Yes as we all know its time for that annual breakdown and preview of what is to come with our hobby goals. People have set New Years Resolutions and of course always end up broken and I am absolutely no different. For 2022 I set upon myself a list of lofty goals and have accomplished very few if you are curious on my track record check out my past write ups 2022 Hobby Goals & 2021 Hobby Goal Retrospective.
“Yes I know what you are thinking, hobby goals, showcases these yearly posts are cliche and exhaustively overused.”
2022 Crazmadsci
But I inevitably find it incredibly useful in seeing my personal mentality from year to year. So bear with me as I gauge how my mentality and goals in the hobby have shifted.
What did I accomplish last year?
My universal motto and approach will be, “Improve my skill, output and performance over the previous year.” So I am planning on using last year as a benchmark of comparison so I can more definitely see how I match up. I’d argue that my performance is ehh comparable to the year before because so much of my free time shifted to actually playing games rather than just preparing for them.
Of my entire list of 2022 hobby goals I only succeeded in two hobby goals.
Success!: Paint more models than 2021 Success! Play two new tabletop games.
For the past year I have painted 42 models to 100% completion this is greater than the number in 2021 which was 26! Yes I know it still does not feel like enough but for me building a routine and navigating my perfectionism in models it is harder to accomplish. I do have easily do have easily double this number with only a few hours of paint time left. This list includes a Snotling Bloodbowl team (20), my 2021 benchmark model, my 2022 benchmark model and 2 units of hobgrots from the Kruelboyz army in Age of Sigmar (20 models).
I have spent a very long time assembling, gathering, priming, basing and painting a Kruelboyz army for Age of Sigmar in 2022 but tended to jump around quite a bit and didn’t finish as much as I would have hoped. As you can see a lot of progress has been made it just requires a bit of focus to knock it out.
As for playing two new tabletop games I actually count playing 3 games. The first two are Age of Sigmar which has been my primary go to game for the year, Gloomhaven online (which still counts in my book), and Dungeon Bowl.
New Goals for 2023?
While I have a lofty list of goals for the upcoming year I have decided to boil it down to five “simple” items
Finish more projects than I start
Finish more models than I buy/print
Limit the amount I print for others and focus on my own hobby
Paint more models in 2023 than I did in 2022 (42 in 2022)
Focus on improving the skills of my painting
Some of these definitely sound easier said then done especially the reduce the backlog goal of painting more than I buy. With the new Cities of Sigmar book coming later this year I need to do a ton of painting to reduce the model count. But overall I think its more doable than past years while also tackling the backlog of projects.
Conclusion
What do you think? Do you set annual goals for yourself? How did you do last year, let me know in the comments below.
Happy Friday! Another week is coming to a close and it is again the time to reflect on our victories from the previous week and update on the going ons of the hobby desk. This has been a week where I do not feel like much gets completed but know that i’m still working hard. This is where I am finding satisfaction in writing these weekly updates. Reminds me just how much I actually do in a week rather than just focus on what I want to complete in a week.
Highlight of the week for the site is an updated Work in Progress Page! I am going to do my best to keep it updated and you can always find my most recent State of the Crazy at the top!
Assembly
Snotlings
In the last week I have not been able to spend a lot of time on this project but it is slowly but surely coming together. I still have mold lines to scrape and bases to glue but hopefully priming in the next week.
I might have a Goblin Problem
Slowly but surely I have been poking at this challenge and sorting the models between needing repair and good enough for primer. I do not think i’m going to dive into this project immediately and am happy slowly sorting the pile.
Magnetization!
As a method of tackling my hobby storage problems I have decided to increase the amount of miniatures in my collection and their magnetization. Since most of my bases are solid I am having to use a pin vice to slowly drill out holes. The work is slow but i’m slowly getting there. I am already running out of magnets so might have to fix that.
