Avoiding Your Hobby Motivation Traps

[@antoineguegan3936]

"In the real world, decisions are sometimes more difficult, because you can't just paint overthem" Made my day 🙂 thank you uncle atom.

[@deanm375]

Last weekend I worked on finishing my death guard models from the Dark imperium set. Turned out the top of the staff on my plague caster had been broken off and nowhere to be found. Instead of giving up and saying "oh well" I took an old space marine banner and using old bits (mostly heads and skulls) created something appropriately evil looking. I then attempted something I have never done before which was to pin the two parts together to repair and customize my plague caster. Long story short, I attempted something new within my modeling process and discovered how much I enjoy customizing. Seems right in line with what you are discussing in this video. Which I found most helpful.. as usual.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience. I find it inspiring to know that I'm the only one out there. 😀

[@rhinoxrifter356]

"Pretty much, everybody doesn't know what they're doing." -Uncle Atom I love it!!

[@MrBizteck]

Ive a habbit of sitting down to paint and spending an hour googling painting guides and not bloody painting.

[@darkstorminc]

Or watching painting videos then you end up on netflix binge watching something based around the genre you are painting.

[@Tent-Peg]

I do this so often... Put warhammer vids on KZbin playing. Build my models base paint half of them. Get massively sidetracked on lore and characters.

[@MrSJPowell]

I often listen to them as I paint.

[@therealrepete]

I finally took pics of the steps I'm following (cause I'm learning) from the different guides and online, put them in a document in order with a couple of notes for each shot if needed, printed it and leave it with my paint box. Turns out its also causing me to remember my steps and just take 2 or 3 at a time and then check.

[@tinywargamer3863]

That's the deal here- the biggest threat to the hobby can be the hobby itself! (a.k.a finding the best ways of doing things on the internet guides instead of actually starting doing them can lead to some serious issues with self esteem,specially watching all those big fishes in the pound trying to help out a newbie lol). Another thing I like to point out is... you know that saying "violence breeds violence" right? Well one can easily paraphrase it to "hobby breeds hobby" (a.k.a. once the life was simpler - meaning like back in the days there was Mordheim ...and that was pretty much it, wasn't it?...Now? Shit it honestly feels like there isn't a single week without a new great game pops up...and BAM! you get distracted, strife away of your focus whatever it was, just to check out that new awesome game...and before yo know it you starting to think to yourself "Hm... maybe instead of finishing what I\m doing now. I will just move to this another project, because this new game just rocks!"...and on it goes:-)

[@aaronrichards6163]

Perfect is the enemy of the good enough.

[@flipvdfluitketel867]

Perfect is the enemy of done

[@GenesisMoss]

Good is the enemy of great

[@Firebirddna]

My trap is not having people to play with. Why paint if no one is around to see them. Why buy more if I can't find folks to play with?

[@vincemincevince]

Jonathan Hannah that’s a tough one have you considered starting up a gaming club in your area

[@janusvanmassenhove1083]

Do you have friends who are interested in playing but not in making their own army? If so, it might be better to make two smaller armies opposed to one big army that can never be played.

[@Firebirddna]

@@janusvanmassenhove1083 no. The people I know and work with are more interested in partying and drinking than something fun and productive. I still hobby. I have my AoS Deepkin that I'm working on. So I do it for me. Sometimes my 6 yr old wants to play. But thanks for the reply.

[@janusvanmassenhove1083]

@@Firebirddna ah that sucks... Well maybe you could try GameFor?

[@MrKkrraattooss]

I feel you so hard Jonathan. I owned everythin from underworlds but cant play it hahha

[@tjbuege]

Wow, you were talking about me in this video, right? In addition to those four traps you mentioned, all of which I’m guilty of falling into, add #5: too many hobbies! Love the videos, very practical. Keep them coming!

[@Axonteer]

Protip: Dont glue together your whole collection / army at once, that way you just see 100+ models unpainted, this is such a daunting prospect that i can easily crush your will to paint "im never going to get anywhere". Thus i only assemble prime and paint one box at the time. This way i get this "i finished something" feel more often. That way you also dont need to "oh i need to theorycraft a 2.5k list and buy all at once".. no, get a general idea what you want and get only 1-2 boxes at the time from the store. This also avoids for FREE another trap: having hundreds of boxes in your basement collecting dust. Secret Protip: see that you can switch between painting large singular models and squads of dudes, this also keeps painting a bit fresh. Plus if you can, try to alter your paint scheme just so slightly, it makes individual squads pop out a bit and keeps also painting fresh!

[@vincemincevince]

Axonteer yeah i find having say a different model to bunk off and paint as well helps imbetween doing a big army

[@Screamingmanta]

I fall into this trap because I enjoy modelling waaay more than painting and I'm okay with it. There's always something new and different to paint for me each time I pick up the brush.

