what to do when the time comes there are too many kits?

 HI; If you have this conundrum now, what might it be like, say in ten years. I don,t know about anyone else, but I know what to do with kits I just won,t have time for(maybe). I donate them to the VETERANS ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL. The RECREATIONAL THERAPY dept. gets stuff from "HELP A HOSPITALIZED VETERAN" programs, but invariably the veterans want to build models of equipment and planes, ships and armor they served with. These are not always forthcoming . Some would even appreciate the fine figurine kits on the market today. Donate you models to a good cause and feel good about what you did for a fellow citizen who maybe went in harms way for us, all of us. The look on a vets face when the damaged hands worked well enough or the body stayed upright in a chair for once ,and successfully built a model and have it look good is the ultimate thank you from us. Think about it! I do this about once every three or four years.    tankerbuilder

Felix

 Is it not written that "every man makes his own breaks"? In model ship building you have to "make your own time". Simply put, as busy as you think you are, there's always time to work on a ship model. For example, at work, if possible, rather than take a full lunch hour, take a portion of the model with you. Any part, ships boats, masts, spars, windlass, anchor, instead of that second dessert, use the time to clean up(trim, sand, dry fit) a piece of the model. The parts can fit in a tupperware container, an exacto knife, sandpaper are all you need. I know of a few builders that build that way. It's not a fast process, but it can work. One chap got up 30 minutes early every day just to glue one part to another, eventually the model was built. These days all I do is build ship models, my morning commute consists of walking 13 steps to my basement work shop and building models....5, 6 hours at a stretch. So far I've built/repaired 47 models since January 1 of this year.

Don't wait until you're 50 something to build, and don't be discouraged, there is always time for model building, just look around for a few minutes a day...good luck in your endeavors.

Felix,

There will be a time when your little one comes to the modeling age of 8yrs etc. They will ask you why did you not keep them. You will find time even though right now it seams like there will be none. If they are not taking up needed room just box them up and keep them in a safe place. It will be a wonderful hobby to pass to your children.

Keep them. When your children become old enough, you have kits for them.

  Ron W.

Felix C. wrote:

I have a Heller 1/100 Victory and Soleil Royal and a Mamoli Royal Louis and AL San Juan Nepomuceno and a Panart San Felipe. These kits alone will require about one year for the  plastic and three years for wood each. That is eleven years. I have other unbuilt kits as well which can be finished/painted in one or two months. I work full time(I administer the business which means I work longer than anyone else), have wife(married Jan 2008), child soon, 3yrs graduate school next year. I am beginning to believe I will not have any free time to focus on kits of this sophistication until perhaps age 65-70 and do not know what my eyesight will be at that age. This is 30-35 years down the road.   This is not the only hobby or leisure activity  which in the last two years has taken a serious decline due to lack of free time in the Real World. I have come to the realization that I will never be able to complete them all and should consider selling the majority of them as they will never be built.   Seriously, I am guessing everyone faces this. Do you pick one and then sell the rest. Do you store in hope of ease in free time commitments?

Quit your job, get divorced and drop out of school...modeling is a lifestyle, not a hobby...

Just as with the question of whether you actually buy the beer or merely rent it, so it is with the stash.

I've got figures that I've bought, and some that were given me, by more senior members of my club, and a couple of years ago, it occurred to me that I'll probably pass some of those along to the next generation some day.

I made a resolution this year not to buy any new kits, but only work on ones that I already had.  I was able to get to the middle of July, before I broke that (a Monogram B-24D was up on eBay for $9, I couldn't let that go).  Still, I'm happy that I was able to make it that far.

Through the years I've learned:

Most any kit I sold or tossed, I wish I had back.

Any kit I've given someone, I'm glad I did.

Joining Group Builds is a marvelous incentive. It's hard not to be able to find one that something you own fits into. And it's a good way to make friends, some of whom I've met in person.

The various annual Christmas exchanges on this Forum are great. People are really thrilled to get something old, unusual or just "hey he knows what I like!". And it can diminish the pile- just give two or three. I get a couple three presents from you all every year, and unlike my family to whom I need to say "I'd like this", it's always a nice surprise.

I have to laugh about the 60 and eyes fading and rigging being a thing of the past. I just turned 60 and don't feel any different than 30 for example. What's the big deal? I have a model train car I built years ago board for board in Hon3 scale and every time I look at I kind of wonder how I got it done, hahah. It's more desire than years. I just wanted to give it a go. Kit I'm doing now is another learning curve just like anything and that's part of the pleasure of it. Being kind of a longevity buff I'd say start looking for a glass case for that ship you want to build. It keeps dust and cats off the partially finished project. I have some kits I got cheap just to resell at a swap meet and meet new modelers or to use to familiarize myself with that part of history. They don't really need building for me. Box art is intoxicating.  Live to be 100 plus and keep smiling. Paul/Thailand

been there, done that.I'm on my second wife, have 6 kids(4 mine-2 hers) 2 grandkids,work full time+,ride with a motorcycle club and still manage to squeese in some build time.remember the ole saying; all work and no play. you will find that building as a form of relaxation even for just an hour can be nessary to keep your sanity when life gets busy.so, keep what you have,build when you can and dont sweat the small s**t.

When I went to grad school I simply had to stop building for maybe 4 years. That is just reality, and if you have a new baby on the way, well......

Keep a few of your favorites and sell the rest that will never be built. By the time you do have time to get back to it think how much better kits will be. Who would have thought in 1990 that a magnificent kit like the Trumpeter Leopold K5 would be manufactured? Unfortunately plastic sailing ship kit progress is measured in dog years.

I would have to live until 345 years of age to complete everything I have in the stash. I've sold kits years ago, only to re-purchase it again later on. It's a sickness....lol

I have started weeding through the mess of kits and pulling out the absolute must haves from the ships, armor and aircraft. I will be selling on ebay again and IPMS shows. I really don't want to burden my family of having to deal with this huge mess when I'm gone. Hopefully I'll have it knocked down considerably by this time next year.

Good luck!

  I just retired on Sept 1st, am 65 and I have over 100 kits most sci fi and figure kits but about 25 plastic sailing ship models that I got off E Bay, and I'm building the kits slowly and taking my time of course this between doing work around the house, painting and some home repairs which I treat like a job with breaks and lunch etc but keeping busy is the name of the game and my modeling comes into play when the wife is doing her projects, and my son knows that someday this stash will be his to do whatever he wants with it.

  But I have the option of building these kits true I may never get them all done but I can choose which ones I want to build I have a wide range to choose from, and that's all that matters to me.    Karl

 

Let me tell you Felix. I have four ships with sails, a half dozen aircraft, and one auto on my shelf. I am sixty years old, kind of semi-retired minister. I am confident that I can still build, but am not sure how the rigging will go. It will probably take me two years per ship if I can stay healthy. There is little likely hood of being able to complete them. And, there are at least a half dozen or so kits out there which I would love to build.

I do not intend on selling any of them until I am done. At that point I may consider passing them on to a nephew if there is interest. For you, I would suggest that you hang on to what you have. For one thing you do not know what tomorrow holds for you. Then when and if you reach your sixties, and do not have the time, interest, or capability; you can sell them off at a better price than you can now. You may want to protect them in storage.

When we relocated out of state, I looked at my stash and sold on ebay the ones I did not want to keep and knew I would never get around to building. My sugestion is to hold on to the kits you really like and not the ones bought out of impulse. You don't have hundreds but only a handful. Sometimes you look back and wish you never sold "that" one. Just my worth.