Ikea Kvissle letter tray holding magnetized miniatures
Printing
Printing is still a bit slow but have been supporting a miniature for a dear friend along with printing a collection of calibration parts for a getting stated in resin printing page series. This is definitely taking longer than anticipated but i’m making sure i’m doing it right.
UV tools calibration test print
Painting Update
Last week I continued to spend a little bit of time painting my 2022 Benchmark model. I realize that a giant model might not be the best figure to paint twice in a year span but it was big enough to try to get some real airbrushing in. I really focused on hair and fur and this week focus on the leather and hopefully base. I don’t always get a lot of downtime for painting and juggle so much so the process is slower than i’d like.
2022 Benchmark model Work in Progress
Hobby Maintanence
This week I spent some time to clean up my space, looking at my photo from last week I definitely needed it. As an area of focus I finally transferred some of my P3 paint into dropper bottles. Unfortunately some of the paint was dried out even as new paint bottle. I bought these a while ago from a game store knowing that P3 paint was slowly dying out and is one of my favorite brands. I also deep cleaned the airbrush using an isopropyl alcohol bath, it definitely needed it.
Newly transferred collection of P3 paint in dropper bottlesDried yellow paint from a brand new P3 paint potAirbrush cleaning in tub of isopropyl alcohol
Blog
I appreciate all the words of encouragement after sharing “The Shattering Reality of my Miniature Collection.” It has meant a lot and made me feel better about the whole situation and given me a lot to think about. I have started a more robust spreadsheet documentation method for my collection with URLs linking to all the various write ups I have here on the website. I am also flirting with the idea to plot my hobby collection to more visually see it shifting from printed to completion. If you know anyone who has a graph of their pile of shame, opportunity or potential i’d love links for inspiration.
I have also been writing a lot for resin printing guides but due to the method of my creation of material it appears I’m going to be dropping a lot of this material at one time.
Conclusion
Not necessarily a ton to report on but it is still improvement towards finishing projects. What did you work on this week?
Last weekend a disaster struck. A massive majority of my miniature collection has come crashing to the ground thanks to the adventuresome behavior of my cat, Turtle. You see at the moment my miniatures are being housed in an old bedroom TV cabinet as I am working on “figuring out” an improved method of widespread storage. In reality I have been continuously making it worse by stacking an increasing number of boxes and containers on top of each other just waiting for the day something shakes the whole tower down.
Well that day happened. On Saturday I heard a large CRASH and was terrified it was my curious toddler. I go running and immediately feel two emotions. First I am absolutely relieved to find that no child or animal was hurt. Secondly I felt my heart sink to my stomach as I saw the devastation the laid before me.
Miniatures lay in pieces scattered over the floor as hundreds of models crashed on top of each other, into other boxes or just spread out. The largest damage of which is my painted miniatures of 2021. Over half of all models painted in the last year lay in pieces.
Some batch of models in pieces.The culprit! Turtle the Cat
Trying to Piece it Back Together
I then proceeded to spend a large portion of my time to see if I can glue as much of the minis together. While I was trying to piece much of my hardwork of 2021 I had an inner dialogue of problems and perhaps ways I can fix them and should focus on for 2022.
The surgical field, to glue models back together.Haggatha the NecromancerLizardman, Lost Adventures Vol 1Hill Giant, Lost Adventures Vol 1
Trying to Solve the Problems
Actually Utilizing My Storage Solutions
“Carrie, why in the world did you wait this long to try to organize your models?”
Voice in my head
You see this is actually ironic because last year I spent a long post series on organizing my collection & hobby space: Storage Wars. I even went as far to develop a new storage tray system for my models (Storage Wars: Part 3 Miniature Storage Trays). Yet in my haste towards the end of the year I did not fully utilize system. The biggest issues that I have is that I have no way to display or store models I’m using that are completed.
Solution: Actually utilize my storage solutions! Take the time to put models away. Find a way to store finished models safely or on display.