[@R1oTTuB3]

I despise the modeling and usually do this by virtue of not wanting to assemble the entire army at once. If I could just paint and play that would be gold for me! I know other greatly enjoy the process and I love well converted models I just don't enjoy it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@rf-cattleprod6207]

Yes to all of those tips. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[@jimbou2349]

I just got myself a table to paint,so everything is ready all the time.That really has help me to start painting everyday.

[@vincemincevince]

Jimbou same here

[@jimbou2349]

@Moon pools yeah it's so much easier now.You can paint like 15-30 minutes if u don't have time .

[@HethwillWargames]

Found out that, for me, the best format to get a "unit" done, including any specials characters to go with it, is to conjure storylines, names, events, etc, that form that unit "fluff" while painting them, it help with the flow, inspires colours to use or whatever, and you can do both at the same time, as you paint you make up the stories in your imaginary ( take notes ). It is my unit, no one else's, and they deserve a story of their own.

[@tabletopminions]

That's a really good idea. It might not work for everyone, but for those of us to like to personalize our miniatures - I could see that being a useful motivator. Thanks for watching!

[@HethwillWargames]

@@tabletopminions You're welcome. The channel is nice and i'm glad i stumbled on it. Picking up the hobby again after a decade :) but nowadays only historicals. GW stuff is packed on the side entirely. But minis are minis so... here we are. Snappy salute.

[@tombuck]

I’ll be honest and say that I’m not a tabletop gamer, but there’s SO much good advice here that’s relevant to any hobby.

[@VaulsAnvil]

Biggest hobby trap - PC gaming. My paint table is right next to my PC (L shaped desk with hobby on one side pc on other)

[@SunDancerGE]

My paintingtable *is* the PC table :S

[@bigchunk1]

40k is currently keeping me away from my PC games. It's a hobby fight and tabletop is winning.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

@@bigchunk1 The epic struggle within is real!

[@MrSBPlays]

I tend to paint while playing. The job is kinda sloppy sometimes, but at least I'm getting it done lol.

[@darkstorminc]

My unfinished models and paints are in front of my keyboard so constantly moving it out of the way if I cant use just the mouse to play.

[@Scooge420]

I've watched a LOT of your videos over the years and the spoken content is a bit rambly and maybe not the most efficient way to convey your talking points HOWEVER your voice is absolute butter, your audio quality and mixing is light years above most other hobby channels and even if you stopped saying things that are useful to me like 8 minutes ago, I'll still finish the video because your presentation and quality are just so stellar. borderline ASMR, keep it up!

[@nagashizzar3978]

I painted about 5000 points of necrons and 3000 points of death. My ex and I broke up and I moved back to my home country and she refused to ship them to me. She ended up throwing them all out and there was nothing I could do to get them. When I got back home I got about 3500 points of nighthaunt but my motivation just is not there because I miss all my old models and all the hours I put into painting all of them... maybe even a bit traumatised what if I lose these models I spend all this time painting? I also never even got to use my old death army and only used my necrons twice because I am super new to all of this :( catch 22 and a half..

[@odinoldman5850]

Sue. Especially if theirs public records like an email

[@Vasili350]

Sue that bitch, 7000k points of miniatures is a small fortune.

[@darkstorminc]

Yeah depending on your local laws that is criminal.

[@babissarris5003]

(Sorry about my english, not mother tongue) Be thankful that you didin t end up with a person that threw away things that mattered to you so much. You wrote, you are afraid to spend money and time in new models/army but what i understand is you are afraid and can not trust a new girl. You will find other girl that you can trust and she would love you, care and respect you. You are so young, learn what lesson is to be learned from that situation and move forward. I speculated all of that from what you wrote, hope i didn t wrote anything inappropriate. Be strong, i wish you the best!

[@davedogge2280]

Rule no.1 protect yourself, rule no.2 protect your property rule no.3 protect your loved ones and people loyal to you rule no.4 protect your loved and loyal ones and yourself against people that may betray you (that's the tricky bit).

[@socklips7655]

The doubting of abilities was (and still is, but lessening a bit) very much a factor for me. I wanted to paint, jumped in and bought a bunch of supplies and minis..then paced nervously while staring at my painting table. As if I was going to disarm a bomb or perform surgery or something. The thought of screwing up had this sense of permanency and a fear of how bad I really could potentially be. Paralysis by OVERanalysis. Therapy via Uncle Atom's talks, some good music and finding a skeleton mini I genuinely didn't care if it got destroyed has me in a much better place now. Being able to actually apply, and learn from, all these tips from paint pros is a feeling I can't accurately describe.

