How often do you abandon a model building project?

[habu2]

You can't improve your skills through practice if you don't build.

Everyone makes mistakes, no shame in that. Experience is just learning from your mistakes.

And finally, to paraphrase: "it is better to have built and screwed up, than to have never built at all" :)

[Mfezi]

Take a look at the group builds and how many entries, actually get finished. Pretty solid measurement.

I'm not so sure this is a good measurement: I have participated in group builds before and not finished the project by the closing date, yet in all cases those models did get completed eventually.

[vh-bob]

As Hoosfoos said, we all have stashed away in our minds a certain standard that we like to keep. Like him I have no claim to being a perfectionist but from time to time I produce models that are just messy, not because of lack of experience, but something else. I feel that I built my best models twenty years ago and am now on the back side of the curve. In a way that is hard to explain when I look at models displayed on this and other sites, the better youtube builds and magazines etc. they seem to have a "Crispness" for want of a better word that I would love to achieve, where as my efforts remind me of that far away time when I was so eager to finish a build that I couldn't wait for the first paint coat to dry before pushing on with the next hence I do abandon more models than I care to admit . Being retired, I have more than enough time for modelling and always have something else on the go to mess with while waiting for glue or paint to dry, but still no guarantees for a successful build. As I have pondered before maybe the advancing years bring a lack of dexterity but it's still fun. Go figure.

Trev.

[TaiidanTomcat]

Very interesting replies. It's not that I am a perfectionist, I just want satisfactory results, not putting something on the shelf that looks like a 10 year old built.

With all my screw-ups, I have learned, and will do things differently the next time around. I will probably be posting questions in the forums regarding issues I have had in the past.

I learned to get over that by just realizing that it was a journey, and I can see improvement with builds. My favorites are not exactly the best builds either.

You can't improve your skills through practice if you don't build.

Everyone makes mistakes, no shame in that. Experience is just learning from your mistakes.

This. I posted a while back about regretting not doing more simplified projects just to get the experience. Your weathering will improve if you are doing it 10-12 times per year vs 2-4.

There are actually youth soccer teams that have figured this out. Smaller field= more play on the ball and less chasing the ball which builds critical skills. We can teach anyone to jog later on.

[beingthehero]

I find the hobby too expensive to abandon projects. :X

[B.Sin]

I can't count that high.

[RKic]

I abandon projects frequently. Sometimes I go back to them, but there have been many models that I've tossed into the trash. I feel like much of the "use life" of a kit occurs during the build. Once the build stops being fun (for whatever reason), the kit has stopped being useful. Hopefully it gave me joy before that point. If so, the purchase was justified, even if the kit gets dumped midway. If it sucked right from the get go, then it was a waste of money.

As for perfectionism in modeling; maybe its because my models aren't fantastic masterpieces, but I feel that each of my models is temporary, and utterly replaceable. If I finish a build and it stinks, then it gets pitched. Or it sits on my shelf for a little bit until it gets replaced by something better. Ultimately most of them don't last more than a few years. I built my first model around 1987/1988, but the oldest model on my shelves dates back to 2009/2010. Most others do not predate 2012.

It took me A LONG TIME to come to terms with that, but it was a cathartic realization. My models don't need to last for ever, and because of that, they don't need to be perfect.

Edited August 24, 2016 by RKic

[GEH737]

My moment of understanding the value of my hobby happened after a few people I knew passed away - one of whom was a very dear friend and model builder. I used to measure my success in life by getting all my "lists" completed (including models).

When looking upon their unfinished lives, it occurred to me that I'm never going to finish all my projects either. So - instead of focusing on the completion factor - I simply try to enjoy the time I am able to manage without worrying about the final result as much as I used to.

I wound up with a bunch of my friends models - including an unfinished 1/48 Monogram B-24J. He had started the interior, worked on the engines (including brass prop shafts to allow them to spin). He loved WWII nose art, so I decided to finish his project for him. I didn't re-do anything he worked on, I just completed what he started, and came up with a paint scheme I thought he'd like. I put his name under the pilots side window in his honor. It's not a model that a casual observer would think too much of - but obviously, it means a lot to me. I don't worry about my un-finished projects (of which I have many) - but I do try to appreciate the time I do get to spend down in the hobby room more now.

