Possible Case of Insanity...

QUOTE: Originally posted by wbill76 2-3 kits a week is pretty impressive duke, do you work in different genres and types? I've succumbed to BMKS (Buy More Kits Syndrome) and purchased 4 more Dragon kits. Their D-Day commemorative Panther A (can't pass up the included PE and aluminum barrel!), a StuG III C/D, the Sdkfz 2 Kettenkrad w/Pupchen (still trying to determine just what a Pupchen is... ), and Pzkw I Ausf B. Scientific research indicates that there is no cure for BMKS but conditions can be regulated by a steady diet of newsletters, forums, and discount sales.

Yes actually, I do work in different genres and types. I do limit myself to 1/72 scale for Aircraft, Helicopters and Armor. My ships mostly range between 1/500 to 1/720 scale, although I have a few 'box' scale and odd Revell scales. I build buildings now and then in HO scale, since I want to set up a photobase like matrixone has.

So far, the numbers break down like this:

48 Helicopters
around 390 Armor
about 240 Aircraft and approximately 290 ships.

I need to take time to count them again to see what my actual count is. I'll definitely have to get pictures of my Hobby Room and post them for everyone to see.

So far, my case of BMKS is in remission. But then, I haven't had much time to go out to anywhere but work, then work, then home! Still, the pains are bearable as long as I stay in my Hobby Room and continue building what I already have!

Duke, where do you store so many finished kits even at that size?

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Duke, where do you store so many finished kits even at that size?

I have one bedroom of a two-bedroom condo all to myself! It has two walls with floor-to-ceiling shelves holding most of my ships and smaller models, while the larger aircraft hang from the ceiling. Here are two examples of the top left and the top right of one wall:

Top Left:



Top Right:



Keep in mind there are about three or four more shelves beneath these that you see. Oh, and those small things in front of the models? Thise are all 1/72 scale soldiers I've painted; almost 2000 total. (1873)

Yes, they are dusty, but this was before I got the air filter in the room. Now the dust, while still around, is not as prevalent. Thes pics were taken more than ten years ago. It is time to update them.

Once I get a few more pictures, I'll post them here for everyone to see. It shouldn't be long now.

Wow, Duke. That is mind boggling.

I have a stash of 20-30, and an ongoing project list of 8. Two of those projects (planes) are making me miserable, so it could well be 6 soon. I too am limiting my spending now for a while, til I get some stuff finished.

Wow! What a nice view of the factory floor, Duke!

Thanks Dwight! But as the song says, "You ain't seen nuthin' yet!" lol!

And now my Sig pic is working! This is great!

Absolutely amazing duke! That is quite a collection, from ships to figs!

How do you protect them from small animals/children? Biometrics on the doors?

QUOTE: Originally posted by wbill76 Absolutely amazing duke! That is quite a collection, from ships to figs! How do you protect them from small animals/children? Biometrics on the doors?

Well, I protect them from my two cats by keeping the door closed at all times. That also helps the air filter to keep the air cleaner (except when it gets too hot and I have to open the window: we have no A/C in the house--yet!) My cats know not to come in that room. As for the children, well I don't have any, and none ever come over so that part is easy!

I'll have more pics later when I get new batteries for my camera. Right now, I have so many sprues with extra parts that I'm trying to remove from the sprues and place in my Parts Box. I've been building so much that I've got too many sprues laying around and I need to make room!

I did find the decals to the MCV Warrior, so that will be finished soon. I'll get some pics of that with my other camera when it is finished.

QUOTE: Originally posted by spector822002 DML has a great marketing ploy by limiting the runs of thier armour , we all go out and scoff them up before they become dicontinued !

QUOTE: Originally posted by buff I find myself rationalizing buying another kit by telling myself that I'm going to buy it later anyway, so I might as well get it now to make sure it doesn't disappear off the shelves.

And THAT is what stashes are born of!!! lol

Duke, you are incredible! And they are even painted! I might just be able to put together 2 or 3 1/72 kits in a week, if they were just glued together. Not painted and I wouldn't want to guarantee the straightness of a lot of the parts!

