discussion Mojo and interest.

[Mr Bowcat]

I had a 6 month break from modelling last year due to mojo loss. Since starting again this year I've stuck with relatively simple builds that I enjoy (cars & bikes) and only model when I feel like it. I've always said rule number one to modelling is know when to walk away from the bench.

 

[Guest]

Think it happens to every one at some point.
Building dioramas is time consuming, I start with the main part the kit, then figures, ending up with the base.

At times I loose the mojo, but only for a short while.Think being mainly interested
in dioramas you get a break from one discipline and do another, this keeps the interest going.
Of course being retired might help as not having work to think about. I certainly couldn't have found the time with being self employed

 

[Gern]

Suppose you pay £40 for kit. Then spend 20 - 30 hours researching, building, painting, fettling or whatever to get it to a standard you can live with before your interest wanes and you abandon it. So if it ends unfinished in the bin or on the shelf of doom, it's cost you less than £2.00 per hour that you spent on it.

That's not a bad price for keeping yourself occupied and interested for a few days. A trip to the cinema or pub would cost more than that, and other hobbies like speed boat racing or collecting Old Masters paintings cost nothing short of a fortune. So what's the big issue with unfinished kits -apart from the dissatisfaction of not completing them? Annoying - sure - but not worth losing sleep over.

 

[Richard48]

But if you persist you'll be a brilliant modeler with amazing skills.

Setting aside time for a hobby, modeling in this case is so important

Miko (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy)

Oh definately Miko.Life be positively dull without modelling.
Rich

Yes, I consider myself a average builder so most of the StuG I made were not that good. So not worth keeping. Only gathering dust lol

If i ever build a Stug then im sure you will advice me with your wealth of knowledge.
Rich

I am suffering from Mojo go walkies AND Gekko. I was building a long wanted tank from Gekko.
Absolute train crash of a kit. I think it was way to over thought. Why use two parts when we can do it with 10, sort of thing.
The fit was terrible, Build a subsection with way to many parts, fitting as you go. to find that the finished subsection does not and will not fit where it should. I tried for almost a month, on and off. Ended up in the bin.
Attempt two? Another Gekko kit. This one the Landing craft Assault is a bit better.. going much better, this time the paint is annoying me. Older paint and over thinned. Duh!

Another conflict is Space Deficiency. I have; either way to little space, way to many finished kits or far to big a stash. Probably all three. I have looked in the display cabinets and tried to cull them back. I find it rather hard (impossible). I will have to though. It seams I have developed a taste for larger models, - which don't help with the space...

Thanks for the Gecko warning.I was going to get one of their cruiser tanks.Think i might swerve them.Im hoping to go to a few shows soon which im.hoping will inspire a mojo recharge.
Rich

I find my mojo drops during every build. It starts high, when everything is bare plastic and imagination, and gradually drops as the issues mount up. Once I get near the primer stage it starts rising again and builds as I approach the end of the process. At its worst I find just doing a few minutes a day pushes me past the slump because I’m still making progress. Starting something else is not a great idea for me because I never go back to the stalled build. I have a few of these on the shelf of shame, the oldest of which (a 120mm Native American figure in primer) must be at least twenty five years old. A complete loss of mojo is rare for me though.

Yes i think i must get more disciplined Tim.No building till i get one complete.Zvezda T34 needs painting so must get that primer out!!!.
Rich

Had a problem last year with a bad case of 'builders block'.... Kept looking in the boxes and putting them back, even got a couple to the bench, but back they went. Then I went looking for a particular kit and during the search came across others that I knew were going nowhere... So onto evilbay with them, and the ridiculous fees they were charging me set me off... Might as well bin them, and that is what I did, the ones that did not sell went straight in the bin, then I actually went through the whole stash and looked at every kit and made the decision - build or bin. By the time I finished the recycle bin was half full of sprues and flattened kit boxes. Yes I paid good money for them and it is money I will never get back even selling them as untouched. But the pressure was off on what was to be my next project, and after a couple of bad starts (lousy kit) I sorted out the problem and here we are today getting near the end of another build. And once the bases are finished for three other completed models then I am going over to building aircraft, how many I do not know, but the change of subject may help as well.