This isn't a great picture - it was taken with my Cel phone, and a quick Photoshop after I was done with it to share with his son.

[zeus60]

I've been back at the hobby since April of 2006. I've finished 87 models in that time. I've FUBAR'ed at least three times that number, maybe four times that number. I'm simply not that great a modeler. My standards are not that high, and I don't even weather my builds, but I've still managed to mess up an astonishing number. My batting average is improving though. I tend to get easily distracted, so it is very important to me to finish kits.

Edited August 24, 2016 by zeus60

[dnl42]

Take a look at the group builds and how many entries, actually get finished. Pretty solid measurement.

Solid measurement of "didn't make it by the end of the GB." I've missed some GB end dates, but those kits were finished except for 2 still in progress.

The kits I tossed had nothing to do with GBs. A Mirage 1/48 PZL.23 suffered my first Tamiya Green incident; my panicked attempts to salvage it sealed its fate. Now I know to leave it be... I also now have my working bottle of Tamiya Green stuck in a mound of clay in a high-sided metal tray--impossible to carelessly knock over.

A Special Hobby 1/48 XP-77 suffered from a too-old bottle of MM enamel. A little voice told me not to use that bottle, but I insisted! My attempts to recover ended up damaging the plastic, including the enclosed cockpit.

A Revell 1/144 F-117 was used as a paint test article after I found out how much of a caricature it is. While it was tossed after that, I learned to airbrush close in on that.

[chuck540z3]

Never, because challenges with a kit and user error are what modeling is all about. If everything just fell together with no problems, this hobby would be very boring.

[niart17]

I use to get discouraged about not finishing models. I felt like I was wasting money and time and didn't get enough to show for it. Then that changed when I realized why I build models in the first place. What is it that drives me to want to build something? I love the research, the learning about the function of parts of the real thing. I love the problem solving aspect of model building. Once I faced what I really wanted to get out of the hobby then I didn't worry if I didn't complete a build. It usually opens some new skill set I didn't have before. And remarkably I started finishing more models than I did when I worried about not finishing. But still, if I don't finish them it's not a big deal. In the end they will all pretty much end up in the same dumpster as all the finished ones once my kids go through the crazy little things I accumulated throughout my feeble little life.

Don't get me wrong, I like the feeling of pride seeing what I feel is a good build finished. And I like hearing someone say "nice job" (who doesn't) but that's not my personal reason for building.

Bill

[fasteagle12]

Rather than throwing your started projects away, offer them up here. A lot of us would jump at the chance of getting kits, started or not. I know I would gladly pick up the shipping cost for some kits. Like a lot of others I have a lot of started kits but haven't completely given up on them.

[Crazy Snap Captain]

I've abandoned around 4 or so kits (out of the probably 3 dozen or so that I've done). Most memorable where a 1/48 Kinetic Mirage III (made me cry), a 1/32 Tamiya F-16 conversion to an MLU (dropped it and then followed it up with a spanner that I knocked down in my mad rush to save the falling kit), a 1/48 Kinetic Mirage 2000C (pattern anyone???) and lastly a Kitty Hawk Jaguar that was so frustrating that I ended up just slapping it together and giving it to my kid as a toy. Otherwise I do my darndest to get them finished even if they are sub par when it comes to finish.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Crazy Snap Captain

[BN7149]

I've just recently picked the hobby back up after a 10 year-or-so hiatus. I've been a casual observer that whole time, always keeping an ear and eye to ARC and a couple other sites just to watch other peoples talents. Now that I have an appropriate space and a home we plan to stay in I've decided to pick it back up. Even before when I was into it my pace was slow, completing only 3 models in the few years I was into it before. I did abandon one kit - an AMT RC-135V which I really messed up the paint job on. And the kits I did finish didn't survive the last move, unfortunately.

