I go to shows and watch demonstrations andask question like how long does it take (example - a 1/72 scale) a typical model. I get about the same answer. If it is out-of-the-box about two weeks unless there is some modifications or scratchbuilt parts then it can take about a month. If the subject is to like a miniture of a particular subject like the X-1 then it could take a couple of mobths.
I would like to know how come in I cannot build a model straight out of the box in less than a year? It starts to take so long that I get fed up with the subject and put it off to the side and almost never come back to it. I try to follow instruction step by step but it still seems like it takes so long. a simple model like a AMT Batmobile with about twenty parts has been taking me months to build. I have been puttering around plastic models for close to ten years and you know how many models I actually have finished in those ten years? Two! You know how many I have started and then got bored with them because of time…6. I have about twenty other models on the closet shelf in boxes waiting to be built with others I would like to get. I just do not have a clue on how to put these things together in a timely fashion. After ten years I still consider myself a newbie to modeling. Any really good advice on how to build fast but good quality models or am I stuck and will never get up?
Hmmmm…Snoopy, it sounds like more of a motivational problem than any kind of technical problem to do with building kits. How much time do you actually spend working on the model? Sometimes I’ll have a work in progress sitting on the workbench, and for whatever reason, I won’t even touch it for days or even weeks. Thus, from start to finish, it may have taken me 2 or 3 months to finish a model, but in actuality, maybe I only spent 10-15 hours working on it. No problems when I sit down and do it, but ocassionally the problem is sitting down!
I don’t think you should be so concerned with the actual speed of building a model, but maybe you should consider what motivates you to build, and then try to create situations conducive to your style of modeling.
To get motivated, try going to some more shows, read as many modeling magazines and books as you can, and of course, check out the forums here! They always get me fired up!
I’d say the average person could slap a 1/72 kit together in under an hour.
Now, if you want to clean up the parts, ie remove any flash, clean up mold
separation lines, and fill in ejector pin marks, that’s going to add some time
to the process. Cleaning up any seams and prepping for paint is going to
add more time. Researching markings and paint schemes is going to take even longer. That’s where the fun is for most modellers…in the small, critical details.
It isn’t about how long it should take. It should take as long as is necessary for
the results you want. Other than vacu-forms or limited run kits, a good, OOB build
of a 1/72 scale aircraft would probably take 8-10 hours of actual work spread over
however many weeks it takes for you to find the time or feel like working on it.
Remember the saying “You get what you pay for”? It applies to model building, too. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
Hang in there, Snoopy… It’s supposed to be fun. Hobbies shouldn’t have deadlines.
All the best
Ray
It’s not a race, this is supposed to be relaxation. I usually take 4 to 6 months (sometimes longer) to complete a model. True, I usually have 3 or 4 going at the same time. Work at whatever pace makes you happy and don’t worry about the other guy - have fun.
Like yourself, I am an incredibly slow modeler–or maybe I should say overly deliberate. It takes me months to put together a simple kit that a friend of mine can put out in a couple weeks. My problem is that I find myself waiting for one process to finish before I start on another. Of course, other “problems” are family and other, more important issues, that have to be dealt with before I can go back to the bench; but I assume that’s not what you are talking about. One thing I am beginning to learn is I have to keep going if I’m going to reach completion. That means gluing wings together while I’m waiting for putty to dry on the fuselage; or putting the turret or gun barrel together while I’m waiting for the hull to dry. Just those small steps have given some quicker completion results. The other thing, I think, is to be obstinately focused, and complete what you start before moving on to something else. Try to establish some sort of personal goal when you think would be a good time to have a model completed by. If you can’t see down the road that far, then shoot for a shorter goal. For example, most models are built in sections (road wheels/track, hull, turret and gun). Set a goal for a subassembly, and then the next, and so on; then see the completed model as your final goal.
One important thing to remember, is that this is a hobby; you’re supposed to enjoy it. If you’re not, then it’s time to find another one. Who or what are you building for? If you’re not building to please yourself, and see yourself and your creativity expressed in your work, then maybe you need to rethink the why’s and whatfor’s. I also find a great deal of relaxation in what I do. It helps me escape-for a short period of time-from the cares and demands of the responsibilities placed upon me.