Experiment with New Materials
The harsh reality of it is that resin from 3D printing can be extremely brittle. Depending on the material used, duration of cure times, or even staying in storage exposed to UV light can increase this brittleness in your resin models & terrain. Towards the second half of last year I began to use harder resins which are more impact resistant making them more likely to just break rather than shatter. This was definitely noticeable in my Dwarven Frostgrave army printed mostly in 2020 rather than my husband’s necromancer undead army printed later 2021. When the newer models broke I could find most of them to try and glue back together. However some of the original resins used that were basic resins without additives such as ABS-Like or Hard were more likely to shatter rather than break. Let this be a testament on more durable resins being valuable! However in truth and with all the benefits of 3D printing the brittleness of the models definitely is a very strong negative about the 3D printing hobby. I had no reaper bone model damage, metal model damage and very little hard plastic model damage.
Solution: Prime all printed models to prevent more curing from storage & investigate and start a series of experiments with flexible resin additives to give models more give and capabilities to stay intact.
Begin Cataloging My Collection Again
Last year I started a database of my miniature collection as well as a visual catalog. While it is still a long way to go it is a start. One major downside to this is that in December I sold off a large portion of my collection and did not update my spreadsheet or visual. I need to go back through the list and update the data before I can continue to grow again.
Solution: Update the Spreadsheet, visual catalog and actually track the known vs unknown.
Conclusion
I recognize that finding better systems to account for ever curious toddlers and adventuresome creatures is a much needed thing. I wish I could have shelves to hold the things I love and have spent time on but just do not have the space for it in our home. If you have a precarious pile of models this is my warning to you to make it safer.
How do you keep your hard purchased or crafted items for your tabletop games safe? I keep telling myself that this is the moment where I learn my lesson, but only time will tell.
I am definitely riding the high from this year’s 2025 Nova open. And what a treat it has been to go to and see my friends. I always walk away full of inspiration, a bag full of goodies and a mind full of creative endeavors to do for next year. Heading to the event I…
Playing Bloodbowl is wacky and fun. But wouldn’t it be better with a fully fleshed out stadium to play in? Join my process of creating a 3D printed bloodbowl pitch.
It is Friday again and that means. The State of the Crazy! This week has been absolutely a whirlwind and definitely one of those where you feel like you have accomplished so much and so little at the same time. Lets go through what all happened this week
The honest state of the crazy at the time of writing
Assembly
Snotlings Assembled!
Completed & assembled snotlings
This has been incredibly therapeutic for me and I have slowly been chipping away on this project when I only have a few minutes or highly likely to get pulled away. I definitely think that having a small project to chip away at slowly is something that will be a requirement for my hobby space. Next up is to scrape mold lines and attach to bases. There are a few snotlings that will be pained in subassemblies since they will go on the pump wagon.
I might have a Goblin Problem
The box of goblins to be worked on from Lost Adventures Vol 1
Is there any truth in the statement, “You can never have too many goblins?” Well I appear to have a significant number of goblins at least 67 which I have found in this box. Many of which are duplicates with failed prints or portions as I have printed this set of (22 goblins) in at least 3 different occasions over the 2021 year. I am slowly going to take this collection of goblins and test a few theories and aspects of the hobby.
How to use green stuff to sculpt (repairing the failed print pieces)
Temporarily gluing to bases for ease of painting
Do I prefer to paint without a base?
How many ways can I paint green skin?
This is definitely going to be a project I slowly chip away at once the snotlings are completed and moved into painting.
Printing
I actually think for once I did not print anything last week of note. So far I am following my hobby focus of painting and website for now and catching up on documentation and projects before printing out new things.
Painting Update
For the first time I have begun to paint a model with an airbrush. I have begun work on my 2022 Benchmark model and it is still in progress. I am going to take my time for this paint job and attempt to do the best I can. I definitely already know I have room for improvement in both technique and placement but we all have to start somewhere.
