Sunday, December 4, 2016

Experiment: Introducing new blood #2

Welcome to the follow-up of my previous post where my boys where able to select their own version of coolness. It took a while to find the miniatures, but once they did arrive all was ready to start painting.

The deal was as follows They would paint their own miniature completely in base colors first and afterwards apply various whashes. In between the fases I would correct various parts and finish the highlights.

You might wonder why I helped and I realize it is not an easy question to answer.

I wanted to achieve two things with this little experiment. The first one - getting them to experience what is needed to completely paint up a miniature. The second one - own your own cool miniature to play games with.

I thought if I didn't correct their work they would possibly complain about how their miniature looked in comparison to the other miniatures. That and I must honestly say that my own tendencies for perfection might had to do something with the decision.

We've played some games and had fun, but I later realized they are still far too young to be seriously painting anything. As a dad you kinda want to share this love for miniatures, but you also know you cannot force it. In a way this little experiment confronted me more with my own expectations and whishes than it had any effect on the boys.

For example: a week or two after we painted them they didn't even remember they had miniatures at all. No matter how you look at it, that kinda hurts.

I decided to drop the effort on the kids department and let them make some effort themselves. If they're really interested they will come someday and when they do I'll remind them of the miniatures they have painted.