All oh so true... Even with no extended breaks from modeling since I was a young boy... Well maybe not the part about the scent of paint, glue, and thinner...

Very true guys- I also seem to require more naps in between getting things done...

I'm hoping that keeping the mind active with models will help stave off both senility and the grumpy-old-man syndrome!

Hate to tell you, but GOMS is inevitable.

I feel your pain. When did 1/35 get so small?

checkmateking02

I'm hoping that keeping the mind active with models will help stave off both senility and the grumpy-old-man syndrome!

That's my plan as well, apart from the GOMS, I think I was born with that.

I have only had a 5 year break from the hobby, 2003 to 2008. The one thing I noticed when I started back up was my eyes aching and straining to focus on things. That was easily solved. Though I have just got my first pair of reading glasses, I only need them for extremely fine print. So far, that's the only thing to go.

LOL!  Oh yeah.  All very true!  Especially the eyes!  What a wake up call when I first got back into the hobby and tried to do a 1/72 plane!  Played trombone with the little guy before I admitted it was age!    Now I have an optivisor!  Best darn purchase I have made since getting back into the hobby!  

Eagle90

It takes a lot longer to understand the instructions than it used to!

Makes me wonder if all these if all these great 1/32 kits  that have been released lately are geared to us old geezers.

I swear that the scales, while being still called 1/72, 1/48, 1/32, etc, have gotten smaller as have many things, like candy bars, "one pound" of bacon, coffee and so on. What is ironic to me is that now that I have some income to use to buy kits, airbrushes, tools, etc.....everything else has "up and left"!

I hear what you all say and I agree with all of it. I was using reading glasses and then a large magnifier with a light in it. I switched to an optivisor. Great invention. I also seem to have another problem that started a few years ago. Every time I am working on "small" parts, the freight trains start going by under the workbench making my hands shake. Anyone have any ideas on how to stop those darn trains? I tried a shot of good old Irish Whiskey, but then it seems that I can't tolerate it like I used to  and it renders the optivisor useless. Problems. Problems. I guess I should expect all this after building for 67 of my 73 years.

Jim 

All I can say is thank God for the optivisor,  1/32 and 1/24 scales!

fox

 I also seem to have another problem that started a few years ago. Every time I am working on "small" parts, the freight trains start going by under the workbench making my hands shake. Anyone have any ideas on how to stop those darn trains? I tried a shot of good old Irish Whiskey, but then it seems that I can't tolerate it like I used to 

Jim 

One option to stop the tremors is to have your arms and/or hands supported on the table.

Another option is to use weighted gloves. These are not gloves that are used in a gym. These are gloves that leave your fingertips open so that you can feel, but the fingers have small weighted wires or beads added to them. They can reduce or eliminate the tremors. I don't know where to get them, I saw them in a hospital once, but with a bit of creativity you may be able to make them.

Then you can make few more and sell them to us . We can talk royalties later...

Cheers...

I like both of those ideas. I'll try the first one out this afternoon, and I'll do some research on the second one tonight.

Wish I could get to use a DaVinci machine like the ones used in the hospitals. Our Senior Citizen Group got to see one up close and actually try to use it to pick up a dime, turn it around, stand it on end. Saw a film of it in use and the doctor had a problem with his hands shaking. The machine picks this up and adjusts for it so the knife or other instruments don't shake. Wow, what I could do with that.

Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate it.

Jim 

Castelnuovo, I tried resting my hands on the workbench while working on some parts for a jeep model tonight. Instead of just holding the part out in front of me while I worked on it, I placed my hands on the workbench. It really seemed to cut down a lot on the shaking. I got quite a bit of work done. Thanks a lot for the tip. I really appreciate it.

Jim 

Discovered another couple of addition to my list of observations:

• My body doesn't tolerate long sessions at the modeling bench the way it used to.
• Headaches. I never used to get headaches when building/painting models.

Part of the first (probably a significant part, if not the primary cause) is that I now have severe progressive and degenerative osteoarthritis of the spine. Traumatically induced due to a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1999. It's why I was retired and on disability before age 50. I'm pretty sure it's also a contributory factor for the headaches as well since the arthritis in my spine causes nerve issues, which in turn cause muscles to tighten up, which in turn causes....

Oy vey....

I've noticed that as a young modelerni couldn't get enough models, tools and such, now 30yrs later I have more kits than I know what to do with, more tools than hands to use them, and even though I'm currently a student time seems to be at a premium. I think that the early onset of GOMS. Thanks for the foresight ya old grumps LOL.