Lastly, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, provided you’re having fun. I used to get angry at my brother, because he could just about build a kit in one evening, and I hadn’t even gotten the first piece cut from the sprue. It turns out he has a great deal more mechanical ability with pieces and parts than I do; he can also “see” better in 3D than I can. I’m too much a two-dimesional type person, but I’ve recognized that I am who I am, and have learned to appreciate my own abilities and limitations and work within them; you should, too.
In short: Relax, have fun, stay focused on what’s at hand, set some short and long-term goals–and remember that a QUALITY build takes time–sometimes lots of it!
Hope this helps.
Gip Winecoff
I’d like to add just one thing: Snoopy, can or would you like to post a pic of one of your completed models? If you’re proud of it and not afraid to show it off, then time doesn’t matter in this case. Just something to think about.
I build really slowly too. I usually just don’t push myself to get things done quickly, I get enough of that at work. With constant deadline pressure there, the last thing I want with modeling is more, so I work at a slow, comfortable pace. I will set things aside for days or weeks sometimes. I also have several projects going at once, mostly because as a project nears completion, I start to lose interest with it. I’m that same way with drawings, so I have just accepted that it’s my nature to be that way. Once you accept something like that about yourself, it takes a lot of frustration away.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to complete things quickly, pressure yourself to complete things well. I still consider myself a newbie also, but I’m learning as I go. Do you feel like your skills are improving as you work? That is worth all the time in the world. I like Gip’s idea about setting goals, but keep them realistic. If you know deep in your heart that you won’t work on a project often or fast enough to get it done in a week, don’t try to force yourself to get it done in that week. That will only frustrate you more and you’ll not be enjoying yourself. Above all, enjoy yourself.
You might also try working on another part of the kit while you’re waiting for things to set up…e.g. While your putty is setting up, work on another kit, or work on a different subassembly. While you are waiting for paint to dry and cure on the cockpit, so you can drybursh or whatever, clean up and build the landing gears. While you’re waiting for that to dry, clean up and dry fit the fuselage and/or wings. Don’t be afraid to set something aside for a while, nobody is forcing you to keep on task all the time, digress some. Work on other things, research colors or vehicles, read the forums, whatever. Enjoy yourself, don’t just beat yourself up. Learn your nature, accept it, and work inside of your comfort zone.
After reading some of the insight here I think I can conclusively say my problem is a bunch of things. First, I would have to say procrastination. When I come home from work I get daddy watch me or play with me. When that is done I make first mistake of sitting down in the recliner. I doesn’t help when the History Channel is showing something interesting. Second, I do not build in sub-sections and I probably should. I glue a couple of pieces then wait until it dries before moving on. Then there is that walking through the Hobby Shop and bam, a kit that you gotta have is sitting there and that is all you can think of.
I think I will try the setting a goal for time of completion along with doing more than one step at a time.
I find myself at the opposite end of the spectrum. It always feels to that I rushed right through a kit so quick I did’nt really get to enjoy taking my time. The kit I am working on right now has been going on for 3 weeks now, thats the most time I have ever spent on a kit. i can tell a difference in how it looks though. Looks like there is a happy medium between taking to long and getting bored with it to little time and felling it could be better.
Don’t worry Snoop. I don’t think you have a problem. There is really no timeframe for this. I mean that’s why you call it a hobby. Things you do for relaxation. To forget about schedules, deadlines and urgencies. When I started late last year, I could build a 1/72 plane in four to five hours straight. I am always too excited to see the finished model. But later I started to realize that I am not into a race here. Besides when I sit on it full time, it takes away my time for other important things. And I guess that does not make it a hobby anymore in its real sense. It’s becoming a burden because you feel pressured to finish it right away. And like they said “it takes away the fun of building”. When I started reading the posts in this forums and learned that some guys here even take years to complete their kits, I started to realize what this hobby is really for. Now, it would take me from two weeks to more than a month to complete a kit and I don’t worry about it. So, don’t. Take your time.
On the other hand if you feel that you seem to lack motivation like J-hulk said then probably you should try things that would condition your mind to focus on modeling.
