Introducing a new post series: Deep Dives
As a 2021 Hobby Goal it is my ambition to work on “Deep Dives” of 4 different major topics. This is a post series i’m extremely passionate about and look forward to starting.
What is a deep dive?
From an analytical standpoint a deep dive is an “intense, in depth analysis of a certain problem or subject.” What does that mean for the tabletop hobby? Well for one I want to research, explore and experiment with all the different ways myself or my fellow hobbyists tackle a subject in the tabletop space. Either painting, printing, playing or something perhaps something else entirely. A deep dive will document my entire journey, the successes, failures, and methods.
The Never Ending Questions
The primary goal of a deep dive is to begin to answer some of the many questions I face when crafting and playing. Some of those questions include:
Where do I even start for X Project? How do I break out of the rut of doing the same method over and over again? How do I make my collection of scatter, miniatures and terrain stand out and be unique as opposed to all look the same? What materials do I need? What problems will I face? What is the lore or history around this project?
The downside is that some of these questions end up becoming so overwhelming for me, projects never get completed or even started. Uncertainty and fear of messing up especially when I have so little hobby time can be debilitating.
Since the purpose of crazmadsci.com is all about sharing my experiences in the hobby, how about also including my experiments?
Introducing…
The crazmadsci DeepDives. This area of the site is going to be the location of all my “experiments” or rather rabbit holes. For painting I admit while learning and figuring out color schemes, paint recipes, paint techniques etc. I do have an affinity for painting along with others or taking the advice and experiences of others to heart. Almost every youtuber, guide writer or instagram poster has a different method of painting bone for example. Or depending on the area of focus either via 3d printing, buying kits, or foam crafting the process of painting terrain may vary based on materials and tools on hand. The goal of my deep dives are to attempt to figure out not only why these other hobbyists make these decisions but also what suits my current skills, materials, and preferences the most. Why not take advantage of time spent by others to figure out what works?
Perhaps painting bones, wood, metal etc in a dozen different ways apiece will give me a wide array of experiences and examples to choose from to help diversify my hobby playbook.
Deep Dive Goals
What are my goals for the Deep Dives:
1) Learn numerous ways of tackling a problem
2) Increase the diversity of painting in my collection
3) Grow in both mentality and skill for the hobby as a whole
4) Understand more the mentality of others who are also in the hobby
5) Create a collection of choices or swatches, when painting for future inspiration. A portfolio of sorts.
6) Document the process so I do not forget what i’ve learned and have reference material to go back to.
Deep Dive FAQ:
1) Will the deep dives stay purely focused on painting?
Absolutely not. I plan on doing deep dives and focus research on many aspects of the hobby such as miniature photography, materials for crafting, various aspects of 3d printing and more that come along the way. I do want primary focus for the time being to be on painting though.
2) How do I choose what is researched?
This will mostly be revolving around the subject matter that currently perplexes either myself or a reader. Once we encounter a question we will tackle it as it comes. However there will sometimes be some larger pre-planned projects resulting in a “series” of posts and experiments.
3) Once researched once will I ever go back?
Absolutely! As I grow in the hobby i’m sure my questions will as well requiring me to constantly come back and fine tune. I”ll try to keep every major category numbered to more easily follow along. Find more guides online that you think I should try myself and add to the collection. Don’t hesitate to bring them up as I will constantly be evolving myself.
4) Where will my “research” be coming from?
All of the experimentation will have references & links to the original source of that method. Sources will come from as many places as I can find: Youtube, Blogs, Random search engine responses, Pinterest, Facebook, Discord groups, etc. No credit will be taken in my hobby experimentation but rather become a repository to hear how something is solved in numerous different ways. All ideas, methods, and concepts learned from a particular location will have the citation to go with it so you can hear it from them as well.
5) Format of Deep dives on the site:
The current intent is to post more about my current project progress rather than just start and finish. So hobby posts which subscribers/followers of the site get notified of upon publication will get updates of project progress after milestones are completed. Eventually upon project conclusion a reference page will be created so we all can go back and refer to images, paint schemes etc as needed. This will make it easier to find information down the road if you are not following along. Also all posts will be hyperlinked for easy navigation. Posts will occur on Fridays if a series is in progress.
Potential Future Deep Dive topics
Current areas that I as a hobbyist am planning to investigate (No order of importance):
- Painting Bone
- Painting Wood/ Trees
- Printing with Transparent filament
- Supporting models in FDM & Resin
- Miniature Photography
- Flocking & adding foliage to my terrain
- Painting castle/ruin terrain, various stonework
- Painting Skin, humanoid and other
Conclusion
For the month of April I am currently planning on doing a 5 part series on a deep dive into painting Wood & Trees. Starting with its introduction on Friday, April 2nd. Stay tuned.
This will allow me to better compile my experiments while answering some of the many questions I have about the hobby. Perhaps others might have the same questions as well or if i’m lucky answers. These deep dives could also prove valuable in the years to come as I hope to repeat or reuse pieces of builds or add to my collection. Lastly the aim of this is to instill confidence and a form of accomplishment in the hobby. It is incredibly easy to always feel like nothing is ever done in a space of never ending goals and projects.
What kind of questions do you have in the hobby space? Have any questions about painting wood and trees?
As always Happy Hobbying,
Carrie, aka crazmadsci
New Website Sections!
I’ve recently added new sections to the website to make this conversation and others for deep dives more easily accessible. Found under Painting you can navigate to either the homepage of all Deep Dives or directly to Wood Painting for more easily accessible information and pictures of the color palette.