Procrastination in modelling...

[Stuart]

Although I've been pretty focused on some builds over the last few months, now that they're done I find myself slipping again... to something I've been suffering a lot from this over the last few years - stagnation due to procrastination. It's how I've ended with so many kits in WIP...

It's also why I keep tooling around with various kits, doing a bit here and there, and not achieving much. Starting threads, abandoning threads, mooching through the stash - anything in fact, rather than actually doing what I want to be doing - which is building a model. Honestly I wish I could be a bit more like Tom - he starts a kit, he finishes a kit - I really respect that. Carlos my man, is the same.

It reached a bit of a head today when I found myself, having done a bit of work on the F-111, putting it down and starting an ancient Hasegawa F-14.... WHY? Why on earth am I arsing about with this oldie when I have a much better option... To be honest. Both of these builds I've picked up because I can't seem to get started building the kit I actually wanted to build - the one with 20 inches of dust on the box, Tamiya's 1/48 Tomcat. I've procrastinated so much over this kit I've actually given myself the modellers equivalent of writers block when it comes to building it...



Surely I can't be the only one who suffers from this?

I'm not sure why it should be the case - it's a kit of a subject I love, and one that should be well within my capabilities as a modeller. yet a can't seem to get my teeth into it.

I need a swift kick to the head.

[BlackSheep214]

You're not alone. I, too, have strayed away from a kit only to start another many times. I have a few kits in various stages of builds I've put away due to losing my mojo. Look at my list:

Sox & Martin GTX... almost done with the body. Just need to go back and fix the bleeds from the paint.

L.A. Dart.... paint bleed needs attention. Chassis needs to stripes painted on.

Grumpy's Vega... various stages in the build done.

These 3 racer kits have been on my shelf of doom for 3 years now. I'll probably get to it by summer.

Panther tank...Zimmerit PE needs to be installed. In fact, I had thought about resuming it couple nights ago before deciding to do the Viper kit Im doing now

88 Anti-Aircraft Gun.... on the shelf of doom because of defective part. Haven't responded back to company to show proof of said part.

Tamiya F-16 Aggressor Viper... paused due to dual build project I wanted to resume on. Now that I've got the kit to pair it in relation with the Viper kit, I can do so in the near future.

1/72 scale Mig-21bis pair... awaiting for replacement canopy for each so I can finish it.

Pak 76 anti-tank gun.... Tamiya dont have replacement parts at the moment. I'll have to get back in touch with Tamiya to see if they now have any spares available. It's been 4 or 5 months since I first inquired about it.

Trumpeter 1/350 scale USS Arizona... missing tower part. Damn cat probably played with it off my bench and God only knows where it went. Looking for replacement parts - which I haven't done so yet.

Revell 1/48 P-61 Black Widow... that is a disaster of a kit due to bad molding. Most likely it will be binned in the very near future. No point in holding on to it if Im not gonna build it. Besides, it's taking up shelf space for more kits to add to my stash.

[LyleW]

I was going to respond, but I’ll get to it later.


All so true. Doesn’t take much to suck the joy out of a project faster than a politician spending my money!

[Gary Brantley]

Timely post, Stuart! I'm a fellow sufferer myself. I can turn a weekend build into a year long project and do it time after time. I've been futzing around with two WWII Russian fighters for almost two years now. Lately, I experienced a rare case of motivation and went back to work on them. Now, both are just waiting the fiddly bits and that's a part I hate to do. Getting gear doors attached and stringing aerials, arrrgh! That stuff drives me nuts! So, I'm sitting at my table yesterday thinking, ya know, both of these are about ready to finish up...and what do I do? Set about finishing them? Oh, no! I pull another kit out and contemplate a group build that I know I shouldn't join.

And about that Tamiya Tomcat, Stuart. Yes, I have one too and after all the great results I've seen of it, I'm too nervous to start it, thinking I just won't be able to do it justice. Like you said, I wish I could be a model builder like Tom. He starts them and finishes them while I'm twirlin' my thumbs!

[Medicman71]

Man you described me to a tee. I have 10 builds in some stage of construction and 6 Gundams that need decals, clear coat and panel lining. I have very little motivation to work on any of them.

[mustang1989]

I feel your pain all too well Stuart. For a while, it seemed like the closer I end up getting to any given build, I found myself just sitting there wondering what to do next. I started making lists of things that needed to be done when I got to that point so I could start putting things in the proper sequence/ order. When I was younger, I would just start another kit but I ended up FOR SURE getting overwhelmed at that point.

I also tend to move around in genres a little more which is what I'm seeing not only you do, but others who are commenting here as well. It helps in keeping things interesting.

I've also kept to my cardinal rule of only building one model at a time. Some of these guys on this forum and others can build multiple projects at the same time with no problems. That is a sure fire way for me to get sensory overload and not do anything. I'll offer this my good friend Stuart (and normally I don't give advice but I'm guessing that you started this thread for a reason so this once I will), stay with the kit you started with and only that kit and see how that works for ya bud. Make lists when you get blocked as it helps to sort out the order of assembly, painting...etc.

Hope this helps man.

[mustang1989]

I was going to respond, but I’ll get to it later.


All so true. Doesn’t take much to suck the joy out of a project faster than a politician spending my money!

Now that's funny.

[keavdog]

Modeling mojo ebbs and flows. I've completed 1 so far this year. I try not to sweat it - it's a hobby and it's there when you want to do it. I recently retired so I feel like the dam is going to bust and I'll start cranking them out. It is motivating to finish something for sure - and your pack of Spitfires is quite the accomplishment.

[Stuart]

Thanks Gents, it's good to know we're all in the same boat occasionally.

It's not so much a lack of mojo I've been suffering from, I've been building plenty, it's just a lack of focus, and being unable to start things (or finish them) due to too much procrastination, modellers block if you will. I've not been too bad this year so far, but as soon as I finished the last Spitfires - wham! I'm drifting around from build to build again.

I suppose anyone in any creative hobby suffers from the same issues occasionally. There's a famous Canadian Artist, Robert Batemen, who says it generally takes him 5 years to complete a painting not because he spends five years working on it, but because he'll start one full of enthusiasm, get board of it at a certain point, start another, go back and do a bit to the previous one, get board and start another, go back an work on the previous two etc. etc. Eventually a completed painting reaches the end of the cycle.

[cbaltrin]

It's a hobby Stuart. Just have fun. That's all it's about.
There should not any pressure or need to 'keep up' with the other guy. There should not be a completed kit at the end of every rainbow, just a pot filled with relaxation, fun and friends.
I have the Tamiya F-14A as well. Would love to start it. I don't because there is no time for it at this point in my life (and no workbench space either).
Maybe I will build it in 10 years or maybe I won't. It's seems like a retirement project for me at this point.