Yesterday, I remembered a very interesting article from the excellent Mr Saturday's mumblings. But why is that? Well I was looking at what would appear as Junk to most people (it appeared as Junk to my wife anyway) but which appeared like a treasure to me...
Mr Saturday calls it the "hobby filter" and I think it is quite a good way to see this. You're looking at the same thing but you're seeing the same thing.
Look at the test pictures below :
Here is some cardboard junk I got from work. I think it was used to hold computer parts...
Now put your "Hobby filter" on and see :
With the Hobby glasses on you can see where gap filler is needed, you can almost see how you're going to finish the stairs , add a base and equipment like wires and pipes and how you'll paint it with textured paint....
I'm seeing a perfect power plant for some confrontation/Rogue trader/necromunda/inquisimunda/inq28.
Same here :
Without the filter, I'm seeing just a piece of ...well I really don't know where that came from or what for...
What matters is that with my "hobby filter" activated, I'm seeing a splendid bunker for my planetary defense forces :
You get the idea with this one too, it could easily finish its pathetic life with some garbage but what a pity it would be...
Nah, I really prefer to consider it as the reinforced entrance to a lift leading to an underground facility (guarded by a WIP sensei)...
Now an interesting question would be : "why do I have this hobby filter activated (almost) all the time?
Well, an answer could be "because you're a pathetic maniac" and that would be a big part of the truth... but looking at the models I have for Rogue trader skirmish purposes (Detailed here and here), I feel I'm lacking something...
What I have here is a hot beer, what I want is a cool one with lads to drink with if you see what I mean. The collecting and paintnig are one aspect of this hobby I've always been enjoying a lot but when I'm seeing things like that :
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| Splendid table form The lead pile |
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| Splendid table from the Oldschool workshop |
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| Splendid table from Shoebox |
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| Splendid table from Deathworld adventures |
All this incredible work I'm showing you is giving me plenty of ideas and the quality displayed surely gives the will to do something good. This is all about emulation and I just love it.
For now I'll just put my hobby glasses on and finish a couple of things I'm eager to share with you...
ReplyDelete"Pathetic maniac" still has me laughing: thats as damning a description I have heard for us with "The Affliction" as I have heard for a while :)
I find that terrain building is something that I dont want to do all the time, but that I engage in in month long bouts roughly about once a year. It really is worth it though. All the painted miniatures in the world dont add up to much if they are scrapping on a kitchen table top covered in books and junk.
If you plan to make terrain then I strongly suggest you take a look at the inspirational guides on Matakishis Tea House. Matakishi has a knack for getting solid results in the most straightforward ways possible. His rate of project completion is second to none too.
http://www.matakishi.com/
Good luck with your terrain. It will be hard work, but when it works out the return will be extra satisfying and the new locations will breathe new life into your armies.
Thanks a lot for the link, it will surely prove useful. I cannot agree than I actually do about good models on a kitchen table. for e it's like not basing a golden demon entry... I've lost most of my terrain pieces over the years and moving homes and now I think it would be very rewarding to have a few good pieces to field on the table. I think I'll just try to finish a few , taking my time over the year.
DeleteAfter a little glance at Matakishi's work, I think it will prove VERY useful,
Cheers
DeleteI found that finally moving into a house with a plan to live there for many years Allowed me to engage in various projects - including terrain - that I had been putting off for years. Hopefully you will find that the same thing happens for you.
Matakishi is - in an authentic sense - an inspiration. I dont engage in any terrain project without noting how Matakishi approached it.
After moving home 4 times in the last 3 years, I no have a big house with a huge garage waiting for a table and a lot of space to store terrain pieces, so gingers crossed on this.
Delete"My name is Jonathan... And I am an addict..."
ReplyDeleteThere should be some sort of support group for people unable to switch off the hobby filter. I have problems walking past any random piles of "trash" and loaded skips without seeing an entire world that can be created for gaming. Mr Saturdays article really hit the nail on the head back when i first saw it.
I've managed to fill the boiler room in the basement with interesting things that can be used for gaming, so my other half put her foot down and stopped me bringing more home.
Suppose I really should start bringing some of it to life.
Thanks for the mention a little while back, I'm glad the glue texture technique is useful. (a side note on that: different brands/consistencies of the P.V.A. and Superglue have all sorts of different effects.)