2 or 3 kits complete a week !?!?
i would have to have extra thumbs grafted on
(to do the work & to glue the kits to!)
simply mind boggling.

so do you not work or not sleep?

and 1/72 figures ?!?!?
do you shrink yourself down to quarter scale so they seem like they are 1/18 ?

Definitely post some updated pics. They are very useful in demonstrating to my wife that my meager collection is in fact just that.

Even the old ones are inspiring!

Don't worry man! I've been modeling for like a year and have felt "the bite of the plastic" since my first one! I've got at least 6 models waiting to be opened and it drives me crazy having them just sitting there unopened, but try to turn it into motivation to just get the ones you're currently working on DONE already!!!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by wildwilliam 2 or 3 kits complete a week !?!? i would have to have extra thumbs grafted on (to do the work & to glue the kits to!) simply mind boggling. so do you not work or not sleep? and 1/72 figures ?!?!? do you shrink yourself down to quarter scale so they seem like they are 1/18 ?

Thanks William! Actually, I do sleep eight hours a night, and work at two jobs; although one of those jobs is only one or two days a week for about 5-6 hours a day. The other one is a full-time construction at Knott's Berry Farm building the Halloween Haunt attractions. I try to find time to build anytime I am free.

QUOTE: Originally posted by wbill76 Definitely post some updated pics. They are very useful in demonstrating to my wife that my meager collection is in fact just that. Even the old ones are inspiring!

I shall do my best. We still need to go out and get new batteries for my camera before I can take new pics. I shall try to do that today so I can post later on. Your wife will be stunned, and under no circumstances are you to admit you are trying to catch up to me! She'll put the kebosh on your hobby in a heartbeat! My wife had tried early on, but then when I became such a pain and nuisance from the withdrawal symptoms, she allowed me a small 'allowance' for building supplies.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Duke Maddog I shall do my best. We still need to go out and get new batteries for my camera before I can take new pics. I shall try to do that today so I can post later on. Your wife will be stunned, and under no circumstances are you to admit you are trying to catch up to me! She'll put the kebosh on your hobby in a heartbeat! My wife had tried early on, but then when I became such a pain and nuisance from the withdrawal symptoms, she allowed me a small 'allowance' for building supplies.

I would never dream of trying to catch up to you in numbers! It takes me around 3-4 weeks minimum to complete a kit. In 30 years I would only have 1/3 of what you've managed to complete.

My wife was duly impressed though when I showed her your pics and suddenly my request to buy 3-4 kits didn't seem so bizarre to her.

Nice! At least your wife is more understanding! Still, I have enough to keep me going for awhile.

Here are some of the pics I promised. Thesae are from the right side of the room as you enter.

This first one is my Japanese Army on a bookshelf just inside the door:



Above and to the left of my Japanese Army, is this set of shelves holding half of my Russian Air Force, and half of my Japanese Navy.:



At the very top of the above pic, you can see my Russian WWII planes, and my Il 28 Beagle. Below them are my Japanese Heavy Cruisers, Light Cruisers, Submarines and Destroyers, with my Japanese Battleships beyond.

This next pic shows my Russian Navy, with my Russian jets from the previous picture on the shelf above.



In the background is my Mi 8 Hip, which seperates my Russian Navy from my Russian Army.

These are the pics I have so far. I have been having trouble with my camera but I should have some better pics in another day or so.

Styay tuned to this Thread for more exciting episodes of, "How many models does he really have?"!

This is me being speechless!

Duke Maddog,
you have mastered my friend Scot's talent :
effectively using your limited time to accomplish your goals.

my talent is somewhat different:
i effectively squander my comparatively abundant time and accomplish little.

but i am trying to reform.
certainly gives me something to aspire to!

Heh, heh, heh!
Just wait until you start buying conversions for kits you don't even OWN yet!

Thanks guys, but I've still only shown you about 1/5th of my collection. I have more pics coming soon.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ajlafleche Heh, heh, heh! Just wait until you start buying conversions for kits you don't even OWN yet!

How do you know I don't own them yet?