I still have a small stash of kits left over from my last go-round and I'm tempted to add to it. I've told myself however, that if I wish to add one, I must first complete one from the pile (the pile is like, 11 kits maybe... not hundreds). Several of these kits from my existing collection are not exactly top-shelf stuff. The first kit I've started on, for instance, is a somewhat God-awful Italeri F-15A. I'm forcing myself to build it OOB with no commercially made add-ons or corrections (exception being already purchased 5th F.I.S. decals). I want to use some of these less-than-stellar kits to sharpen my fundamentals, so that when I get to the more expensive undertakings I can hopefully apply a more robust skill-set. I'm trying to focus on the fit and finish, because those are the two big things that stand out to me on any build... P.E. and resin goodies are impressive, but if I can't pull off a good fit and quality finish job, then I'll just have a really expensive turd. The Italeri Eagle is certainly testing my limits there, but it is going well and I look forward to moving on to completion.

Like many, I think one really important aspect of the hobby for me has more to do with research of the subject, and the act of building the kit is just as enjoyable as the completion of the kit. I find that I just need the sometimes tedious nature of working with my hands to unwind me at the end of a stressful day - so really, completing a kit would be secondary, but I still hope to achieve that with everything I start from this point on.

-Ryan

[janman]

Rarely. And that's a big problem for me, since I don't want to give up on a project that has faced some sort of difficulties. Then the project drags on and on and I don't want to start another project before the earlier has been finished. I'm sure you can see the picture. Also explains my low modeling output.

[TaiidanTomcat]

. I just threw away a 1/48 Monogram A-6E and a Revell PV-1 is about to get the can too. =

BRUH

I abandon projects frequently. Sometimes I go back to them, but there have been many models that I've tossed into the trash. I feel like much of the "use life" of a kit occurs during the build. Once the build stops being fun (for whatever reason), the kit has stopped being useful. Hopefully it gave me joy before that point. If so, the purchase was justified, even if the kit gets dumped midway. If it sucked right from the get go, then it was a waste of money.

As for perfectionism in modeling; maybe its because my models aren't fantastic masterpieces, but I feel that each of my models is temporary, and utterly replaceable. If I finish a build and it stinks, then it gets pitched. Or it sits on my shelf for a little bit until it gets replaced by something better. Ultimately most of them don't last more than a few years. I built my first model around 1987/1988, but the oldest model on my shelves dates back to 2009/2010. Most others do not predate 2012.

It took me A LONG TIME to come to terms with that, but it was a cathartic realization. My models don't need to last for ever, and because of that, they don't need to be perfect.

Pretty profound

Rather than throwing your started projects away, offer them up here. A lot of us would jump at the chance of getting kits, started or not. I know I would gladly pick up the shipping cost for some kits. Like a lot of others I have a lot of started kits but haven't completely given up on them.

Thats actually a really great idea.

[Thommo]

I abandon projects frequently. Sometimes I go back to them, but there have been many models that I've tossed into the trash. I feel like much of the "use life" of a kit occurs during the build. Once the build stops being fun (for whatever reason), the kit has stopped being useful. Hopefully it gave me joy before that point. If so, the purchase was justified, even if the kit gets dumped midway. If it sucked right from the get go, then it was a waste of money.

As for perfectionism in modeling; maybe its because my models aren't fantastic masterpieces, but I feel that each of my models is temporary, and utterly replaceable. If I finish a build and it stinks, then it gets pitched. Or it sits on my shelf for a little bit until it gets replaced by something better. Ultimately most of them don't last more than a few years. I built my first model around 1987/1988, but the oldest model on my shelves dates back to 2009/2010. Most others do not predate 2012.

It took me A LONG TIME to come to terms with that, but it was a cathartic realization. My models don't need to last for ever, and because of that, they don't need to be perfect.

Actually, I give away some of my older builds to kids - my nephew when he was young and before he discovered girls, and recently the son of a woman I work with (he is only 4). They get enjoyment from them.

This week,I'm on the home stretch of my Czech Hind build, and I discover somehow I've dunked the front canopy (which is attached and masked) in a pool of superglue and it has dried solid! :o

I immediately thought of this thread, wondering if this might be my first abandon. However, I peeled of some of the Tamiya masking and discovered most was on the frame, only a little had seeped through to the clear areas so was able to recover it pretty well with some careful sanding and polishing. Phew