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I'm there too.  Used to obsess over details, shades of paint, worrying if this jet ever had those exact markings, etc.  Not too long ago I said screw it, I am not completing in an IPMS show, and I will just have fun again.  And it certainly has been fun without all the worries or headaches.

 

Rod 

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This is a fascinating discussion. I thought I was alone in my move away from getting every detail correct. It's refreshing to see there are others. My "light bulb" moment came about ten years ago when I built a collection of Monogram 1/48 Navy planes for a seminar I was doing. I decided I'd build them like I did when I was a kid. I had more fun than I had in years. It was then that I realized that, for me, I was doing it wrong. I figured out what I wanted to look good (seats and wheels go a long way in upgrading a model) and what I wanted out of building, and it's been fantastic ever since. One big thing I did was stop entering contests. I take my models and put then on the table as display only. 

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It looks like you've graduated from the static model hobby and are ready to move on.  It does happen.  I read these old threads and see lots of names you no longer hear from.    Why not maybe just take a break for now and try out other hobbies like photography.  Or might I suggest -- scale RC crawlers-- my other weakness : ).  Modellers can take long breaks, too, when they get frustrated or just become too busy, or too strapped to buy kits.  But when they come back they have a renewed passion.  I find, too, that when we dont get comments in our threads we tend to feel ignored and that can also lead to frustration.  Comments encourage us to build more and build better. Lack of appreciation tends to bring down your spirits but try not to let it. Like others have mentioned you're building for yourself.  I have to keep this advise in mind as well, though.  I haven't shaken off that need to see some readership in my work.  I still have that human need to be appreciated haha.  I shouldnt have joined modelling forums : )

Edited by crackerjazz
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20 hours ago, dai phan said:

I really wanted to go back to my innocent days that I enjoyed so much with each kit. Even Lindberg kits brought BIG smiles to my face... Is there any hope left ? Dai 

 

 

You can, nothing is stopping you except yourself. 

 

There's no pressure here. If you built a kit and never posted it on the internet would anyone ever know?  We won't. you can make it your dirty little secret. That time you built a model and enjoyed it. 

 

 

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I need to thank the OP, was getting into a rut again and this thread made me think.  I'm going to go with simpler builds, and not worry about show-quality.  I restarted the hobby to relax, and not going all out will help me do that.  I have a few that I will detail to some extent, but building for fun is my mantra from now on.

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I've gotten away from all of that. Back in the early 90s, with aftermarket exploding, I'd put off builds until I had EVERYTHING that could go into/onto a particular model. Around the mid 2000s or so I realized, no, I don't "need" all this stuff, especially with most jet kits out there...an aftermarket resin seat is about all I need to dress up a cockpit.

I was getting away from it being fun to build a kit and knew I should correct.

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I'm guilty of AMS myself and trying to combat it  -- it's just that the pull of these new products is so great.   I look at these  Quinta printed instrument panels  -- remarkable technological breakthroghs -- and I feel like I just gotta have them, knowing full well I can barely see them in a closed-up cockpit.    I guess one has to go through the phase before gaining the wisdom.  I'm still in that phase, still very impressionable -  but I feel like I'm starting to come around.   

Edited by crackerjazz
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Hi dai phan, I know what you mean.   Don't worry but this  phase will pass and you wouldn't be too concerned about so much detail anymore.    But I hope you don't lose that meticulousness when doing dental work.    We don't wish for your patients to have wonky implants and such : )

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4 hours ago, crackerjazz said:

Hi dai phan, I know what you mean.   Don't worry but this  phase will pass and you wouldn't be too concerned about so much detail anymore.    But I hope you don't lose that meticulousness when doing dental work.    We don't wish for your patients to have wonky implants and such : )

 

"This phase will pass?" . Hell it is getting worse and worse everyday ... Dai 

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Break the cycle. Grab a kit and a tube of testors glue and put it together along with the required glue fingerprints and sloppy no pre-fitting parts and gaping wide seams with tube glue squishing out.  
Then brush paint everything making it look like it want on with a mop.  Make sure you get fingerprints in this as well. Then apply decals making sure half of them are incorrectly placed and crooked.  
And for good measure, “forget” to clean your paint brush and let the paint harden so you have to throw it out and buy new ones.  
 

…….Aahhhh the good old days when we didn’t care.  

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7 hours ago, dai phan said:

 

"This phase will pass?" . Hell it is getting worse and worse everyday ... Dai 

Wow, it's that bad, eh.

 

6 hours ago, Scott Smith said:

...put it together along with the required glue fingerprints and sloppy no pre-fitting parts and gaping wide seams with tube glue squishing out.  
Then brush paint everything making it look like it want on with a mop...

That's still a pretty good description of how I build, hehe. We should have a worry-free group build like this just to find out how fun modelling can still be.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Honestly, I never really got all of that. I never developed skill to scratchbuild, don't like working with PE (no skill, again), and I'm only partially convinced to use resin, either as a conversion, or cockpit/seat stuff. I knew people who would obsess over scaled plans, comparing it to the model, measuring angles of all surfaces to check if they are perfect. If they were, they would take out some other plans, and check that model against them. Then there would be discussion, which plans were more accurate, direct from the manufacturer or whatever. I never really got that. Some of these people would then not start said model, as it was "inaccurate" and some would take painstaking effort to correct everything.

I guess if that is their "thing" it's ok. I can only respect their skill, even if I consider some of them "show-offs". Usually I will not be able to reach their skill level. But some of them were unhappy with this way (and some are very happy). I know I don't mind knowing there is a flaw in a kit that I can't fix, and very often these people are the ones that tell me where it is.

I'm on the other hand a simple modeler. I won't buy all the resin stuff that's out there. I'd rather buy another model with that. I can get that resin seat, or some other stuff, but most of the extras are excessive for me. Decals are absolutelly another type of animal. I love to have options and pondering what to build next. But I do like to build. I don't really call it "modeling" but more of "assembling". And I usually have a few builds in progress at different stages.

The thing is, I believe every one of us has some 'thing' when it comes to modelling. Either it's extreme attention to get stuff "right" or an urge to build as many kits as possible, or just sitting with a model and plans and comparing one to another untill finding that "perfect flaw". As long as this is fun it's ok. When it stops being fun, do something about it - take a break from modelling or make a simple model.

If You like Your AMS just the way it is, but sometime feel it's getting to You, go build a model for a kid. Every now and then I build a model for my boys (5 and 2) and they love them! I recently built them two GWH F-35's. What a lovelly kits. Go get one now! No paint whatsowever, as they could not wait. Before that I built them two of these:

 

AM-JKLXZRDRAdMg1lOz2s1xLGP9VW1GyV9O_BOe8

 

I managed to take these shots when they went to bath. Italeri F/A-18 and KP(new) Mig-21. They were fun and took me like 3 hours of build time, perhaps less! So go get a spare model, and just build it for a kid! Or for Yourself. Think up some markings. Don't bother with decals. And post it here. See if this helps. Even as with a break to all the wonderfull stuff You folks are putting out. It can't be that hard 🙂

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15 minutes ago, Thadeus said:

I'm on the other hand a simple modeler. ... I don't really call it "modeling" but more of "assembling". And I usually have a few builds in progress at different stages.

 

 

I'm the same kind of modeler - er, assembler.  🙂

Edited by zeus60
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