I binned loads in 2017.Thought id not model anymore and try sculpting.Then slowly stash builds up again.Then again ive had some of my Leopard kits for a long time and would never destroy them.I used to be a big aircraft fan.Got about 10 planes and helicopters.Been meaning to do a 72nd Seaking as i have a couple of Revell ones.
The agony of choice.
Rich

Think it happens to every one at some point.
Building dioramas is time consuming, I start with the main part the kit, then figures, ending up with the base.

At times I loose the mojo, but only for a short while.Think being mainly interested
in dioramas you get a break from one discipline and do another, this keeps the interest going.
Of course being retired might help as not having work to think about. I certainly couldn't have found the time with being self employed

I have bought a few Dragon figure kits John.Been thinking id do some mini vignettes like Glen Bartolotti of youtube.Least i wouldnt need to fire the airbrush up just yet mate.
Rich

I had a 6 month break from modelling last year due to mojo loss. Since starting again this year I've stuck with relatively simple builds that I enjoy (cars & bikes) and only model when I feel like it. I've always said rule number one to modelling is know when to walk away from the bench.

Very true indeed Mr Bowcat.
Rich

Suppose you pay £40 for kit. Then spend 20 - 30 hours researching, building, painting, fettling or whatever to get it to a standard you can live with before your interest wanes and you abandon it. So if it ends unfinished in the bin or on the shelf of doom, it's cost you less than £2.00 per hour that you spent on it.

That's not a bad price for keeping yourself occupied and interested for a few days. A trip to the cinema or pub would cost more than that, and other hobbies like speed boat racing or collecting Old Masters paintings cost nothing short of a fortune. So what's the big issue with unfinished kits -apart from the dissatisfaction of not completing them? Annoying - sure - but not worth losing sleep over.

Very true fella.No pubs for me.You would need a flak vest here as its like Beirut at times.Think having diabetes and other issues add to the equation at times.
All the best from Rich

 

[Miko]

-apart from the dissatisfaction of not completing them? Annoying - sure - but not worth losing sleep over.

Nope, not worth losing sleep over for sure but i'm not sure I could continue with a hobby that always ended in disappointment.

Modeling to me is a series of problem solving exercises, I don't want it too easy without challenge that would be dull, I think they were called 'shake and bake' kits that just fell together (more or less) this is why I enjoy building classic kits with their faults 'warts and all'. So if I can apply my experience and acquired skill set to complete a kit to my satisfaction that's quite a psychological boost! A sense of achievement, but just to bin it because it's too much bother, not sure I'd be happy with that. Learn through mistakes, trial and error, experimentation and eventually a positive result will emerge!

Example: about ten years ago with my interest in research and development types I was building a Frog Fairey Delta 2, a pioneering aircraft and the last British holder of the absolute speed world record! It's quite a basic kit being of 60's vintage so a good candidate for improvement, after a fair few hours refining the basic kit I gave it a coat of polished aluminium and placed it somewhere warm to dry while I made a well deserved cup of tea, to my horror when i returned I found that the fuselage had partially melted and sagged in the middle!! I didn't give up and used this as an exercise in recovery, I used thin sheets of styrene and built up the sag and sanded it back into shape, rescribed the detail and finished the kit, looked fine! There's a build thread somewhere on UAMF that I just can't find at the minute, but if I find the pics i'll post them here!

The take away from this is 'don't bin your kits, it's a terrible waste of modelling potential'

Miko (did anyone see that reverse build thread years ago where a guy bought a built kit and dismantled it back to it's component parts and fixed them to a sprue of his own making!)

 

[Valeron]

I have this alot and haven't done anything on my latest build for well over a month.

I have quite a few models I've started and put back in the box.

I have no idea how I'm going to restart my latest/next model. I haven't really been on this forum much either.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Suppose you pay £40 for kit. Then spend 20 - 30 hours researching, building, painting, fettling or whatever to get it to a standard you can live with before your interest wanes and you abandon it. So if it ends unfinished in the bin or on the shelf of doom, it's cost you less than £2.00 per hour that you spent on it.

That's not a bad price for keeping yourself occupied and interested for a few days. A trip to the cinema or pub would cost more than that, and other hobbies like speed boat racing or collecting Old Masters paintings cost nothing short of a fortune. So what's the big issue with unfinished kits -apart from the dissatisfaction of not completing them? Annoying - sure - but not worth losing sleep over.

I like your thinking, Dave!

 

[Ian M]

Thanks for the Gecko warning.I was going to get one of their cruiser tanks.

That what I ended up binning a shame I rather liked the subject.