Actually, I never buy any conversion kits to be honest. Our budget is so tight, I have a hard time just buying the supplies I need to build what I have! Besides, I've built a couple of resin kits and found that I don't like building in resin. Photo-etch was tough enough on those couple of ACE kits I built!

Yeah, I think I'll just stick with building what I have before I try any conversions!

Duke Maddog, that collection is obscene man!! LOL LOL LOL!!! sweet

wbill- no there is no cure, the demons have u and will suck u into buying more kits for now til eternity. u are locked in the desperate struggle which all builders eventually become griped in. no one can save u now...
...................................
...LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL........LOL......LOL.....(echoing into the distance)

Thanks Gringe! But, I have to warn you, I still have several more pics to take and post!

I am well and truly bitten and in the full grip of BMKS now. Just ordered the 1/35 Dragon Leopold to add to the stack...hard to imagine a 43" completed kit with the track and everything! Will be tough competition against the 1/16 T-34/76 as to which one I tackle first...

Amazing. Guess I won't complain about my dozen or so kits sitting there of which 1/3 of them are going right now. May you be an inspiration to the plodders such as myself.

Duke my average so far is about 20 kits / year. In 10 years I would ave built only 200. I don;t think I can match you collection.
Still I would love to daydream that I own the same collection.

guys, i saw this in another post:
http://www.ipmsslc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24
there is a link to pics at the bottom.

looks like you have some work ahead, Duke!
:-)

meanwhile, i am working towards finishing my 10th kit.
despite this blistering pace, i have stockpiled nearly 200 kits in my apartment.

Holy cow! I mean, Holy cow!
Duke, open a museum. Use the admission cash to buy more kits. You can build on site while people browse. If you work for Knotts, you must be in a tourist area, right?

Wbill, I found the loophole. Same situation here, with wife, kids, house, saving for college (the boys are 3 and 5) and retirement I couldn't justify spending too much on kits, sooooooo Ebay away. Not buying, (I have yet to have seen a really good deal on kits there) but selling. One day I was looking at a pile of dive gear and other stuff from bachelorhood that I wouldn't get a chance to use again for quite sometime. Soon enough the storage space was clean and I was off for guilt free kit and book buying including the 1/16 Tamiya Tiger Full option and the Trumpeter T-34.
Now I have a stash waiting for me and picking up some supplies or maybe a kit once in a while doesn't sting so much.

there's always deals, Ausf!
why just yesterday an auction ended for the Tamiya Panther G w/ PE Zim.
it was listed w/ a starting bid of $15.
open box, but inner bags still sealed.
no one even bid - it went unsold.
that kit has a list price of $68 !!
even greatmodels gets $54+ for it.
i would have bought it, but it is the same kit i built for the GB.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ausf Holy cow! I mean, Holy cow! Duke, open a museum. Use the admission cash to buy more kits. You can build on site while people browse. If you work for Knotts, you must be in a tourist area, right?

I wish I could, but that costs money too! I have a hard enough time getting people to come see the collection in person. It is more breathtaking seeing it in person than through pictures. [:0]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wildwilliam guys, i saw this in another post: http://www.ipmsslc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24 there is a link to pics at the bottom. looks like you have some work ahead, Duke! :-) meanwhile, i am working towards finishing my 10th kit. despite this blistering pace, i have stockpiled nearly 200 kits in my apartment.

Yes, I saw that thread a while ago too. I have been trying to find out if Guinness is willing to give a record to the person who has hand built the most models of multiple genres, not just aircraft. If they are willing to add that catagory, I believe I hold that record. Until then, I'm doing my best to catch up to the guy!

I wouldn't mind if someone posts a copy of this post on the http://www.ipmsslc.com/forum as well, since I cannot do it. You have to be a Nationals Member to enter their Forums and I am not----yet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dwight Ta-ala Duke my average so far is about 20 kits / year. In 10 years I would ave built only 200. I don;t think I can match you collection. Still I would love to daydream that I own the same collection.

The following pics are some proof to my believe that I hold the record for a multiple-genre collection. I apologize for the poor quality of my photos, but they are meant to be a representation of the collection. These pics show about 85% of my collection too.


