Paul, I still can’t get over your 7 projects at once thing.
Love to see a list of what you are working on and where things stand so I can picture of how it’s done in my mind.
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Samphoto - On the bench at the moment (it might look like 8 projects but I believe it results in 7 distinct outcomes):
- Tamiya Jagdtiger with 7 figures - “Survivors” diorama set in April 1945. The Jagdtiger is being weathered. The figures are finished.
- Tamiya Sdkfz 251/1 modified to a 251/7 engineer vehicle carrying a Tamiya Schwimmwagen with 2 figures setting land mines - “Retreat” diorama set in Russia, Summer 1943. The Sdkfz 251/7 is waiting to be weathered. The Schwimmwagen is under construction. The figures are finished.
- Tamiya Chieftain with 3 figures modified to be a true Mark 5 (the kit is a hybrid Mark 3/Mark 5) - untitled diorama set at CFB Suffield. The Chieftain is under construction. Figures are primed and waiting for paint.
- Tamiya Horch with 18 figures set in Warsaw 1944 - diorama “They Are Burning Warsaw”. Horch is waiting to be weathered. The figures are finished. I still need to build a Tamiya Stummel to accompany this diorama but am waiting until I have reduced the projects in progress.
- Tamiya WW2 German Elite Infantryman - Assembled and primed. Waiting for paint.
- Airfix HMS Hood - Under construction with White Ensign Models photoetch.
- Revell Flower Class Corvette - I am building it as HMCS Sackville which is the only surviving corvette and located in Halifax Harbour. The hull has been assembled and sanded to scale. I have relocated a number of portholes and have started installing photoetch portholes. I have acquired the entire catalogue David J. Parkins photoetch sets for this model which replace almost all of the kit parts. I figure on 2 years to finish this project. It is actually terrifying me.
I tend to alternate between building and painting (not necessarily on the same project). I keep a log on each project so I know what I have done, in particular what paints (brand and colour) I have used and on what parts. I also have a notebook where I keep track of particular techniques that I may want to use again, as well as details on design, dimensions and materials used for scratchbuilt elements of each project. Each project has its own labeled, sealable plastic container to protect work in progress when it is not on the bench under active work. It may seem daunting, but I am left-brained and probably have a mild case of OCD that helps me keep things organized. The downside of so many at once is that it takes a long time to finish anything. But right now I am determined to complete Item #1 and Item #2 by the end of January 2026.
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I wish I practiced your detail. I’ve had some success and failures and it would have been good to have notes. The problem I see is there no wings on what you’re building 
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That is quite a detailed list, thank you. Figures are time consuming for sure.
Do you like to weather everything in a batch?
I need to get a notebook or maybe put notes in a computer with photos to better track techniques that I end up liking. I’m only on my third kit and starting to develop processes that I like that I need to document.
For example, my NMF F-86 I tried several different paints and I achieved the look I wanted mostly by chance but then promptly forgot which of the 10 different shades of metal/aluminum that I liked the best.
Now I will have to experiment all over again, so I was just thinking about this and these is your excellent post.
I want to do a handwritten notebook but, then I can’t search it, and add photos, so I’m going to have to figure out a note program on my tablet I think.
Thanks again for the great reply.
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I did build Monogram’s F-18C as a warm up when I returned to the bench after retiring. It was a partially built kit abandoned by one of my young sons back in the early 2000s. I could not bring myself to throw it away so I finished it instead. I have to say that I find aircraft a challenge…the process is so different and getting the camouflage demarcations right seems more challenging than armour camouflage. I do have a box scale Bomarc Missile in my stash that I plan to build with Canadian markings…so there is hope for me yet!
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Scott - I do batch weathering only when there are multiple vehicles in a diorama. My usual routine for painting is to prime the subject (usually because it has both plastic and photoetch pieces), pre-shade, base coat the vehicle (trying to preserve the pre-shading though not always successfully), add camouflage, post-shade/fade the vehicle panels, gloss coat, add decals, seal decals with another gloss coat. At this point I usually take a break to admire my work. After days or weeks (or when the urge strikes) I will start to apply oil washes and pin washes. Once I am satisfied, I will seal that work with a flat coat and take another break to think about and plan the next phase of weathering (i.e. what colours and pigments to use for the planned setting). I take a lot of time at the weathering stage. I am a believer that less is more, so I want just enough weathering to provide context and connect the subject to the diorama, but not so much as to distract from all the assembly and painting work invested to get to this stage. My goal is to have viewers appreciate the subject and the story, not just the weathering. I am still learning at this point, but if you look at the three dioramas I have posted you can see that my weathering is relatively restrained.
