modeling as relaxtion?

DoogsATX

Hercmech:

I enjoy it cause it provides for some "me" time. I have found it is more relaxing now that I understand I will never make the finished kit that is in my head.

 

I think of that perfect kit in my head as the Platonic ideal (in that everything we see is a pale reflection of a real, ideal thing, inherently diminished by our perception...that's a very short and sloppy explanation of it!). Never attainable, but worth struggling toward.

I agree...when I first got back into modeling I would see the pictures of finished kits and envision myself doing them exactly that way. When they just did not look like what I pictured or what I had seen I would get frustrated. Now that I have a few more kits under my belt I realize that we all have our own style and I am ok with mine...but that does not stop me from trying new things. Much to my detrement.

plumline

Modeling as relaxtion?

My question is what is it about modeling that is soothing or relaxing. Cause sometimes I want to take the item I'am working on and throw it across the room. I've done that maybe once or twice.

Total concentration and immersion that makes me forget about everything else for a while = complete relaxation.  During those moments, I'm only focused on the task at hand.

Works for me.

Hercmech

I enjoy it cause it provides for some "me" time. I have found it is more relaxing now that I understand I will never make the finished kit that is in my head.

I think of that perfect kit in my head as the Platonic ideal (in that everything we see is a pale reflection of a real, ideal thing, inherently diminished by our perception...that's a very short and sloppy explanation of it!). Never attainable, but worth struggling toward.

I enjoy it cause it provides for some "me" time. I have found it is more relaxing now that I understand I will never make the finished kit that is in my head.

Depends who the model is I guess :-)

I find my models take a flight across the floor involuntarilly at some point in their life. At least some of the components do. Then miraculously dissapear in the Bermuda carpet. In fact I lost a flight of Avengers in there a few years back.

To me it depends much on what kind of modeling task I am doing.  Two things I find very relaxing.  First is carving. I do a lot of scratch building and extensive modifying of kits (say replacing nose to get different version, with a piece of wood glued on and reshaped).

The other is small hand-painted details. I like old sailing ships, especially those with gilding, and love taking a very small paint brush and gold paint and doing those little gilded details.

I find in both cases my muscles go on autopilot.  I am not thinking of what I am doing.  The wrists and fingers just seem to go at it while my mind wanders in free association.  It is amazing what things I find my mind thinking about.  Anyway, when I go into that mode, I find it extremely relaxing.

What is it they say? A bad day modeling is better then a good day at work.

BTW I agree that shooting guns is a very good one.

I can keep it connected to modeling, too.. I often use buck-shot, bird-shot, or bullets for nose-weights, lol..

plumline

My question is what is it about modeling that is soothing or relaxing. Cause sometimes I want to take the item I'am working on and throw it across the room. I've done that maybe once or twice.

I find it relaxing because it takes up my "brain space" & lets me temporarily forget about any concerns that I may have at the time about real life. It's a bit like an other hobby, reading a book or going on an extremely short holiday & because I have to focus on what I'm doing, I can get into "the zone" (or out of the zone, depending how you look at it).

With regards to demolishing my work, no, I don't do it although I used to when I was younger, I find that I have put too much time, effort & possibly pound note into any given kit to trash it. I would say that if anything modelling has helped me not to do that type of thing - pay attention to the details, be methodical, don't jump for the seemingly attractive easy route to save time & most of all, when there is an "insurmountable" problem I've learned how to either keep my cool & reassess the problem or put it to one side & come back to it with a fresh outlook.

Modeling is a form of meditation, for me as well. Like reading. Not like watching TV.

Like working on the car, gardening, swimming or writing or cooking. Not like playing sports, although that's something I like to do.

I'm a student of Aquinas, and I follow any practice that orders the thoughts.Order is our best accomplishment.

BTW I agree that shooting guns is a very good one. Like a lot of things, if you lose yourself in the activity, it will be a good exercise. Other people like throwing things, shooting arrows or chopping wood.

The advantage of modeling is that we all crave critticism/ praise from people who respect our effort.

Western meditation, it contended, is intense focus on a single task. And to me, that's what's decompressing about modeling.

I tend to "decompress" in the local junkyard with a 12-gauge and about 60 rounds of No. 2 buck, lol...

I'm w/Doogs for the most part, it is an escape from life for however long allowed.... or my degree of exhaustion.

plumline

My question is what is it about modeling that is soothing or relaxing. Cause sometimes I want to take the item I'am working on and throw it across the room. I've done that maybe once or twice.

Throwing items across rooms can be very relaxing...

Personally, I don't think of modeling as relaxing. Relaxing is the wife and kids gone for the weekend, lying on the couch with one of the dogs for a pillow, eating pizza and watching Star Wars with the surround sound in full guy mode. It rarely happens.

Modeling - for me - is recharging. And decompressing. 

I read an article not long after I came back to modeling that really clarified it for me. It was an article about focus, but it brought up the concept of not just eastern, but western-style meditation. Western meditation, it contended, is intense focus on a single task. And to me, that's what's decompressing about modeling. Sometimes, like assembling friuls or sanding wheels, my mind wanders. But when I'm airbrushing, I'm not thinking about how annoying the kids were or what's due at work the next day. I'm thinking about the airbrush and the paint and the task at hand. 

As maddening as modeling can be at times, it's a fantastic way to shut out the rest of the world for a short span of time each night, and to me, that makes it entirely worth it.

plumline

My question is what is it about modeling that is soothing or relaxing. Cause sometimes I want to take the item I'am working on and throw it across the room. I've done that maybe once or twice.

The diference is usually between wanting to and actually doing it...

This is where kit price is another huge factor... If you've got $70.00 bucks invested in a kit in AM parts and kit, vs say, $12.-18.00, the relaxation may be better placed in actually doing it, vs. setting three Twenties and a Ten on fire...

Personally-speaking, I tear down finished kits and dioramas all the time, even moreso now due to the ability to photograph and keep them on disc practically forever (or until the next format change...Holographical 3-D imaging point-and-shoot?)... Back in the day of having to get film developed, it didn't happen often...   

But, usually, I just start a different kit...

fox

I find that if things start to go wrong, just get up from the workbench and go get a soda, ice tea or whatever you like, take a short walk either around the house or around the block and come back and start where you left off. If things still keep going wrong, call it quits for the day. There's always tomorrow.         If you try to keep going, murphys law will take over and things will get worse.

Jim

I second that!

I find that if things start to go wrong, just get up from the workbench and go get a soda, ice tea or whatever you like, take a short walk either around the house or around the block and come back and start where you left off. If things still keep going wrong, call it quits for the day. There's always tomorrow.         If you try to keep going, murphys law will take over and things will get worse.

Jim

Hey, you can get mad when you're relaxed if something goes wrong when you're relaxed. Perfectly normal. Take a deep breath, laugh at yourself, and carry on. It's only a model.

Hey, you can get mad when you're relaxed if something goes wrong when you're relaxed. Perfectly normal. Take a deep breath, laugh at yourself, and carry on. It's only a model.