[@joemoe974]

Super video as always! For me being organized is huge. I keep terrain projects stuff and materials separate from mini. stuff. I generally only work on a terrain thing or a mini. thing but not both at the same time. I also always have a clear "queue". What I mean is, finish something before you start other things! Nothing is more uninspiring than having a disorganized room full of piles of unfinished projects. Get that first 1,000 points of orks done, including landscaping the bases. Then display them nicely. Also as much as possible, resist the temptation to keep buying new stuff while old stuff is sitting there. You have to shrink the pile and have more stuff painted then unpainted. That is huge for motivation. Once you actually see stuff that's painted and done it starts to accumulate and that can be the impetus and momentum you need to build some terrain that's themed to your army, etc. I also find it helps immensely to somehow, any way you can some kind of permanent space for the hobby. Even is it's literally just one small writing desk that you use as a painting space that you can set some paints and brushes on. Everything else that are support supplies like varnishes, spray primers, base texturing materials, etc. That can all be put in a closet. But the important thing is that you have SOME bit of permanent space where you can leave projects on a desk between painting sessions. Doesn't have to be a huge space at all.

[@captainweekend5276]

In my experience, motivation is fleeting, but discipline is forever. I've had friends who sit around waiting for the magical motivation fairy to wave their wand so they're in the mood to paint and not play video games or watch netflix. Meanwhile, I set myself the goal of getting at least one unit painted a week. Sometimes you'll get a high of inspiration, but often these don't last long because motivation is the fast burning energy that gets you going, but the discipline of doing something even if it's not what you'd rather do is the slow burning energy that gets you to the finish line. Of course hobbies should be fun, but sometimes you do have to put work in to get the most out of it. In my opinion, it's worth suffering through something you'd rather not do to get an end result you can be satisfied with. You hit on the core issue that is a lot of people aren't happy with their skill level, but also don't want to put the work in to improve. It's not so much they don't like painting, it's more the fact that they aren't satisfied with the end result, but also aren't willing to put the work in to achieve the end result they want.

[@Emajenus]

Exactly what I needed to hear today. Been in these traps for a while. I'll go back to painting. Thanks!

[@Mr_Secondaries]

In regards to not having a place. I ended up getting a "The Army Painter Paint Work Station". Rather inexpensive, but a nice portable setup. It solved my issue since i can just load it with bottles i need and brushes, then just take it out, use it, and put it away quickly. Not plugging a specific company, but there are nice portable painting trays out there.

[@tabletopminions]

Yeah, those types of trays work really well for this situation. Thanks for watching!

[@warbossd]

Great advice. My productivity increased massively after I negotiated a permanent hobby zone with my spouse. It is amazing what you can get done when you can just drop into a chair and just paint for an hour without setup, takedown and faffing about. Plus my missus has quickly got used to it and it seems now like it was an issue blown out of proportion.

[@jvasche75]

I didn't have a dedicated hobby space for a long time, and it was indeed a major obstacle. Acquiring a folding utility table (the Lifetime 4428, $40 on Amazon!) changed everything. I usually leave it set up near my computer desk, but it's really easy to take down, stow, and set up again if it needs to be out of the way or used for some other temporary purpose. Seeing my project, paints, and tools next to me whenever I'm at the computer has definitely resulted in more time hobbying and less time aimlessly web surfing, which is always a good thing.

[@KitchenKings3691]

Trying to decide what color to paint stuff is my kryptonite. Sometimes I just stare at all the paints, then get bored and watch Netflix. I also look up how other people painted their models but then get sucked into looking at awesome models the whole night. The solution; Write down a paint scheme before picking up my brush. It has helped me tremendously with getting more stuff painted and painting things faster. Also I waste less paint because, when you plan out every color for the model you don't have to come back to a color you have already used, you can just combine the steps. So, when I pick up my brush I just grab the prescribed paint and can focus on executing and improving my technique instead of staring at the model every couple of minutes and asking myself if the model is looking good or not and what color to choose next. On a slightly related note, listening to the Howard Shore station on my music app helps keep me focused, as opposed to "listening" to a TV show, because we all know what that leads to. In conclusion, write down a paint scheme and listen to music.

[@YeBittenDog]

BryceNeubauer I do the same! Love it!

[@jimrogers2089]

Great video...one aspect helped me tremendously...the "black/brown boot" decision making trap. I have a different hobby (got into model building) and started watching your videos because I needed to paint a 1/72 X-Wing pilot, but I have 2 model kits currently shelved precisely over decision making regarding a certain section on both kits. Your advice is really going to help me get going. I have been painting kits about a year so my skill has advanced enough (and I have built up enough skills/tools to know how to redo a piece) that I'm not sure how I allowed myself to get "stuck" on these projects, but somehow hearing this has sort of given me a mental jump start. Thanks so much.

[@somemistakes6091]

Planning on coming back to the hobby after over 20 years away, taking it slow with going through the codexes first before settling on which army to go with. Already set myself a rule of only buying one unit at a time, so I don't overwhelm myself with things to get done. Exciting times, fingers crossed I'm still a good painter lol

[@darkstorminc]

Don't go broke lol

[@jirris]

Going out to a shop and joining a kill team league absolutely has made me want to finish the minis I have. Not having people to play with on the regular has absolutely killed my motivation to paint minis in the past despite how much I like painting.

