Or what makes your boat float? By Jack.

To me model building is a process that begins with the dream of obtaining a certain kit. You long for it so badly that you see it constructed in your dreams. Finally comes the exciting day of purchase. You proudly tote home this relished item, and perhaps even have a quick "peeky-do" under the lid. Construction either follows rapidly after or never at all. However if you do build it there is a sense of disatisfaction which slowly creeps in. It looked SO good all neatly wrapped in its plastic baggies. Now as you snip, and glue it just isn't the same. Finally arriving at the grand moment of painting there is yet another let down. the third tier as it were. But surely painting is supposed to be the fun part? You still feel akwardly disatisfied. After you finish painting, highlighting, weathering, adding decals, and running around different shows collecting various awards, the satisfaction level evens out. Then one day you accidently happen to spot a kit in a pile among others, and it's spring again, love at first sight, your pulse quickens, your heart beat increases your eyes flutter in delight. You are off and running again. Are we truely perfectionists in search of the unattainable dream? I know I am.

Jack the dreamer :-)

Heh.
Sounds familiar. Though I only have one thing I know I´ll never gonna get.
The Monogram Blue Thunder helicopter.
I saw it in Stockholm when I was twelve yrs old, didn´t buy it because it was too expensive for me. I still like referring to "my little blue chopper" every now and then.
Please, do NOT tell me where I could buy one.
It exists in my dreams and I want to keep it that way. And was there ever a chance that I had been satisfied with the result, even if I did it?
LOL.

Toni

Nahhhh. To me building models is all about "having fun"! Sure there are plenty of times where frustrations kick in the door to this "fun", but never for long. Plenty of times too where I know I can do a better job, and will even start over on said piece or part of construction.
The whole process - from finding the kit, to purchasing it, to building it, painting, weathering, and displaying are all part of a journey into the realm of pure unadulterated FUN ! :-)

I sometimes dream I have a magical ability where I can go to the time and place of a certain model I want to build (example: WWII France) and shrink a real tank or some such down to 1/35th size and display it. Guess that's being too much of a perfectionist .

I wonder if it would upset people if I shrunk them to put in a diorama?

Sorry Ken, but for me there is a circular thing involved. I sometimes derive more pleasure out of owning certain kits then actually building them. This could do something to do with being involved with this for a living. Don't know. I'm not saying I don't have fune or I wouldn't still be doing this after 10 years. It was just a series of relflections on the approach and perception of the kits themelves. Mind you this would not apply to say an ICM Kit, or even an expensive resin kit. Maybe it has more to do with the attractive packaging of some co^paniy's like Tamiya, Dragon etc. I wanted to develop a thred that went a little further into perception and motivation, that's all.

I say naw too - but for different reasons. I love model building and love the challenge. No model is unattainable in my mind. To me, no model ever looks as good on the package as it does when finished - no matter how much it takes to get it together. Like Ken, I have no fear of readdressing a model if there's something I don't like, or wanted to do differently. My fun is there - in pursuit of the challenge - even if the challenge is only cleaning-up a single track-link.

To each his or her own in how they pursue enjoyment in the hobby.

Gunnie

Jesse;
I just couldn´t told it better.
I feel almost the sensations, but above all I do it to have fun, and when it´s completed, I like to seat back and take a hard look into it, I call my wife and ask her what she thinks (and in most of cases she just nod the head) but I don´t care I do love my little babies (I said baby, yes they´re my children and they need my care!).
Let´s make our models and have a lot of fun.........
Cheers!

Thanks Paulo, that's exactly what I meant. I had no intention of going and dumping all my build ups out the window. It's just sometimes a bit of a let down when it comes to the end. Kinda like reading a good book you don't want to end.

Cheers buddy,

Jesse, Jack, James

:-) :-) Ditto, Dito. Ditto.


DAGGER : A weapon with a small pointed Blade : "THE CUTTING EDGE"

I like the circle thing...it fits with my own feelings. Of course, I have a solution that I have implemented. Never finish a model! I stumbled upon this when new (more interesting and sexy) projects started coming faster than the old one cleared out. I'm kind of a perfectionist, which I battle with on every model, so I can easily prolong a build until another project comes along. So I put the old one away, and start the new one. And the cycle repeats....Ahhh, the Circle of Life.

However, I AM working on finishing at least one project. Just to prove I can.

:-) Ha ha just when you least expected it, Jack whips back with another belly full a Zen. Now where did that combined feature/article idea on painting tracks go. Guess I'll have to track that one down, yuck yuck... Anyways, Why don't we share some of our Zen wisdom among ourselves? This site is a very positive palce, and I don't think there are many that Rock n' roll like this.

Cracker Jack

Blue Thunder was a very nice kit. Not very "little". It was a Gazelle in real life and the kit was 1:32 scale, rather large. I built a couple in my day. One painted in OD green like a pseudo-military chopper, the other in the movie markings. Some of the first kits my step children destroyed when I moved in with my wife. If I ever find two, I will send you one (the first one is for me!).

