I've gotten into the practice of building a model until it was around 90% finished, and then starting something new. Most of the time it is in the final stages, and then one small aspect just isn't "perfect" , so I move on.
Looking at the bench, there are around five kits in the same status (1/48th Tamiya A1 Skyraider- slightly overdid the exhaust staining, Tamiya PZK III- need to finish Fruil tracks. DML Elefant, zimmerit not just right, etc)
So, how do you get over this- it must be common. After all, it's just a hobby, but it would be nice to finish one once in a while.
I can't speak for anyone else but I usually have 3 kits going at one time. I work on each at the same pace switching between them when they need time to paint / dry, etc. I also break a kit down to sub assemblies rather than follow the instructions to the letter. I don't start another kit until all 3 are done. That's not to say I finish every project. Some hit the trash can or the parts box at different stages along the way if I'm not happy with the kit or the results.
I figure if I'm not motivated to finish something then why keep it at all. For me, I found having lots of partial finished kits is frustrating and kills my enthusiasm.
i work on something else and after a bit i go back. it it's time, i'll finish the first, if not i do something else and try later. eventually it gets done.
Since I build wooden ships as well as all genre of plastic, plus some scratch cars, I have LOTs of unfinished projects. I think there are around ten on the shelves currently. All of the ships are multi-year projects that I rotate between.
on 10/7/2007 11:38 AM Viperdoc said the following:
Been there, done that.
I have a lot of started-but-unfinished models dating back 20 years. For me, it seems like I got kinda bored with the making during the construction and looked over at the stash for another new exciting challenge (which may be exciting only for a short while too).
Only buy one kit at a time, and don't buy another until the first one is finished. OK, so I just bought an M18 Hellcat (I recently saw a Hellcat restoration project on one of the military channels) while I still had some other unfinished tanks. :-)
I re-learned a lesson a few years ago. At one point I had no less than five
1/48 Bf109s on the go at the same time and I became incredibly jaded. I now allow myself no more than three kits at any one time. The ideal situation is to work on them all as a batch and not start any more until all three are finished (but see below). It doesn't always work out that way and sometimes I'll start another kit while I have two in various stages of completion.
In order to prevent myself getting jaded, I ensure that there are never more that two of the same aircraft type in progress at the same time - and they are *never* in similar colour schemes. So, If I have two F-4s on the workbench together, they will be in totally different schemes, but an F-4C and an A-7D in the SEA scheme would be acceptable.
Having said that, I find that I absolutely *abhor* masking and spraying canopies! Therefore, I tend to consider a model "complete-ish" when everything but the canopy is completed. I will tell myself that I'll get round to doing the canopy when I have the enthusiasm for it... which is very rare indeed. Therefore, it means that I get a backlog of models say on my shelves which are complete but for the canopy. Up until the middle of last week I had (in 1/48) three Spitfires, (in 1/72) three F-4s, an F-104, a Draken and an F-16, all without canopies, with another F-4 crossing my workbench that will soon require a canopy of its own. So... I've finally bitten the bullet and really forced myself to get those canopies done. As of this moment, the F-104, Draken and F-16 are still lacking their canopies. All the rest are finally complete. I'll do the final three over the next week, which should see me having no (aircraft) models whatsoever on my workbench by Saturday.
At that point I shall start a 1/48 Spitfire XII, using the Hasegawa IX and the Aeroclub conversion kit. This time, I swear that I shall mask the canopy while I'm doing the cockpit and am still in the first flush of enthusiasm... ;-)
Have you ever tried using thin strips of modeler's masking tape? Not for masking, but for the frames themselves. Similar to using it for scale pilot seat belts. Pre-paint the tape and then stick it on the frames, trimming where necessary. It may even be more to scale if you sand off the plastic frame and then glue the tape on.
As I count, I currently have six kits in some state of buildup, and two in for repairs, on my bench. I think once this sort of thing starts, you're cooked...
My rub is theres too many ''blocks'' in the building process,I want to get going on them.BUT,> i live in apaertment>have an airbrush & compressor,but no decent ventilatiom>1 model is assembled w/clear parts for light up,cant paint over it,the backroom I want to use is smal & I dont want choke out.
I always have at least one kit going that doesn't require major painting. If the others bog down, I turn to this to keep myself moving. I have one of those visible hemi engine kits in progress right now. It's very different from my other 2 projects and requires no paint not to mention that it is an interesting / educational build.
i have a pre build, build abandoned, rescued, repair some day and a abandom all hope maybe pile. then there are the w.i.p shelves. (works in progress.)