[@bigchunk1]

I tell myself that even if I do a bad job painting detail on the model in question, It will still look better than if I just left it base coated. That helps me push more detail when I would otherwise stop. I think you should not be afraid to try and fail with painting. That's a great way to get better at it.

[@tabletopminions]

Very true. Thanks for watching!

[@NixxNikoli]

My trap is buying and building everything for a new project then when I'm faced with dozens of models to paint I realise my mistake. I enjoy building, but painting is not my favourite. I should have things left unbuilt to use as a post paint reward

[@tabletopminions]

Sometimes, leaving some stuff unbuilt is difficult because you get into a 'building zone' and just ride that wave. At least, that's what happens to me. I should try to hold back sometimes, to get more stuff painted. Thanks for watching!

[@ew1258]

Maybe focus on only painting the ones you really like and getting someone else to do the rest

[@vincentcinerini5632]

@@ew1258 I find painting built models to be really frustrating, and unenjoyable. I build and paint at the same time, like, I'll clip everything, paint the body+legs+inside of backpack, then glue them together. Paint upper/inside arms, glue them on, paint the rest, etc etc.

[@seanassociateproductions1691]

Vincent Cinerini I tried that but I found that often the glue didn’t stick properly on already painted pieces

[@TheRunesmythe]

"Turns out pretty everyone doesn't know what they're doing." This is absolute gold because its *so* true, about everyday life in general as well as the hobby. Its funny how, because we see someone doing something, we assume they know what they're doing, they're experienced in whatever task and therefore they set the "standard" and we subconsciously start measuring ourselves against what they're doing; more likely than not, that person we're using as a "template" or "standard" is pretty much winging it, they've just been their task long enough that they make it look like they know what they're doing.

[@philurbaniak1811]

This was really helpful to hear 👍👍! I suffer with perfectionism sometimes so I find the interaction between that and the satisfaction of getting things finished vs the actual process of doing the thing to be really interesting 👍

[@esturk]

A lot of this adds up. Recently I found myself in a rut where I didn’t want to paint my new Necromunda gang because... well.. I had never played the new edition. Convinced a buddy who played the original Necromunda with me to buy a new gang, I assembled them for him and two weeks later we played our first game. Next day I was super motivated to paint my gang and I’ve been steadily working on getting them done since, with the intention to paint his afterwards so we’ll have some nice looking minis for photo ops during the game. Now we’re looking at scheduling a weekly game night which I hope will keep me motivated.

[@tabletopminions]

Glad to hear you’re getting back in. Good luck. Thanks for watching!

[@QuestFriend]

Great stuff Uncle Atom! One of the best lessons I learned in art school was to sleep on it. If I got way too perfectionist and having decision paralysis, just put it away and come back the next day with fresh eyes.

[@samclark6994]

The play games to motivate yourself thing is super true, one thing i like to do is play kill team with a squad of unpainted minis, and i keep track of what miniatures did well in the game, and i paint that model next. It makes me get excited to give the guy a good paint job!

[@ChrisVomRhein]

„Turns out pretty much everyone doesn‘t know what they are doing!“ - Best imposter sydrome treatment ever!!!

[@michaelbarss1830]

Hi uncle Atom! Thanks for posting this vid, I'm an artist and deal with artistic motivation resistance all of the time. I would recommend the book "The War Of Art" written by Steven Pressfield to any artists dealing with the same . It forces you to look at this resistance you're facing within yourself instead of letting it affect you and just overlooking it. It's an easy read and helped me quite a bit! Keep being awesome and thanks for all the awesome vids .

[@ataerus3066]

Restarted my Ultramarines 3 times before getting over my revisionitus, once I finally got it into my head that I wasn’t going to be perfect on my first army it really helped me move past my own need to ‘do it better’

[@erskinechilders8306]

"Paint Is Temporary" needs to be a shirt.

[@savageshark379]

Thanks for this video. it helped me reaffirm what I suspected about my work progress: Lots of painting to do but no gaming. I have an army for 40k, but my mind set has been "Finish painting before playing". But then I never get them done or something else comes up and i lose the motivation. So yeah, i'm going to get back into gaming too help get the drive to paint my guys up

[@mattdegutis7281]

I forgot how much I love this channel

[@barryloughran3632]

I've fallen into a doldrums. But, You, and ni Jon, BMC, Monica Ms, and Myra hav kept me going. THANX

[@robwallace6787]

Here's a problem and solution list of my hobby traps: . General overwhelm - I focus on one project to the exclusion of the others, unless I'm particularly inspired in which case I go with it; progress is positive even if it doesn't tick any immediate boxes . Mould lines - My pet hate. I work fastest when I slam the models together, I'm generally good at pinning, filling and making good bonds, then I'll revisit the next squad I want to paint and clean it up before undercoating so I can move it along the production line. . Being distracted by other games - This can be a huge problem, which I currently have no answer to; the flip side is that by building to task with my mates at the shop dictating the next game, tornament or campaign I have easily definable goals which helps me to avoid being overwhelmed. I've learned to deal with shelving projects for a couple of weeks or months only to return to them later; this requires discipline such as keeping all your bitz in one place and recording your paint recipes and build notes, but it can be done. . Hobby space - This isn't the worst for me now I've learned to pare down my projects box and painting table. I can now work out of a shoe box in my van, using bottle tops and drinking water to paint if necessary. You'll be amazed how little space you need when you're set up with all your gear in one place.

