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Ever completely lose heart in a project BEFORE it started?


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Okay, bear with me on this one. Several years back I got the idea to build an F-111B as it might have looked in the late 80's, complete in USN squadron markings, TPS camo, AIM-54's, and a few modernizations which appeared on the Tomcats. Finding the original B's were based on what became the F-111C I got a Hasegawa C and the old Revell TFX B-nose. 72nd. :woot.gif:

More research. Surprised to find the last FSD B's had a lengthened nose similar to the AF 'varks, higher bulged canopy for carrier ops, and a repositioned nosewheel, among other smaller details. Also found these birds were closer to the FB-111's, not the C's. :bandhead2:

After much gnashing of teeth I went looking for an FB, and was rewarded by the generosity of a fellow ARC'r who wanted to trade his FB for my C. :yahoo:

(y'all following this so far?)

And so my mental preps continued, getting ready for what I thought would be one heck of a kewl project.

And after a while, it finally fizzled out and totally died. Why? Well, once it got to the point where REALITY in the project was followed all the way to the end, it was NO FUN. A long-nosed 'vark in Navy markings. Boring. Short nose was always the fun part of it.

Finally I sold the FB for less than the original investment. :explode:

Yeah, it's MY model, can build it how I want, but somehow it was just psychologically ruined. I know, I sound like the fox and the grapes, or the spoiled kid, but man, my spirit just kind of died over the 2-3 years or so of slow preps. Got to the point where I felt just building the short nose would have been staring me in the face (no pun intended) whispering "I wasn't supposed to look like this!!!" :soapbox:

Okay, think I'll go easier on the wine and brandy now.... :crying2:/>

Edited by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy
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Been there done that. I had an old Revell 1/32 F-14A about 3 1/2 years ago. I had it to

the point where the fuselage was together, the cockpit was painted up and detailed,

I hand painted all the buttons and dials. No super detailing but nice.It sat for a bit,

then I started spray painting the missiles, couldn't get them smooth. I lost interest

and put it aside. So when I retired 2 years ago it was in a huge plastic box, padded with

shredded paper. I was moving from a place that had 2 floors and a basement to a retirement

home in Fl. Yeah I have room but not close to what I had and it seemed to fizzle. The F-14 kick

just died, I just went backwards and started focusing on earlier planes, Phantoms, Corsairs,

Zeros. So the big plastic box with the beautifully painted cockpit never made it here. The saddest

part is I really don't miss it,tried to get interested in another F-14 but it's dead, no more desire

or drive to even think about it, guess I am morphing with age.---John

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One of my fantasies is doing a series of 1/72 F-111B's to represent the different development aircraft. Somehow I managed to miss the Pete's Hangar offering in 2009, and by the time I discovered them they were gone. I discovered a post by him that he was going to update and re-release the conversion set, only to learn later that shortly after that he had passed away.

Also, the ancient Revell F-111B nose is one of the most inaccurate parts of the kit.

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I've got a 1/72 Lockheed Vega sitting on top of my work desk. I was building it to represent Sir Hubert Wilkin's Vega, the first fixed wing aircraft to fly in Antarctica - part of a long standing fascination with Antarctic aviation. It's only as I got the wings on I realised I really don't like Vegas. I know they are a significant historical machine and the design and fabrication were ground breaking for their time, but I just don't like the shape, and it's become a sticking point.

I might finish it because my temperament makes me bloody minded like that, but I'll be looking forward to having it done and will farm it out to another home with greater alacrity than I send most of my projects on their way.

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Not once, but twice. First time was a Hobbycraft Canada Twin Otter. Second time was an AMT 1973 Mustang Mach 1. Both were so frustrating that they went straight into the garbage well before they were anywhere near finished. My blood pressure went down about 10 points as soon as I scored the two points on each throw. No backboard. No rim. Nothing but can. What a great sound. :woot.gif:

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An Eduard Fokker E.V. Was going well enough until that lozenge pattern had to be placed on the fuselage and horizontal stab before assembly. Kept having to replace bits of it due to damage.

Out, damn'd Fokker! out, I say!

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This is why I don't plan or prep in this hobby. I sit down at the desk at night and do what feels right at the time. Sometimes it's glueing two pieces, sometimes it's finishing a decal job. Other times its starting a new model when 10 others await finishing.

As soon as I start planning and forecasting, I introduce expectation and by extension, pressure. That makes the fun go right out the window. Even if the planning itself is fun.

Go figure.

Edited by RKic
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This is why I don't plan or prep in this hobby. I sit down at the desk at night and do what feels right at the time. Sometimes it's glueing two pieces, sometimes it's finishing a decal job. Other times its starting a new model when 10 others await finishing.

As soon as I start planning and forecasting, I introduce expectation and by extension, pressure. That makes the fun go right out the window. Even if the planning itself is fun.

Go figure.

I'm with you one hundred per cent. The wife says I don't need any new models, I've got a shelf full of works/disasters in progress. I say it's fine, I'll just build a new shelf.

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Yup. My never started rate almost rivals my barely started. You'd be surprised how many "What-Ifs" I never got past the thinking aboot stage once I researched them far enough to take the fun out of the idea.

Alvis 3.1

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Yes many times OP.

It's funny because I am almost exclusively a what if modeler, and it would probably surprise people to know the kind of research that goes into creating a "wrong model" lol!

There are levels of what if. Some are pure fantasy, others are very well researched "almost was" projects

Basically you got paralysis by analysis.

I've discovered with what ifs there is an inverse relationship of research vs completion. In other words the Lessential I research the more gets done and the more gets built. I still love doing research but it's easy to get mired.

I wanted to build an in service yf-12. Then I saw some pictures of a what a production yf-12 would have looked like, didn't interest me at all

Yup. My never started rate almost rivals my barely started. You'd be surprised how many "What-Ifs" I never got past the thinking aboot stage once I researched them far enough to take the fun out of the idea.

Alvis 3.1

So much this.

Took me years to tell myself "no don't pick up a book. Go to the bench and start building instead"

I still work on that.

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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Probably 1/2 of the stash started off with good intentions with decals and aftermarket bought it for it....then reality hits me with the time I'd have a to invest and I end up buying a newer Tamiya or Revell shake and bake kit and put together in a week and hang it from my kid's ceiling. Yet I still buy like I'm actually going to build a full meal deal/conversion kit. New resin? I'll bite. New decals? Of course those too. The struggle is real.

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  • 1 month later...

I have the same hopes of doing a production F-111B in 1/72nd scale. Of course the big problem is that the front end of the production F-111B is unlike any kit of any version of the F-111. BUT Trumpeter is coming out with a Su-33UB kit that has a front end that looks very similar to a production F-111B. Perhaps it can be kitbashed together, with a Hasegawa FB-111A, into something that looks like a reasonable facsimile. Time will tell...

Trumpeter Su-33UB discussion:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=276960&hl=su-33ub&st=0

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Yeah, well, if I ever think about doing it again, I'll just say to heck with the would-have-been accuracy, and use the short-nose in late 80's TPS and squadron markings. After all, the short nose is what makes the -B so iconic and appealing!

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Yeah, well, if I ever think about doing it again, I'll just say to heck with the would-have-been accuracy, and use the short-nose in late 80's TPS and squadron markings. After all, the short nose is what makes the -B so iconic and appealing!

You could have the really short nose and accuracy with the first three prototypes, but the production F-111B nose would still be shorter than an Air Force bird. It looks different.

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