2022 Benchmark Airbrush basecoat front2022 Benchmark Airbrush basecoat back
Blog
Last week I published my 2022 Benchmark Model writeup “How to Gauge Growth in Miniature Painting”. This has received quite alot of positive response from people in its relatability to their own hobby. I can’t wait to see peoples benchmark models in the future!
I have also been writing quite a bit on other things and not quite ready to publish but should be coming up! Much of this is to update out of date sections of the site and begin publishing my starting to 3D print section.
Conclusion
Not necessarily a ton to report on but it is still improvement towards finishing projects. What did you work on this week?
When working on improving any skill or hobby, oftentimes it is hard to gauge personal growth. You can become so deeply focused in your task that having the capability to step back and gain a larger perspective is difficult. Or in some cases the improvement may be so small or subjective it is hard to determine any improvement at all. This can lead to frustration, lack of motivation or even burn out.
How can you to solve this problem?
Last January I set out to try to solve this issue. I painted a benchmark miniature figure so that I may judge my improvement over the course of one calendar year. This benchmark was at that time the very best I could do in painting a miniature. I set no time limit and poured myself into it. The primary goal was to test if I could see a before and after of how far I developed as a miniature painter.
So what is a benchmark?
Something that can be used as a way to judge the quality or level of other, similar things.
So in this situation I used the same model painted a year apart to test their different quality levels.
Setting the Baseline
Here is an image of the model painted January 2021. If you want to read more about my thoughts about it at the time and painting read the 2021 Benchmark Model.
2021 Benchmark Model: Dwarf
So the million dollar question, have I improved a year later?
Have Others Give Their Opinions
Left 2021 Benchmark, Right 2022 BenchmarkLeft 2021 Benchmark, Right 2022 Benchmark
When I finished painting this model last week I will admit to feeling a bit deflated. I attempted to focus on painting the new model using a similar paint scheme in hopes that the comparison should not be influenced over preferred color. However when I placed the paint brush down at the end I was not Wowed. I felt no immediate pride or even noticed any significance in difference of my model. In my mind I could only envision where I wanted to go with the model and yet didn’t have the skill (seeing only the flaws not the victories). I couldn’t step back and admire what I could accomplish in the today.
So I decided to ask for help to take a photo to my friends, family, and fellow members of the painting community. The question was simple. “Which model is the newer one and why?” Could people see my improvement where I could not? Could people actually see the areas in the hobby I desired to improve upon in that year?
The conclusion was simple. Every single person who guessed my old model vs my new model was correct. No matter their background or skill set there was not a single person who guessed was wrong. Even non-painters saw growth.
Here are some of the various pieces of feedback and comments I received from different platforms:
Basing is fancier, the skin is smoother. In general fewer visible brush strokes.
The metal looks more like metal, than “gray”. The skin looks more natural, and less glossy. The basework is more complex. The eyes look more natural too. Overall, just appears to be a higher quality paint job.
Both are better than my painting. They look great, but skin on the right looks way better.
Looks like smoother coats. The eyes are better. Cleaner paint work on the rims of the pauldrons. Just all around more attention to detail on it. Some blending on the cheek bones it looks like
The Consensus
Significant areas of improvement were the base of the model which was vocalized as was fancier, more adventurous, and more complex.
It was also noticeable on my improvement with skin & eyes. The skin did not have a glossy appearance (Nuln Oil has a gloss version by the way). Also the layering of my skin was better. My work at setting a baseline with skin using the Hill Giant last year really paid off here.
Lastly my metallics appeared to be better. Did not appear as a basic gray but had sharper lines and better brush control with edge highlighting.
However there was also a repeated opinion that it appears that I am also making a stylistic change. Moving away from washes in the beard and cloth perhaps took away from the contrast and did not push the highlights as much as I did a year ago. Check out the comments.
I feel like the right one has sharper lines and colors so my instinct is to go with that one being the more recent one, but it almost feels a bit like a stylistic choice between the rougher more blended palette and the sharper more distinct style
This comment also gave some feedback on potential improvements with washes which I absolutely agree with.
