How to Hobby on a Budget
Sometimes hobby spending can get a little out of control. I find myself looking for hobby projects and ways to spend my time that won’t break the bank.
I figure this is something that most of could likely benefit from so I typed up my short list below.
I’m TPM, the host of Forge The Narrative. We talk a lot about this sort of stuff in addition to the tournament scene on my podcast and our during our weekly live webcast over on google plus/YouTube.
Here are just a few ways I plan to keep myself hobbying on the cheap:
Number 1
Paint What I Already Have. This is something that I have been at a while. I love to collect and because of that I have a lot of models just sitting on the shelf or near my hobby area. I talk about this on my show, Forge The Narrative, a good bit but I have been just sitting in my paint chair and attempting to paint everything within arm’s reach.
So far I have completed 10 grey knight terminators, a Dread Knight, 10 Daemonettes, 20 pink horrors and two Dark Angel Raven Wing bike squads. I’ve been at it a couple of months but it is nice to see the backlog of figures clearing out. I plan to keep at it to help me feel like I am still getting my hobby on without having to spend anything else. In this pic the bases are still a little WIP, but you get the idea.
Number 2
Rebase an Army. This sounds tedious, expensive and mind numbingly boring but let me explain. I have a couple marine based armies that were done pre 32mm bases. On schedule now, is to go back and re-do my Grey Knight army. All the Strike Squads and Purifiers are currently on 25mm bases. As an aside I am not all that happy with the way they look and I know I can do better now than when I originally finished them so in addition to filling the hobby time I am also going to be giving them a little bit of an upgrade.
For not much money at all (buying bases on ebay or whatever) I can get a few hours of solid hobby time in and make a significant difference to the way the figures look and perform on the table.
Even if you don’t need to convert an army from 25mm to 32mm there may be an army sitting on the shelf that you aren’t especially proud of now that your painting skills have improved.
Number 3
Make/Buy Scenery. Not many of us have perfect tables at home and Line of Sight blocking terrain is essential to balanced game play. Our terrain game is pretty much the last thing we focus on and with the increase in laser cut terrain manufactures out there, the time is now. I just picked up a four pack of 28mm shipping crates. I can spend a day or so making those look sharp and the will have an instant impact on my tabletop.
If you are looking to get a little more hands on, a hot foam cutter can be picked up from hobby lobby or amazon fairly cheap. This will allow you to carve up some of that packing foam you may have left over from holiday gifts to make boulders, walls or whatever. The foam cutters are extremely easy to use and with just a little practice you can make some usable terrain.
What did I miss here? What are a few other ways I can maximize my hobby time on a small budget?
If podcasts are your thing, I’ve included episode 125 below. Please check us out and subscribe! Thank you.
