Usually happens to me near the end of a long, intense build. I have to take a couple of weeks off before I can get myself to continue. 

What you are going through now is normal. I'm only surprised it hasn't happened sooner. Four years, every day??! Non stop??!

That is an impressive length of uninterrupted modeling for sure. 

I go though the same thing.  Usually after several builds during two or three months, I have to take a week so off to recharge.  I usually go though the stash to think about what to build next.  Doing that is very relaxing.  Don't worry about it.  You'll be fine.     

Yes it has happened to me also. Although I can not say that I have ever had the chance to model every day for four years without fail. Aside from basic life support activities- eat, sleep, breathe, etc. I can not think of anything over a four year period that I have done without fail for every day of those years. 

Take a break, the urge and muse will return in time. Forcing anything will delay that. 

same with me , at the end of a long build , normally 2-3 week's see's the urge come back

Yup, hapened here too few times over the past years. Don't fight it, just chill, do something else. After a while I started browsing online stores (squadron, sprue bros etc) and after a while more I started looking at airplanes ( I built tanks and trucks untill then) and slowly started to think to try to bild one, so I ordered few...and the madness aka glue and paint sniffing (according to Mrs Castelnuovo) was back on track.

Same here. I normally do a little something every other day at least. But I ended up getting almost nothing done over the three day Fourth of July weekend and not much done over this last weekend. It's partly the heat and humidity but that never stopped me before, maybe it's old age too- I dunno. 

Oddly the more I think about it - it's more a bad case of finishing though. I still am feeling the strong urge to pull something new out of the stash and start on it. But I've told myself nothing new till I finish something going now. 

That would burn me out. There's every reason to take a break.

it might take a while but that's ok.

i can list a series of reasons why modeling is good for me.

- Prompts curiosity, reasons, posting/ reading.

- Seems to be a positive use of free time.

-Suppresses other negative activities in those times, such as eating or drinking too much.

-I think it creates a positive image in the eyes of others. I don't mean to sound ego driven, but it's nice to be respected for being competent at something.

-modeling promotes an interest  in others in my family to do similar activities.

i find that when I break from modeling for a while, I start to miss that stuff.

My oncologist has always promoted it. I listen to her.

I find sometimes a change in genre of model will help, or to do a simple project out-of-box.  As an extreme measure, I undertake a complete cleanup of my shop.  I spend the time I usually spend on modeling doing the cleaning, and since my basement shop is 12 x 20, it takes several days, sometimes over a week.  That long without modeling usually rescues me from the burnout.

Another cure is to read books about the prototypes of my favorite modeling subjects, while I refrain from building during the read.

I only work from May 1st through mid-October...the rest of the year (aside from part time/on call at my local airport, when the snow flies) is all mine. I do a little deer hunting through December, the rest is pretty much just building models...ALL day, most days. I go strung up until about April, then my mind switches over to thinking about getting things ready for the work season...almost no building going on. Once work fires up, I'm either working or trying to get more work. The work days also motivate me to do even more work around the house...just way too busy to get to the bench.

I did get in a good 5-6 hours yesterday...first time in a long time that I got any more than an hour or so!. I still have a hard time focusing on just modeling...lots to think about when you're running your own business...and you do ALL the work!

I'm with Don. When a break is needed, I go through the stash and study the parts in each one to see what I'd do with it. That would lead to a clean up of the bench and minor re-arrangements of tools and paints. Sometimes that leads to a change in type of build. This only happens once or twice a year and lasts for about 2 days. Being retired lets me build for anywhere from 15 minutes to all day every day (with breaks for lunch, dinner and "Honey dos" from SWMBO). 

Jim  

Aardvark002;

    Listen here buddy . If you Don't have burnout , you are not normal . Sometimes in these later years I have to turn it off for three or four days . And there is sometimes I have a run of thirty or more days without stopping . I do step away on weekends .This lets me re-connect with the outside world .You have to do it for sanity's sake .  T.B.

"G"

What do you mean by Ascearing ? T.B.

Tanker - Builder

"G"

What do you mean by Ascearing ? T.B.

