If you want to get the perspective of a champion, check out Loki's post mortem here.
Lessons learned:
1. Have a plan. I followed Andrew's lead and made a list and planned it all out. It quickly fell apart as I dawdled and had to scramble to get in my first themed entry. I never really recovered as I seemed to always be up against the next themed deadline.
2. Be flexible. I am a fairly dogmatic person, I like to do things in a certain order. Allow yourself to improvise and don't get locked into an idea that means not meeting the deadline. I probably could have had my last stand/ entry figures as one submission if I had just let go of my original last stand idea.
3. Work in batches. I think Andrew had it right when he said he worked on large projects 3 units at a time. I personally got bogged down in groups that were too big for me. At this point I think 4 or 5 figures is the sweet spot for me.
4. Get things prepped before the challenge. A lot of my themed entries were completely fresh/ on the sprue before I got to work on them during the challenge. Don't do that to yourself.
5. Don' be afraid to go for it. I held myself back quite a bit as I was afraid of messing things up and thus not be able to submit them. In the interim I plan to try and improve and expand my technique so that it won't be so much flying blind in the future.
And that about sums it up.
Here's a few shots of the stuff I didn't finish that will be done in short order when I get back from my trip.
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| Just need the teeth painted , shields touched up and glued on. Then varnish and flocking. |
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| My Cross of Iron themed entry figure group. Need to sculpt a tiny bit. |
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| My aborted last stand theme project. I'm still going to try grayscale. It seemed original at the time. |
Well done on surviving the Challenge. As Andrew says, over three months you do go through a range of feelings, get distracted, abandon some projects and start new ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tamsin. I enjoyed it and I do think my experience was par for the course.
DeleteOther things get in the way, you did good Sean.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fran. I did try.
DeleteAs a fellow first-timer, I think you've got the right idea - all those points are good ones and will stand you in good stead for next time.
ReplyDeleteBoy those figures are *green*! Are they from Zombicide? No wonder some many people are painting them up!
Thanks Edwin. The figures are a set I got off of Amazon, there were duplicates of the blue ones as well. All about 40mm and fairly good casts.
DeleteThese things happen to us all. It's the learning we take from it that is important to me. Sharing a rich and diverse hobby with fellow challengers is great. You did really well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave, the camaraderie of the challenge was definitely the best part.
DeleteWell observed Loki. And I'd Kent had not had withdraw that would have been a further spur to keep us all on our toes!
ReplyDeleteNothing the rest of us haven't experienced before. You did well mate. Hope to see you next year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael, I fully intend to enter next year. Better start priming now.
DeleteThanks Loki. I thought your post on your journey to first place this year was very good. I immediately took your idea for the spreadsheet. I think my overall hobby mindset needs to change to one of working every day and focusing on finishing, rather than as much half finished stuff as I had.
ReplyDeleteVery well done Sean! I achieved far more than I could have!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rodger. I do need to remember that as well. I think I increased my output by 10 fold.
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