Finishing an Army

[KingJoe88]

I'm 16 and have been in the hobby for a few years. I love collecting and playing armies, but I can never seem to finish painting them. It's not that I really dislike painting, but I paint very slowly and find it hard to actually have the patience to paint all the models in an army. I've started a few different forces, but always end up with the same problem. Any advice?

[doublek666]

stick with the hobby, be patient and try to set some small goals, even 1 figure a week adds up. You'll probably sell this stuff or strip and re-paint if you're still in the hobby a few years from now, anyway. The more you practice painting the better you get. Start with at least basecoating all the colors and hitting it with brown and/or black washes. Gaming with fully painted armies and terrain should be the ultimate goal.

[Mizzrym]

Get an eldar army. All of the units looks different in different colors that way you dont get bored painting one scheme like marines tend to

[ggg]

There is nothing like the real deadline of a tournament or event to force you, gun to the head style, to complete an army. Alright, you may find yourself returning with a few adjustments later but it has forced me to complete 3 armies to a table-top standard.

[Herald of Nurgle]

Get an eldar army. All of the units looks different in different colors that way you dont get bored painting one scheme like marines tend to

For that matter? Play Chaos! Have Total Control over the models in your army - conversions, changes, paint schemes - and remember that, due to the new fluff, everything works together like happy crappy families!

[Lord Azaghul]

Stick to one army. Paint that one army. However long it takes, don't buy a 2nd or third until most of the first is done!

As far as actually pacing goes. Do them 'assembly line' style.
Paint 5 guys at a time, do all skin tones in on sitting, all armour in another, all weapons in another...and so on. It helps you feel like you getting something done. And when you finish those guys: TA DA you've got five finished guys, on to the next five.

[Lunar Camel]

Actually, there's no such thing.

I started with Space Marines ten years ago. Simple paint scheme, all black with red trim. Painted 2,500 pts. Then went back and rebased them. Before I finished, got better with highlights, so I redid them. Played a few games, didn't like my list. Added a few more squads. Wanted more armor, and on and on. Have over 5,000 points and they still aren't finished. This doesn't include the Chaos, IG, and Bretonians that got squeezed in for other tourneys and such.

If you are looking to have an actual finished army, start with your list first, run it by other people so that its sound and winnable (if there is such a thing). Get the models you only need. Paint them up as Lord Azghul said, assembly line style (they stay consistant and you finish them quicker). Once they are all painted and based. Don't change your list or get any more models. Then you will be truly finished.

Good luck to you.

[BlackKnight15624]

I paint armies to small point sizes initially. Maybe a 500-point force to begin with. Then, when I invariably get bored, I move on and do a different 500-point force. By the time I'm finished that, I'll realize something's lacking in my first army, or just become inspired by something, and will go back to that. Eventually it builds up as I go and I never get bored, because I've never focused on one army to the exclusion of all else.

Word of warning, though: Don't get too trigger happy- I've started close to 6 armies across all GW's game systems and now have very small forces of almost all (except my UMs and Orks- Love those suckers).

Another thing to do would be find ways of speeding up the painting process- as has already been mentioned, batch painting works well. For my Orks, however- I used a dipping method. I slapped on some green, brown, and silver paint in a very Orky fashion, then dipped them in Minwax and sprayed them with some Dullcote- I found it was an amazingly quick way of getting 100 boyz painted.

[Kieranator K82]

I am also 16 and I have about five armies. Maybe half the models are painted...

List:
Space Marines (+3000pts)
Imperial Guard (+2000pts)
Orks (1750pts)
Tomb Kings (~300pts)
The Empire (2250pts)

I don't know... I've been in this hobby since late 2006 and sometimes I get a little bored. Fortunately, I am painting some Cyborks and Dwarves for a friend, so I can mix it up a bit.
A little trick I have with my Empire army is that I am painting the men in different colours, to represent regiments cobbled together from different States.
Do whatever works for you.

[KingJoe88]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I've gotten together a small Blood Angels force that I'm gonna do a really simple scheme using a wash with. I'll set goals and do the assembly line thing, and hopefully it'll turn out good