Dwight, I hope you enjoy these pictures to enhance those daydreams!


Let's start with the left side of the room, furthest corner from the door:



This pic shows my German Afrika Korps on the lowest shelf, with part of my regular German Army above it. The top shelf has part of my Modern French Air Force and part of the French Army. (Modern= jets)

The small corner shelves that can barely be seen hold my German Helicopters, and some of my Middle Eastern Aircraft.



This next shot is right next to the first one. You can see a little overlap on the right so you have a sense of reference. This shot shows more of my German Army across the bottom, the rest of my French Army on the second shelf next to my Italian Army and Modern Air Force (going from right to left) and on the top shelf are my Modern German Air Force and my WWII Italian Aircraft.



This shot is further to the left of the above pic. It shows the rest of my German Army across the bottom, with my British Army starting to appear in the right-most part of the lower shelf. The next shelf up is my Modern Italian Air Force and to the left of them is about half my British Royal Navy. Above them is the left most part of my Modern German Air Force. From the Helicopter on is my Commonwealth (Canadian/Australian) Army and part of my Commonwealth (Canadian/Australian) Modern Air Force.



Finally we get to the end of the shelf. On the bottom is my British Army (with part of my Modern US Air Force peeking out below) and above them are the rest of my Royal Navy. Again, there is some overlap you should be able to detect. The top shelf shows the rest of my Modern Commonwealth (Canadian/Australian) Air Force as well as my Royal Air Force.



This shot takes us back to the middle part of the shelves, as you can see my German Army on the (almost) top shelf now. Below them are the bright sunlight-reflected models representing about half my Modern US Air Force. Below my US Air Force is my Israeli Air Force, with part of the Israeli Army next to it on the left. Below, you can see the noses of several of my US Army Helicopters



This shot shows the rest of my Modern US Air Force to the left of the above pic. Below them are my US Marine Helicopters, Armor and troops, with part of my Israeli Army to the right of the Marines. (I don't have a pic of the rest of my Israeli Armor )
Below the Marines is my US Army, at least about half of it, while a couple of my Naval Aircraft are seen just below the Army.

That almost completely completes the right side of my Hobby Room. I still have a few more pics to take showing more of my US Navy, US WWII Aircraft, US Helicopters, the rest of my US Army, the rest of my Israeli Army, my Egyptian Army and Air Force, Iraqi Air Force and Army, other Middle Eastern Aircraft, Russian Army, Russian Helicopters, as well as my Japanese WWII planes and jets. Not to mention the 26 or so aircraft hanging from the ceiling!

WHEW!!!!!

Well I hope you all loved the tour of my Military Installation!

Now, I'm going to another Thread to post pics of my workbench!

i am speechless!

QUOTE: Originally posted by wildwilliam there's always deals, Ausf! why just yesterday an auction ended for the Tamiya Panther G w/ PE Zim. it was listed w/ a starting bid of $15. open box, but inner bags still sealed. no one even bid - it went unsold. that kit has a list price of $68 !! even greatmodels gets $54+ for it. i would have bought it, but it is the same kit i built for the GB.

Everytime I browse Ebay I end up spending a huge amount of time looking to no avail. If I find a good deal, the guy want $15 to ship it 20 feet or by the end of auction goes through the roof. I believe some great deals like that fall through, to me it seems no one is interested until somebody bids and then everyone wants it.

I was looking for some very specific golf clubs (ping eye2, 2 and 8 iron). Thousands of them out there. One guy was breaking up a set, he had like 10 for sale. I bid for the 2 and the 8 with one hour left, Go back, bam, outbid by .50 on both. nobody bought the other clubs he had for sale, just what I bid on. That's the same mentality I find with the kits...watch one for 6 days, nothing, bid and blam, everyone wants it. Bid right away and blam everyone wants it. Don't bid on something I'm interested in...No bids, no sale. It was the same with selling, if someone bid, it quadrupled in an hour. I would check and figure it wouldn't sell, then an hour later it would go for more than I dreamed...Mob rules mentality.