Thursday 6 August 2020

Of long term projects, rollercoaster enthusiasm and summer blues


I don't know about you people, but I am the sort of person who goes about the hobby in fits and starts.

Allow me to expand. 

At times I get insane urges to paint medievals, sprint through a few weeks fixating over heraldry and suits of armour, only to have the urge die down and start eyeing that long-stored model in the cupboard. Suddenly I get another insane urge to open that cupboard and get cracking on that panzer or whatever. After some time (during which hopefully the model is finished) I start getting visions of french columns assaulting austrian positions or british lines. So suddenly it's an urge to lunge at my 6mm napoleonic war chest. And on and on it goes. I flit from one thing to the next following my muses which usually only last a few weeks.  At times - especially in the very hot and humid mediterranean summers - I just lose my appetite and fall into a lethargic stutter on all fronts, be they figure painting, modelling, or wargaming.

At the moment I have my table set up for Albuera, figures and all, but I just can't seem to find the drive to start playing. Simultaneously, I am in the middle of a long modelling build - an Airfix 1/144 scale Saturn V complete with paper models of the transporting crawler and launch umbilical tower.  Once finished, this will be a spectacular build but the question is - when? I am only at the pre-paint stage of the rocket itself, the tower is still printed on its sheets and the crawler is still in the post on its way from California. So this will likely take me well into next year to finish, especially if the urge and enthusiasm abandons me half way.  In the summer heat it is well on the wane.

The same applies to my blog posts.  Sometimes I just don't feel like looking at blogs.  Lasts a few days or weeks and then I return with a post or I just read other blogs. It's always like that, flitting from one thing to another seemingly without a lasting focus.

This may seem like a rant but I am really curious if there are others who go through similar peaks and troughs while expressing this wonderful hobby of ours.  I am in awe at those bloggers who constantly churn out unit after unit of impeccably painted figures. Jonathan and Dean come to mind. How on earth do you guys manage to keep your drive without flagging a single moment? I really admire those hobbyists who manage to keep focused for weeks on end without losing sight of the ball.

Anyways, now that that's done I'll step down from the soapbox and leave you all to continue enjoying summer (or winter depending on your hemisphere).  Keep well everyone!

Albuera all set up and ready to go - but no steam!
Another one of my delusional long term projects? Airfix 1/144 Saturn V