2021: A hobby retrospective.

 This post is a bit of a look back on what I actually managed to get painted in 2021, as tbh, it felt like I didn't get much done, but I got more done than I originally thought, in retrospect. 

My one big project this year was these Greenskins: 

but there's more about them later. 

The year was hindered somewhat for about a quarter of it by having problems with my medication, so looking back, what I got done in about nine months was even more productive!

Lots more photos and stuff after the cut...

 First off, the stuff I don't usually post much of here, the commissions: 

One of my favourite jobs of the year was this squat warband, complete with an Eldar 'advisor': 

These were such a fun job as I was given pretty much free reign on the painting and conversions, apart from minor guidance on colours etc. I was also lucky enough to do some reinforcements for them later in the year, which I've just finished: 

I also did a large selection of assorted Gnolls, from North Star Figures, firstly the (plastic) rank and file: 

and a bunch of metal characters: 

And a big ol' giant Gnoll monster: 

Also, a bunch of tiny Imp things: 

Next up was a Keeper of Secrets:

Again, I was given free range on this one and had a lot of fun with it. 

Kal Jericho and Skabs was another job, but this time the aim was to do my take on the box art paint job, so the schemes were a bit more limited. Mind you, I'd have probably painted them the same way tbh: 

Another large commission was a big lot of monsters for someone's D&D campaign: 

I was particularly pleased with the Elementals, as I did all the bases. Usually, as you can see from the photos, the client tends to do the bases to match their own existing models:

My final commission of the year was another fun one, a RT era Ork warboss: 

These are just so much fun to paint, and they're packed with details!

Next, on to my own stuff. Firstly, my one main project of the year, Greenskins! 

I've always wanted a 3rd Edition WFB era army, and I've been collecting these on and off for a few years. Although I've got a fair few rank and file models, there's not really enough to do a full army yet. I should work on getting those finished, but they're all in unfinished states, so the only parts I've got done so far are the Snotlings and a couple of war machines: 

The Snots are a laugh to paint, even if they're so tiny. Here they are led by the notorious Gobbledigook, who's probably a goblin, but we're not sure. 

Next is the MD2 Skull Crusher: 

and the MD3 Lead Belcher: 

Much like my long lamented Regiment of Renown project, my aim is to collect the rest of the Machineries of Destruction box sets and get them all painted up, I'm about halfway there at the moment! 

Another larger project was an Eldar warband. Here they are complete with their Navigator and pilot: 

Another random pair was a couple of Tyranids from the Advanced Space Crusade box set. No real reason for these, I was just playing with contrast paints, and quite liked how they turned out. Not bad for an hours work or so, tops. I've never really been a huge fan of 'nids, but I'm tempted to get a few more of these out of the ASC box(es!) to paint up. 

Finally, one of my favourite paint jobs of the year, Perdurabo and Choronzon: 

I just love these guys, the sculpting of Crowley was spot on, and converting him to 40k was great fun. 

Having done all that painting, my other major hobby project this year was my escapades in the world of 3d printing with the Uniz IBEE i bought at the end of last year, and arrived at the beginning of 2021: 

My very first print, a Pirate from the Iain Lovecraft 'Pirates vs Cthulhu' Kickstarter I backed turned out incredibly well: 

this led on to the world of Thingiverse, and finding a lovely Beakie Marine: 

And also the purchasing of some other files to go with my long term Tallarn project.

After doing a lot of searching, and not finding a model I wanted, I decided to turn my hand to see if I could design my own models, the result of which was this Tallarn-style tracked bike (Documented *here*)

I've been pleased by my progress on 3d design, but it's a very steep learning curve and I'm very much a beginner. It's something I plan on returning to in the new year, but it's something that I do struggle with due to my spinal damage making it difficult to operate a PC for very long before having to take a break, and that inevitably makes learning harder as I can't get into the 'flow' of it anymore. 

Finally, my long-abandoned Altheim project did get a bit of attention during the year, but not much. I made a bit more progress on painting the walls, but that was about it. Again, next year I plan to take it further, the opportunities for designing items in CAD for 3d printing are limitless. 

So, there you go, that's what I've been up to this year. I hope you've all had a productive hobby year, so I'll leave by wishing you all a merry xmas, and a happy, healthy new year, both from myself, and my muse, Dave!