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Modeling during the Summertime??????

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  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Modeling during the Summertime??????
Posted by JohnnyK on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 9:51 AM

I live in the Chicago area where winter seems to last forever. During the Summertime I tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. This leaves little time for modeling. I'm working on a B-24J that seems to be taking forever. Do other modelers share this situation?

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 9:57 AM

Yes, I tend to spend time doing yard work and "honey do" lists that would normally be used to build. Then because of the smaller amounts of time available, I'll end up doing something on the computer that I can do quickly instead of getting out my modeling gear and starting something that would require hours.

Also will take more day trips on weekends that puts dents in my modeling time.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 10:04 AM

The amount of time i spend modelling doesn't change much from winter to summer. Most of my modelling is done in the evening or the odd weekend when the weather is bad. The only time that will effect it is if we go away for a few days.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    August 2015
  • From: the redlands Fl
Posted by crown r n7 on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 10:45 AM

Me too Im in the shop at night or when it rains which is every afternoon untill the fall lol

 

 

 Nick.

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 11:08 AM

Johny, I live about 60 miles east of you so our weather is same except we get more snow.

I dislike our winters  very much, yet to my surpise I find I do just as much modeling in the summer. The basement is very cool and inviting in the summer.

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Posted by JohnnyK on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 11:37 AM

I am retired and consider myself lucky because I have a number of hobbies. I know a few people that have no hobbies and are always complaining because they are bored. That's unfortunate. One of my hobbies is gardening. Thirty years ago when we built our house, and when I was a lot younger, we planted a number of flower beds that totaled 4,000 sq. ft. Anyone who has a green thumb is aware of how much time is required to keep planting beds neat and tidy. Constant weeding, cleaning, feeding and replacing dead plants. Over the years we have been replacing some of the beds with sod. Just too difficult to take care of as we age. We are down to about 1,000 sq. ft. of flower beds. This is a picture of the largest.

 

I do get to do modeling when it rains, or when I am just fed up with pulling weeds.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

  • Member since
    August 2013
Posted by Jay Jay on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 11:41 AM

I got involved in modeling so I would have something hands on to do. Now that fishing and mowing season has taken off here in Florida, I spend much of my time in those areas with the obligatory and constant repairs that have to be done on the old boat , motor and trailer and the constant maintenance on the old riding mower. Suffice to say that I have ample hands on things to do and not as much time on modeling. July and August here are basically too hot to be outside for much of the day and the lawn work doesn't have to be attended to much so i'm looking forward to more modeling time then. So I model when I can and work when I should. No big deal if my modeling projects are put off for a few months, after all it's a hobby.

 

 

 

 

 

 I'm finally retired. Now time I got, money I don't.

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 12:05 PM

Yeah, I slow down a little in the summer, for similar reasons-outdoor work and outdoor activities.  I ride bike, so when the weather's nice, I'm either on the road, or cutting the grass.

In between, I do set up outside, though, too, and paint or build.

Best regards,

Brad

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2014
Posted by bluenote on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 12:22 PM

I really slow down during the summer.  I work 9-5 and have a wife and kids so evenings are sometimes busy, and I also play tennis is the summer.  When I do have free time, I like to take advantage of the nice evenings and sit out in the backyard.  

I will sometimes model in the summer months if there's a good thunderstorm or rain.  But mostly my modelling is done in the fall, winter and spring.

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 12:38 PM

My bench time practically came to a screeching hault once nice weather hit.  I loathe winter with every fiber of my being, so when it's nice out, I just can't sit in the house and do stuff.  I must get outside while the weather is nice.  If I don't I feel like I'm wasting the summer.  If it's raining, or super hot then I'll stay in, and not feel guilty about it. 

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: From the Mit, but live in Mason, O high ho
Posted by hogfanfs on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 1:03 PM

I only get to my workbench for a few minutes a day, so, I don't see much of a difference based on the season.

 Bruce

 

 On the bench:  1/48 Eduard MiG-21MF

                        1/35 Takom Merkava Mk.I

 

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Posted by JohnnyK on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 1:20 PM

I agree with you 100%,   I hate the winter in Chicago. Not only is is cold, but the trees are bare, the grass is brown and the skys are gray most of the time. Summer is the best!!! It is a true gift.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

fox
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Narvon, Pa.
Posted by fox on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 7:13 PM

I generally work at the bench the same amount of time all year round. I have a few other hobbies that I enjoy and work them in when I feel like it. We just moved into a 55+ Community last november and they take care of about 75% of the usual 'Honey-Do" list items. Don't have to do ANYTHING outside the cottage. They have plants and bushes outside that they take care of and if we want to have other flowers out there that's up to us and we're not gardeners. They just put mulch down on all the areas around the community. There are a lot of things inside the cottage that they will take care of too.  So, we basically do what we want when we want. It seems like it's taken a very, very long time to get to this point and now that it's here, we're going to enjoy every minute of it. Just went out with my brother-in-law the other day for a few hours of punching holes in paper at the local target range. 

