Hi everyone.

I am a new modeller to this century and this site

As a adolescent I was building models as quickly as I got them and I had fun but I think ( heck I know) I stressed quantity (completion) over quality.

Now I am returning to the hobby I find I am taking too long to complete my projects ( I have a few kits that I have started but none complete).

How do I build quicker yet not sacrifice quality?

Do many of you have multiple kits on the go? Do you build one quickly for fun and spend more time on another?

Cheers, Reddog (a few kits started none completed)

Hi Reddogfive! Taking too long to build a kit? I really wouldn't sweat it, it can take me like three months to do a little dio, only because I get a small window to build a night, only like two hours tops. Sometimes taking a long time to build a kit only makes it more satisfying when it's finally finished. Heck, when doing a car, I anticipate double that time in the build!
It all depends on how much you want to put into your build. You could go nuts on a major conversion, or just do a simple build. I never ever start another project until I have finished what I'm working on. Main reason: space is not a primium to have more than one kit on the go.

Two sides to this. I enjoy building a high quality kit that falls together, builds quickly and looks great. Most of the latest Tamiya kits are like this. Just a dream to build.

On the other hand, I enjoy taking older kits and using modeling skills to try to bring it up to modern standards. I've done this with several kits, most recently the ancient Tamiya SAS Jeep. It takes a lot of work and sucks up time, but in the end there is the extreme satisfaction that your 30 year old kit can beat out other modelers building the latest and greatest.

Hi , I enjoy the research firstly , finding out as much as I can about any new project . Then getting the kit and turning it into a new or totaly different version . Something the kit maker never intended . My latest is the RPM 1/35 scale kit I completed yesterday , I started out with the M/G carrier and ended up with a Australian Ambulance from WW1 . The body was lengthened and new rear wooden body made and the timber and cloth frame made as per original . New headlights turned up on lathe , rear and side lights scratchbuilt . It took nearly 50 hours spread over two months . My next is going to be a very long project it may take up to six months to build . cheers ian

Ah the dilema

I do have a number of projects going at a time and I do 'label' then with certain expectations for completeness vs fun vs paint vs super detail.
Some kits I have that I'll throw together but paint very well, or super detail because I want to try a new technique or 'just cuz'.
The longest its taken me for a project has been 13 months and counting.........
Sometimes I will start a project and adjust the goal mid stream just to finish.

Well, I agree with Ian. The most fun involved in building is taking a OOB and turning it into something that no one else has built before. Even if it is just tweaking something here or adding something there, the satisfaction is much greater than any OOB could be. Unfortunately, that part takes extra time, an item which most agree could be in more abundance. In regards to how many projects are in progress, I have three: an M8 Buford for Project X, an HH-60 for Quiet Professionals, and an HEMTT for Heavy Haulers. The first is nearly complete, while the second two are in the planning / prebuild stage.
Kyle

RD5 - I feel the fun is found in the journey...

I build everything to the same standard - I don't set out to build something OOB or superdetailed - things just happen along the way - and I remain open to changing my mind midcourse. I'm into quality over quantity and am not concerned with time to complete. I want a fine miniature in the end, regardless of the time it takes to finish it. I also love modeling - so I have a lot of things going on at the same time. My fun is there and the challenge for me is found in keeping 'em all up to the same standard and end result.

Sometimes I can move pretty quickly, but mostly I spread out projects over several months because I have a demanding professional career. It keeps me happy to always have a recreation to come back to in modeling...

Gunnie

I started following the rest of crowd by adding PE and resin to all of my kits. I found myself getting frustrated and bogged down and not completing kits. The driving desire for adding so much detail was to be competitive at shows. The problem with that theory is that I lost the "fun" factor in it all.

So, I have adopted a policy similar to Guntruck's. I start the project and let it evolve on its own. If it ends up being built out of the box that is fine. If I end up putting on some photo-etch or resin, that is fine also.

I research what I'm building regardless of the anticipated additions to the kit. I love to read and I am a military history freak so a new kit gives me reason to buy new books. :-)

I must say that the shift in attitude has saved my love for model building. Getting caught up in the "competition mind set" just about sunk my interest.

