year started keeping a note of what I have painted and when and what I have spent on the hobby, partly to motivate myself and partly to actually see what I spend in a year, on what and when. Cheers.

I have kept a diary for years, since Covid in 2020 my diary has been on computer , not so much for painting but memories ,good video Lee

Thanks for a thought-provoking video. I've been keeping a daily diary now for two decades, which has recorded (amongst other things) what I've painted. But never thought of doing a specific hobby journal with paints used etc. Bit of a schoolboy error really!

You need to keep a notebook of your armies and how you have painted them. In particular the brand and colour used including suppliers and numbers. Also any custom mixes you make and use.

Hi Big Lee! Well said! I STILL have the very first miniature that I ever painted... a Prussian Seven Year's War mounted Dragoon cast by Jack Scruby. It is sitting on top of my computer monitor, where I can see it everyday. It looks like a wounded slug riding a buffalo... but it is a reminder to me that everyone has to start somewhere and how far I have come in my wargaming journey.

I started a notebook a couple years ago. I even have made changes once I discovered a better color to use for a particular item. I like your idea adding pictures/swatches to your notebook.

As ever a great episode on a Sunday lunchtime Lee, always look forward to it. Great advice on a painting journal, hoping there’ll be a little batrep with your French retreat from Russia? Take care pal

Yes, a painting journal would have been ideal years ago for me. As essential would be a journal listing the books you already own. I started one when returning home with the third 'interesting book' which I already had. I prefer to paint separately because I like the saddle and cloth to be as good as I can make it without struggling around legs or getting paint on the either when I paint them.

An Apology: Despite mentioning it in the intro to the video I can't find the article by Henry Hyde that I referenced. I'm convinced I have seen something by Henry on this topic in the last couple of months, but try as I may I can't find it )otherwise I would have put the link in the description as promised😔) . If anyone can find the link, drop it in a reply to this comment and I'll copy it to the description as promised! 😉

I work is MS Publisher and have kept a project record as I called it with photos and text of what I was buying or intrested in mainly. At some point this also turned into a painting guide for the project as well. Don't think a small book would work for me with the amount of information I do on a project as it would be a book per project. Another interesting subject and great video Lee.

Still have my blue book from 1990 with all the colours and combinations used in painting my Palmyran and Roman Armies so that they could easily be expanded. It also has all my projects from around that time. Nowadays I use index cards, that stay with the project.

I find that setting a routine is optimal to moving forward. I try to batch paint/construct; be it terrain, buildings, models, army units (about 12 figs at a time): be it trousers, or coats, etc in a session to break it into manageable chunks. I also set aside a bit of time to appreciate & admire completed units to motivate me to carry on. Sometimes you need to do some 'book' research to also motivate you to break out of a 'funk' if you get stalled.

Great video thank you. I have been lucky over the years to have a spare room in the previous house I lived in. My current home is a very small Victorian bungalow, with almost no storage space. I got around the problem of having a set up wargames table, by eventually finding a handy woodworker/ engineer who built a table 1.6 wide by 2.4 metres long with raised sides, so figures can't fall off. It was designed to overlap my dining room / library table and has a suspension counter weight system , with a series of pullies, so that when not in use one lifts it up and it hangs above the table. Which I'm forever grafteful for. My painting set up generally is on a small kitchen table, but the whole lot can quickly pack up into a box , not much bigger than a shoe box.. Spare boxes of unpainted soldiers in banana boxes under beds, whilst finished armies sit in handmade cloth covered trays that stack vertically. As my soldiers are 1/72 scale plastics they're not too heavy, so I can stack quite high. { fortunate to be a bookbinder so as to make up the boxes myself}. Almost all of my wargaming has been solo, as I live in a small town in the South Island of NZ, which is very low on population. The few clubs that do exist are mostly in the few big cities.