Jim  Captain

 Main WIP: 

   On the Bench: Artesania Latina  (aka) Artists in the Latrine 1/75 Bluenose II

I keep hitting "escape", but I'm still here.

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Posted by JohnnyK on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 7:57 PM

That sounds like really nice to me.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

  • Member since
    May 2018
  • From: Commonwealth of Virginia
Posted by VA Spartan on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 8:26 PM

Like some others my modeling slows down drastically.  Between fishing, yardwork, the pool, or just heading out to the mountains or beach for a few days, I am lucky to get an hour in a week.  The modeling picks up again in October and by April it’s back outdoors.

On the workbench: 1/35 Takom T-54B; 1/35 Tamiya Char B1bis w/French Infantry; 1/48 Tamiya Fairey Swordfish Mk. 1

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Orlando, Florida
Posted by ikar01 on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 8:30 PM

I spend quite a bit of time in my garage building.  I usually have a fan going in the window alongside my work area and now and then I replace it with one of those small cooling units they advertise on T.V. and usually leave the main door open to let in some breeze.  We don't get much cold down here but I prefer teh heat, especially after some of the places I was assigned to in the Air Force.

Hey Baron, I have relatives in the Bethlehem, Allentown, Wetherly, and Hazelton area.  Wouldn't it be weird if we were related?  Not much chance of that though.  

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: USA
Posted by keavdog on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 9:50 PM

I'd say maybe a little slow down.  San Diego has pretty nice weather year round - but the summers mean swimming, grilling out etc.  I do my modling indoors for the most part but my spray booth is in the garage and in the summer out where I live we can push up above 100 and that garage is a torture chamber Dead

Overall my hobbies go in cycles - I'm currently back in a scale plastic model cycle.  Before this I was doing 1:1 car stuff, RC aircraft before that on and on it goes.

I do feel for you cold weather folks and can certainly see why you hang up your xacto for summer.

Thanks,

John

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Thursday, June 14, 2018 8:39 AM

JohnnyK

I live in the Chicago area where winter seems to last forever. During the Summertime I tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. This leaves little time for modeling. I'm working on a B-24J that seems to be taking forever. Do other modelers share this situation?

 

I sure do.  If you think Chicago has a long winter, move to Minnesota!  In fact, the longer winter and windier summer is why I gave up flying models and went to static scale only, when I moved there from Missouri.  It takes me 10 minutes to snow blow my drive in winter, an hour and a quarter to mow my lawn in the summer.  Plus weed trimming, putting down weed killer and fertilizer, and all those other things.  Winter is prime building time for me.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Western PA
Posted by JDHammer on Thursday, June 14, 2018 10:27 AM
I actually model more in the summer. My workshop room is on a separate heat control so to save money i usually keep it down on the coldest days. Weird but it lets me afford more models!
  • Member since
    September 2013
  • From: San Antonio, Texas
Posted by Marcus McBean on Thursday, June 14, 2018 10:41 AM

JohnnyK

I live in the Chicago area where winter seems to last forever. During the Summertime I tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. This leaves little time for modeling. I'm working on a B-24J that seems to be taking forever. Do other modelers share this situation? 

 

It is the opposite here for me.  I live in San Antonio, Texas but was born and raised in Detroit.  The summers here is pure H__L for me with our 104 degree days.  I do most of my modeling when I get home from work until dinner and depending on what I am working on sometimes after dinner until just before sunset and then do some yard work.  The winter is where I cut back my modeling with the nice cool days to enjoy outside.

Mark

  • Member since
    June 2017
  • From: Winter Park, FL
Posted by fotofrank on Thursday, June 14, 2018 11:20 AM

Since I'm retired now, I'm at the work bench at least a couple of hours a day. I divide my time between building and editing photographs. The only difficulty for me is that I have to paint out on the patio. Fortunately the patio is on the east side of the house but the midday sun can be pretty brutal. I bought a portable AC unit last year to mitigate the heat. The AC keeps the temps in the 80s so it's tolerable enough to go out there to paint most days. I still break a sweat though on days like today.

OK. In the stash: Way too much to build in one lifetime...

