Finding the time!

For me it's a matter of turning off the television! Honestly, how can you get anything done with that on? Sometimes you just make time or tell the wife you would like an hour here and hour there. Trade your wife an hour for an hour. Occasionally, I've built models when everyone is asleep. Hope these ideas help.

tigerman brings some good points here. Remembering back when we had little ones, that was pretty much the way to do it. Grab an hour of personnal time, late hours while wifey just puts her feet up.
As far as apartment living and modelling goes, I too live in an apartment, my work bench does double duty as my computer desk and my spray booth is located in the storage closet. Tight fit but it works. The buggest problem you'd have is keeping the itty bitty fingers away from Daddy's stuff.

With 2 littl'uns of my own, finding time to actually get work done is more of a chore than modelling itself. I've found that the only time I really get a chance to get some work in is after the kids are in bed, so I can steal an hour or two to get a good coat of paint or whatever. Lunch hour is also a pretty decent time, if only to get a little bit done inbetween bites of sandwich. Granted, it's taken me 3 months to do a cockpit, but If the passion is there, you'll find the time.

When my son was around four or five, he was fascinated by watching me build and paint. I found a great way to keep him occupied and get him involved in the process. I'd give him an old brush, a couple of empty sprues, and a bottle of Tamiya acrylic, and let him paint! He loved it! He would proudly show off his work when done, and a couple of years later he moved up to snap-fit kits. Now he's almost 12 and working on the Revell USS Saratoga.

Paul,
That's fantastic - make sure you show us pictures of the USS Saratoga when its done. Post them on ron.com.george - he's generously created webspace for us guys (and gals) to post pictures of our models. Imagine what a thrill it would be for your son to see a picture of his Saratoga online!!

Astro, a few hours (late) get some jobs done, and on the odd occasion, I get up really early on weekends (before the wife and kids) for an hour or two of peaceful creativity.
It also helps that most of the builds I do are for clients (But it helps pay the bills, honey!! Honest!!) so I can often get in an hour or two on most weeknights. Heh, heh.
I gotta say that it's most important to strictly monitor "life" and its' time requirements........ignoring the fambly to lay down "just one more decal" is not a good thing. Besides, the good lady and the kids are pretty good value, so it's good to keep them happy. Who else would put up with me?
Cheers, guys
LeeTree

Yeah, you should definately upload his Saratoga model when he is done.. .and point us to it. We can all and give some great comments on his work. What a fun treat for him.

As for space... I have everything on a table....





those are in the workshop gallery I just created tonight, so expect this to fill up soon: http://rongeorge.com/modules/Gallery/workshops


Its one of those 8 foot by 3 foot thick white plastic tables you get at Sam's Club for 70 dollars.

[EDIT]

As for time... that I have plenty of. I worked in Corporate Dot Coms for the past 10 years and finally taking a break. I have done Corporate Design/Development/Management since the early 90s. I worked at Microsoft for 6 years, Yahoo, Sony, and most recently Clear Channel. Honestly... it was going to put me in the grave so I got out. Now I just do some small businesses in my area and relax alot. No wife or kids... so just mess with my models, my artwork, and hang out with the girlfriend every now and then.

I live in a teeny tiny appartment. A 2 roomed ground floor flat. Great thing is that I have a great view of some nice green fields out back and a canal out front. I can pinpoint my place on any general map of Holland. As for building space, well, thats anywhere were I can sit and have a table nearby, which is our coffee table (which is in fact a wooden board on top of a pair of boxes. We have a storage problem.). My girlfriend thinks its great I have my own interests, so lets me do my thing whenever I want really. As long as I spoil her every now and again, aside from also just focussing my attention on her every now and again. She has a 1 1/2 hour commute every morning, so is in bed by 10pm, which leaves me with plenty of time to do my stuff in the evening, as I only have a 10 minute cycle in the morning.

Thanks all , got some good tips!!!