Strange topic

[Darren "DJ" Finlayson]

Hi guys,

I'm seeing alot of you guys are able to build some wicked models in the matter of days!!! I just don't get how you guys can do them so quickly!

I took me nine months to complete the "Miller Time" beer wagon, four months to build the Lil' Gasser, two years to build a pink '59 Caddy, etc!

I didn't even run ignition wires or do the bare metal foil. Am I missing something? Did I miss the boat? Am I doing something wrong here? I do use the CA glue, instant "dyer" for the glue, or am I just going overboard in going into the minute details?

I would really like to be able to get to the point of being able to finish a model or two in a month instead of one MAYBE two a year!!

What's your guys' secrets??

DJ

[fredmellini]

Outside of my family and 1:1 cars, model building (plastic, r/c planes, and r/c cars, figure building) this is all I do. I mean, I can honestly say that I do a little model building each day. I have a TV on my work bench and I am not one to just sit in a chair and vegatate.....I have to be doing something (I do not drink,smoke, gamble,hunt/fish,bowl or belong to any leagues or clubs, etc, etc) so I just sit at my bench and watch TV or put in a DVD and work on a model. Nascar races are the best because you have 3 to 4 hours of building time!!! ;D ;D ;D

I have a great wife (dated her 11 years (since I was 13) and just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary) she whole heartedly supports my hobby (could be doing worse things ;D) and that is a big plus!!

I putty, sand, prime, wire motors, cut, shape, paint and polish (see dragon slayer, D.O.A. Delivery, and rommels rod in guest gallery) and I don't think I have spent more than 2 month at the most on a model. But everybody is different and approaches each build differently---it is not a race and as long as you are enjoying the hobby than that is what matters ;D ;D

[zeppy1320]

like Fred l usually like to watch TV while l am building
maybe you should just try to build a box stock model
to me it's just relaxing and it really doesn't matter how long or how much you get it to it just enjoy it for what it is
nothing better than watching the twilight zone and listening to jerry lewis and building building models

[rallygsc]

I am a slow poke compared to the rest of these guys, my problem is the fact I start too many projects at once and don't see them through, lately though I have been sticking to 3 builds,

Black Widow which is a different take on the Tom Daniel T'rantula

Darkside, a 40 ford panel hearse 50's rod

and a 40 ford coupe which is a early 60's rod, almost a clone to one I built almost 10 years ago.

I build both diecast and plastic models, I know a lot of people don't like diecast, but I cannot complain on the revell kits, they are so close to plastic kits, and the best part I don't have to break my wallet on the resin versions.

I usually build models in the computer room while listening to music or while a movie is playing,

I am a nut job on paint jobs, if it isn't perfect, I strip it and redo it,

that's why I am so slow at times

[Wardster]

Just a thought here, but some folks are really really fast and just crank those puppies out -- and others may habitually build several models at once; so it seems like nothing much is happening, "forever" ... and then maybe they all finish up at roughly the same time. That latter one might sometimes be mistaken for the former one. Just something to consider. (Thrown in because I'm one of the latter guys; and several projects are about 2/3rds done.)

One other nifty thing about hanging out here: lots of inspiration! Lots of motivation here, by so often seeing what others have on their (sometimes sick -- in a good way!) minds.

[Psychotic Hillbilly]

I agree. not every one is the same. I take my time. also build 4 or 5 at a time. Have not posted them because I started them before I came to this site. Being here you get to see how every one builds and get some great ideas. I enjoy it here because I get some good advice and kits(thanks to every one) to build. take as long as you want and dont think they should be cranked out 1 a week. just build to be building. I do...

[vwcamperman]

how many do i have unfinished = 12

how many do i have finished = 5

how much fun is this hobby = priceless

[johnverkerk]

Don't feel bad,, i have not built 1 yet this year,,and like so many others i start a new project without finishing any.
But when your bashing kits, it does tend to take alot longer, and this is what i enjoy doing,this way, you have something a whole lot different than anybody else,but i usually have about 5 on the go,sometimes i get hung up on paint or an idea and leave it till something clicks, either way it's fun!!!

