The 20 minute painting challenge to get the Dark Vengeance starter set

Hi everyone,

So like many of you, I recently saw the leaked 40k Dark Vengeance starter box miniature pictures. I think they are pretty stunning and I'm generally very keen to get my hands on them and develop my Dark Angels force. To be honest, with the quality of the Chaos miniatures in there and my long time like of Nurgle forces, I see a chance to start a small gribbly evil army too. 

For those of you who have missed out so far, then head over to Faeit 212's 40k rumor site to check out the pics in this post.

Here are some of the Chaos and Dark Angel models. I am very impressed with the quality in this release. I think it's a nice step up in dynamism and sculpting detail from the already excellent Assault on Black Reach models.

So with these fantastic looking models coming out very soon, my plans to add some Infinity models as allies, and my current painting backlog (about 30% of the Dreadfleet models and 40% of my Deathwing finished) I need to step up my game. 

My girlfriend is awesome, no questions. She has painted a model (very well for a first time), played Dreadfleet several times, winning each of course, and generally is very happy for me to be involved in a hobby that doesn't have me drinking, partying or doing bad things. 

She is also a voice of reason though. When I gushed excitedly about the new models and how I couldn't wait to buy them she said two things: 

 - You have only played 40k once since being here in Slovakia.

 - Why would you buy more models when you haven't painted the ones you have?

Curses. The inner collecting geek was foiled by cold logic. Instead of getting pouty, I decided to make a challenge for myself to address the two points above. I'm going to find some opponents so I can start getting games at the local store at least monthly. I'll browse the Slovak wargaming forum Old Shatter Hands linked me to and find some people who speak at least enough English to play against me. My Slovak is improving but I haven't reached 40k levels yet ;-)

The painting issue will be addressed by the 20 minute rule. 

I struggle to find the time and motivation to paint a lot of stuff and easily get overwhelmed by the stack of models that I need to do. I keep my paints tidied away and so it's annoying to get them all out and start painting, only to lose interest, energy or have to run off and do something else soon after starting.

No more.

Instead I'll keep my desk set up for painting, limit myself to two models on the table at a time to minimise getting overwhelmed and I will paint for a minimum of 20 minutes per day. I can do this even on a day when I'm tired and not feeling like it and it'll help me get through the pile of models that need to be dealt with.

First Installment.

Here is my Elf warship from Dreadfleet. It took me a while to brighten up the white tones over a black spray undercoat and I'd been losing energy.

Here is the same ship after my painting session (admittedly longer than 20 mins, but hey, here's to enthusiasm). The dragon has another layer of highlights, his first claw layer and red eyes. The sail details are started, the masts are brighter now (still need the white over the top) and the ship is looking nice. 

Stay tuned for more painting updates as I go. Any and all comments encouraging, nagging or prompting me to work harder or better will be very much appreciated :-)