20 Blocks - how is it going? - How does it work

If you read an earlier post I mentioned I am looking at painting models in blocks of 20. I have 20 painting handles, and it’s a pretty good number to not be too much and keep me focused with enough variety. I tried this with an initial 12 and liked it, so have gone with 20.

Part of the challenge with painting is that I have heaps of stuff and from lots of ranges. If I put all my effort into painting one range or one game, one army, etc, then I tend to get bored and end up looking wistfully at other models. This may mean my motivation drops off. But if I paint whatever I want, I don’t have anything finished - all my collections stay unfinished.

So this got me thinking, I want to stay motivated, i want to finish collections and I want to paint stuff that I enjoy and a variety.

This leads to the 20 Block. I pick 20 models from a variety of ranges and paint them all before I paint the next block. This does mean that for large ranges (GW, Reaper bones, etc) it will take forever to finish them all, but I will at least get to feel a bit resolved that some of them get painted.

So I also decided that I will paint mini-groups as part of this 20 block. This is a good idea as it makes little sense to paint 1 model for a squad per 20, due to them being similar in paint scheme, etc, it also means that for some of my collections I get to finish blocks of them, which justifies the spending a little.

Of course, if a competition comes up, or I need a model for a game, etc, I will change it up. It’s not a hard and fast rule but a system.

Two changes I have decided on :

There are certain ranges I will always have in a 20 block as I have heaps of models for them, but in others, I have a small amount so they will flip in and out depending on how I feel. I have put an Asterisk on them below:
I decided that between blocks I will paint 5 monsters from Blacklist. they are 5 identical sculpts and pretty basic so this way I get them done, but they don’t clog up my 20 block. sort of a palette cleanser.
Not so much of a change but a clarifier, I am also painting small groups of scatter terrain during the blocks. these are usually simple pieces and it’s nice to work on something that was not super important for detailed painting.

I will keep track of this as I go and amend the ‘rules’ if they don’t work. So to summarise.

Aim:

Paint a variety of models – so I stay motivated
Finish collections, armies, projects
Paint with Contrast where possible to speed things up

Strategy:

Finished 20 models before getting the next out

Pick models from as many producers as possible
But group sets together where sensible (ie all 5 of a model from a sculpt from Blacklist)
Pick a half-painted model from previous projects

Basing:

I generally do basing in a batch, so I have a different desk with my basing stuff and blitz them all in one go. I like to focus on one area at a time.

Producers:

These are most of the producers I have models for, I am sure I have missed some, but for now, this is it. Ideally, I will pick 1 per producer, but for groups, it will be more than one, and I may decide to paint 2 models from the same producer if I want.

GW* – 40K, Necromunda, Aeronautica, Blackstone, Cursed City
CMON* – Zombicide, The Others, ASOIAF
Post Industrial Games - HINT, Unit9 Stl files
Crooked Dice
Northstar
Mantic* – TWD, Mars Attacks, Warpath
GF9
TT Combat
Klukva
Artel W
Brother Vinni
Infinity
Crippled God
Reaper*
Hasslefree
Heresy
Blacklist
FunkySkull
Studio Miniatures - Turf War Z
Warlord Games
Prodos
Half Finished Models (ie models I got partway through before and gave up). These also cover the producer they come from.

I’ve left some off, as I have very few models from them like the Giants in Miniature from Wargames illustrated, and various models from KickStarter board games, where its a one and done, and of course 3D printed models (when I get a printer). But they will come into a 20 Block as needed.

Block 1 - 3 April 2021 - 24 April 2021