Looks to me like the one on the right is the more recent one. The one on the left you used more washes, the one on the right more highlighting. There are things about both that I like. With the washing, I’d say try and go a little less wet, you have a lot of the ‘coffee stains’ where your wash dried to the edges and makes your ‘creases’ a bit of a mess. Less paint on the brush. BTW, a wash that is dabbed on a paper towel till mostly dry is essentially a glaze technique which looks like you did on the right guys face, looks great! One thing I like about the wash is you maintained a lot of contrast. To tighten up your highlights, thin the paint, dab from brush, and do multiple passes if you have to. Overall, I like the composition and I think with just a few tweaks you’ll have some new things to explore.
My husband even agrees that the beard in particular he prefers on the old model than the new one. This is something that I need to go back and work on for sure.
More Detailed Comparision
One thing I absolutely forgot I did when I wrote the 2021 Benchmark write up is I included specific areas of desired growth. Listed below. Lets go through and see which ones I succeeded in.
Aspects of Desired Growth
Fur: Can I learn to paint fur better that it could even dictate the type of animal it comes from? Potential area to improve skills and knowledge in drybrushing?
Left 2022 fur, Right 2021 Fur
No Change. This aspect I consider no growth. They were essentially the same with contrast paint used on the newer model and more drybrushing and colors used on the older model. None scream as a better approach but rather just different approaches.
Armor: Methods and ways of painting True Metallics in miniature figures. Can I make armor shine? What are the different types of metals?
Left 2022 metal painting, Right 2021 Metal Painting
Success! This area was commented numerous times as significant areas of improvement. Use off better metallics along with selective use of washes and significant improvements on brush control & edge highlighting shine here.
Weapons: How do I make metallics & weapons look more battle worn and dinged?
Top 2021 sword, Bottom 2022 sword
Fail? (Just Different) I personally think that the weapons look less battle damaged in the new model vs the old. The use of the wash on the sword really helped give more of an aged aesthetic.
Skin: Starting completely from scratch. Largest desire is to have growth and variety in skin tone for my miniature collection.
Hair: Much like skin I have not put much effort into growing or researching this area in miniature painting.
Left painted face 2022, Right painted face 2021
Success and Fail. In this aspect my skin and eye are significantly improved but the contrast off the beard was preferred on the old model. I am proud of where I started with skin but want to research hair more.
Cloak: Layering and contrast. Can I improve my layering? Make smoother transitions in blending the layers? What methods & techniques work best for me?
Left painted cloak 2022, Right painted cloak 2021
Success. Improved blending was definitely an area off focus here. I worked quite a bit last year on glazing and next year hope to grow in wet blending. Also work towards improving those highlights.
Technical aspects I seek to improve upon
Improving Brush Control. Success
Zenethial Highlighting & Source Lighting, Success
Basing. Can I make the miniature tell a story, Success
Model appearance after basing2021 Benchmark Model Take 2 Primed via AirbrushAirbrushed Primed 2021 Benchmark Model
Adjacent Goals
Improve my miniature photography, Success
3D Printing the Figure
Can I improve the state of the print itself? Success
Methods to improve post process clean up, Success
Note I did break a hand/weapon joint and had to use green stuff to clean it up again. Success no breaks
Of all the other areas I wish to grow I definitely feel like I hit improvements on each single one. This is a really good feeling.
Final Photographs
Left 2022 Benchmark, Right 2021 BenchmarkLeft 2022 Benchmark, Right 2021 BenchmarkLeft 2022 Benchmark, Right 2021 BenchmarkLeft 2022 Benchmark, Right 2021 Benchmark
Paints Used
Not only did I improve in some painting skills, I also am happy that I have started a paint journal to keep track of paints used, notes, and thoughts during a project. Sometimes those notes are simple such as here.
Benchmark Model Paint JournalPaint Journal for Benchmark Model Page 2
Conclusion
I am super glad that I took the time to paint this model and do a benchmark test. Although I was disappointed the moment of completing the figure looking back only a few days I am excited about my growth in the hobby. This write up has also been immensely helpful to show me that I am indeed getting better.