[theflame]

I sometimes get frustrated or bogged down with all the high detail projects, so I pick up a snap kit or something simple and do that for a nice easy satisfying build.

Of course, I repaint it, detail it, buy photoetched parts, do body mods, subsitute the kit chassis for a more detailed one etc etc until its another big project all of its own!

Regardless, I love it, I wouldnt have it any other way

[metalburner]

i am in charge of r and d for the paint company i work for so a lot of my projects are test beds for new paint types and application systems so i get to build while i work a couple of days a week.

[whitewall]

I tend to get alot done really fast. I've got 3 on the go right now. but I kinda develop a pattern. if I'm not doing any fancy pantsy details I could blow out a box stock in two day's...Quick dry ratle cans, and Rona clears... All theshort-cuts... the end result isn't as pretty, and it usually means that there's a 3rd day spent polishing out the rattle-can clear to get a smoothe finish. BUT I have a job that I can afford to play hookie with, for sometimes weeks at a time. and if I finish a kit in two day's it's because what appears to be boardering on obsessive compulsiveness. sit in one place, forget to eat, chain smoke, and dont get up till there's nothing left to do but wath paint dry after 19 hours of not moving... I envey people who can walk away from the table... I truly do... it's alot healthier for ya.. and maybe they remember to eat once in a while. Right now I've got another 41 Chev Pu (rustic) a 34 Ford chopped, channeled, fenderless, and a 41 woody, traditional hot-rod... I'm workin on... well, mostley the woody. But in the last month, I've done
41Chev Pu
53 Ford (the Mrs did most of the work on)
55 Ford Pu
30 Model A
56 Ford Victoria
56 Rideaux (conversion from Victoria kit)
48 Ford Convertable
50 ford (Traditional relic)
all this with a Trip to Ft. St. John (14 hours away) a Trip to the Island (7 Hrs Away) and a trip to Cranbrook (another 7 Hrs away... all for a few days each... GOD I WISH I COULD WALK AWAY FROM THE TABLE!

Kelly

[Deleted]

I wish he could walk away from the table too....

I on the other hand, have got 3 kits (all 49 Mercs) 2 of which I am working on and they take me a lot longer than anyone else I would imagine (because I am new to this) and because it takes me ten times as long to put the parts together. OH... and also because someone has to cook etc!!

One of my mercs is almost painted and the other was painted back in August but I decided to ruin it with some flames, which I now need to sand off..

Remember - it's quality, not quantity!! That's my excuse for not pushing them out at record breaking speed. Ok ok.. that's hardly the case for most of you here, because I constantly see really incredible builds..

I manage to cut my time in half by giving my engines to Kelly to use in his kits and gluing my hoods shut!! There's a bit of time saving genius for ya!!

[dbash2006]

you guys said it all..... I do one at a time.......I really should take more time on detail though ...sometime its just sitting together to get a picture then I take my time putting it together...were all different ..( thank God) and thats what makes it all so interesting....so take your time, hurry- up, what ever your best at and have a good time doing it !

[donsrods1]

well heres the deal,some of us are gear heads,cant afford the real thing but this is close enough.im dis-abled and cant work,i get up around 5.30 a.m and turn on the tunes,then a cup of coffee,then morning constitution,then im ready to go,i sit in my comffy chair with my back round noise and look for what im doing today,well with 7-10 projects surronding me at one time ,figuring out which one to do is a matter of the area in my head im at,so i build most of the day,up until about 10.00 pm.so that gives me a good days building,if i get p'd at something im doing i work on something else.ive been building for 30 years so its just another day,i do have long time customs i work on slowly,a custom vanwith a vette nose on it,my merc,but for the most part i kit bash everything.my name should be "parts and pieces"well thats my secret happy building to all and build at your own speed,thanks for the room on the podeum don

[barrisfan- Mark-78Pinto]

