Here’s what has happened recently in SMJmodeler’s World…
I received two Advanced Golds at AMPS East.
Scored some great kits for a good price to add to the stash at AMPS East.
My Stug III B was just published in FSM last month.
Had a nice haul of awards at SYRCON.
…met the doog in person at SYRCON.
**…AND I’M STILL IN A BUILD FUNK!!!..**so what gives!!!..[%-)] I’ve been idle for about two months now and I can’t quite figure out why. I know it will pass but any “quick cures” you might have would be much appreciated.
Or you could ask doog or Wing_nut or Redleg to hop on over to your house and give you a swift kick in the pants…[:P]
Seriously though - sorry to hear you are in the doldrums a little bit. As you say, I am sure it will pass. I, too, had a bit of a break after AMPS and am just now climbing boack up to the bench with any regularity.
Take a mental break, then come back and let the magic happen!
Got anything that might qualify as a “quick” build? I know a lot of yours tend to be pretty darn involved (can you say Colosseum? or hours of oil-paint drybrushing?), so maybe you need something that gets done over the weekend…or a week tops. Old Tamiya kit laying around? You seem to do pretty well with those. [swg]
Yeah, that might work too… of course, if it doesn’t, there is still alcohol… [#toast]
Seriously (again) I think dupes may be on to something - build something fun and simple, maybe something with your kids… play with it all weekend… then put a firecracker in it. (OK so maybe I was only being slightly serious…).
Might I suggest joining next weekend’s (11/13-11/15) Weekend Madness GB? I know that I’m in a non-building place (three builds that are 80-90% done and have been for months) and I’m hoping that this may be the thing that gets me going…
Quick cure. Start building a reaaaally crappy eastern european kit for about three days. Then get sick to death of it and open a Tamiya or a Dragon and say thank god something I can finally build lol.
I’m with the guys who say build an airplane. Doing something in an unfamiliar scale, which emphasizes shape (versus knobs, details, tracks, stowage, etc.) and form is a good break for us dedicated treadheads. Paint it up good, glosscoat it, do a nice decal job on it. And voila.
also, pull out some old magazines or reference books you haven’t looked at in a while. They really stir the pot for me.
Me too. Work has really brought me down. Another staff-cut on the way and goodness know-what-else. It’s hard to be motivated when your looking over your shoulder all the time. Modeling just seems so secondary, if you know what I mean.
A lot of my model building is inspired by books I have read recently. So if that works for you too, go find a book that gets your inspiration going and after you pick up the urge, find a kit that wont be an AMS fuse and get back to work happily!
Last time I was in a model funk, I grabbed a kit from the ‘garage stash’. Stuff I figured I would never build. In this case a Sci-Fi kit that I was given. I modified it to fit my mood (lots of made up scratch built parts), and painted it with a color scheme that I always wondered how it would look (dark sea blue and olive drab). I had it almost finished when my Armor Funk broke and I felt a need and desire to get back to my current project.
This is what got me back to what I really needed to be doing:
Guess I’ll wait for my next bout of ‘builders block’ to finish it.
Every hobby goes through this kind of thing, especially if you do spend lots of time detailing etc.
Really it is your mind and body saying that it needs a rest for a bit.
I had something similar with my Tournament Jousting (yes… I am one of those!) for some unknown reason I started to loose interest and when at Tournaments would get really aggressive and started putting opponents not only in the medics tent but the hospital as well. I decided to take some time out and concentrated on something else (photography and model building) which seemed to slowly start getting things back on track.
I ended up taking a full year off from the Tournament scene and when I went back to it I felt refreshed, fit and ready. I did consult my Doctor and he said that I should stick to my pescription medicine like glue (blood pressure stuff and a tablet for PTSD (military service thingy) and all I needed was a good rest and a bit of travel.
Now I try and combine all three together as much as I can. For instance When going to a Tournament there is space put aside in one of the horseboxes for my modelling kit and a model as well as my bag of cameras and lenses. As I am not required all day I can go and photograph some of the combat and displays or spend a morning building something.
This may help you - or it may not. I have quite a few pictures I can post if you would like to see something different ( might give you an idea for a diorama
well slide over on that funk couch cause you aint the only one brother.been un-employed for darn near 4 mos. now.I gotta peddle what i built to pay my habit.And ive sunk low enough to buy a maquette T-34 tank destroyer.Now thats a funk.Go build a car or ship.Go fishing or deer hunting,do’nt snivel about the cold.Just do something!DDDOOO SOOOOMMMMEETTTHHINNNNG! See ya later man.[banghead]Or I suppose we all could organize an intervention.
That’s why I’m over in “Auto’s” right now building an old Model T rustbucket, Steve–change of pace, totally different perspective. Sometimes you neeed that.
You gotta get internet at your house, too. Then you can chat here all day like some of us do when we’re in a funk too. [;)]
I agree… as I’ve said in other places, being able to link what I build to accounts has greatly increased my interest in the hobby. I recently read “wings over suez” and decided to build all of the Fleet Air Arm Aircraft involved.
If I may humbly make a suggestion, Anthony Beevor has a new book out on D-Day that is getting quite a bit of press because of its realistic take on the invasion. It might be worth a read to get re-energized.
