A couple of questions with an explanation.

Well, that covers the bases pretty well of what modeling can mean to different people.

As far as building up a stash, it makes folks feel good. I've known guys who have thousands of models. Where I get a little skeptical is when there are ten of the same kit. But to each his own, right?

AFA the AD's, anyone who's ever flown any of them gets my respect! Thank you for your service.

3350, I've built a couple of L-749s that's about it. I did build an AD-2 once, Mach 2 kit from Hell.

Average an hour a day, inconsistently. Easily half a dozen at a time.

Blaine

So, my question is after all the history, is why would someone collect so many models when most likely they all will never be completed?

Oh boy,       .........oh boy.

Blaine

Next thing was he was looking at my Skyraider and immediately pointed out everything I was doing wrong. Granted he is a seasoned model builder and I love advice, I just don’t like condescending criticism. He said "I thought you said you flew the AD-5 once." I told him that is true, he asked, "why I didn’t build that kit instead of the AD1."

I have a suggestion about the criticism your recieved, but I think suggesting it might be illegal or at least in extremely poor taste so I had best refrain.

Blaine

Last question, for those of you that have a lot of time on your hands, how much time each day do you spend working on your models, and do you work on more than one at a time?

Me, it comes and goes. Between 2-3 hours a day to never depending if I'm in the mode or not (mode, not mood). I am in the middle of the first time working on two at once, and so far I've managed to frack them both up, a new personal record, two at once.

People collect.  You don't know how long you'll live.  Sure, I have more kits than I will ever build, but often just having the neat boxes full of plastic, or resin is it.  He just lost everything, and he maybe is trying to get things back to normal.  The second part of your question is more difficult.  Some people are just that way.  Maybe just being funny, maybe just making conversation.  I dont know.

Thank you all for your responses, and you all have given me a better understanding as to why collecting so many kits. 

I'm really enjoying my time working on the Skyraider, I know I kind of over did it with the puddy but that is cleaning up pretty well. I thought I had done fairly well on the cocpit detail but I can now see were I should have been better on the detail. Live and learn. 

As I said, I only got one flight and it was a blast, I was allowed to put it through it's paces but it sure didn't feel like it like being inverted so only one roll. 

The remainder of my Navy experience was chasing Ivan subs around the pacific, got really boring. 

I am in the boat with more models than I can finish in my lifetime, at my advanced age.

One problem is that some brands hardly ever repop their kits.  So if you see a really nice kit from one of those brands, there is the urge to snap it up while it is still available, else you will be out of luck.  There are kits that I regret not buying while they were available (i.e. the General, the Civil War locomotive).  People say one can buy discontinued kits on eBay.  However, the collectors seem to dominate there, and the big bucks old kits go for discourage the builders.

I can see where it is easy to build up a stash of kits but I reigned myself in to keep no more than 5 or 6 waiting in the wings when I restarted this hobby a year ago.

I have worked on two complete builds at a time but I won't do that again, it's too distracting to me. I will sometimes still jump into getting a new one started as I'm winding down on the finishing touches of a current build, it usually just involves getting the cockpit put together.

Unfortunately as far as critiquing goes. Some people just go straight to negatives when they critique. I think it's just a sign of their own insecurity and a need to deflect it onto others and make themselves feel better.

Blaine

I'm really enjoying my time working on the Skyraider

Great! That's what the hobby is supposed to be about!

Don Stauffer

One problem is that some brands hardly ever repop their kits. So if you see a really nice kit from one of those brands, there is the urge to snap it up while it is still available, else you will be out of luck. There are kits that I regret not buying while they were available

Having got the kidding around from my previous answer out of my system, I strongly agree with Don. I don't recall ever having  a 'stash' in the past, and shook my head at the idea when I returned to the hobby back in '13. I don't have a lot, but more than 10 by now and that is a lot more than I ever expected. Watching kits become unavailable has been a contributing factor for sure.

