Social Media? More like social ugh.

I “quit” Instagram again… I think that’s the third time this year. And by quit I mean that I probably won’t post anything for a while, and try not to share anything to Stories either. It’s complicated.

For a very long time I’ve had this weird relationship with social media. The engagement, likes, and everything else fuels that need for constant gratification. And yet I also find it really frustrating. I can’t seem to “get” that particular aspect that leads to a growth in my account, and often find that my content tends to fall fairly flat. Then I get frustrated and decide not to post, and the cycle repeats all over again.

So maybe this time I’ll use that period as a reset. Refrain from posting anything at all for the rest of December and work on whatever hobby I feel like in the meantime. Taking pictures(or not) as I feel like it. Maybe it’ll be a refreshing change of pace from constantly needing to worry and stress about making “content” – and generally I really hate that phrase, because it’s my own hobby and I shouldn’t have anxiety about producing anything.

In part this ties back partly to what I’m doing on Instagram in terms of what I’m calling “partnership transparency”. I’ve reached out to a number of hobby companies and simply asked what criteria, if any, they have in place for any influencer or partnership programs. Generally the consensus seems to be that follower counts of around 5,000 is what everyone is looking for. Which if that’s the case I have a very long way to go.

I’d love to work with a few companies in particular, especially AMMO by mig for their weathering products, Artis Opus for their brushes, and of course Games Workshop… because most of what I do is Warhammer. I was lucky enough to receive a set of speedpaints from The Army Painter, as well as two sets of resin infantry from Kromlech. I simply haven’t had any extra time yet to try out the products or do anything with them.

I’m a little all over here, but the main point is: social media is hard, y’all. At least for me… maybe other people find it a lot easier. Anyway, I’m on Instagram break for a little while. Possibly until January, or earlier if I decide to change my mind.

Alpha Legion Land Raider Proteus

In my last post I had mentioned that there were still several things I wanted to complete on this Land Raider Proteus, small things like enamel washes here and there. Well, I ended up taking “finished” pictures of the model anyway, using a new concrete vehicle hangar backdrop/diorama thing.

The hangar was made using a piece of pink insulation foam with the concrete squares carved out lightly in ballpoint pen. I did several layers of stippled on grey paint after priming the foam in black artist gesso. It still needs finishing touches(clearly something I’m bad at haha), but combined with some mdf terrain from Death Ray Designs, it seems to work great for my intended purpose.

The Proteus is a great model and was a lot of fun to build, as all of the new Horus Heresy vehicle kits are. What usually takes the longest during assembly is cleaning the tracks of any mold lines, but that’s because it’s something I’m very particular about. The wrap around track system looks great here and makes for a unique looking chassis that clearly calls back to the original Land Raider model from the very early days of Warhammer 40,000.

Hobby time is still limited, but I have a total of five vehicles in my painting queue right now. A Kratos tank, a Cerberus, a Sicaran Venator, a Sicaran Arcus, and a Deimos Predator. These combined with my existing collection will form the basis of an Armoured Spearhead Rite of War that should be a lot of fun to play on the tabletop.

Thanks for reading.