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| A little taste of my current project, which will be done and posted soon |
TJ here to discuss being a member of the community, how we help each other grow and coming to an understanding of who you are in terms of this hobby and what your voice is. I know that seems like a lot, but just groove with me a while.
For years, I thought growing the community meant growing DFG and all of my effort went into pulling writers and information into this blog, where ideally people could go and maybe even find other blogs that they could be interested in (as long as they also linked back to me. Some of you may remember the DFG hub ... just know that I had great intentions.
What I was missing was that the community (and any community) is about what you and others give, not so much about what you build or how much you can build it. Even though I have built a reputation on It Came From the Forums and other ways to share what artists and businesses are doing, I still ultimately looked to how I could grow this blog. I have turned down positions writing at other blogs because I coveted my information and just wanted it on DFG ... which is just so insane to me now.
My recent hiatus has allowed me the time to explore other hobbies and also to reflect on the 1500+ posts here to really examine why I still do this and what has kept me involved for so long. It all really comes down to the community. All of my best ideas are some sort of colaborative idea that came from shooting the shit with other hobbyists here or from inspiration they shared. It made me appreciate how much we really need to take our ideas and shout them from the mountain tops. We shouldn't be holed up in our little blog wondering what's in it for us, we should be giving.
With that said, you will see me sharing my articles (with slight variations for different audiences as I get more comfortable in new places) on other blogs, like Spiky Bits and Green Stuff Industries. For me, it is all about collaborating with people who I have interacted with and have befriended in the community and it is also about getting those ideas out there and get folks brewing with them.
One post I will be sharing soon is a revamp on my old Dreadclaw Drop Pod conversion and in the article I show off a couple of other takes on the design and I have been inspired by other takes I have found on that design in the forums (there are like 100 posts out there from people who site that conversion and all of them have a cool little twist). That is what I love and what I seek.
As far as my voice goes, I am sure some people will think I am just out to promote myself and my blog and I don't care what they say. I have been doing this online since 2008 and I know my voice and my readers get me too. I am just a dude that really loves the struggle and the work that a good conversion artist goes through to make a model. I understand where that creativity comes from and I totally appreciate the little things that I know are a part of a particular breed of crazy that we all share to some degree.
That being said, I am posting for converters new and old. I am going to write for those people who have to take another path and who want to see some really cool shit. It's all about finding that feeling we all got when we discovered minis and saw our first conversions and just lost our minds. I want to carry that and give it to others and be inspired by feedback from readers and that's it. Oh and while I will make stuff pretty generalized elsewhere, I will make sure to continue adding my personal brand of neurosis in my article;)
With all that being said, the two or three of you left who got this far are hardcore readers and I certainly appreciate it. DFG has had over 3 Million views over the years and I am blown away by all the e-mails and comments and just wild stuff people share with me and I look forward to giving more of that back. Thank you all for just being here.
I like your work because they simple don't look like conversions, they are well thought out and finely executed! I just finished my first ever round of magnetizing all the options in a tactical squad for one of the NOFC armies. While not a conversion it did give me a healthy respect for polarity, super glue and drill bits o_O
ReplyDeleteI am blown away by magnets in models because after a brief love affair with the idea, I failed to make about 50 magnet attempts work between them pulling out of the model, having a different polarity than they seemed to when I marked them and my own idiocy in prepping for magnet work and I gave up. I have mega respect for anyone with the skills and patience to make that work especially over a range of models.
DeleteI feel your pain. I can see now why commission painters charge extra for magnetization. A 10 man squad took a full week just to get to the point where it is ready for priming.
DeleteBlogging today is really just an online diary about a specific subject but because it's published to the world any self respecting blogger is going to have that little doubt that it's all about ego-boosting and self-promotion, if we didn't we'd really just want to be be fame-hungry and needy.
ReplyDeleteWe will always apologise for trying to do more and share more, despite the fact there is no need. Any blogger that has amassed the followers, page views and more importantly body of posts that you have no longer needs to apologise, but the fact that you do shows more about the man that you are and the values that you believe in.
eep doing what you're doing and if you can share it in more places then good luck.
Thanks man. The weight of the portfolio never really hit me until I went post by post through it and I know I don't need to tell you that it develops a gravity and a momentum and it is as scary as it is awesome. I'm really digging where things are going right now and I just want to push that feeling and what I have learned out further ... in the end I just want to see more great work from others and maybe my work is a start point of inspiration or maybe my work is the no balls call to a person with a competitive spirit who just wants to out do me. Either way, I am all about it.
DeleteFirst off, 1500 posts is amazing, and second don't worry about anyone complaining about your posting on other sites, you have continued to produce amazing and helpful material to the whole blog world.
ReplyDeleteI think we all go through transitions in our blogging, from a basic who-would-ever-read-this diary, to holy crap people read my shit - I'm going to be famous!, and finally most of us come back the center where we post what we like and try to provide great content for those who do read our blogs.
I look forward to your redo of the Dreadclaw as I actually forgot about that project and would love to see a revamped article on it.
It should be out there soon. It's going to post on some other great blogs before I give it a home here. I didnt maje a new one, so I was stuck with the original photos, but I cleared up the instructions and gave some love to some great dudes that picked up the design and sent some cred back my way.
DeleteLovin it. It all comes down to community. It's such a wonderful experience to share the builds on peoples blogs, then SEE the work in person, it's like kid in a candy store syndrome. Then you learn all sorts of ideas and tips while sharing some beers. Magic times I tell you!
ReplyDeleteWhen art is on the table, everyone has something to eat.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteVery nice paint job, can't speak about the conversion as I don't do 40K, but it looks badass
ReplyDelete