To sum it up, keep it fun.

Hehe... I know the problem...

but now I have a few models close to completion... mostly painted (one just touch ups needed)m before I can spray them and attach the decals... But I have to now, before I am allowed for myself to start another model....

Which would be November 7th... so I have to complete at least one model before that time....

I enjoy building any kind of model, I like some of the challenges they give you on the less exspensive ones, just as long as it isn't a total mishap, which some of you know what I mean.

Now there is no better reward then having people giving good comments about something on your model that you have built by yourself, that you didn't buy it already made. You designed, and built it all yourself, and they are wondering where you bought it at.

Kerry

I find now that I am working I tend to rather go for the higher quality kit, as I have a bit more disposable income to spend. (don't tell SWMBO :-) )

Like many others above I enjoy the research as much (if not more) as the actual build, and most times spend longer on the former (ito actual man hours).

I try not to build more than one kit at a time, as firstly I don't have as much time to spend building as I would like, and secondly I tend to get get distracted easily, so I like to focus on one project at a time.

As long as your enjoying yourself you are not taking too long..

I"ve been building for about 3 years now and have completed 2 cars, 8 military vehicles and 3 aircraft subjects.. I tend to take my time and expand upon my skills with each build by trying something new i've thought of or read about..

Some kits fall together in a week such as my tamiya panzer II.. cheap kit but a fun build.. others have taken me 6 months or more.. such as DML's 250/3.

I build mostly OOB but I always seem to wind up scratchbuilding stuff or finding extra's in my parts bin to make a model uniquely mine.. this is the fun part.

Sometimes I will have 2 kits going at the same time just to break up my focus a bit so I don't get bored with a long running project that way I have something to do when paint is drying or such.

I imagine if I ever decide to go to the PE or Resin Level I'll never get anything done because of my finikey deffinition of perfection.. I'm my own worse critic...

Hai,

I just re-started making models myself, feeling really really sorry that I had not made any model for 10+ years. This feeling forced me into thinking "big" with the danger that quantity would destroy quality and ruin the hobby because quality, at the end, is the main important thing. I spend a lot of time thinking about it and I would like to share the result of those thoughts (for what it is worth):


1. Quality is the aim

2. Quantity can be achieved by devoting time and by optimising the working methods.

I pick a few main themes to work around. I have decided to work on the following scenes:

- The Russian interference in Afghanistan (airplanes 1/48)

- A british airfield 1942 (airplanes 1942)

- A german panzer division resting place in Normandy before 6 June 1944 (armour 1/35)

- an allied landing scene in Italy (armour 1/35)

The choice of themes is the result of:
- the stock of planes and armour that I have made many years ago and that still can be integrated in the new projects
- the conclusion that these themes are diverse enough to permit building almost anything what interests me.

This approach ascertains that research on landscapes, buildings, photo's... can be dedicated and used for many models.

It also means that when i need, as an example, sandbags for one scene, I can make plenty extra knowing for sure that i will be using them on another scene of the same, or another theme.

I also use a standard base plate (after much evaluation = 32*32cm) which is sufficiently big for most models.

For the Afghanistan scene i collected every photo i could find from the main military airfield north of Kabul. As soon as my first plane is ready (MIL HIND; well it is a helicopter actually) I will make 10 baseplates in one go based on the Kabul pictures. I will only detail one base plate completely but in such a way that its fits the general plan.

Each time I complete a plane I can further detail all related base plates as far as necessary and as far as i get more info on the real practical circumstances.

When I make one afghan airplane a year then after 10 years i will have a complete airfield scene for free by moving the base plates together. And the same aplies of course to all other themes. When one day it would show that the approach is overambitious i will still have the individual dio's

3. modelling is a hobby for me. It is the pleasure of building, the interest in the history behind the model and its use in real life that counts. It is not a second job, or an urge to achieve the most possible. It may take time, it does not need to deliver enormous results, as long as i enjoy myself with it.