I have 30-40+ kits in various stages. Ready for paint - None, lost parts - lots of 'em. Did he say he wanted to finish a kit? Let's bring back the days when the glue fumes made the hobby so much more fun.....
Viperdoc wrote: : Looking at the bench, there are around five kits in the same status (1/48th : Tamiya A1 Skyraider- slightly overdid the exhaust staining, Tamiya PZK III- : need to finish Fruil tracks. DML Elefant, zimmerit not just right, etc) : A club member has 52 (yes, fifty two) tanks waiting for paint.
Geez, I wish that was the extent of my backlog. I have shelves full of things I started and lost interest in along the way. I still want to get them finished but I have to work up the enthusiasm. One good thing about car models - their boxes are big enough to hide the unfinished projects in. ;)
Someone has done 6 of the X-planes in plastic in 1/144th. I have the X-1,-3,-4,-5,-15 and -24. I'd seriously like to get my hands on a second X-1 for a conversion to a -1A.
No, through a nine step program you can break the addiction to unbuilt models. First, you must recognize a power greater than you...this being your bank account. Second, you must separate yourself from the "enabler" of your addiction...this being your "friend", the pusher who owns the local hobby shop. Third, as hard as it is, you must sever all social interactions with fellow addicts...your local IPMS chapter. Fourth, you must strive to avoid the use of "code language" in day-to-day conversation. They aren't "trees", they are "big plants", or "overgrown bushes". It's not "flash", it's "very bright'. Fifth, each day when you awake, reassert your self respect: "My name is Rufus; and I'm going to finish all the models I have before I buy even one more! I'm that good of a modeler...I'm that Great of a modeler, and nothing and no one is ever going to take that from me!" Sixth, you must realize the feelings of the kits that you only partially built, and see THEIR side of things... are you the sort of person who they dreamed of owning them when they came out of the molds? What would you have thought if you had been working on them one night and having a great time, only to find out they had left by the next morning because they had lost interest in you? Seventh, you must realize that many children go to sleep in the third world without one model to build during their entire day.... or dare I say it...entire life? They dream of what you are capable of having, and yet have cast aside in your decadent boredom... the pain of the flash under the fingernails, the "snap" of a part coming free from its overgrown bush, the inability to get the decals straight no matter what they try... Eighth, The basic Freudian concept of "Anal Retentive" should serve as a warning... do you want to actually to build these models or just stack them on your shelf, to show others that you have more more half-built models than anyone else you know, and even though you are dysfunctional, you have decided in your own mind you shall show your fellow addicts that you are the greatest of all the dysfunctional model non-completers? The pathos of such a situation is obvious. In the land of the blind the one-eyed man may be king, but in the land of modelers the one-eyed man is going to have one hell of a time dealing with small photoetched parts, due to his lack of stereoscopic vision. Ninth, from the viewpoint of the basic libido, the tendency to leave things unfinished can be seen as an expression of of inability to successfully complete the sexual act itself. Hasn't every modeler run into a really hot babe (RHB) at a model show and immediately asked himself: "What the hell is _she_ doing here? Is she lost, or is there something _wrong_ with her?", then immediately looked around for drooling two-year-olds crawling around under the display tables, and in danger of destroying everything as they crawl towards "momma"? But the fox isn't crazy; she has cunningly searched out a model show to find a suitable mate...someone who has way too much time on his hands, is way too wealthy, way too socially isolated, and just bored enough that building a model of every deployed subtype of the Sherman tank seems like a good way to spend his time. She bats her eyes at this guy, and she's going to get a three course dinner. But she has made a major miscalculation in this regard, for one modeler has been waiting like a priapic goat ready to pounce: "Well, yes...when it comes right down to it it was rather difficult to do a horizontal volute suspension Sherman with the cast front transmission housing and Calliope rocket launcher, and I strived LONG and HARD to finish it, knowing that it would take many HARD NIGHTS, to accomplish what SHE DESERVED. She was my dream, and I knew that only the BEST would SATISFY her...so I started out slowly...then building, bit-by-bit I worked...until she and I were COMPLETELY FINISHED at the same exact moment. It took NEW and EXOTIC TECHNIQUES to accomplish this, but I like to think I'm not anything if not IMAGINATIVE." Kiss it goodbye, Mr. Can't Finish It. She'll wake up in the morning with a note on her pillow: "That was good, but frankly I was expecting better fit of the parts considering the price." ;-)
snipped-for-privacy@NOattglobalSPAMMS.net (Viperdoc) wrote in :
If a kit is that close, I usually declare victory and move on. Then again, I'm not out to win contests, just to have fun building. I've got about 20 in various stages at the moment. When the pile gets too big, I take a week or so to finish a few kits.
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