One thing I definitely take for granted and need to articulate is the fact that along with improving my painting skill, I have sped up tremendously. While the original model was painted over 5 painting sessions this one was over 2. This is also an area of hobby growth.
I highly recommend a benchmark model if you ever feel like you are stagnant in your hobby or skill growth. This was a fun experiment and I am definitely going to be doing another one for this year and perhaps make it an annual thing. If you want a sneak peak as to what I’m working on make sure you follow me on Instagram.
Have you ever painted a benchmark? Can you see a difference? What should I focus on for the next year?
Thank you for sharing this journey with me. As always happy hobby.
I am definitely riding the high from this year’s 2025 Nova open. And what a treat it has been to go to and see my friends. I always walk away full of inspiration, a bag full of goodies and a mind full of creative endeavors to do for next year. Heading to the event I…
Playing Bloodbowl is wacky and fun. But wouldn’t it be better with a fully fleshed out stadium to play in? Join my process of creating a 3D printed bloodbowl pitch.
Welcome to the state of the crazy where I discuss what I’ve completed, what is on the hobby desk and what is next in line. My hobby space is always in a stage of crazy and this is my opportunity to share my excitement, provide progress updates, and plans for the future in my miniature figure 3D printing and painting hobby to bring to my tabletop.
Assembly
Picture of the Snotling Blood Bowl Team Assembly
Fun Fact: I’ve only assembled one miniature sprue kit previously. The year was 2014, I had no idea what I was doing and to this day not a single one of those models is still fully intact. Perhaps one day I will bring new life to them.
This time I fully intend to assemble them right, using the correct tools and glue. I recieved this Snotling Blood Bowl team as a gift given for Christmas. I don’t even play bloodbowl but have been really playing with the idea of playing Dungeon Bowl also I realized I kinda have a weekness for goblins and this adorable sculpts.
Overall I am about 70% built and assembled but still have to take some time to sand and scrape mold lines before it gets put into the booth to be primed and painted. The pump wagon has taken the most amount of work but after finishing one I should be able to knock the rest out in a sitting.
Printing Updates
Starting a Brand New Printer
Brand New Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K
I have been struggling for quite some time now with my original resin printer due to a pretty significant z-wobble. This has resulted in a large quantity of print failures. Therefore using some holiday money and income from pre-support work I have purchased a brand new Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K. This is the same “exact” printer than what I already own, however Phrozen has apparently improved its printer. I am currently putting the printer through its paces to see if it lives up to that promise. Stay tuned for more information and direct comparisons on the printer of new vs old.
On a Quest …
One model I particularly have fallen in love with is an adventurers quest board from CastnPlay’s December model release “Adventurers Guild”.
As one of my very first prints on the new printer I am exceptionally happy with it and have so many plans. But in order to pick up quests you have to have adventurers so I decided to also print all the miniature figures that accompany this set as well.
Adventuring Board Castnplay
Painting Update
New Toys?
One of the largest tools of the hobby that I have been both dreaming of as well as fighting against was the addition of an airbrush to my arsenal. Hearing that it was something I really wanted to own and learn, my family decided to help me flesh out this dream and make it a reality. So I now have a new tool which requires learning as well as setup. So in my extra careful way I have officially setup an airbrush booth and ventilation for it as well. I am trying to figure out a plan on how to best learn how to use this well and effectively.
Fully expect things to be painted much faster, especially buildings!
Have I improved painting in a year?
Last January I painted a benchmark model of a dwarf from the Hold My Dwarf Kickstarter. The goal was to paint the best I could and paint the model again in January 2022 and see if I noticeably improved in a year. I have finished the model and even posted in a few places online to see if others could spot a difference. I am gathering their responses and doing a write up for it now. I definitely feel like I have improved but wish it could be even better. Can you guess which one is wich?
