During a one week period, how much time is available for modeling? Is there a certain day, or time that allows you to be the most productive without interruptions? It’s sometimes hard to find a good balance between working full time, going to school, or even being retired. Having a supportive spouse plays a huge part for those of us that are married. Just curious.
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I do most of my modeling in the evenings, when things are quieter. For intense building, I used to go into the wee hours of the night, usually till 1:00 or 2:00 am. But now I get sleepy by 9:00 pm, so it’s challenging!
I also airbrush at night because it is cooler, and the patio is blinding bright during the day. Plus by the time I get organized and go outside, it is usually around 8:30 pm. So it’s a mad dash to midnight, or until I get too sleepy.
As far as how much time I spend at the bench, well to be honest, I never kept track. I’ll just go along taking my time until I reach a tipping point, when I’ll try to charge across the finish line.
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I generally don’t keep track of how much time I spend at the workbench during a single day, a week, a month, etc.
Sometimes, I get asked by people at contests who want to know how much time it took me to build a model. I tell them “I don’t know. I don’t keep track.”
I really don’t understand this “need” to keep track of how much time we spend at our workbenches and build our models within the modeling community. What difference does it make? Why is it so important?
Not enough at my home 
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It can be challenging, that’s for sure. I don’t reallly know how much time I spend modeling. It varies greatly. Some weeks maybe 10 hours or more - some weeks zero. We all have other hobbies and interests too (I hope) and when I get involved with those there isn’t a lot of modeling going on. Those are the zero weeks. My favorite time at the desk though is early on weekend mornings, when it’s quiet and serene. When most everyone else is either still in bed or haven’t got up and moving yet.
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It really depends for me. Somedays I’ll spend several hours, others I do none. I’d guess a average would be five hours a week.
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Just a half hour here and a half hour there,rarely more then that unless it’s a time consuming task.Maybe 5-10 hours a week
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There are ebbs and flows, but I try to get at least 1 hour a day down in the mancave. Every Saturday I hang out with fellow modelers at a local gaming store and we build & BS for a couple of hours. Summer’s are challenging because there’s so much to do/see in Colorado.
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The weekends are the best time for me. My wife and daughter spend most of the day Saturday running errands. It’s just the cats and I in the house. (Although they do like to take over my build area, from time to time.) On Sunday, I able to get quite a bit of time at the bench.
I think it’s cool that your able to meet with your model buddies on Saturday. Nothing like camaraderie. Every Saturday, unless there’s inclement weather, our club meets at the workshop. It’s opens at around 7am and usually goes to around 1pm. I’m sure Colorado has amazing weather during the summer.
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I’m retired so my time is wide open. My wife totally understands my hobbies. I make time for us, but I work on my kits when I feel like it. I don’t keep track of the amount of time, but I can usually spend some time everyday if I desire. I have other hobbies too, mostly outdoor, so they compete for my time. For me kit building is mostly a winter time project for me when it’s snowy and cold out. I do maybe 1 or 2 kits during the warmer months…
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Just on the positive side of zero mostly. Between my job which has me travelling and away from home 16 full days per month, two kids under 10 and all the various household responsibilities, modelling is more often than not a wish and a.dream.
My only real “guaranteed” time is one Friday a month our group meets up in the evening for usually 3-4 hours. If I’m awake enough to use tools and my work schedule allows, that’s my time. Only 11 more years until forced retirement, maybe I’ll get a kit or two finished before that. 
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Worked out of town a lot. Was gone Monday through Friday. We drove to each job site in Company vans. Packed a plastic bin with some supplies and a model. After work, would get back to the hotel, got a bite to eat, set up a small work station in the room. Helped pass the time by.
About 5 hours a week, mostly after wife goes to bed. I have a very supportive wife but the honeydo list is long and quality time together is short, so I build mostly between 10:00pm and 1:00am.
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Yeah I had thought of that, unfortunately though all my travel is by air and everything I take has to be carry on / security friendly. No blades, no tools, no chemicals, no dangerous goods. I hesitate to think how my projects would turn out twisting all the parts off the sprues (could you even do that today with all the small pieces in new kits) and being held together with either white glue or scotch tape. 
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Saturdays tend to be my best day for availability to spend hours at the bench. But of course, now that it’s summer in SE Texas, that won’t be tolerable for hours, although the dehumidifier I bought recently has helped a bit. In the fall, I will spend the entire Saturday out there if nothing else is planned, generally building while watching whatever college football games are on. The only caveat to that is I will bring myself inside to watch the Texas Aggies in air conditioned comfort.
Sundays are hit-and-miss. The weekdays are largely dependent on other things, mostly work. Although on the days when I’m working from home, I am sometimes able to sneak out there to spend a few minutes, maybe long enough to spray a coat of paint on a subject and clean the airbrush, but not hours on end obviously.
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Even though I only work 20 days a month, I don’t spend all that much time at the bench. I tend to have good and bad days and have so many backed up projects that I jump from project to project be it fixing the house, the cars or sewing or building models or just staring out the window trying to imagine what it would be like to just go outside and do something. Hopefully, I will be better able to spend time on stuff I enjoy after I retire in August. It takes a day or two to recharge after being around people.
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