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Many of my builds "stall" because the model is poorly designed, has parts that refuse to fit without major grinding/cutting/sanding, is inaccurate or has totally useless instructions (Read Hobby Bogus, Trumpeter, Kinetic & Kitty Hawk). :bandhead2:

 

Larry

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They stall when the level of frustration/pain/aggravation exceeds either the tolerance level (if it's a subject that one simply has to have), or the fun threshold of the builder, generally.  

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In my current case, I WAS to the point of decaling my O-1 Bird Dog when our contractor began demolishing our kitchen!!  I'm to the point of washing our snack dishes in the bath tub!!  No appliances, or water, at all in our kitchen!!

And of all things today, nobody showed up!!!  Had I known that, I coulda started, if not finished decaling!! Geesh!!

Bo

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I'm with Bo.  Life has a way of interrupting the best laid plans for most of my builds.  I've had some hangar queens (8x 1/72 F-4 Phantom IIs) for 33 years now.  Last worked on them in college, packed them up when I graduated and never opened the box again.   I will dig them out eventually.  My latest project is a 1/144 E-767 AWACS conversion, that stalled earlier this year because I put it up at the end of a modeling weekend and have been responding to numerous life issues since (business travel, car, house, family & other people).  So, this upcoming weekend is my first off weekend in over two months and I had hoped to re-attack and make some significant progress, BUT!  My precious wife asks me if we can go visit her mother this weekend.  Her mother is a real peach and I haven't seen her in about a month, and if we don't go this weekend, it will be another three weeks before we can, so go I must!  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just happy to be happily married with a great mother-in-law.  Modeling happens when it happens.

Edited by Dutch
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Being a hobby and not my way of make a living I'm not counting lack of free time as a stall; having said that, the main reasons for me to stall a build are AMS related:

 

  • Can't find this or that reference I need to detail, paint or modify the model.
  • Can't figure out how to make some extra detail or modification, I don't mind to try and fail; the problem is not to have any idea to start with.
  • Ill-fitting resin parts.
  • Any drawback related to painting.
  •  

In all the cases, past some time, either I find a way out or forget about it and move ahead.

 

Carlos

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Looking at my current in-progress table, my problem is usually:

 

1. Something doesn't fit (go to put a canopy on closed and it won't fit)

2. Something went wrong (removing masking tape to find the canopy cracked -which is going to take some in-depth surgery)

3. I've either lost a part/ decal or

4.I made a significant mistake in accuracy (forgetting a part or something wrong for the block, etc - more surgery)

 

The biggest problem is life.  In March I started a group build, but as the semester came to end I spent six weeks just thinking about class. Now, I'm just trying to recover and then catch up on life.  IF I don't go back to class next week, I should get back to the kits by the end of the month - of course, that means Air Show season is just starting.

 

If I just built one at a time it wouldn't happen so much, but usually as I just get to the finish point I try to get the major steps of the next build going, and then I just don't get back to those 2 or 3 small things.

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I can get stalled by some PE steps before me. 

 

Or if the parts don't fit, a la the older Eduard FW190's that had killer box art but none of the access hatches fit closed. 

 

Some kind of failure like using a putty to fill a million Trumpy rivets only to find that the suggested putty isn't hard enough once dry and sands away quicker than the surrounding plastic, and won't hold CA in place, either.

 

Those failures turn into spare parts kits for me, and eventually I'll fight through the PE.  But I hate to leave builds unfinished.

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For me is quite easy:

1-Work
2-Family
3- I am an old-school movie fan who prefers to see the movies in theater with family instead of Netflix, so that means less free time at home.

 

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I have been building Italeri Wessex for 4 years!! I have completed almost 80% of the work. It keeps stalling because of fit issues, too much scratch building due to very obvious details missed and some obnoxious fitting parts.

 

Although such kits bring out creativity and challenges you to work on ideas and techniques you have never attempted,  at the same time, the build becomes boring as it keeps meandering with end in sight.  

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I wouldn't consider "life getting in the way" as a true stall.  Medical things come up.  Kids' school plays.  Vacations.  Holidays.  Birthday party planning.  Stuff like that is life and you have to take care of those things first.  A stall happens when you just lose interest in whatever it is you're building.  This is why I like to build simple kits like Monogram. Revell, Hawk/Testors, etc.  They're inexpensive, simple and fit well.  I never really deal with the issue of "stalls" because I choose to not get bogged down with "fixing details for the right Mk" or fiddling with photoetch parts.  I think the true modeling stalls are self-imposed.