[@Mezla1117]

I suffer the limited space trap. But Costco solved my problem. Found a fantastic multi drawer basket trolley that fit in a small corner next to my dinning room table. Now it is very fast for me to grab my work in progress and brush and colour and get to work

[@tabletopminions]

This like that are (literally) made for hobbying, whether for miniatures painting or other hobbies. Thanks for watching!

[@sadnessinside123]

Great work. Thanks for the tip

[@LeoxandarMagnus]

Playing with the miniatures is a pretty big motivation for me. It’s why I was up until midnight painting Garrek’s reavers so I could play Shadespire at a retreat this weekend.

[@cloud2018]

I doubt my ability all the time, part of that is just general anxiety of messing up. That is why I never bothered to paint any of my board game miniatures. I assumed I would be terrible at it so I never tried. When I entered Age of Sigmar, I was very intimidated. I bought a GW kit that came with a few paints and a few Stormcast models. Turns out I can do it. When starting Nighthaunt, I felt the same way. Dry brushing and highlights were all new to me but I gave it a go and they turned out fine. My bigger problem is not having dedicated space. It is a chore to get everything out and I tend to only get my stuff out when I have several hours to sit down and finish an entire model or unit in one sitting. That too is a bit daunting. I find having models primed first does help with this. There are some nights I will grab a unit or two and just prime them because it takes so much less time I can do it quickly and then save time when I have more time for a paint session. There are nights where I think to myself that I could paint but don't really want to because it means dragging everything out and then cleaning up. I do feel the playing a bit too. Playing a game, even with an unfinished army, helped motivate me a ton to paint more because they do just look so much nicer on the table. One thing I did recently is I painted a unit of Mymourn Banshees. I decided to add more of them making on my way to a 2,000 point army. Now I have 8 painted and 4 unpainted. They are an eye sore but in my mind I already painted them so now I have to again and it seems like a chore so I put it off. I in effect created busy work for myself. That is another thing to be aware of if you are building lists gradually like I am.

[@ianmatthewkline8279]

I started my PhD in Immunology and Virology last year. Never heard of imposter syndrome until then... It's a real thing and kinda tough to deal with at times but I'm glad I've never felt that way about my hobby painting

[@defcol]

Definitely agree with playing helping to motivate the building/painting side of things!

[@dougearnest7590]

Four years later I'm watching this video and it has inspired me to start putting together a "painting playlist" First song on the list: Guy Clark's "Maybe I Can Paint Over That" Thank you.

[@robertmoffitt1336]

Watching this video painting FoW tanks. Uncle Adam's videos are great motivation to get "to work".👍👍

[@OnPointHQ]

I can certainly empathise with the hobby space point. Generally, I have a tidy up at the end of each week otherwise demotivation sinks in really pretty fast and until I have it clean and organised again, I really struggle to get started.

[@seanassociateproductions1691]

My biggest trap is assembling entire platoons, priming then, then watching pro painters do something amazing and my shaky hands can’t even paint a strap with splashing it all over the uniform, and then I get really demoralized.

[@tabletopminions]

Don’t compare yourself to pro painters, that’s step one. Just compare yourself to your last project. Thanks for watching!

[@davedogge2280]

Also remember to take NOTES pertaining to the minis you painted, what primers you used, which paints and which varnishes and techniques, believe me you will thank yourself later when trying to remember which paints you used to match with your existing painted minis etc.

[@tabletopminions]

Paint recipes are great, especially if you're painting a big army over a long time. Thanks for watching!

[@ew1258]

THIS! I wish I'd been doing this. Trying to figure a system now that works for me

[@MatureFister]

my Dark Empire set which is also my very forst table top and wargaming set comes in a few hours. Super helpful what ppl like you comment here. Thx

[@jackoghost]

getting my concentration in the right order and deciding what colors to pick is my hurdle at the moment, at home its difficult but during the weekly club evening meet i get so much more done, because others there can give suggestions

[@tabletopminions]

Some people hobby better in groups, and others hobby better alone. I generally hobby better alone, I can listen to podcasts and videos and audiobooks. I should make a video about that. Thanks for watching!

[@tedwilliams491]

As always, a great video and one that speaks to my current situation perfectly, I've not painted anything for two months now and can't actually remember the last time I played a wargame. At the moment the whole process feels uninspiring and pretty pointless, but I'm trying to stay positive and hoping it's a temporary slump

[@djtoddpharris9565]

FOMO! That shiney new miniature would look good with the 50 other miniatures I still have to paint, because it might not be available at a later date!

