Shake Off the RustIt's a great hobby for us older people

Back to painting with sadly shaky hands and reduced eyesight

Painted skeleton cowboy figure sitting on the edge of a paint-spattered workbench, brush in hand beside him — My eyes are not as good and my hand no so steady but I still enjoy it very much.

Can't believe how bad my eyesight has got!

Reading glasses lying on a model kit instruction sheet next to sprues of tiny plastic parts — Need reading glasses and industrial grade flood lights for everything smaller than my own fingers...

I wear reading glasses and my hands shake when I'm concentrating. When did the parts get so tiny?

I can't see the finer details up close.

Blurry close-up of tiny kit parts — Really small parts

Sharp close-up of the cowboy's painted skull and hat — I can finally SEE them!

So I wanted to go for something bigger.

1.1"

28mm

3.5"

The Skeleton Cowboy

Unpainted beige skeleton cowboy figure sitting in an open palm — The larger scale … a welcome change of pace to someone with my failing eyesight!

If it looks like sh*t, that's fine.

Painted cowboy with the hat brim, shirt, jeans and boots marked

An older man's hands painting the cowboy's hat brim, one hand steadying the figure on the bench — Wrist support greatly reduces the shaking.

Bright hobby lamp shining down on the painted cowboy, reading glasses beside him — Take your time, correct mistakes, and get a good hobby light.

I always paint in the evenings.

Plain figure as it arrived — Unpainted

Figure in grey primer — 1Primer

Figure with flat base coats, one leg still grey — 2Base coat

Finished painted figure — 3Wash

Time to get my eye and shaky hand in again.

It's nice to see the difference age and patience makes, even if my eyesight has gone and my hands are less steady.

The figure as it arrives: plain beige resin

The same figure painted: denim shirt, brown hat, weathered boots

UnpaintedPainted

My eyesight is not great. I'm still over the moon about this guy.

Painted skeleton cowboy on a wall shelf beside small old metal western figures — Not terrible for someone with tremors in his hands.

I have the same issue with my hands and eyes.

9"From one shaky handed painter to another keep up the good work"

5"Your shaky hands are better than my non-shaky hands!"

2"Reduced eyesight is actually good for painting minis"

What do I need to get started?

The Skeleton Cowboy

A decent primer

Acrylic paint

A good hobby light

Three of the same skeleton cowboy painted three different ways on a workbench

The Skeleton Cowboy: plain as it arrives, and painted

babbybubble.com

The Skeleton Cowboy

4.9 · 1,380 reviews

$17.99 ~~$35.99~~

3.5 in resinArrives unpaintedPrimer + acrylic

Get the cowboy · $17.99

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Post some when theyre done

The Skeleton Cowboy$17.99~~$35.99~~