Sorry have to ask. Is a model ever done???? George Lucas said once a movie is never finished but abandoned. And, the reason I ask is recently (with all the talk of rules) someone got on SS-74 about a "finished" model he posted in the RR forum. I'm one who tinks they are abandoned even if included in dioramas. We post a pic of a kit and we ask for our friends and aquaintances thoughts on our work, and they politly (only here) point out what we forgot to do, or neglected to paint. Furthermore, last I talked to someone who made a dio they said there was a lot more to do. How can that be the gent won several contests already how can there be more to do???? So is it for you finished or abandoned??? I would like to know!!! STUG

I'm on board with you here man. Gotta agree - I am always looking at my 'shelved' models and going - "Man I could tweak that or add and extra Jerry can or......"

I've mentioned this before - I get to a comfort level of completion. If I can accept it for the way it is then I move on. But No in my eyes a model is never done.

I don't think (for me personally) that a model is ever done. But, what I do is decide a point where I'm going to stop on a subject. I write down some things I wanted to do - but didn't - and plan them into a new model. It's kinda fun to do it that way, and I find myself creating my own process improvement effort and getting more done at the same time. I try not to let a single model become the end all-be all of modeling. Leaving something out of the mix makes it a bit more interesting.

It's a little like chasing your own shadow - but eventually catching it...

Gunnie

well:
1. an Academy Tiger 1 that has been started and is now sitting in its box, the AM motor is all painted too.
2. 25 or 30 half-finished figures of every description.
3. a steel-wheeled Panther G that has needed tracks for 4 years.
4. a Kubelwagen that has needed finishing also for 4 years.

to much infamy for me to continue, i must now go and weep.

Chris Bad Pig! Bad Pig!

In my experience a model is never done. I can always notice something that can be improved This is the reson why I've got on my shelf 7 M47s, 11 M113s, 6 M24s, and 15 Leopards.... All of them are brand new kits and I've always a couple of them under construction too...
Ciao

I agree too.. something could always be "improved" I just come to what I think of as "a good stopping point" and go on to my next project...

I just keep tweaking until I am absolutely satisfied, that is why it takes me 3 months to finish a model.


Andrew

I like the term "abandoned", that exactly matches my thinking on when a kit is "finished". I build for my own enjoyment and only occasionally show my stuff to people if they show an interest. It is guaranteed when I show them something "finished" I will spot something that could be improved. I do get a bit jealous of the guys with access to digital cameras who can get in progress feedback from the guys here by posting pics. This is the most helpfull model building forum I have found for CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

I must be driven.I will work on a kit until all the parts I have for it are assembled and painted.
To me it is then considered "done".
But,some kits will have interiors ,and some wont.So the "done " designation can occur sooner or later. (++) (++)

If you want to see a model that is never completed try a 1/350 aircraft carrier. Just too much to detail to ever finish it.

There is a point in time when one has to decide whether any given project is to be considered finished. When I really think about all my projects they could have gone forever and ever. There is always something that could be improved in a figure, vehicle or diorama. I know exactly when my project is done or "finished". It is when I can sit back, look at it and feel satisfied with results. When I know I have done the best I can. Hey, that's just me...

I guess I have an image of where I want to be on a kit. Sometimes that includes superdetailling an interior with stowage and figures, sometimes it's a buttoned up clean build. Sometimes "done" is that point at which I can't deal with something any more. These are the ones that feel "abandoned", such as the Morris Mini Cooper rally car that I plumbed and wired the engine, only to find the engine wouldn't fit in the bay with the intake manifold in place. With a figure, my goal is usually to have the figure and the base feel as one. It's an extremely subjective, emotional reaction to what I'm doing.

Perhaps "shelved" might be a better term than abandoned? I have my work area, where work in progress lies, and then I have various areas in the house where my wife "allows" me to display my work. When I get to the point that I am somewhat satisfied that I've gotten the kit where I want it, I put it on the shelf. That doesn't mean that I've finished with it. I KNOW someday I'm going to take down my USS ARIZONA I built for the warship campaign and tweak it some more. For now though it's shelved.

MOstly I would say finished. THere are a few that are "benched" but I too feel the model is finished when I reach my objective with it and have gone back several times and fixed flaws. Damn Niitzfan... don't scare me man. I've got 3 freakin 1/350 scale aircraft carriers on my build list. Never finished, Good Grief I'm DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and with 2 more coming up in a bit. As the man and his dog Duke say "ROLL THAT MARVELOUS BEAN FOOTAGE> UH OH."

I've finished a lot of models. There's the Airfix F-18 that was unbuildable and went into the trash: FINISHED. The Porsche 911 GT3 that I smashed against the wall in a paint fume induced fit of rage: FINISHED.

(++) (++) (++) (++) (++)

My aircraft kits get to a point where I consider them 'finished.' Planes don't get that homey feel tanks do from a crew living in them. Even the modern fighters don't get too many visible improvements once they leave the factory. About all that can be added is ordanance and sensor and ECM pods.
Armor is another story. There is always something you can add, be it extra crew 'stuff' in the stowage bins, extra mud and dust on the running gear, and figures can be added or removed.