[@Sylan-ms9kj]

DjToddP Harris I continue to fall into this trap lol

[@ew1258]

exactly!

[@JadeDude1973]

This for sure. The feeling when a neat mini goes OOP and you spent two years thinking about buying it is awful.

[@bigangryrab5879]

I've only just started the hobby, and im Building up a Thousand sons army because i looked into the lore and i love how they look. For me i'm just building a little at a time, painting a little at a time. I've bought one squad and worked on that, because i am very new to the hobby my abilities are not the best, but im happy with my progress. I didn't want to overwhelm myself so i bought one kit of Basic marines and i'm buying a couple paints every 1-2 weeks and doing a bit of a time. And i love it so far! Good advice in the vid too thanks!

[@awesome_claw]

As I've got faster at painting, I've also been getting a bit more tolerant of mistakes which I think helps a lot. Tiny mistakes under a model's armpit or at the bottom of their backpack will basically never be visible. More prominent mistakes (where they can't be easily fixed) can be covered by weathering or battle damage. I think this has helped a lot with motivation as it means I never feel like I'm going backwards with a model, and it also means that I get squads finished faster.

[@PaganGamersDE]

Actually, i was always a little bit lazy, because i work 8 hours + at a model, til i get the result that i want. But after i take my first contract to paint an army for another person, i am much more efficent and faster - and even more motivated to get things done. Will finish the last Models of this 2250 Points Stormcast this weekend and could then start to do my own projects again. Can´t wait for that :D

[@Blacknight8850]

Playing more games also helps you with your hobby motivation in another way: actually seeing models on the tabletop gives you a lot of perspective as to how much of your paintjob is actually visible! Looking at your models up close or seeing pictures of them online is one thing, but looking at them from the other side of the table might make you go "maybe I don't need that third round of highlights... or maybe even the second one."

[@williammagoffin9324]

My hobby space is my PC table, I have one of those old big metal desks from like the 80's and the top left drawer has most of my paints and tools all stored away ready to go. When I'm bored or I feel like I want to get some model building done I just pull out that drawer and boom I'm ready to go for anything that doesn't involve spraying. At the same time, I got my computer right there for music, KZbin, or research. Just having my stuff there ready to go in about five seconds is fantastic.

[@MentoliptusBanko]

Did you and Miniac Scott decide together the theme of this week's videos? Anyway, I agree with everything you said...but I wouldn't call the problem a lack of motivation. A word like perseverance, tenacity, routine would be more appropriate. One has to he honest to himself and admit that there is no motivation, just a lot of work to get to the table with painted models. And all those thing you said are just excuses our brain does to us and we must train the brain with hard work and then we'll struggle to find time for other stuff...it is just a matter of priorities.

[@witlessfop36]

Staring at the wall does have its own attraction - no tools required and it's free! But it's not as satisfying as finally completing that squad you've been working on for the last month (just don't look at the others you've got left).

[@candidk2544]

I totally agree with the 'start small' idea. Recently, I've deceived myself that I'm going to start DMing again. And EVERYONE knows that every good DM needs a mob of painted goblins to plunk down in front of the players. After that, I need a cemetery full of skeletons. Ogres and trolls next. And then a dragon! Totally need one of every color. Needless to say my wife doesn't appreciate the snowball effect, but she's kind enough to humor me.

[@sirdrakey]

I'm so unmotivated about everything & Life gets in the way! Your videos help thank you!

[@Born_Stellar]

I spent 3 months trying to decide how to paint the black armor on my first dreadnought. Did it 2 days ago finally and it looks great!

[@coreymonday1375]

The assembly line process has helped me so much

[@JazzTehHippy]

so much good hobby advice in here, but also life advice! thanks mate!

[@jaybristow3302]

I always look forward to your videos, you have such a genuine passion and respect for the hobby. I kinda wish you were actually my uncle!?

[@stephencreighton2558]

It’s interesting how many gaming therapists are popular on KZbin. Not throwing stones, I absolutely need them myself, but it says a lot that even for games people like you or I need fureaking THERAPY.

[@Mikey__R]

6:05 I had a break down a few years ago, and since then I've had a general background depression. Doubting myself is the sea I now swim in, to the point where I struggle to start anything. It's a real shame, because all of the things I previously got enjoyment from, I'm now scared of even trying. When I paint models, I get good enough results, but I feel I'm giving more than I have too give to get them there. It's a connnumdrum.

[@familiewinter9249]

Thanks for your advices. Helpfull. Especially the doubts (painting skills, I am a starter) are killing me... Greetings from Hamburg/Germany

[@therealrepete]

For the no space to keep hobby stuff setup dilema I lucked into the last version of the Citadel project box. It was not cheap - but everything fits in it that I currently have. With the top on "hobby side up" I leave WIP, brushes empty water pots etc. on it and shelve it. I felt uncomfortable as a newbie spending money on it - but without it I would be doing no painting/hobby at all. Turned out to be the key for me to start. I'd love to see other options out there for similar ideas.