Gee, Jack. Sounds like you're getting a little burnt out, to me. Sometimes I immerse myself in a major detailing or scratchbuilding job only to find myself plodding along just to get it finished. Sometimes I put stuff up in frustration, only to "rediscover" it months later and finish it with ease. I find the best solution (for me at least) to get over burn out is to build something totally frivolous -- like a dinosaur or a vinyl superhero kit. Sometimes it's just good to step back and remember "it's only a hobby." Of course, this may not work for you 'cuz it's also a business...

Bob

confucius say:"empty mind mean massive retardation". ah, so.......

I think of modeling as my theropy. If I didn't build, I'd be in a nut house.!!

It's totaly different for me. Of course I have recently gotten into model building again and maybe there will be a burnt out issue in the future but I think if that happens I would not start anything, not start something new. To me the worst part of the kits are the cleanup at first. After I am through with this I am excited about the rest so walking away from a kit to start cleaning another just doesn't have much appeal to me.

I got into "serious" modeling in about 1984. Went through the "build it for the next contest" phase, but thank goodness that passed and now I just build to please me. My work is very deadline oriented, so I hate to set deadlines for my leisure activities.

I still prefer to make conversion and detail parts myself when the references are available and just use aftermarket for stuff I don't have the skills, equipment or cash to produce something myself. I've walked away from my workbench for months at a time, but I've always come back when I was ready.

Plus I have other interests: fishing, hunting, gardening, etc. -- these provide great diversions from the bench and I can always return when the weather is too wet or cold -- or even too hot outside. When I was in Alaska, I used to fish with guys I met through the IPMS club in Anchorage. Nothing like being up to your chest in a salmon river and discussing the details of your latest modeling project while fighting a fish!

i love building kubelwagens; tamiya, dragon, or cmk beetles. to me they are small, fast and very flexible in their usages.

confucius say" mind like lumber room, throw one thing in and knock something else out"........ah so

:-) Digging up the dirty laundry again, as it were, I had another idea. What is your second favourite pasttime or hobby? Do you have one, and how do you balance it with your first passion, which I assume in this case would be modelling?

My input Aikido. Takeda Ryu, Martial arts. I've been practicising for 6 years now. My specialty the Japanese Katana.

Jack Shodan think Black.

Arthur love that crusader/Richard Ist, especially, as it is now a part of my own range!


Jack

Ijust like the feel good factor of painting,but sometimes halfway through a project i see something else and get itchy feet,and another pile of ref books pile up,the same grasshopper mind got me in bother doing martial arts.The style was Wado Ryu,and i got as far as brown belt,during a tournament the bout was stopped, the ref took me to one side
and advised me to enrol in the nearest academy of street fighting...Oh well! at least i dont get hurt Painting,,,unless i'm late for breakfast....lunch....dinner....tea.....and supper!
Cheers
Arthur

Thanks Jack...Mike Blanc did some good figs.this one came from Oakwood Studios.

Thanks arthur. We bought out the figure range from Oakwood about a year ago. We also took over all (or part) of: Roll Call, Fort Royal Review, Milimen, Imperial Gallery (1/2), Resin 8, Scale Model Accessories (heads and accessories), Belgo,

Jack

Looks kie it's 100% modellers across the baord!! Hmmmmmmmmmm

Wow.....what to say. I was really getting a little confused there reading through the different post's.....interesting response's.
Modeling 'burn-out' huh? It's intriguing to observe the qoute "one man's cure, is another man's poison" in action.
So ya want some Zen Jack? OK, here's a little mental watercolour then.
My personal reason for both practicing and enjoying modeling is, that I desire to mentally put myself in that particular situation. In other words, I am trying to place myself in Normandy, France, in 1944, during the advance of the Allied troops against the atrocious evil of Hitler. I am mentally standing in the orange dirt of Rourke's Drift during the Zulu Wars. I am enduring the choking heat, humidity and insects of Burma. I stand shocked at the absolutely mindboggling sight of a sea of advancing enemy troops in Korea when the flare goes off above their heads. I taste the sweat in my mouth. I smell the cordite in the air. I hear the shelling, the engine noises, the cross-talk on the radio.
I guess my point here is, that I enjoy modeling because for me, it allows me to live the life's of my hero's vicariously through my modeling endeavors. For me, the research, the reading, the study, the extra bit of detail, the accuracy regarding the date of involvement of that particular vehicle for instance. Is a direct, and personal tribute to these people that gave their ALL to the cause they believed in, or the comrades they cherished. I don't mean to be 'grand' here, but this is how I feel.


Tread.

It is said, that the truest form of praise, is emulation. I emulate the people I admire and the selfless actions these people took through my modeling....