After completing a model build, we all like to display them on a shelf or in a display case, etc.
But after weeks, months, and years (or decades) of display, the model may get dusty, paint coloring may fade, parts may fall/break off due to glue adhesion not being what it once was, etc., etc.
So the main question is: How long do you keep your completed models?
What do you do with your models once they no longer look their best after years and decades of display? Do you strip off any useful parts and reuse them on other models? Or do you trash the whole model? Or something else?
For me, I’ve stripped off any useful parts from old models and keep them in storage for possible future builds.
Since I only got back into building 3 years ago (Maybe 2). So have yet to encounter this. I use a micro duster to keep my models sorta dust free, every other week I do it. I’m hoping modern paints don’t fade as easily and mine are out of direct sunlight.
My one concern is the insta-glue stuff. I’ve built Figure models out of resin in the past and after several years the one drop glue gets brittle and stuff tends to break. I’m afraid that might happen over time…
I try to take as many pictures as I can of my builds, so at the very least I’ll always have the pictures.
When I got back into the hobby in 1995, I started with a number of Monogram and Revell kits, and one from AMT-Ertl. Of all of those, I no longer have any of the Revells builds (1/32 P-38 and Beaufighter), but I do still have the Monogram Bf109 and He111 and AMT-Ertl A-20. Another that came a little later that I still have hanging from a Grumman section on a bedroom wall is Accurate Miniatures’ TBF Avenger.
I do tend to keep them on display - until things like the great shelving collapse of 2006 occurred. That collapse destroyed many of the older kits in my completed displays. When I got around to collecting and inventorying all of that destruction, I kept parts that I thought might be useful, and as it turned out when I did some extra work on a Monogram Wildcat back in 2016, I was able to use some of the parts from that destroyed Tamiya Wildcat to augment the otherwise very basic Monogram kit.
I still display the Revell and Airfix WW1 aircraft I built in the late 60s and 70s, and a few car models from the 70s. I have boxes of old built kits no longer displayed and use them for custom projects or parts.
Well,I have plenty of display space,and I don’t build a ton,so I have some dating back 25 yrs,I recently replaced some older ones I wasn"t happy with with newer builds.
So I keep them around as long as I’m happy with them and don’t replace them.
Over the years, I’ve had several models that I’ve gotten rid of for various reasons.
Some, I give to other friends and modelers because I just don’t want them anymore. I often look at the model and think “Why the heck did I even build this?”
I think the “average” amount of time my built models last is maybe 10+/- years.
When they start falling apart, paint fading, or something else, I’ll break off whatever parts I can salvage and save, then throw away the leftover hulk in the garbage.
Most of my completed models are stored in plastic tubs and containers. But how long they’ll last even in those is unknown.
I still have some models I did in the late '80s to early '90s, and I moved all over the country with them while in the military ('94-'17). They have been on open shelves in various locations (once in a garage). I have had some get broken in moves or in a shelf collapse but never had them just fall apart from age. They still look about the same as when they were first built.
I have a few models built during the mid 1980s, mostly Japanese anime kits. My old armor builds from the 1970s through the 1980s got bagged and trashed. I do regret not stripping them of useful parts.
At the moment, my display case is full of older models, so much so that new builds have to be stored in containers. I had an accident recently when I knocked an acrylic block off a shelf, which damaged some of my armor kits.
My old Emhar Mk.V Male tank lost a sponson, the PT-76 got a smashed headlight guard, and the Sdkfz.222 got one of its grenade screens knocked off.
The Mk.V will probably get tossed, as I have a Takom Mk.IV Male and a Mk.I Female in the stash. The other kits can be easily repaired.
I do confess to not wanting to throw away my built models. But the display cases need to be cleared, so I will need to make some hard choices in the near future. I do have a bunch of action figures in them, so they will be the first to go.
I’d say I’m on my 3rd generation of models. Anything I built as a kid/young adult is gone - don’t even recall what happened. 2nd generation I was an avid modeler in the 90s and built quite a bit of stuff but had my display shelves in the garage and dust was the enemy.
Due to moving/divorce etc I took a 4 or 5 year break and most of the 2nd generation got binned - though I do still have 10-15 or so that survived. Current generation - well, I’ll have to see what happens when I run out of shelf space but for now, I’ll keep them all on display.
Unfortuneately, storing my models in plastic containers and totes is permanent.
I don’t have the space in my apartment to display them in the open on shelves or anywhere else. They are forever destined to never see the light of day unless I take them to model contests.
I’ve only recently (the last 4 years) gotten back to model building so my models are currently in great shape and displayed. I’m also an avid collector of die cast Mustangs (cars) and Mustang memorabilia. I’ve learned from that collection that dust is the enemy of all collections/displays, so the bulk of my Mustangs and all of my models are in glass display cases with the further precaution of the plastic models being encapsulated in their own acrylic display box within the glass display case. This minimizes the need for handling/touching the models and creating damage, as well as protecting against the environment. I do not plan to get rid of anything I build, and take as many precautions and make every effort I can to preserve my collections in pristine condition.
I don’t have much space in my home, so it is challenging to preserve and display in this manner. But how else do you enjoy you builds daily? Why build if only to store in a tote or toss away because it’s broken or falling apart? This isn’t a slam against anyone else and their methods, so please don’t take it that way. I just believe that with the amount of hard earned money we throw at our hobby/builds, those builds deserve our respect and should be honored by being respectfully kept and displayed. Why else would you build or collect?
I still have all mine save for 1. Given the amount of work we put into these kits I personally have a hard time understanding why some one would part with them save for some limited circumstances.
30+ years ago my built auto models all fell when the shelving unit they were in collapsed. Almost 100, all but two, were smashed. I kept the two. Then, with small children growing up and work responsibilities filling my life, modeling fell away. I completed 4-6 in all those years. During the pandemic, I picked it up again, finished one (the Moebius Olds 88). Immediately after the pandemic, I retired from my professional life and turned my hobby into a restoration practice/business, which has grown like topsy but leaves me the time to work on models. At the recent NNL East, I showed two recent completions, and have two more in process. However, the lesson drawn from the loss of so many is that for me the fun is in the building, adding new skills, not displaying them. I still have space for 3-4 more, then will have to decide what to do. I’ve also given away most of my unbuilt kits, so now have 20+/-, all kits that I dearly want to build. It’s all manageable, fits into my life, and if I somehow lose the built kits, I lose them.
Welcome to the forum tmenyc and welcome back to the hobby. I don’t have any space either, but I keep building them. Somehow, I find a way to display them, but it isn’t easy. I feel your pain!