[@incandescentdream]

I've learned to take breaks. Sometimes I'll get stuck on a model, but if I put it down and come back to it the next day I usually have renewed motivation and new ideas.

[@seankavanagh3742]

Tip - Do no look at your failures make a mental note of them then bin/box them. Surround your self with your greatest achievements and bask in your own glory...works for me 😁

[@tabletopminions]

This is a really good idea. Thanks for watching!

[@justsomedude7583]

I found I have become master of half completed projects, from months or even years ago. It is a cup that will sometimes overflow. You always have a lot of half painted miniatures, but when it goes above a certain threshold projects slowly get finished. A positive side is you have a variety of activities to choose from. Paint ships or walkers instead of dudes, paint metal bits, or cloaks, drill and pin some old metal things, or start clipping new plastic ones out the sprue and on and on, what ever fits your mood.

[@alexfrantz8389]

Lately I’ve been super motivated to paint due to Adepticon coming up. I’ve nearly got my 10000 point Ork army ready

[@tabletopminions]

Deadlines (like tournaments and other events) can be a great motivator for some, certainly. Thanks for watching!

[@JadeDude1973]

The last time I made significant painting progress was when I became an alternate for a tournament. I had one week to get 2000 points painted to a 3-up, consistently-based standard. A lot of it was already 9-up and based, so I basically was filling in the blanks.

[@vincemincevince]

i love uncle atom friday

[@adamgrant2007]

Me too, it's the signal for the weekend to begin lol

[@TheCimbrianBull]

@@adamgrant2007 Same thing here! 😀

[@justinhamrick384]

I look forward to like its my favorite tv show

[@vincemincevince]

Justin Hamrick same

[@heweilim2408]

Thanks uncle Atom. I really needed this wake up call

[@CadorYT]

Coming up with an interesting topic every week is a impressive skill 👍

[@theminakins815]

'if my hobby space isn't spic and span, i dont feel like i can start' me: *sweats nervously and giggles* uh yeah, clean hobby space heh. that's uh, that's definitely a thing...

[@Hagdorm]

"As it turns out, pretty much everybody doesn't know what they're doing." I laughed hard over that one, especially given how true it is.

[@giovanni23048]

Love these videos, they may be made for mini painting but can be used for anything in life!!

[@tabletopminions]

In some cases, this is true. Thanks for watching!

[@giovanni23048]

@@tabletopminions Keep up with the philosophical miniature content uncle atom!

[@asamicomics2229]

If you are trying to figure out how to start building a 2000pt + army, start by organizing your list on battle scribe and build the army based on different point levels for your army. Build a 500pt list then build the extra models you need to expand to 750 then 1000, 1500 until you finish at your 2000pt list. This is effective and you get to play in between each goal.

[@lonegoat81]

Lately i've actually been motivated. Sadly mother nature is like, well none of that please. High winds added to living in a desert is not good for trying to keep globs from forming >.>

[@ShameyBaby]

I can attest to having a hobby tray for painting/modelling. I usually only have an hour to paint a night so set up my tray with the models and paint I’ll need for that project and keep it in the spare room. Then when I want to paint I grab the tray, sit down and paint then it goes away neatly and my wife doesn’t get annoyed! 😆

[@johnroberts981]

Ah you got to my old, old demon (not the golden sort either!) Perfectionism! I got sooo disappointed with my painting (even though others praised my work and even sought advice/tips). It stung me into inaction!

[@callumjennings6336]

My biggest trap is a mistake. I usually leave my unfinished models on my desk always in sight to constantly remind that I have painting to do. Sometimes I can get on a roll and get a decent amount of progress in my eyes done. But eventually I'll make a mistake and screw something up, not the the point were a restart is necessary but where that doubt you mentioned appears and progress becomes slow.

[@Green_87]

One of my hobby traps during the winter months is that my basement gets so dang cold I don't want to go down to my hobby area. Even a space heater isn't enough. It gets that dang cold down there and I don't have space upstairs to paint anywhere.

[@tabletopminions]

I’ve had that issue, as well. Thanks for watching!

[@LordPadriac]

