Update Quicklinks: Printing, Painting, Blog
Wow, I can’t believe there hasn’t been a state of the crazy status update since June 5th as I was leaving the hospital with the birth of my second kiddo. I think it is about time that I brought everyone up to speed about what is going on here and all the moving pieces that are happening. Perhaps a snapshot of the craziness that is floating around in my head, a behind the scenes as it were.
As a few of my readers could have already guessed, I am someone who always pushes myself to accomplish insane and almost impossible tasks. Such as my current plan of creating almost from scratch a 3 x 3 foot game board for Frostgrave by September 25 (Follow the series here). I have also written almost twenty ridiculous 2021 Hobby Goals encapsulating so many aspects of my hobby such as painting, printing, blogging and even video games & reading. How in the world can I accomplish these things with a toddler who loves to “join me in my hobby” and a newborn? To be honest I am still learning the answer to that one. If you can navigate hobby time around small children or have in the past i’d love to know your solutions and stories.
On top of these blue sky goals, I am a crafter who can’t seem to handle only one project at a time. It appears that I am someone who needs to juggle many. I have always so many active projects that I have developed an entire system above my hobby space designated to holding and storing the various projects I am in progress of creating. It consists of a homemade foam core box containing five shelves. Those shelves then hold boxes which are then typically designed only to just one project. In the picture below I believe i’m counting (13? two on the side) individual boxes with different projects. I have a problem. I also have an active workspace, a shelf to hold the random things my son has gotten into that day that needs to be sorted daily during valuable hobby time and objects that need to be boxed up and put into storage as I do not necessarily have the largest area in the room for things not in active progress.
Normally this is not necessarily an issue but I am finding it difficult to focus on my current goals, Building my Frostgrave Map, when I have so many loose ends sitting around that can take my attention. So I need to make a plan. Almost all of my current projects could be wrapped up if I only added more write ups of my print data. I most commonly go through massive productivity spurts of producing large amounts of models and need to then take the data, take photographs, and write it up on the website. While tedious this has been an incredible boon for me to better visualize my hobby spending but also gain a better understanding an appreciation of my collection. I hope to continue to digitize my humble collection and eventually have it all on the site, including my digital STL renders.
Contained in my “current projects” are:
- Kingdom of Thamarya Prints (Waterwell, potions cart, Class tokens)
- Lost Adventures Volume 3 Test Prints: Mostly Kobold Coalition that needs catalogged
- Broken Anvil Monthly Graveyard Site models
- CastnPlay Hawkers of Thamarya Models
- STL Miniatures: Blacksmith & Carpenter sets
- Lost Adventures Volume 2: Various monster pieces
- Hold my Dwarf models
Printing Updates
So we now know all the crazy things I have been working on lets tall about recent works and actual progress.
For my Frostgrave map I am almost complete with the Burgomaster’s Office from Printable Scenery. I really really enjoy this model but definitely have a few points that bother me. It will take a bit of cleanup and postprocess in the form of magnets but I think it will look amazing for gameday. Now to decide on a paint scheme. Here is a sneak peak of the building and my Frostgrave Wizard below.
We have also taken out a bunch of printed models and had a fantastically fun night of drafting models for my opponents filthy necromancer’s team. It feels incredible to be able to bust out a bunch of models and see what I have accomplished in mostly printing and sometimes painting (2022 I’m coming for you for the biggest painting year yet). Stay tuned for Friday as I talk about how to make a warband and the teams we have drafted along with models i’ve printed for the upcoming rumble.
Lastly, I am an official test printer for the Uncharted Lands: Lost Adventures Kickstarter running now until August 31, 2021. This has been an absolute blast and is my 3rd Kickstarter I’ve done with them. While I don’t print every model I do get a healthy glimpse of what is to come. What has been really cool lately though is the amount of community response as to my print quality for miniatures using my FDM Prusa Mk3s. Printing in filament for miniatures is not as common as resin is the better choice with improved resolution. Getting good quality FDM prints is an accomplishment. Due to popular request I also wrote a guide on how to print and do supports for FDM miniature printing.
Painting Update
In the painting category I can at least say I’ve been painting more than I have been in recent months. I’ve recently painted an adorable little boy from CastnPlay’s Hawkers of Thamarya patreon release for July. I absolutely love all the models in this release as they are designed as citizens for the buildings i’ve been making all year. I still haven’t put him on a base yet and am looking for ideas.
I’ve also been attempting to paint skin to the best of my current ability and attempt to create a better baseline in that particular area of painting. I decided to paint Ogi Skullcrusher the Hill Giant from Lost Adventures Volume 1. I am still working on my transitions and feel like there isn’t enough variety in the skin (perhaps more variety basecoat?). I also think there is too much dark gap in the muscles. Definitely offer criticism as I’m trying to grow and improve. Also I agree and hate the blue leather as well. I plan on changing it to brown and finishing the model up shortly but its been difficult to find time to paint the past few days.
Blog Update
As for the blog I’m really happy to say I am finally starting to carve out time in my week to write. I find it so incredibly enjoyable and love connecting with others in my hobby. Painting and making terrain can sometimes feel so isolating especially in times such as these. I feel like i’m starting to make a community to share this hobby with and makes it feel less lonely, so thank you. I don’t currently have a gaming group to share my creations with.
I am also really happy that for the first time in months I’m starting to post consistently on Mondays again! It has been hard with a newborn but i’m getting there.
There is still so much I want to add, do and share my knowledge especially in 3D printing for the tabletop space. So many people have been recently joining this brave adventure but are commonly frustrated right out of the gate. I hope to at least help some to find as much joy in the pastime as I have. If you have any questions about 3D printing in any aspect, ask. I am planning to do a getting started, FAQ, series like my Frostgrave one after that is completed.
For the short term I am going to attempt to make my Monday posts about the various projects I have laying around that need to be discussed and writting up. While Friday posts will be a continuation of Frostgrave. This should help me tackle the numerous things I have laying around.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of the behind the scenes of what it means to truly be “The State of the Crazy”. One day I keep telling myself I’ll just focus on one thing, but today is not that day.
How about you? Are you a crafter working on a lot at a time or are you capable of focusing on one thing? Do you have a system to stay organized? I love hearing how others manage their hobby.
As always happy hobbying,
Carrie aka crazmadsci