My project work log is jotted on notepaper I keep on my work bench. I later enter the information in a spreadsheet that has a tab for each project so that I can search the data for a particular technique, colour or product used during all my project work. It is more a labour of love than a necessity, but being retired I have the time! My work bench notebook is just that…an in the moment record that I can flip through while in the middle of work to help with a task at hand…far more spontaneous a tool than is my work log.
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I’m with you 100% on the weathering. Often it is way overdone, especially at scale. I’ve seen panel washes on aircraft that at scale would be 6" wide.
Camo on aircraft is very challenging for me, though I just saw a great technique where a guy did the math and printed out the painting guide to scale and them cut them out and used them as a mask taped to the aircraft where it was raised off the plastic just a bit and created a nice feathered edge. It was brilliant I thought.
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That’s one of my favorite ways to paint camouflage. It makes it so easy to know your matching up with the real plane. The only hard part is matching up views.
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You have so much going on that just reading about it here makes my head spin! 
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I never like to take pics of model kit boxes on their sides. I always prefer to show the top cover.
Below are only the pictures of “complete” model kits that haven’t had anything taken out of the box.
I have plenty more model kits than this, but they’ve all had various parts, etc. removed from them and been kit bashed with other model kits. So there’s no point in taking pictures of them if they’re not “complete”.
Usually whenever I build a model kit, I don’t like to build it straight from the box. I’m always finding ways to kitbash parts from one model onto another model to create something unusual and unique.
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@WhatIfRebel that’s quite an awesome and eclectic collection of models! I really love the pro modeller kits and I just bought the Testors F-19.
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I used to have the Pro Modeler 1/48 scale F-117 stealth fighter kit long ago. But I donated that to my local model club auction as I was never going to get around to building it. 
Some of the kits that I’ve shown above will also be sold or donated, particuarly the F-102 kits as I have no interest in those. Same for the Arizona ship kit too.
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Must. Not. Offer. To. Buy. F-102.
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That is a cool and diverse group. I have exactly one tank and the rest are aircraft. I’m going to poke into Aircraft carriers, probably a Wasp Class and then maybe the Ford. I can see some dioramas in my future as well.
You make me want to look at some Star Trek (I’m a big fanboy). and maybe Starwars (less of a fan but the kits look cool).
Kit bashing is something that gives me stress as it would force me to color outside the lines which isn’t something I’m particular good at.
Looking forward to seeing some of your final projects
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Yeah, I had to read through his post very carefully because this was my question but it was a lot to absorb.
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Truth to tell, my stash has become greatly diminished. I had a basement flood - storm drain backup - that ruined a lot of models. In salvaging the rest, most in boxes, I finally admitted to myself that I could never build them all. So I crated the kits up into four 24-inch cube movers boxes. Two boxes will be donated to our local Model Con 419 raffle next April, and two will go to the raffle in the 2026 IPMS/USA National Convention in Fort Wayne, IN. Clearing all the boxed kits out will still leaves me with plenty of incompleted “Shelf of Shame” projects, enough to last a lifetime.
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I don’t really see the point of having a big stash. As Nightshift (Martin Kovac) would say, “build those models, don’t just hoard them.” But that’s just me.
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Wow, that is a bummer about the water damage and losing part of your stash.
Nice solution on the donation and very communal goodness of you.
“shelf of shame”? Are those started but never finished kits?
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Lol! It not hoarding, it’s collecting! At least that is what I tell myself.
That and “I’m buying them now in case they go out of production.”
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I think I saw “Shelf of Shame” coined in FSM. At any rate, you’re right - I’m referring to started but unfinished projects. It’s a bad habit that just about every modeler I’ve ever met has, to lay one model aside and starting another. Another one is the “I’m buying them now in case they go out of production" mentality. Dunno if that’s hoarding or not, but I think we can all agree it’s a sickness.
It took the damn flood to cure me…!
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