What is this Hobby?
“Hobbying” is a term that gets used by a lot of different people to describe a lot of different activities. We even do it on this website, so I thought it would be a good starting point to have a look at what I perceive as being some of the key activities, what are involved in them, who tends to gravitate towards them and if you think they sound like fun, how you can explore them a little more. This is a header post, containing the steps, but each one will likely get a deep dive as we continue this blog over the coming weeks and months. I think they can break down into Designing, Manufacturing, Building, Painting, Playing and Displaying.
Designing is the process of conceiving and then bringing into life a vision or an idea. Within our hobby, that tends to come in four main forms. Designing a digital file or sculpt to then be used in 3D printing or casting, designing Diorama’s for display models, conceiving of color schemes or designs for banners, or even designing and building a world for the lore of your mini’s and your characters. Designing does not have to start from scratch either, it can also be a process of combining and morphing several other ideas from others into one new creation.
Manufacturing is likely the newest element to the hobby for most, unlocked by the affordability and approachability of 3D printers that are starting to hit the market. Once a model, either character, monster, terrain or otherwise, is signed off by the designer, the manufacturing of it begins. Typically the mainstay of larger organisations, models can be cast in resin, plastic or metal, produced on mass or in much smaller batches depending on the size of the producer and what they are being used for. We have a 3d printer here at Everstromn Hobbies which is a lot of fun to play around with, and I can only imagine that it will grow from an interest to an obsession over the coming months and years.
Building is the process of taking the manufactured items and constructing them into the vision the original designer or the actual hobbyist has in their head. For mini’s purchased from some of the larger organisations they tend to come on sprues, plastic parts arranged on a grid that you snap / cut off, glue together and get ready for the next step. If the model has come from 3D printing, there might be curing time or supports that need to be removed. For most models there may be ‘clean up’ required, such as removing moulding lines or cleaning residue from the manufacturing process. For some dioramas or terrain building, this could include the collection and gluing of materials for making bases, turning random components and everyday household items into some amazing looking pieces that are impossible to distinguish what they originally were by the end of construction.
Painting is for most where they spend the majority of their “hobbying" time. I tend to find whenever I discuss what I enjoy with other people, this is the step they ‘get’ the quickest and easiest, and for a lot of people was probably their first vision of the hobby and all that it can be. Painting is the focus of a lot of content out there, from tutorials to reviews to discussions to show off pieces (more on that later) and is representative of the time investment. Typically it starts with Priming of some sort, putting down a layer of paint that helps all consequent layers to stick to the model, followed by multiple layers, colors and techniques that help to achieve that vision from the initial design phase. Some people love it, some people hate it, some people try and get through it as quickly as possible whilst others try will spend hours, days and even weeks, perfecting every single stroke and layer of paint to get the result they want.
Playing is the end goal for a lot of the hobbyists, but not all of them. Depending on the design of the models, the system and the interests of the players, play can take the form of small gladiatorial combat in an ancient fantasy realm through to galaxy wide starship battles, or maybe dungeon delving through ancient ruins to find treasure, role playing a magical wizard setting out to find an artefact that can free their parents… The possibilities are endless, and every day more and more systems and games are being released into the market for consumers to try and discover the one that best allows them to enjoy their time playing.
Playing can take the form of friendly local games, perhaps at a local gaming store or with a friendship group, or it could be taken to the competitive level, grand scale tournaments at conventions or national meet ups where players can challenge their tactical skills against the best of the best. The differing levels of play have their pro’s and con’s, levels of stress and relaxation depending on what you enjoy and where a player falls on spectrum of casual gamer focused on story and narrative through to hard competitive ‘power gamer’ where winning and effective use of the rules and your units is of upmost importance.
Displaying is hobbying with the end goal of showing off your work and presenting it out for the world to see. The end goal of displaying is not exclusive from playing, quite often hobbyists will display their models between painting sessions somewhere they can gaze upon them, perhaps for inspiration or to make them smile on the way out the door. For some though, display is the primary goal, creating models as pieces of art that can be shown to the world as is, without a system or a game required to justify their creation. There are painting competitions, some of the more famous being Crystal Brush or Golden Daemon, allowing artists to flex the creative muscles, where as some hobbyists create pieces to gift to others, as a show of time and commitment to bring a smile to others faces.
Display can also be the final resting place for some models that used to be played. Quite often systems are updated and changed - perhaps a unit was too strong or a part of the player base was abusing a rule, and so the rule set is updated and balanced and units brought back into line. That powerful creature that used to be the core of an army is no longer viable to take, and gets relegated to the shelf whilst a new powerful monster takes its place. Perhaps a whole game gets replaced, because a new version or edition comes out, or a new game hits the scene and an older one dies off. There are many many reasons that people stop playing with certain models, and depending on the people that own the models they can either end up in a glass fronted shelf or a box in the attic.
If you have been around this hobby for any length of time, there are lots of tasks and passions that do not fit within the 6 categories above, and rightfully so. Is buying a model someone already owned and the stripping the paint off of it design, manufacturing or building? Looking to win best painted army at a competitive tournament, does that count as display or playing? Typically in life nothing is black and white, fitting into neat boxes easily, but hopefully the above gives you a chance to think on what you like about the hobby and where you enjoy spending your time. I spend a lot of time in my professional career just providing a common language and definitions for people doing very similar jobs to start talking to each other and improving the way they work. I guess that’s my hope for this blog as well, not just this post but Everstromn Hobbies in general - providing a common safe space and a language or definition so people can talk to each other about this hobby which we all enjoy and love.
We will look to be investigating each of the 6 areas above in more detail in more posts down the line. There are so many conversations to be had about each one, exploring them in more detail and looking towards new developments, old traditions and how we can celebrate each element more and more. I have often heard that this hobby is effectively made up of multiple smaller hobbies, each in their own right worthy of dedication and hours of effort. For me, the biggest challenge with this hobby that I have had over the past few months is focusing which part of the hobby I want to be spending the limited hobby hours I have!
So in that vein - what do you love about the hobby? Is there any area from the 6 above that you find yourself leaning towards or away from, wishing you did more or less of? Are there any bits of the hobby that you don’t like, but have to put up with to unlock another area you absolutely love? Let me know in the comments below, I look forward to hearing from you all.