  • Member since
    September 2011
  • From: Milaca, Minnesota
Posted by falconmod on Thursday, June 14, 2018 11:55 AM

Don Stauffer

 

 
JohnnyK

I live in the Chicago area where winter seems to last forever. During the Summertime I tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. This leaves little time for modeling. I'm working on a B-24J that seems to be taking forever. Do other modelers share this situation?

 

 

 

I sure do.  If you think Chicago has a long winter, move to Minnesota!  In fact, the longer winter and windier summer is why I gave up flying models and went to static scale only, when I moved there from Missouri.  It takes me 10 minutes to snow blow my drive in winter, an hour and a quarter to mow my lawn in the summer.  Plus weed trimming, putting down weed killer and fertilizer, and all those other things.  Winter is prime building time for me.

 

 

You got that right Don,   it's even worse cuz I'm about 100 north of you.   try getting your car stuck 200 feet from your driveway with 18 inches of snow on the ground,  then the pull start on the snow blower breaks and you have to shovel it all by hand to get my car off the road and in the driveway at 4am mind you!  yes this did happen this year and it was the straw that broke my back.  when the kids are gone we're out of this state!

I do however get a lot of time at my bench, 2-4 hours a night on average, i'd get more done if I'd watch less tv there. But thats my fault.

John

On the Bench: 1/72 Ki-67, 1/48 T-38

1/144 AC-130, 1/72 AV-8A Harrier

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: 37deg 40.13' N 95deg 29.10'W
Posted by scottrc on Thursday, June 14, 2018 4:41 PM

Looks like this summer is going to be too dang hot to be oustide.  92 degrees, 80% humidity, and 20 mph winds in the 10 day forecasts will keep me in the nice cool basement workshop when I'm not at work or tending the gardens.  

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Friday, June 15, 2018 7:35 AM

ikar01

...Hey Baron, I have relatives in the Bethlehem, Allentown, Wetherly, and Hazelton area.  Wouldn't it be weird if we were related?  Not much chance of that though...

Maybe!  My dad is from Northumberland, so if you're related to any Jameses or Diehls from around there, we could be.  My mom is from Allentown, so if you're related to any Fonzones, Tognolis, or Sorrentinos from here, then we could be.  They all passed through Ellis Island and stopped in Staten Island, and Lodi, NJ, too, before coming to Allentown, so I've got distant cousins over there, too.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Friday, June 15, 2018 8:46 AM

falconmod

 

 ....

 

I do however get a lot of time at my bench, 2-4 hours a night on average, i'd get more done if I'd watch less tv there. But thats my fault.

John

 

I have the same trouble in the evenings.  However, this summer TV season is so bad that I have started spending many evenings now modeling instead of TV watching.  Come next season when NCIS starts again, I know I will take a big hit on Tuesdays, anyway.  I hope I can gain a new habit on other days- oh, yeah, except Wednesdays, when choir practice starts next fall.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Orlando, Florida
Posted by ikar01 on Saturday, June 16, 2018 7:03 AM

My Mother's maiden name was Reedand her father was a coal miner in PA.  After that there's not much that Iknow of.  It will take quite a bit of checking. On my father's side, the last of them left Austria immediately after the asination of the Arch Duke in 1914.  They landed in Mexico and walked in through the Southern border, altered their names for a time and disappeared, eventually ending up in NJ,  Strange events on that one.  In what is now part of Italy, in the Verona area I think,our family mountain still has our name on it and a rather large cable car system attached.

  • Member since
    April 2018
  • From: Arizona
Posted by Revenant01 on Saturday, June 16, 2018 7:18 AM
Living in Arizona my modeling time actually increases. After 10AM it's crazy to go outside when it's 115 or 46c outside. Any yard work that needs done is therefore done early. 
  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Saturday, June 16, 2018 5:32 PM

Ikar I bet you stay out of the garage in August cuz it's a freaking oven. I hide during the hot months here in central Fla.

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    June 2017
Posted by Chemteacher on Saturday, June 16, 2018 10:42 PM
I keep about the same pace in summer as the rest of the year-slow. With school out, I would like to get more bench time but with summer comes yard work, side-hustle jobs to help with bills, and lots of fishing. Also, it gets a little hot in the shop during summer, so most of my bench time is limited to mid-morning if I’m not tied up.

On the bench: Revell-USS Arizona; Airfix P-51D in 1/72

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Naples, FL
Posted by tempestjohnny on Sunday, June 17, 2018 6:29 AM
Definitely. But I still get some bench time. I love being outside. So if its nice......

 

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