When my children were young, I set aside two days a week to do my model building. I would limit my self to two or three hours each session. That would come out from four to six hours a week. My children and wife left me alone as they knew this was my time. The rest of the week was family time. It worked out very well. You might want to try setting up a time with your family devoted to “Daddy’s time”.
Don’t know if this will make you feel better Snoopy, but I am one of those guys Dwight mentioned in his post. I’ve kitbashed a Charger pro-street (based on an old Dukes of Hazzard body) and added lots of detail. The engine, interior and chassis is finished, the bodywork is done and in primer ready for paint. I just can’t decide on the final paint job.
We’re with you Snoop. I once had six projects going, all in various stages of completion, As my wife yelled at me to “Please, just finish at least one kit, I hate seeing your desk so cluttered!” Sounds like one problem you may be having is following the instruction sheet as if it were gospel. Sometimes it really does help to break from the instructions a little and work in sub-assemblies. As one part is drying, setting up, or whatever you can be working on a different area that can be joined to the first assembly when its ready. As for the History channel, I also have that problem. Sometimes you just can’t turn it off. Hang in there buddy, it took me two years to finish my Titanic and the only extra that I did was add brass railings.
Snoopy, don’t burden yourself with self-imposed deadlines. There’s so set-in-stone on how long it takes to build a model. Like the others have all said, take your time, decide what you want to do with kit and just do it, whenever and however long it takes you. It’s supposed to be fun and a stress reliever, not a stress inducer. Just kick back, build what you like when you like and smile. Get tired? Go away for a while, take a break (however long that needs to be) and get back to it when the muse strikes. It’s when it stops being fun that you worry [:D]
Snoopy, I’m with you. It takes far longer than I’d like it to finish a kit. The FSM forum has been an inspiration to get me into the mood to start building, but I feel almost haunted by it. Even though nobody will see it (unless I post a pic) I feel I have to equal some of the other builders. Wrong. The important thing to remember, is do a satisfying job that you the builder will be proud of. It’s not a contest. I’d like to think that the forum has taught me new ideas that I’d like to incorporate into my work.
For those that said the History Channel is a distraction, I second that. ESPN is right behind it. However, After I sacrificed t.v., I’m spending more time in the forums! [:(][:D]
“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”-R.E.Lee
Snoopy:
Sounds like you have your priorities straight … family first. I’ll echo what most of the others have said here … take your time and work to your own speed. Remember that the kit reviewers and other ‘pros’ are working to customer imposed deadlines and the rest of us are not.
Myself, when I decide I want to build a ship I usually budget a year or so to research before I start making plans and cutting materials, and it usually takes another two or three to finish. The one I am working on now was researched for 18 months and after about 9 more the hull framing is nearly completed. I have two others in the research stage as well.
I don’t budget a set number of hours, but work when opportunity and motivation dictate.
Mind you, I am looking at my stern framing while typing this instead of gluing …
Regards,
Bruce
You will adjust, Snoopy. There are many of us with similar problems. I think you have already identified one part of your dilemma - you don’t build in subassemblies. You should - it’s a great way to get a feeling of accomplishment. And J-Hulk nailed the other part - motivation.
I used to go to shows all the time and come home depressed, thinking that I could never produce results that good. After a few years of this I learned to get inspired from visiting shows, rather than bummed out. View everything you build as practice, and it will keep getting better and better. As Maddafinger, Keyworth, Dwight, Swanny and everyone else has said, this is about relaxation, stress relief, and PERSONAL satisfaction. Don’t make it into a chore. Deadlines are for your job, not your hobby!
Paul
speed is not of the essence in model building. if you start to rush things, you will find yourself doing crappy work and you’ll end up not building any more.all modelers i think are concerned with is the finished product. no one cares how long it takes, just what you end up with. keep going and dont give up building.
I get frustrated some times with how long it takes me to finish something, any thing. What helps me is to just build something rather quickly. Just solid construction and a nice paint job. It is not my style to build quickly so the feel of finishing one gives me a boost and I get back to my regular building habits refreshed.
On the contrary speed was what used to scare me. I usually finish my projects in less than a week 1/72 allowing paint and putty to dry etc. so when i heard of people going on for months i had them in my mind as the real pros!!!. Then it occured to me that it was a bid odd to spend 1000 hours in a 1/72 plane…(OR NOT?).