Also many thanks for the links to some great looking old-school gaming blogs. A friend and I are about to start playing some 40k 2nd edition and hopefully Necromunda with our gaming group. Now i have some inspirational reading to warm up with. :)
Anonymous Hobbyists... :D
DeleteWell, though it can sometimes prove awkward to live with the hobby folter on, it actually means we see the world a bit differently with (maybe) a bit more imagination and creativity, (at least it's what I tell myslf and others to avoid looking like a "pathetic maniac").
For other good gaming blogs, just follow the links on the right (you're amongst them)...
Thanks
I'm now going through you blog-roll. Some really fantastic hobby blogs that I've not come across before.
DeleteBut I'm starting to feel a bit like Bill Bailey and the Argos catalogue sketch "So many beautiful things... I cannot possess them all... *weep*"
Keeping focus is indeed the hardest thing in our hobby if we don't want it to be exhausting...
DeleteThanks for the nod. I'll pass on the praise to Linz who actually owns the table. I know what you mean about the hobby filter, I collect so much junk and then spend half my time at work chopping it up and gluing it together. I've started to try and put together more interesting boards recently and having seen Cheetors stuff I'm even more aware that I need to make things fun and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have to say painting models is a nice thing but sometimes, making something from scratch is very rewarding, terrani is very good for this. You can basically let ourself go though a little bit pf plannification beforehand helps A LOT...
DeleteThanks and congrats to Linz then (you diserve your fair share).
There's a couple of problems with terrain:
ReplyDelete1) it takes up a huge amount of space. Why, for every bunker, you could have a shoe box filled with 200 figures!
2) it encourages you to play games. With strange sweaty men your wife disapproves of!
No, I think I'll leave nicely modelled tables alone and just keep on with the hoarding and secretive collecting that goes under my wife's radar ;)
Point made, the second I'll have nice terrain and a gaming board, I'll want other geeks in my garage which will result in time taken from something else... this is going to be a tough one.
DeleteOn another hand terrain can be quite impressive and cheap so it can be a way to show th emissus that the hobby is not ALWAYS expensive...
"Honey, don't you think it looks weird to have half the garage empty ?"
Hahaha, as another pathetic maniac, I can't but agree with all of you! You are making me laugh, I can recognize myself in every comment there! Scenery is the main issue I should worry about, I only have those tiny huts on the pic above and little else. It should be a major point when approaching to games, so I applaud your effort!
ReplyDeleteWell, we all share that little spakle of madness don't we ;)
DeleteThe real problem with the hobby filter is that its easier to find things that would be really awesome for science fiction games than for fantasy games. And that means one needs science fiction figures. And lets be honest, there's no point in converting all that stuff into ace science fiction scenery just for four or five science fiction figures, so one needs to get lots of science fiction figures! And, of course, you need an enemy too - just in case none of your friends have science fiction figures! And, then, of course, you need a good divorce lawyer...
ReplyDeleteDamn, I'm more than halfway through what you describe... I should focus a bit more on my love than terrain then... a divorce wouldn't allow me to complete my renegades collection...
DeleteLOL - I can only agree with everything above. The filter is really on more or less all of the time and I do recognize myself when you write " I feel I'm lacking something..". The good thing is that I'm right now for almost ever actually working with some focus on scenery. The plan is to do a small chaos wasteland board for RoC Warband fighting
ReplyDeleteGreat post! /Hans
I 'll definitely be waiting for this ! Your altar and scenery so far are very evocative so a full board will be a delight for our eyes.
DeleteThanks Hans.
Oh, how I can relate. I fear I am at an advanced stage. I have been hoarding my collection of interestingly shaped bits of cardboard and polystyrene for years, some of it has followed me through two house moves. I even included it (along with my miniatures) in the quote for professional movers last time, but in the end I bottled having them do it as I just didn't trust them to treat it like genuinely fragile items. So, having effectively already paid for it to be moved, I then got my mother to help me move it very gently and carefully in her car (along with my minaitures). I am 37, married, with two children, but some hobby habits die hard!
ReplyDeleteThe best bit? Now I'm actually using it all! I have finally started building scenery with it all and using it in various wargames and my D&D campaign. Even better? I have started making junk models with my 4 year old son for our games of Star Wars/HeroQuest 'models and dice' and he has developed the hobby filter! My wife regularly has to stop in the street for him to pick up a bit of junk so we can use it in one of our models! :)
Funny how packing materials meant to protect stuff become valuables to be protected !
DeleteI've had to throw some away in house moves but I still do collect the best bits and sometimes get to use them as well !