This whole subject brings up a question. I have an M1A2 that has been 'finished' for years. It has won a few minor awards. With the war and other ongoing operations I have seen pics of M1s with all kinds of doo-dads added to the exterior and when I look at mine on the shelf it just doesn't look "right" anymore.

Would any of you add to it? Or start over with a new kit? I am talking simple things like the strip of velcro looking stuff (for MILES gear?) along the lower portion of the turret.

I always finish a model but from what it looks, it is always incomplete. Something is always lacking

hehe, Stug is right, I never think a model is finished, I just stop doing any more work on it, and put it aside. . I am DONE with that model, but never finished. Kinda like I am DONE with you, does not mean I am finishing you, it means I just got nothing I wanna to do with you anymore..... #:-)

Actually once a model had finised me, she said to me "I am done with ya!!!'" and just./...... just walk away and never called afterwards....what a &*^^*%&^%&!!!!! But I digressed.... #:-) #:-) #:-) #:-) #:-) #:-) #:-)

It depends. Sometimes, a model doesn't get finished - because almost always someone or something breaks a part. :-)

Heck, in another forum, the model builder continuously updates his 1/250 USS Enterprise as she is in real life, i.e. if the real Big E has a new squadron on board, the model planes get re-decaled/re-painted! Same thing goes for antennae, weapon systems, etc.!

This is a good example......
To me this is finished. If it was right at the time, why should it be wrong now. I would definately never touch it..... I would invest in a new kit and add all the doo-daas that is needed. I bet in the future you will spend time comparing both, from two different times frames, and also to acess how you have improved you skills in the time between the builds. I started off building a lot of dioramas and when I look at the first, I see lots of things I would change, would do better, would do differently, would not do, etc. But I never touch it. If I get a strong enough feeling I will build something in the same line again to say I can do it. I actually think its great to look back and see what you did a few years earlier.
If you are constantly updating..... what is your first model.... the one that has been untouched the longest or the first one you started but still working on?

Blaster,

I have been working on and off on my Tamiya Big E for 4 years now (Mostly off). The problem with it was too much scratch building. You have to create an interior hanger deck and add a lot to the aircraft. I am having problems with the GMM decals for the aircraft right now (too light). So it is on hold again.

Thats why I hope the Trumpeter Nimitz will be a lot better. Also, I have picked up a Hornet and Essex recently...so I am in the same boat as you.

I like all the replies. It seems to have sparked a lot of thought about the way we do things as modelbuilders. I for one feel all my kits get abandoned even my aircraft kits. I find there are always more to with a kit after I'm in my comfort zone. I will admit I will "finish" a kit here in little bit, my first contract job in a long time, Panda's 1/350th USS Arleigh Burke. I sya i'd finish the kit because I have a point to stop at. Add the missing doors, and castle ways. and not fix the miss shapened bulge keels. On another note; Myself a DDG sailor, my Flight IIA burke will be a kit bash of the Blue Water Navy resin kit and the Panda as they include the nit-pick changes in the design (I.E. the emergency whip, anteneas on the forward face of the aft stack, and workable plastic mast [I'll be useing the PE parts for everything but the main upright]). thanks for your answers but there are 2750 more opinions out there that I want to see. stug

I have to agree and disagree! To me modelling is representative art. If I were to paint a landscape, or sculpt a bust, the end result would be a two or three dimensional representation of the full size original, usually on a reduced scale.

When I build a model I am making a miniature three dimensional representation of the original. No different to an artist.

An artist must know when to stop, usually at the point where he has achieved the result he imagined prior to starting. Similarly I know before I start what I want my model to look like. Once that point is reached it is finished.

If other people dont think it is finished well stiff bickies. I am happy that I have achieved what I set out to achieve. My main criteria in scale modelling is to make a model that is instantly recognisable by a lay person to be a tank or aeroplane, and by the expert to be a model of a specific prototype.

If you are unhappy with the way a model turns out then it is time to apply the lessons you learnt building it to building another one better.

The most important thing is to enjoy what your are doing. My first attempt at a tank looks like a tank. It would be criticised by most members for not being washed, dry brushed, coated in mud, scratched and damaged. But the important thing is that next to a photo of a real Centurion there is absolutely no possibility of not recognising it for what it is. That was my aim. I have succeeded. I am happy.

My second armour model is the Tamiya Chieftain. It is being built to a different completion target using the experience I have gained from the Centurion.

One should always be prepared to learn from others if they have something worth learning, but there is no satisfaction to be gained from blind acceptance of others work as 'better' because it follows a particular formula or fashion.

Regards Dave

I consider my kits finished when every last relevant piece is stuck on and painted. Tanks are easy to finish, but my a/c are always lacking antenna-wire and quite often the brake-lines need painting. I'm a poor finisher...lazy I guess. #:-)