And I have another thought too. According to my reading, people, not just retirees, and worrying about running out of money in their lifetimes as never before. I started this chronic worrying in my early 20's, and it's never stopped. I've found myself finding a kit I like and buying it now because I can. I don't like that I do this, and I suspect I might not be the only one.

Hey, keep having fun building!

Ill put in my two cents on your points...

number of models vs time remaining... that’s ambiguous. You said he received several models for Christmas, plus just purchased nine more. How many does he complete a year? Not even going into life expectancy, remaining years, etc. but just saying that he doubled his stash to 18, that is not an unreasonable amount of kits at finishing at a rate of one every two months. That would be a three year supply. If he has a family history of living longer than the next three years...

Condescending advice/questions... that sounds like a personality issue. He easily could have phrased that another way. Kinda hard to keep track of all the available kits out there.

Time available in a day and working on multiple kits at once. Well I dont have lots of time every day available... yet... but I retire in a year or so. I model mostly on my days off, and a bit after work. On my days off, I’ll split my free time between my cycling, workbench time, and time spent with family, friends, etc. So bench time works out to anywhere from 2 to 4 hours or so per session... sometimes more, sometimes less. Working on multiple kits- I like to concentrate on one build at a time nowadays, but have a side project or two going, such as a figure (set) to fill the time on the primary when glue or paint are drying.

GMorrison

 

Where I get a little skeptical is when there are ten of the same kit. But to each his own, right?

Well I can think of a few examples of using that sole base kit to make several variants of the same subject. Especially when only one base kit exists in a given scale of a given subject, and there are multiple versions of the thing in reality. Nowadays, with the ever expanding kit selection out there, it is not so much of an issue. But possibly when some of these folks started their stashes it was the only way to do things...

or as our dearly departed friend Rex had in mind of doing all types flown by all USN squadrons in 1/72, sometimes it is a necessity for a project. 

I got asked the same question from my wife on why I had so many kits. I've purged kits from my collection based on changing interests only to get a few more that appealed to new ones.

1.) Truth is.....that all these kits in my fields of interest add up to be my own personal hobby shop where I can go in and choose which one I want to build at any given time.

2.) I spend about an hour per day on average working on my builds but it really doesn't matter because I finish when I finish whether it be 2 months or 7 months. I mean....I build what I like at the time.

I also agree with the point made earlier. As I move towards a smaller income, I've got 90% of what I need to have fun with for quite a while.

Thanks all. Now to get the wife to let me replace her figurenes with planes, don't think that is going to happen. 

My . I've been building for 72 of my 78 years and have built up quite a collection of kits in the stash. I figure that at the rate I build, I have enough to last for at least the next 200 or more years barring the fact that I either don't buy any more (maybe/maybe not) or don't win any more in the raffles at the shows. I hope to take them up to the great workbench in the sky when my time comes as I hear we will be there for a long, long time (that is if I'm lucky enough to get there in the first place).

I used to put in at least a couple of hrs. a day when I was working. Now that I'm retired (since 1998), I put in at least 4 to 5 hours a day. Sometimes I go to the bench if I get up at 3 or 4 in the morning and my wife calls me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That happens a couple days a week. She has her workroom and I have mine. She likes my hobby and I like hers. Works great. Hope you get that lucky. Plus, I put in 1 day a week cleaning and repairing models at a WWII museum. That's a lifetime job in itself. Who could ask for anything better. Of course, all this takes place on those days when there is nothing on the "Honey Do" list for me to do.

Jim  

Wow Jim, 72 years of experience that is great. I imagine you are also a wealth of knowledge and experience. I procrastinated getting back into it. Got interested a few years ago but had way too many things on the plate. 

As for the honey do list. I got my wife a sign, "If the man says he'll fix it, he will, you just don't need to remind him every six months." I know, talk about procrastination. 

Now that I'm actually putting the time in, I'm loving it. Thanks for your response. 

Richard