An Ode to the Hobby Hang - Pt 1.
Hello Kittens,
A little stealth drop for those cool kiddos on the RSS feeds. I love that the blogs are back. I love that there are now so many I am having to remind myself how an RSS feed works. It is weird, labour intensive with little to no feedback – I am hot for it.
So, when I was joke posting about Father’s Day somewhat recently – and dropping the stone-cold bombshell below – I was struck by how most of my truly excellent memories from this year have basically been hanging out with people in and around the hobby:
A selection of beautious nerds of various ages who have enriched my hobby life in the last year (or so).
Therefore, with an aim to break through my innate perfectionist/ADHD tendencies and do some posting here is a post about what I think is one of the best parts of the hobby (that we don’t do enough of).
The Hobby Hang.
What is it? Why should YOU consider doing it? how to dO it with style.
Toys soldiers can be a pretty, solitary hobby. We spend countless hours building, painting in the hope of one day playing with our toys with (ideally) a friend and (more likely) a stranger/club acquaintance. But given that being nerds together is this generations version of being “men/people-in-sheds” I would advocate for a more holistic approach – i.e. rope your mates, acquaintances or borderline internet strangers into partaking in one of any or all pillars of the hobby.
I would broadly categorise these as follows: Building. Painting. Playing. Events.
I will apologise to our dearest “larger landmass living” cousins (American/Australian nerds in particular) – these thoughts do presume that you have/can find/or get to some other nerds in under a 14-hour drive/flight away.
But if I have learnt anything from hanging out with hobby friends from different continents – not even that is an impediment with some planning a healthy dose of excitement/being KEEN.
Deep Dive
Building, Prepping and Kitbashing
I am a reluctant builder of models.
It has taken me a significant amount of time to find the joy in preparing models carefully, removing mould lines even the real basic of not terrible clipping out of the sprue. It took the enduring friendship of Ross @minirelapse – who really is an exceptionally talented basher, builder of miniatures to help me work through my general impatience.
How to do it with style:
Clear an entire Saturday/Sunday.
Pick a giant box of scenery.
Rope in 1 – 2 mates.
Ply them with beers, food and said seminal action movie(s).
Chat endless shit about how everyone pronounces Mr John Wick’s entire name, how fiddly the kit is etc and who has the clippers/glue at any point in time.
Try and get it done in one and then 3 colour prime/Zenithal. Play on it next time you hang. You will feel like conquering kings of old.
Food/Drink/Media Pairing: pairs well with takeout, any low ABV larger and any or all of the John Wick movies playing in the background (Baba Yaaaayyga).
The Holy Trinity of Hobby Boy Brat Summer: A box of terrain to build and paint, the creative works of Keanu Reeves and glorious take away.
Painting Session
I love painting.
It is my happy, flow state – so much so that I do now use a couple of checks and balances so that I don’t go full “Simple Jack” when doing this in company (and often still fail terribly and end up acting like the somewhat functional savant that I am).
But it is worth stating that like many self-taught dorks, whose primary reference was old Citadel guides or White Dwarfs (which did have a touch of the how to draw an owl memes out there) there are lots of really basic technique that I was/continue to backfill.
How to Paint Good: Step One - block out all colours, Step Two - panel line with black and Step Three - add all additional details and make it good and stuff.
Aside from being fun, it is also great to get real time feedback from humans IRL. From using a rattle can properly, to brush choice and control and layering. Most of this I learnt bits from mates (in addition to the wealth of online tutorials).
How to do it with style:
Hog the biggest table in whatever living situation you have.
Set up 2 – 5 paint stations (lights if you have them, jars with water, kitchen roll) around the edge.
Put paints in the middle.
Get a vibe going.
Drink, snack, paint and chat.
Two Beautiful Humans Sharing the Nobel Art of Oil Painting.
You then have two options depending on what you are trying to get out of it:
1) The “Classic” Painting Hang - A rolling drop in where any or all can stop by and paint for a bit, share techniques and get instant feedback
2) The Painting Blitz - I/we have found an excellent way to break through a hobby slump is to paint in rounds (like at the pub). Specifically, each person brings a half-finished project, and everyone piles in to help breakthrough a particular bit. Now, I know the idea of handing your beloved toys to a mate to paint might feel like sacrilege but here is the thing. Think about how long those toys can/do sit around unfinished. Additionally, it can just be help colour blocking, layering, basing or pretty much any of the elements of batch painting (that erode the soul). 1 model on the board is worth 10 in the pile of shame.
Food/Drink/Media Pairing: Goes well with a golden ale, continental larger and trendy but not overpowering music (i.e. Hermanos Gutierrez).
Break
Thanks for reading part one of this not very serious article.
I am putting in a break here, because this way the blog goes up and I don’t end up neurosing about eternally.
Come back to read part 2 on what makes a great gaming session and how to be stylish and impactful at events.
