I tend to stick to the same subject type, aircraft, although I do mix it up from WWII to Korea to Vietnam to WWI to between the wars back to WWII ... I have just recently done a true mix-it-up by building a couple of Bandai Star Wars figures, and have done some cars and tanks over the years.  

The grandiose builds like you mention have been a huge problem for my modeling interest. In the same general timeframe, I did a 350th Lexington complete with all the photo-etch and fully loaded with its complement of Wildcats, Devastators and Dauntlesses.  That one was a real time-consumming build that sapped a lot of desire from me to build.  Even knowing that I decided that my next build (there might have been a small, quick build snuck in between, I don't recall for sure) would be Airfix's 24th scale Mosquito.

That one took even more time than the Lexington did, and that was complete out of the box.  Yikes.  After that I decided that I should stick with smaller builds, but I think I was away from my bench for longer than is typical, which would generally be no more than a week or two.  When I finally got back to the bench, I picked out a series of short-run kits that I had - a couple of Classic Airframes molds and a couple of Special Hobby kits.  These had lots of resin to work with, which normally doesn't cause me any concern but in these cases it seemed that those kits fought me start-to-finish.

The final problem I noticed was tackling the WWI subjects.  I went through 2 different Sopwith Camel kits, not finishing either, before finally succeeding with a 32-scale Albatros.

I really have not had the same fervor for modeling as I did before I started tackling those large, complicated builds.  I am still building but I am doing so at a much slower pace.  I recently completed 4 Airacobras (3 in 48th and 1 in 32nd) that took me roughly 8 months to complete; normally I would have completed those in no more than half that time.

I am not totally done with doing the grandiose builds - I still have several kits that would qualify for that, a Fine Molds 72nd scale Millennium Falcon, 350th USS Texas, 24th Airfix Typhoon, among others.  But I have not even begun to think of building anything like those.  I really just want to build with a turn-around time that is not taking the majority of a year!

If I let myself start a new project without finishing what I've started, I would never finish anything.

All of the above, honestly.

I actually have given up on big builds. Even including 1/350 aircraft carriers. Just the other day while reading "Shattered Sword", I got up and went to the computer and found the Hasegawa Akagi for less than $ 200.00. But then I stopped myself and thought, well, so it'll go on the shelf next to the half-completed Hornet and the unstarted Saratoga? Or the slightly smaller scale half-completed Illustrious or the unstarted Midway?

I've been working on 1/64- 1/96 sailing schooners, yachts and a viking ship for the last year or so. I finish those, and get satisfaction from it.

Really big models are like model railroads, easy to start, hard to finish, expensive, time consuming and eat up real estate.

Just my opinion.

Thanks for your thoughts and compliments everyone!

I should mention that I've been doing a lot of tire-spinning on my model desk over the past 3-4 years... in that time I've started severeral large, ambitious, heavily modded builds and spent more hours than ever before in my life on modeling but haven't finished ANYTHING!

As a result I was suffering from some serious modeling burnout for most of last year. After taking a 5 month break I took a hard look at what I was doing (right and wrong), decided to put my other bogged-down builds away, started fresh with the Nelson and actually made up a mini-manifesto of sorts for myself for how I was going to approach the build.

Anyway, it worked! Amazingly (for me anyway ) I've managed to discipline myself and work on Nelson every week since last September... I only started getting bogged down a bit when I modded the hull (I replaced the hull plating/portholes) but I got through it without much of a problem nevertheless.

So far burnout hasn't been much of an issue for me and I'm sure I'll  finish Nellie in the next couple months but I'm really enjoying my newly rediscovered fire for modeling and I don't want to just end back up where I was before...

I mix it up by having multiple projects under way at the same time, but try to keep it to two.  If I am working on a major project I like to keep the second project a simpler, minor one.  I will at times work on two major projects in succession, but ordinarily like to follow major ones with simpler ones before another major project.

Like others I mix it up. But even when i do a large project or diorama, I break it up into sections. I try not look at the completed project as the end of build, but rather each suv-project as a build unto itself..if that makes sense!

I think it's all about the motivation factor.

Hello! 

 I must say , nice looking progress there !

 What I do is change out after about 1/4 of the build , I change to  " Tings wit Wings " or  " Tings wit Wheels " or sumpin scratchbuilt . That way I don't get near " Burn-Out " levels .

     That way I also , being away from the " Big " project , solve problems , that may have cropped up or particularly vex me .

 I always recommend a break from the " Biggies " to all my modeling friends . It has helped for over fifty years .    Tanker - Builder

Like Tojo, i try and mix them up. But i can't say i have yet built any real large projects. I do have some planned, 72nd U-Boats, 350 Bismarkc and a few more. When i get to those i am intending to work in stages. Spend a month or so on it, then do another build before going back.

I agree with what Tojo said above.  I usually work on 3 or 4 builds at a time.  If I get bored or stuck with a problem on one of them, I just set it aside and work on one of the others.  Sometimes I go for days, or weeks, without working on anything for one reason or another.  It all depends on you and your alloted time schedule.  I have one project that has been in the works for about 2 years.  Designing and building a frame/engine combo for a 1/8 scale '32 Ford has been a  to say the least.  I only work on it when the urge strikes.  I have just made friends with a guy who builds 1/1 street rods and he's agreed to give me a hand. When the builds get this big, the details have to be better.  Makes for a lot of work.

Jim  

Whoa! You're not kidding about a BIG project there! And she's a beauty! 

I tend to get more excited about big projects but tend to burn out on them before finishing. Small projects are a little lower key but I still tend to burn out though not quite as badly... 

I generally have a mix going on at anytime- though picking one thing and sticking with it would probably be a better idea. 

I like to mix it up,if I just slogged thru a tough project I might throw in something not as involved.I mix genres,planes,armor,ships,modern,WWII,just what hits me.

You of course realize that it's personal,wwhatever order works to keep you happy and motivated.

Great looking build also.