Taking breaks?

I go through phases where I just don't feel like doing anything, as well as starting a build and then losing interest in it for other reasons (eg, getting stuck on a technical problem).  The difference between the two is that when I get the urge and resume work, I can finish whatever I was working on before.  But a build for which I've lost interest can sit for a long time.

My biggest problem with building models isn't different from a problem I've always had — the unachieveable reach for perfection. And I've realized that even if a model doesn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, I can still take some pride in what I did manage to accomplish.

At the moment, my Academy 1/72 F-86F Sabre is gathering dust, mainly because painting it realistically and applying all of those tiny decals is intimidating! Instead, I've worked on my Italeri UH-34 D Seahorse helicopter, and accepting all of my goofs (including breaking and repairing the tail rotor and the main rotor, too much sanding that removed detail, and applying DIY decals that proved to be too large) as "normal" wear, tear, "weathering" and evidence of severe combat!

Bob

If its just about problems,I will slog thru a kit till completion,its just a principle thing,this kit won't beat me,or I can do this.

If its a big project,like my current IJN Akagi,I will reach a stage and break with another kit just to break things up.Right now I switched over to Tamiya's F-16 for a change of pace.

My bigger work area has allowed me to do this.

I do it every once in awhile.  Above my bench are three shelves I call my "shelves of doom."  I fully intend to finish them later, but some remain up there long enough, that when I review them all I relegate some to the trash.  Most common things up there are ship kiits.  I find ships are the genre that takes the longest to build, particularly ones with a lot of rigging.  I take frequent breaks of an hour or so during the build, but even so I elect to move on to a simpler kit for my sanity.  I do return to models on the shelf periodically and finish them but I must admit the shelves are becoming more crowded with time.

Hi;

I have done it many times over the years. Life interferes etc. So it's good to break off once in a while anyway.

I finish what I start but like others I take breaks of a few days from time to time.

I think it's perfectly normal to start a kit, fired with enthusiasm for the subject, only for that to evaporate & leave one looking at a now unappealing pile of plastic bits.  My solution is to put it away, so the feeling of guilt/failure is not staring at you every time you pass the work area, and start something else - usually a bit less ambitious than the stalled project - say, something simple in 1/72.  When that's done, the feeling of accomplishment is usually enough to rekindle interest or confidence to resume the job.  Usually.

       Happy modelling

                              Hutch.

Sometimes i stop because i don't feel like going through the airbrushing mess of painting the camo job.

I've only ever stopped part way through a build. My wife bought me a Pocher Mercedes Benz Cabrio kit for getting my first major management job in 1988. But as we have moved house it got shelved after building the rolling chassis engine/gearbox.

So I'm now tackling the body/doors/interior including paint/upholstery, so no other kits being started as concentration on this is paramount!

The completed chassis....

A door skin...........

A door interior..............

Normally I only open/build one kit at a time due to lack of space. 

I try to stay focused on one, but I often enjoy starting another as sometimes my interests change.  I've never left a model undone for a long time.  I have NO "shelf of shame".   But occasional I do need to step away even in the middle of a project.  Sometimes its doing all those silly track links.  Sometimes it's the pho-etch.  I rest my little brain a bit, then back to fun times.  It's good to take a little break.

It happens. 

I find it happens to me when I build a Dragon kit, oddly enough. I generally have two going at the same time just in case interest wanes a bit on one, I jump to the other. I do have two kits that I started that just became so frustrating that I set them aside indefinitely. I ill most likely finish the, but at this point id they got crushed by a falling meteor, or abducted by aliens, I wouldn't be sad at all.

I can say that I have never had this problem with a Tamiya, Asuka, or Eduard kit. Once I start those I see them through to the end.

stikpusher

Yes, it’s pretty common to set aside a build for one reason or another. I’ve done it far too many times, for a variety of reasons. I’ve gone back and completed some of them. I like to think that I’ll get back to all of the rest and complete them one day...

 

And that is the main reason I try not to have other kits in the sidelines waiting to be built, it sort of puts a urgency on me to hurry up and finish the current one so I can start on the next one.

I do take frequent breaks from building from a few hours to a few days, but, I do not make those breaks too long or I would never finish the build.

Joe

Yes, it’s pretty common to set aside a build for one reason or another. I’ve done it far too many times, for a variety of reasons. I’ve gone back and completed some of them. I like to think that I’ll get back to all of the rest and complete them one day...

I don't consider it a problem. Your choice. I do that all the time.

Bill