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What do you do with models you're not happy with?


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Hi all,

 

I'm asking my subject question because my latest project, a 1/48 Eduard F6F-5 Hellcat, would be on that list.  Frankly, I didn't do enough planning for the painting and weathering, so my Hellcat, while almost complete (lacking only the radio antenna wires) is going to be in that category.  It didn't turn out HORRIBLE, but just NOT GOOD ENOUGH.   I'm usually proud of what I do.  This time is an exception.  Not happy at all with the sea blue, intermediate blue and white camouflage colors, how they were applied, and not thinking/planning the end state before beginning.  i had been planning to paint and weather with oils, and, hopefully get something akin to my last few airplane builds.  Alas, not to be, this time.  I got too far along to do certain things with the paint/weathering, and I didn't want to go through the nightmare of trying to strip the paint and start fresh.  I did that recently with a tank I'd had sitting around 75% complete and with one coat of Tamiya paint, which was easy to strip off, but this plane was painted with a variety of lacquer and acrylic paints, and I wouldn't want to ruin the cockpit, etc.  Bottom line is that I don't want to mess with an attempted re-do of this model.  It is a great kit, and I wouldn't mind at all doing another one at some point.

 

I don't have a lot of space to display my finished models.  But, I haven't yet filled all the space allocated to me by my wife (I am so lucky she tolerates my model madness!), and will cull through the herd once the space is filled, and I will have to limit the number of models that get displayed, and find somewhere else to put those that didn't make it into the 'happy with' group.  But for now, I guess this airplane will go in the display with all the others.

 

But I'm curious/interested in what you do with models that didn't make your " 'good enough' or better" list.  I'm not talking about those models that for whatever reason were bad enough to dispose of...I'm sure that most of us who have been modeling for some time have had one or more of those which have ended up in the trash; I know I have.  But what about those others?

 

Thanks for any thoughts you may have on this 🙂

Edited by Curt B
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Curt,

Finish it up, put it in the back of the display area allocated by the missus and say, "See Honey, I finished another one. Thank you so much for giving me room to display them."  Then when you do reach max display capacity and build one more, this will be the first to go wherever models go when they are no longer displayed.  I find it very carthartic to have one of my "mistakes" on display, as it reminds me to remain humble in front of others.

Kind regards,

Dutch 

Edited by Dutch
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The basic question, what do I do with models.  I have a finite amount of shelves, when they get full something has to go.  So any kits on the shelves that I have duplicates in the stash to build usually go into the circular file.  If I have models that I didn't do a particularly good job on they go the same route.  I try to take pictures of all the completed models just for posterity.  

 

Geoff M

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For the last couple years, each new model has been placed on the shelf at the expense of a old one. The old ones gets sold, (rare) given away or tossed after I remove anything that is still good enough to re-use. Such as aftermarket ejection seats.

 

I have half the basement, which allows room for some 400 models. But thats it.

 

ByULNbZ.jpg

 

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Thanks, guys, for your thoughts.  

 

And to phantom...WOW!  What a display area!  Even if I built all my stashed models, I wouldn't fill a quarter of the space you've got!!

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 I've never been 100% satisfied with any of my builds. Always chalked that up to part of the learning process. Every build is a little bit better than the last but I haven't done one I'd consider a showcase piece yet.

 

 If I consistently knocked every build out of the ballpark I would've bored myself out of the hobby decades ago.

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Thanks, guys.  I would agree that if I were 100% satisfied every time, the hobby would be less interesting.  However, it would also be okay with me, as I'd have confidence that the model would turn out how I envisioned it would.  

 

I agree that there is ALWAYS room for improvement, no matter how well done a model may be.  But what I was really getting at was what would be a minimally acceptable model (in the modelers eyes), versus one that falls below that minimum level.  For the purpose of this thread 'acceptable' would be a model you would enter into a model show, as compared to a model you would be less than proud enough to 'show it off'.  I have never actually taken a model to a model show (someday I'd like to, though), but my thought is, if I'd be willing to enter into a show, or if I wouldn't.  This is kind of my 'cut-off' for the purposes of this thread.  I have 4 completed airplanes, and 10 completed tanks.  Of these, I am happy with 3 of the 4 airplanes, and would take the 3 to a show.  Of my 10 tanks, I'd be willing to take 7 of them to a show, and 3 I would not.  I was just curious how people treat models of which they are less proud.  

 

But it's really not about 'categorizing' models.  I was really just interested on how folks treat their models when they are not particularly pleased with them.

Edited by Curt B
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Is there a local museum, VFW, hobby shop, airport, etc. that might be happy to display it?