What is in the Queue?
Painting
Painting I definitely plan to paint my benchmark for 2022 which some might call a “giant” of a project. It is still getting cleaned up and cured but will be primed and start on painting soon.
I am also planning to paint the quest board and perhaps try something new….
And of course those snotlings are going to see some love. This will definitely keep me busy and since I don’t get a whole lot of time to paint probably bring me into February.
Printing
I do not yet know what I am planning to print next as I am focusing on catching up in my writing and painting. Other than some presupport work and really pushing my new printer to its limit I am most likely going to just calibrate the printer like a crazy person in anticipation of a new resin printing tutorial series I’m working on. If you have specific questions about 3D printing now is the time to ask!
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”. Lets see what next week will bring.
It is that time again to welcome in the new calendar year, we are now older and hopefully a little bit wiser. Much like many many people, last year I wrote down a pretty humble list of hobby goals for2021 and although I didn’t complete all of my goals I am still incredibly happy with what I did accomplish in the past year. Feel free to read more about my review of last year here: 2021 Hobby Goal Retrospective.
Yes I know what you are thinking, hobby goals, showcases these yearly posts are cliche and exhaustively overused. However last year I discovered that having a thought out list of goals was actually immensely helpful for me to see what I really wanted to achieve but also gain perspective on how much I accomplished over the course of the year. This allows me to have an improved understanding of my time management and really prioritize the upcoming year.
So for my own sanity and organization here I am…
What is different this year?
For this year’s goals I have decided to do something a little bit different. I am setting overview goals out of a long bucket list of aspirations that are on my mental list of some of the things I desire to do. Why? I tend to be a really big dreamer with more goals than I can reasonably do. So I am going to attempt to do a specific number of goals per category which will allow me to still have a dreamer list while also still being reasonable as to what I can accomplish. This will provide flexibility to move with changing interests or adapt to things I don’t yet know will happen.
My universal motto and approach will be, “Improve my skill, output and performance over the previous year.” So I am planning on using last year as a benchmark of comparison so I can more definitely see how I match up.
I also hope to solve one massive issue in my retrospective of last year, I don’t know specifically how many goals I achieved in the last year because many of them were not objectively pass/fail. This should be more straight forward.
Painting:
Paint more models than 2021:
Scatter Terrain: 2
Buildings: 2
Miniatures: 26
Try or start learning 5 New Techniques and Skills
Begin 3 New Deep Dives
Overall all of these things are pretty straight however if you are new to the site you may be asking 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.
I started a project several years ago in attempt to recreate a Printable Scenery marketing image of a ruined castle using their rampage castle digital files. To this day I’m determined to finish it and paint it for my collection.
I also have had an idea to really dig into the conversation of “3D printing is Cheaper than buying Physical Models”. There is the perfect set of files for this conversation and I fully plan to really give my highly researched spin on the topic.
Blog:
Average of 5 or more posts a month (4 was average for 2021)
Maintain writeups of 2022 printing & painting. Aka If I print or paint itthe models end up on the site
Add 10 3D printing tutorials
Other:
Put 250 miniatures on the website from Current Physical Collection (approximately 25%)
Aim for 500 Instagram followers and use to track hobby days (323 as of today): Follow Here
Play two new tabletop games
Conclusion
Much Easier to achieve, right? Also so much more easily explainable. I definitely think this list is doable and flexible to account for the changes I don’t see coming. I also very intentionally shifted my priority to be writing and painting related. I have always put printing first as it has been a primary hobby, and source of hobby income. However, I have immensely begun to enjoy painting more than ever before and am going to embrace it this year and see where it takes me.
I am also extremely disappointed with the lack of writing I’ve been doing lately and found it therapeutic during the year. Specifically the “State of the Crazy” of my weekly updates of what I’ve been up to kept me honest and on track of the happenings in my hobby universe.
What about you? Do you have goals and aspirations with the new year? I’d love to hear from you.
