Tuesday 22 October 2013

The Worst Part Is: Sprue Cutters Union #14

Welcome wargamers and hobbyists, to my fourteenth Sprue Cutters Union blog post. This week, the Union has called upon its members to discuss the very worst thing about the hobby, the thing that we despise having to do, and hate with a passion. Now these are all strong words considering that this is just a miniature modelling hobby, but the question remains...  
- What do you think is the worst part of the hobby? -  
Now then, given that the Sprue Cutters Union is centred around the hobby of assembling and painting miniatures of various kinds, I will resist the temptation to talk about the elements of the wargaming hobby I have varying degrees of issue with, like hard core tournament play, glory hogging and the unrelenting climb of the cost of the hobby. I could go on for quite some time. No, instead, I will talk about the two things I like doing the least within the modelling side of the hobby:  
1. Wargaming Triage  
Wargaming Triage is the term I use to describe the never ending task of carrying out reconstructive surgery on models that have become damaged, either in transit to or from a gaming location, or during an overzealous assault during a battle, or simply through the momentary cessation of communications between a person’s hands and their brain, commonly known (by me) as ‘oafing’, which often results in varying combinations of breakage and salvos of atrocious language.  
Damaged models is typically one of those things I can't abide. I have to at least know and understand the extent of any damage, and verify that all the components of a miniature are present before I can rest easy.
The three sounds I always dread hearing in the middle of the night are:  
- Our son stirring from sound slumber.  
- Sounds which may or may not be an intruder in the house.  
- The sound of a model (or worse, box of models!) oafed over by the cats onto the floor.  
When I hear the third sound, no matter the time of the night, I can't go back to sleep until I have at least investigated, and often shed a few tears of anguish at the repair job ahead. Tragic. It's not the repairing itself I hate, because I have become quite adept at this necessary skill, it's the knowledge of all the hard work that has gone into a model to see it dashed into several sorry pieces. Some, like my lovingly converted Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, are never quite the same again.  
2. Painting units worthy of the term 'humungous'  
It's not that I dislike painting, because I do enjoy it, but for me at least, it is secondary to the gaming. Two fully painted armies doing battle across a mist shrouded field is a truly inspiring sight. Two armies sporting the latest shades of 'bare plastic grey' and 'bare metal silver', much less so.  
I keep telling myself that I am actually pretty happy that I didn't really start painting in earnest until a couple of years ago, because it means that the majority of my miniatures are painted to a fair standard, or at least much better than they would have been if I had painted the bulk of them as a wet behind the ears painting novice in my early teens. This is a good thing.  
The boggle is (points to anyone that gets that film reference!), I have accumulated so many models in my twenty years in the hobby, I have a truly mammoth task ahead of me, which is compounded each Christmas and Birthday that rolls around, and my collection of unpainted minis is added to. The time it will take to complete the paint job on even a single army is what has me crying into my palette, not the painting itself. I guess I just need to pull my belt up, get my head down, and paint for all I am worth until the job is done. #firstworldproblems?  
So I guess I need to choose between these two bugbears, so...
Winnner of 'most hated task 2013' goes to...Triage! It had to be the repairs really, because painting is a positive action, where as piecing together smashed and broken models is down right depressing.
If you would like to read posts on this same topic by other Union Members, click on the links below. We are a varied bunch, and you will get a slightly different take on any topic from each member, so all are worth a read. Who knows, maybe we will inspire you to join the Union. All you need is a blog, a passion for the miniature modelling hobby, and to click here for the details describing how to join.
The Combat Workshop Thread Hub - links will be added here as Members post them
As always, thanks for reading...  

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