 

Or, is there a kid that might think it's the coolest thing ever?  When we moved from Iowa to Indiana, I gave a bunch of mine to the 10 year old son of one of my wife's friends.  MADE HIS DAY!

Edited by mlicari
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19 hours ago, Curt B said:

I don't have a lot of space to display my finished models.  

 

Come over to the Dark Side...........1/72. 

 

We have more space on our shelves....

 

 

tenor.gif?itemid=5378542

 

Edited by JackMan
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18 hours ago, mlicari said:

Is there a local museum, VFW, hobby shop, airport, etc. that might be happy to display it?

 

 I gave a bunch of not so great kits (of mine and fellow club members) to my dad's home which had a Veteran's Wing.  They really appreciated them.

Edited by eraucubsfan
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On 5/13/2020 at 9:22 AM, phantom said:

For the last couple years, each new model has been placed on the shelf at the expense of a old one. The old ones gets sold, (rare) given away or tossed after I remove anything that is still good enough to re-use. Such as aftermarket ejection seats.

 

I have half the basement, which allows room for some 400 models. But thats it.

 

ByULNbZ.jpg

 

Shawn, you are one lucky guy!

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22 hours ago, mlicari said:

Or, is there a kid that might think it's the coolest thing ever?  When we moved from Iowa to Indiana, I gave a bunch of mine to the 10 year old son of one of my wife's friends.  MADE HIS DAY!

 

 

 My family is already aware that this is my wish after I've checked out-finished builds to kids in the family, or neighborhood kids. If it snares just one of them into the hobby I did my part.

 

 For a long time I considered the local range until I took a bunch of very old builds to the local one with a friend. It was amusing to watch them blow up into a bazillion pieces but, of course the cleanup was a disaster... Won't be doing that again.

Edited by WymanV
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This happens very frequently to me, and my standards aren't that high.  I've come to realize the even after 14 years back at the hobby, I'm not that great at it.

 

Getting back to your original question, I save any parts (including decals) that I think might have use in the future (or that someone may request on a hobby forum like ARC) and toss the rest.

 

Stacey

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The point is not how high your standards are, but just what keeps you satisfied that you did well enough at the time you did the build!  The very first model I did when I started back into the hobby in 2010 was the Tamiya Desertized Challenger 2 (by the way, if anyone has one of the brand new Rye Field Challenger 2 TES kits that they don't want, PLEASE send it my way!!!!!!), and looking back on it now (I still have the Tamiya Chally 2) I wouldn't even consider it for a show.  But it wasn't too bad for the first kit back after 40 years out of the hobby.  So I keep that one.  When space gets too short, though, that one will end up in the space that I haven't defined yet...the spot where the 'not the best' models will go.

 

I know I'm all over the place with my definitions in this thread, as even this topic is kind of a work in progress.  My latest build, which is complete except for the antenna wires, is the Eduard 1/48 F6F-3 Hellcat (in the original post, I incorrectly wrote that it was an F6F-5) , and I spent a lot of time on it.  Even when the day comes that there is no more space left in the 'good model' area, I won't want to trash it.  I'll want to find another spot for it, where it can live out the of its life in the warm glow of "models that could have been".

 

And by the way, guys, the ideas about what to do with unbuilt kits at a certain time is good stuff, just not what I had originally posted about...

Edited by Curt B
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Oh, I have a few unbuilt kits that USED to be top of the line (Hasegawa Tomcats eg) I just lost interest in building them. Guess one day I will try to sell them at a loss at a hobby show.

 

They all have LOTS of extra parts if someone wants them locally (after Covid)

 

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Back or high shelve so it's out of sight.

 

If unhappy during the build, the damn thing has wound up in the trash (last example of that was an AMT Camaro that nothing fit properly).

 

If the kit sits in the stash too long, started or not, it winds up on Ebay.

 

 

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Hmmm

On 5/14/2020 at 6:32 PM, WymanV said:

 My family is already aware that this is my wish after I've checked out-finished builds to kids in the family, or neighborhood kids. If it snares just one of them into the hobby I did my part.

 

 For a long time I considered the local range until I took a bunch of very old builds to the local one with a friend. It was amusing to watch them blow up into a bazillion pieces but, of course the cleanup was a disaster... Won't be doing that again.

Point #1: Agreed!

 

Point #2: Hmm.  I thought bottle rockets were the way to go when I was a kid.  Didn't have to worry about clean-up back then, though I wonder what someone will think when they dig around in our back fields and find bits of plastic model airplanes.  I am thinking of creating a barrier reef in my pool.  As long as I put a good coat of clear on the kits, the decals shouldn't lift off, right?  Maybe I could place one or two at the bottom of a fish tank?

🙃

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