It's the fingers for me, I came down with RA last year and like everybody else good and bad days but these new kits are really enjoyable,. Some are complicated but they build really nice AND the options we have now in AM items and types of kits that are available makes for a great time to build.  

fox

Castelnuovo, I tried resting my hands on the workbench while working on some parts for a jeep model tonight. Instead of just holding the part out in front of me while I worked on it, I placed my hands on the workbench. It really seemed to cut down a lot on the shaking. I got quite a bit of work done. Thanks a lot for the tip. I really appreciate it.

Jim 

You most welcome, fox. I just graduated today from the physio school, glad to put my knowledge to good use.

Cheers...

I just love the fact that when I pull up to the bench each time I can't remember what I did the last time I was there nor what I was planning on doing next. Not to mention trying to do something unusual and saying to myself,"Man, I wish I had such and such tool to do this". Only to find out weeks latter that I had that exact tool on my bench all along. Just lovely.

The worst part of becoming and "older" modeler, is they keep making the parts smaller and smaller! I blame the metric system. I am sure, when I had to walk up hill both ways to school. the parts in a kit where much larger in any given scale.

The parts weren't larger, your fingers were smaller.  Did you have shoes and sox when you walked uphill both ways to school? I didn't. That's why I have flat feet now. 

Jim 

armornut

I've noticed that as a young modelerni couldn't get enough models, tools and such, now 30yrs later I have more kits than I know what to do with, more tools than hands to use them, and even though I'm currently a student time seems to be at a premium. I think that the early onset of GOMS. Thanks for the foresight ya old grumps LOL.

i'll reply to you but it applies to all of us. i have enough tools to literally equip 3 modelers. if  life span was counted in kits i'm good for another 200 years just with the kits in the bunker  i really want to build. oh and since at least 50 are ships add another 50 years. not counting the wood ships and the 230 in the garage.

i am 62. i have found my detail painting skills have improved. i can't use an optivisor or too lazy to work with it long enough but, as my eyeballs are VERY close to the model i wear safety glasses so i don't literally stab myself in the eye with an xacto. my tolerance for mistakes and dropped parts has increased with my confidence. usually i am figuring out how to make one as i creak down on my knees to search for the part. i take good criticism so much better. i do know after a long modeling session i shouldn't drive for an hour. really bad when you use closed captioning on the tv and can't see or hear for an hour or so.

all in all these are worth the satisfaction and serenity i get building. and the research and swapping techniques and lies over breakfast or club meetings just gets better.

And another one for the list:

• Progress is variable. Some days there's a lot, some days there's not.
• Case in point, yesterday I managed to get a whole 2 parts put on the Revell Strike Eagle I'm working on. Specifically I managed to glue 2 afterburner nozzle actuators in place. That makes a grand total of 5 out of 30 in place now.

That reminds me:

• Teeny parts, arthritic hands and old eyes make for interesting times. In the Chinese proverb way.

Back to the Optivisor, tweezers and really bright work light I go....

It is also fingers with me.  Although my vision is degrading, I find I can always buy vision aids, like powerful reading glasses, magnifiers,and better lamps, I do have arthritis in my hands that give me less manual dexterity than I used to have.

I had started building larger scale models, as it seemed easier.  But I quickly became overwhelmed with models with no more room to display them!  I also build a lot of ship models which take a lot of display space.

I kept remembering that old saying about "use it or lose it," and decided that avoiding the small scale stuff may not be the answer. I have started working on my smaller scale models now.  I figure that may delay the degradation.

You know Don your right since I had my two heart attacks in January and Feburary and quit smoking I feel different inside. Now I find out I need to have a pacemaker and defibrilator inplanted, will this make this old body go faster? Maby I can assemble a kit faster?

Hey waynec, try putting a pencil eraser on the pointy end of your xacto, keep the optivisor down for good measure, and remember shave away from you, might keep ya from carving an extra wrinkle someplace ya can't explain without eye rolls from others. Also them parts that jump off the table... ya don't need them trust me if ya can't see it on the floor you'll never see it on the model save your knees for better things like bellyrubbing the pooch or smelling flowers( so lng as its from this side of the dirt), and don't panic about that huge stash, with modern medicine, obamacare and preservatives we'll all out live our stashes. Please understand all of above post is in fun, ya gave me a chuckle and hopefully I returned the favor.

Hello :

   I have one of those " Ticker Trainers " If you don't mind a lump in your chest ,you'll do fine .It is only supposed to go off or pace if you need it . Otherwise it just sits there from the time you get it till you need it . It won't make you go faster , BUT , it will remind you of your mortality .Start getting those kits built my friend !

Amen to you tankbuilder I know of some who has just a defib he told me when it hits him hard he sure fells good afterwerds mabe all us old farts on here could use a good jolt of electrisaty once a month hahahahah    ACESES5