I returned to the hobby a few months ago, and have started 4 models.
I still have four models in process…
They are all at about the same point- either just before or just after decals, and before weathering and flat coat. I think I am procrastinating before finishing because this last part is totally new to me ( I stopped building before when dry brushing was state of the art) and I don’t want to be disappointed in the results.
This made me curious, though…what’s a typical number of underway projects? Cracking the box just to take a look doesn’t count.
I’m not on an assembly line, I’m not in a rush, I hate to have too many things going at once, I feel no need to multi task, reminds me too much of when I worked. Just my [2cnts]
At most 2, and thats usually if they are aircraft that will be painted in a similar way, 2 late war German fighters for example. But at the moment is a bit of an exception as i have 4. One Star Wars kit that i have been working on here and there for a year. There’s a 72nd U-Boat i have been doing for 6 weeks. And because thats a long term build, i haven’t even got the hull together yet, i am taking a break and just started on 2 modern british aircraft.
I currently have 2, but usually 3 or 4 going. Mostly has to do with my lack of patience. Doing multiple kits has enabled me to put something aside that needs to sit overnight or for a few days. Having another kit to work on stops me from being my 9 year old self [:P]. I also like to work on different subjects. Currently have a 68 Hemi Dart and a Jayhawk I’m doing in commerative national gaurd colors. Just about to start: Bell X1 and the Jaegermeister porche 934… I have this orange thing going on… This does not count the shelf of doom - on which I have 3 kits.
Usually have 3 or 4 on the bench at a time. Can’t stand waiting around for glue or paint to dry (or cure). Right now I have 3 as I just finished one up yesterday.
I tried running multiple builds at the same time, but August marked 2 years of doing that…and then I realized I hadn’t completed a single one in all that time. Back to what was working for me before and just building one at a time. Totally focused on finishing my 1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ right now. I guess I still sort of run multiple builds though, just on the same model. I usually have several sub-assemblies going at the same time, so while one is drying/curing, I’m working on the next sub-assembly.
I’m actively working on two at the mo - a 1/35 Matilda tank & a 1/144 u-boat, but I have several part-completed, hovering in the background. When one of the “active” projects is finished, one of these (probably my Airfix 1/72 Stuka) will be “re-activated”, so I’ll be back to two.
Usually two, sometimes three. While one is drying I can work on the other. Currently a 48th Mustang in final stages, a 48th Airacobra just started, and a 72nd Gripen waiting for paint.
But last year I did do the assembly line. I built 7 72nd scale Mustangs at the same time
I have appx 75-80 that are from barely started meaning at least some sanding or priming done to nearly completed needing only final details. I have one I started in 1994 not completed.
I try to have only one going at a time but sometimes I’ll have two. If I do have more than one, they are usually different subjects like a ship and an aircraft, etc…I don’t get a lot of bench time so my projects usually last a while. Like others have said, I do like to have something to work on while paint/glue dries. My current major project, the Revell Arizona, has been in dry dock for quite some time. I’m in the process of masking the deck to paint the hull and superstructure assemblies-lots of little bits of tape. For a break, I began working on a 1/72 Airfix P-40.
I have 2 going right now, pretty standard for me. One is almost finished just the decals and flat coat to go, the other is building up. The most I’ve ever had going was four 1/48 P-47s, Tamiya, Otakai, Monogram and Hasegawa, razorback, to see how they did. They all did good! Ah, what to do next!
Congratulations! You are on your way to your very own Shelf of Doom!
I’ve got at least a dozen projects in progress, some stalled for over 10 years.
When I work actively on a project, I’ll usually have a second one going, just because I can work on the one, while the other one is sitting for glue to cure, paint to dry, etc. And when painting figures, I’ll have several, maybe half a dozen, all in progress, especially if I have the same colors on most of them.
At the moment I have two going on. I am in between places and work on each one when I am in that location. I ususlly do one at a time, sometimes will pull a second one out to start subassemblies is the other is drying. I am a slow builder and I am in no hurry.
You hit the nail right on the head and I agree with you 100%. The best things about being retired are: no schedules, no boss and no performance reviews.[:D]
Technically, five, but in terms of “still lots of work to do,” just three:
Almost completed:
• 1/72 Airfix H.P.52 Hampden bomber, all but completed as RCAF PT-J — I need to build up then paint some insulators on the antenna. (Personal interest — I spent months learning the story of this bomber, which crashed in Denmark following an area raid on Rostok, Germany, in 1942.)
• 1/72 Italeri Sikorsky U.H.34D Seahorse helicopter — waiting to add a DIY nose light because I badly screwed up that part of the kit. (Personal interest — I was a passenger in a Seahorse on several occasions in training with the Marines and in combat in Vietnam.)
On the bench:
• 1/480 Revell S.S. Hope hospital ship, being built as U.S.S Repose — Hull painted, almost finished painting main deck, resigned to fact that the model as manufactured rates a 2 on the 10-point realism scale. No, maybe just a 1. (Personal interest — I was a wounded patient on Repose early in the Vietnam War.)
• 1/48 diorama illustrating the crash of a Beechcraft T-34B Mentor Forest Service trainer in New Mexico’s Black Range Mountains in 1962. I’ll be attempting to use a 1/48 Academy model as the wrecked plane. The base and “raw” papier-mâché mountain slope are almost finished. (Personal interest — I was a passenger in the plane.)
• 1/72 Academy F-86F Sabre — approaching painting and decalling with trepidation! (Personal interest — When I was eight years old, I dreamed of becoming a Sabre pilot!)
This was something that I wrestled with early on in my return to the hobby 9 years ago. At first I built one at a time and then decided that I could handle two. How wrong I was! No matter how hard I try I simply cannot be building two models at the same time. First off, I just don’t have the room to do stuff like that and secondly it’s just too much sensory overload for me.
So…with all that being said…I’ll just stick to one at a time.
