Getting back into hobby has it’s fair share of struggles but fear not! We have an experienced guest sharing his story of triumph over the paint god!
Hey there! I’m Anders, new writer for Southern Painting and making a guest appearance for Spikey Bits! I’m here to tell you about my struggles in getting back into the hobby. Ever wondered what struggles we returnees face after longer breaks? Have no fear! I am here to tell my story about painting a Space Wolves mini, and Eleven Shades of Grey
Today I write as a seasoned member of the Warhammer community, and a recent returnee to the hobby. Having taken a break for quite some years during university and only occasionally breaking out the greenstuff and sculpt tools to fix one of the many unfinished pieces of my Space Wolves army.
Let’s start off by setting up my preferred sides of the hobby. Always loved converting and sculpting, but could never find the true enthusiasm for painting. And the gaming side of it, well to me it was like taking a beer with the fellas, but instead of beer, spirits and laughter, it was more about dice-rolling, WAAAGH! and (s)laughter.
Stocking up on supplies
When getting back into the hobby, my first big hurdle was that Games Workshop has, since i took my leave, changed their colors. This meant a lot of paints had to be purchased and hopefully would match what i had once gotten used to.
I went to the local hobby shop to completely stock up on as much as i could possibly need. a couple of brushes and a new palette later i came to the paint shelf. I kind of knew what i wanted. at least my basic four shades of gray for the armor, two-three shades of red, blue and yellow for off pieces and trinkets, flesh tones and metallics to cover bronze and steel. And of course the mandatory “Skull White” and “Chaos Black” (it feel heretical to use the new names for it).
Everything was easy except for one part. the armor colors, here i needed the same specific colors that i was used to paint with. Sure that my (un)trained eye had found the ones i needed, i broke the old piggy-bank and went home.
Eager to get started i got one of my old minis to user as a reference for my next mini. I knew how i used to paint, how hard can it be with an entire set of new brushes and paints? Extremely hard i would quickly find oút. My new gray colors i had picked up was hard to measure against the old mini. I planned to begin with a couple of base layers and darker colours, and as i start off i could hear myself saying over and over: “I’m sure this is what it looked like” and “it’ll get better once it dries”.
Trouble Brewing
Turns out you don’t remember what exact color a paint has when you haven’t used it in seven years. Not one of the shades of gray i had picked up matched what i needed it to. 11 available colors from Games Workshop that is gray-ish. And from the four i had bought, none matched.
So after finishing the armor on the miniature i had been painting, i quickly realize that it sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of my army. It looks like a feeble attempt from a Black Templar to infiltrate the proud ranks of my Space puppies. So the very next day i went back to purchase the remaining seven gray colours.
So here i sit today, stocked full with everything from paints and brushes to bad painting experiences and minis. Ready to get back into both painting as well as telling you all about what not to do while painting. So if you happen to stumble across this when you feel like going back into the hobby, heed my words battle-brother and battle-sister. Ask someone for help with the new colors, or buy a mega paint-set.
Anders “Barkie” Brundin
About the Author: Bartosz "Battesai" Koc