One thing I learned is when getting into the hobby, getting back into the hobby or trying to upgrade your skills with some new technique is to never, ever get started on models you care about. By that I mean don't use minis you're going to use for a game and by getting into the hobby I include people that are used to making large plastic model kits and are getting into painting minis. Some of your skills will cross over but speaking as one of those people it really is a different world as far as painting goes. Instead of using minis you care about get yourself a couple handfuls of cheaper minis that share similar features to the army you intend on building. If the army you're going to paint has a lot of scifi elements find cheap minis that also have scifi elements, if your chosen army has lizard people or a lot of natural fur in the characters or their clothes or mystic parts that should glow then find cheaper minis with those elements. I prefer the Reaper line of minis because they have a massive selection of every genre you could imagine. The Bones line especially has a lot of great variety for a cheap price. Sort by price on their store and you'll find plenty starting at $1.50 or so. Get some of the more expensive metal ones they sell too as the metal and plastic minis seem to paint differently. There are similar no name options to the Reaper minis you can find on Amazon and those will sometimes come in lots of multiple minis for under $15.00. There is also the ultra cheap option of the Dollar Store. The Dollar Store (whatever they're called in your area, I have five of them all by different names five minutes from my house) is hit or miss and sometimes doesn't have anything. Often though you can find all sorts of miniature figures from army men to robots to animals of various kinds as well as bits of mini scenery. All of that can be had for a buck and just needs a washing in some hot soapy water with a tooth brush before you prime it. Like I said though it can be hit or miss on what you'll find but if they have something suitable you can usually get a sack of them for that buck and then just throw them in the recycling once you've gotten up to where you want to be and feel comfortable moving onto to your army.

[@madgenus]

Hi there, was wondering what this discord is you were referencing throughout the video. Is it about painting warsets (or arts in general)? If so, i would love to join!

[@tabletopminions]

It’s a private Discord for members of Uncle Atom’s Irregulars - a tier of Patreon members that help support the KZbin channel. Thanks for watching!

[@hironagamaki9744]

Thank you for this video it really struck home to the problems I have not just in hobbies but life I wont solve all my problems but at least I can start moving with the things I need to do

[@sadnessinside123]

Great video. Thank you to the discord crew on their input.

[@themagicalcactus1941]

Thank you…I’ve really needed to hear this for a while now.

[@77martinv]

The best thing in my new house is the fact I have a dedicated hobby space. I can leave stuff sitting and come back the next day. I struggle with thinking “I only have one hour” so i better do something else instead.

[@jjtube8724]

About the „What If I’m not good enough?“: You are often going to surprise yourself. For instance, I did not know that I could do edge highlights until I tried it. And it turned out way better than expected. So just TRY the things you want to do, or you might never get to do them.

[@acheron1872]

For me it’s the lack of play, I work Sunday-Tuesday for 12 hours a day. A lot of groups play on days I work, so that’s why I have some issues painting.

[@bamboofighting4576]

I had the problem of having to go set up everything on the dining room table. My fix was to buy a fold up table that I can just set up in my room when I need to, removing the need to drag all my gear to another room. Not a perfect solution but a vast improvement.

[@damian5302]

I will tell you what trapped my motivation. A year ago I started assembling skaven and high elves army for Age of Sigmar. Since then I have made 5 big behemoth figures, 5 cavalry, 5 heroes, close to 100 infantry and 2 rat ogors, and some cool terrain. Then at some point I have realised, that I dont even have enough figures to make smallest legal army for matched play. But then Ive said to myself "Nah, thats not so important. I can play with it just for fun myself." And so I decided to make my dream about army of skeletons with self made heroes come true. So Ive build my own necromancer from clay, and ordered some skeletons. I have also bough silicon and resin to cast my necromancer, because clay is not elastic and all, and breaks easily (and she has a lot of small details. Ive put a LOT of work to it. Small details breaks the most, you know it). So the next thing I have decided to do was to cast some spire guards for try. And it was a NIGHTMARE. It took a lot of trial and error to make something that briefly resembles spireguard whom lost a foot, a piece of armor, broke hes bow and spear. I was trying to search for a way and proper material to cast your own WARHAMMER figure, but it seems like some sort taboo on the youtube. This resin: www.sloyd-detaljer.no/sortiment/skape-dekorere/resin/crystal-resin-0589?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2L7jBRCBARIsAPeAsaNVl2TNcb5AonMEM4l7lyDvdTwBvD2bpw3yPlHgHLueUec-wcGgumgaAofnEALw_wcB is definetly not the one you want to use if anyone asked. And so my passion went cold after realising that making and casting my own figure is MUCH more troublesome than I hoped for. (combined with problem I stated at the beginning)

[@Zych.Grzegorz]

PAINT IS TEMPORARY; GLORY IS ETERNAL!

[@mholmen1971]

Just as you say, my problem is the lack of a proper workspace. I have a build tray, but cant get started because i have to set it upp and put it away. 😒 Trying to work through this state of mind though! 😁

[@joegekko]

This goes really well with Miniac's video this week- did you guys plan this? Very nice.

[@R1oTTuB3]

For me a motivation trap can be painting too much. I'll get obsessive and paint every chance I get. I usually accomplish a ton during these stints, but I'll spend almost a equal amount of time burned out. Space Marines bore me to no end painting. Years ago I only had space marines and the models all look extremely similar and did so even more around 03 to 06. Another tip on perfectionism I use for myself is that not every model has to look professionally painted. If I spend hours and hours painting one model trying to make it very unique finish it and pick up model 2 out of 40 I'll never finish. Batch paint the troops. I aim for just above table top quality. Playing more tip definitely works.