 

Eric

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14 hours ago, habu2 said:

Mine stall due to a change in my angle of construction and disrupted airflow to the brain......  😎

 

OK seriously this time...

 

A full time job and life take up most of my time.  Modeling is not my primary hobby, it comes after my other "hobbies", photography and cars.  When I do have time most builds stall at the paint stage since painting (airbrushing) is done in the garage and is very weather/temperature dependent.  I have a box full of unpainted but otherwise "finished" kits.

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Mine stall due to season changes. I prefer to model during fall- spring. I skipp summer.

 

Psychotic flow: do i need modelling? Yes - to find peace/confidence in myself. No- I need new models!

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Unfortunately, something in life comes up and the model comes in a very poor second place.

 

My latest build stalled when I moved 6 months ago... I didnt get a chance to restart due to working away and now Ill be moving again...

 

Life and model making doesnt mix well

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I think there are 3 main culprits,

 

either a big nasty problem with the model that basically makes it "work" and not fun. essentially a "deal breaker." 

 

A research hang up

 

or tedium. Having to sand 32 wheels or place 250 track links or some other very repetitive task (this one is actually the least problematic IMHO but still results in shelf hanger ons) 

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I usually made a mistake that I cannot get past or I lose interest... Ironically, usually the mistake is not even noticeable the next time I look at the build and start working on it again.  

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2 hours ago, TaiidanTomcat said:

I think there are 3 main culprits,

 

either a big nasty problem with the model that basically makes it "work" and not fun. essentially a "deal breaker." 

 

A research hang up

 

or tedium. Having to sand 32 wheels or place 250 track links or some other very repetitive task (this one is actually the least problematic IMHO but still results in shelf hanger ons) 

 

Thats so true. I have a Meng M1A2 SEP. Its ready. All painted and done. But its tracks are so tedious, I got bored and shelved the model kit. I dont know why tracks have to be 'movable'. It adds so much work to the armor kit. 

 

Also, the other for stall for me has been that I started a kit and realised I dont have the skill yet to paint in certain way or scratch build a certain part 

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I'll add another one I just thought of: time to complete the individual step. I've done 3 hour masking jobs before. I can't find 3 uninterrupted hours anymore. so the interval isn't there. Not just generally "not having time" but being stuck on something because it can't be broken up into smaller intervals. I can accomplish things if I can break them into smaller parts. 30 minutes a night adds up. but I've discovered I hit points where more than 30 minutes is required

 

 

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12 hours ago, echolmberg said:

I wouldn't consider "life getting in the way" as a true stall.  Medical things come up.  Kids' school plays.  Vacations.  Holidays.  Birthday party planning.  Stuff like that is life and you have to take care of those things first.  A stall happens when you just lose interest in whatever it is you're building.  This is why I like to build simple kits like Monogram. Revell, Hawk/Testors, etc.  They're inexpensive, simple and fit well.  I never really deal with the issue of "stalls" because I choose to not get bogged down with "fixing details for the right Mk" or fiddling with photoetch parts.  I think the true modeling stalls are self-imposed.

 

Eric

 

 

I'm living that life, and its not even as busy as its going to become. The "blue canopy of death" looks awfully tempting...

 

with the self imposed stalls, The big piece of advice that helped me, was a guy they interviewed in FSM who basically said "if someone put 10 hours into a model, it generally looks like it, and if they put 1000 hours they generally look like it" so for him the idea was that there was no "bad model" there was just how much time one decided to put into one. That was a game changer to me. 

 

The piece of advice that has not helped me: I read an armor book and the author said that every model should have a scheme that "feels just right." I've never had that happen. and I know the "right" scheme is out there for every model, but what If I choose the "wrong" one?!

 

 

The biggest issue for me is indecisiveness. That model is looking good! now which squadron!? Which scheme!? which time period?! Which country!? And I do What ifs too so the possiblities are endless 😞

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7 minutes ago, TaiidanTomcat said:

The biggest issue for me is indecisiveness.

 

Mine too, but in a different way. I am done with painting, decaling and washes. I am ready to put on a semi-matt coating, but I am sure I am forgetting something (I ALWAYS forget something). iI'm sure its something that I won't be able to correct once the dull coat is on. So I sit here trying to think my way through all the various sup-assemblies, different steps, small parts that will go on later and try to figure out if I am ready for the dull (semi-matt) coat. But, my brain won't work!! So, the model sits there staring at me with an impatient look, like it is saying "get on with it you twit!" And, I slowing lose my will to continue. I'll eventually get off my duff and just do it, some day, hopefully soon... :bandhead2:

 

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