 

I was thinking he mispelled 'swearing'. In my case modeling causes more of this, at times a great deal more of this....

part 1 of a ? part series of now why would you? ran out of oven cleaner,bleche white and elo. free weekend what to do? ohhh lookie lookie darrin scribner from SFM (searching for the meaning of life thru modeling)sent me WIGGED OUT WIGWAMS new 999 piece 1/72 gotha 4 with pe rigging needle and thread for the seat no fabric got a spare chair tho,24 piece tail skid option made from 12 exotic woods requiring spec glue from nepalese yak loin 99.99 per1/10 oz. bottle 3 required shipped on back of green sea turtle. I am so on this wait I have a therapist appt. in 1 hour. time enuff to biuld the props. lahd have mercy? 2 b continued with a dose of reality maybe after my next rehab soooo sincerely RON

I was building balsa airplane models, got tired of it and started building the plastic models. After six airplane models I started working on a PT 109 kit, and a car kit. I have a tricerotops and a fishing trawler in the stash as well to mix things up. I enjoy doing the plastic kits, but I've been thinking about starting a balsa kit again. There are hundreds of free plans out there for the balsa kits, and it's not that hard at all to cut out your own pieces once you have the plan.

I guess the variety helps me refocus when the burnout hits!

keepingitsimple

part 1 of a ? part series of now why would you? ran out of oven cleaner,bleche white and elo. free weekend what to do? ohhh lookie lookie darrin scribner from SFM (searching for the meaning of life thru modeling)sent me WIGGED OUT WIGWAMS new 999 piece 1/72 gotha 4 with pe rigging needle and thread for the seat no fabric got a spare chair tho,24 piece tail skid option made from 12 exotic woods requiring spec glue from nepalese yak loin 99.99 per1/10 oz. bottle 3 required shipped on back of green sea turtle. I am so on this wait I have a therapist appt. in 1 hour. time enuff to biuld the props. lahd have mercy? 2 b continued with a dose of reality maybe after my next rehab soooo sincerely RON

 

I stopped building for years and focused on guitar playing, but every year I would drive to the toledo weak signals R/C show to get more into R/C. I found this old guy selling a bunch of old kits. I bought this ship. It was my first solid wood kit. I had to sew each spar onto the sail. this is something you would never do with plastic. I also was getting pissed off when my paint didn't turn out perfect. the truth is it is never perfect no matter how much you obsess about it. Aitplanes made of aluminum look different than plastic models. How can you live with that? ha ha. it all gets impossible if you think about it. I love the process and having something to do with my mind when T.V. fails me. I am half way through 3 or 4 models. I am building a Guillows Spirit of St. Louis. Not sure how to handle the cowling. The point it NONE OF THIS MATTERS! it is a hobby and we have to just enjoy it or don't. It is not our job. It is not a competition. It is like building a puzzle. My two bits are try something different or not. Take the pressure off yourself. You are a good person. and we all support what ever you do. 

Biologically, this is entirely normal. The brain needs time to recharge its creative batteries, so to speak. Give it time. You'll come back to it, just don't rush it.

Wirraway

 

 

keepingitsimple

part 1 of a ? part series of now why would you? ran out of oven cleaner,bleche white and elo. free weekend what to do? ohhh lookie lookie darrin scribner from SFM (searching for the meaning of life thru modeling)sent me WIGGED OUT WIGWAMS new 999 piece 1/72 gotha 4 with pe rigging needle and thread for the seat no fabric got a spare chair tho,24 piece tail skid option made from 12 exotic woods requiring spec glue from nepalese yak loin 99.99 per1/10 oz. bottle 3 required shipped on back of green sea turtle. I am so on this wait I have a therapist appt. in 1 hour. time enuff to biuld the props. lahd have mercy? 2 b continued with a dose of reality maybe after my next rehab soooo sincerely RON

 

 

 

 

  Now I have a headache.   Not wanting to be the grammar police, but full stops, capital letters, spacing, commas and exclamation marks are your friend (and ours)

 

 

LOVE YOU!!!

4 sure got your attention [stop] 2 old 2change or care [stop] failed humour [stop] will now commit hoot gison? r u satisfied? [stop] friends r supposedly tolerant of humans and our fallabilities. should I bring cookies and FOSTERs next time [stop] ron

Hi ;

 Well , bring the Foster's . We'll sit and sip and talk about all the models we wish we could afford !

2 tempting tanker. for me i need more of the talent and patience these younger and much more serious types posses 

Take a break. Read a book. Read THE Book. Take a walk. Take the dog with you. Play with your kids. Rent some if you don't have any.

All normal, all good. 

I find that it helps to have multiple hobbies and interests. That way if you get burned out doing one hobby, you can put that aside for a while and get involved in somethind else. I alternate between to hobbies, my garden (4,000 s.f.) and my models.