Some people spends months making "contest quality" models while I just crank them out. Most of them are 1:1 cars and they are going to get shown from place to place. Packed and unpacked so I am not too concerned about a lot of detail. I mean they look good but far from perferct
My room is in view of the TV and whatever is on, is what I watch. Plus my computer table doubles as my "work" table. My wife loves it when I am getting ready for World of Wheels because she gets control of the remote control (most of the time). but like a lot of you, I get too many projects going at the same time and wind up with some of them set aside to make room for priority pieces ;D

[theflame]

Paint is the thing that slows me down the most - being in the UK and not having a well ventilated indoor place to paint means waiting for a dry warm day. Aint been many of them this year! ;D

[Starry Eyes]

Maybe it's time to put a paintbooth in the budget ?

www.pacepaintbooths.com/pace/

[theflame]

If I could find a place in the UK selling them, I'd probably invest, but I havent really seen hobby-level boothes over here. Might just bite the bullet one day and pick one up from the US and get it shipped over...

[theflame]

That said, there is this one for the bargain price of £850!

www.artifolk.co.uk/catalog/products/airbrush_accessories/simair_uni-booth.htm

;D

[rustybill1960]

DJ
As the Sensi once said"Grasshopper, you must first grasp the wings of understanding before you can fly with wisdom"

or maybe,
Dude, just go with the enjoyment of the build and let the quickness of the build follow ......
see, it isn't how "fast" it was, it's more "how" enjoying it is .........
don't let it be like the weekend, it's over before it started
or even,
dude it's no race, you'll learn as you grow
it is a hobby to be enjoyed
it's cool dude, let the plastic flow ;D

[barten]

DJ,
Hey MAN! ! ! It is a fun thing. . . . and it is an interesting thing. . . I build in spurts. I have I think four stalled right now . . . I get the idea and build the body and get stalled on the chassis. . . and the rest! And then all at once things happen and I build them. . . . well finish them. I try to build when I can't sleep. . . and so I'm up in the middle of the night. . and you can do a couple things. Thank God for my friends who work the 3rd shift, Rob and Alan. . . there has been endless calls and e-mails. . .and then go build for a little bit. . . maybe an hour. I work out of the house so my commute time . . . I build! And they all come together at some point! I have a room in the basement where I build.

I'm always looking at things around the house or office to build from. . . (ink cartridges I have a ton of them and just can't see the build yet)

And like the others who scratch build. . . you build a box stock in between to clear your mind!

Don't worry about the others and just have fun. .. don't worry on quality. . . no one is going to see it . . . unless you have the party and invite us all.

I have narrowed down my outside interests too, to a few things. . . also if you have people in the area who use to build . . . invite them over. . .and have a build night. . . I did that last winter and it worked out great. . . maybe once a month. . . there were about 4-6 guys. And we sat around and built! and talked models! A great time.

I build to relieve stress of my daughter's medical stuff! After my time with God, I build. .. it takes me back to a time where life was good. . . .and simple. . . and the biggest stress was. . . .glue on the windshield. . . .and that is why we all build. . . maybe it is the avoidance of the harshness of life. . . but definitely for the LOVE OF CARS!

REMEMBER. . .if you design the car from scratch. . . there is no right or wrong!

Build on. . .

GB
BArten

[Wardster]

One thing I'm just now figuring out about myself is that I can't just sit at the workbench, for hours and hours at a time, any more. Or rather, I can; but only with the same project in front of me for maybe three hours or so; then it's time for me to take an internet break, or stop and go do some house work or something that's not necessarily fun but needs doing; and then come back for another hour or two or three; sometimes on a totally different project.

As a kid, I just built the same one, from start to finish, in a few days (at most). Maybe two weeks or so for one build, after I'd been doing it for a few years, and had hit my teens.

Even then I was reading magazines (wasn't big into cars, at that time; just anything I thought looked cool -- hell, I built models of squirrels and deers and birds: they had models of everything, back in the 1970's and before) and when you're reading magazines, they're going to push you towards super-detailing stuff. (And they have to, to please their advertisers: who want to sell you super-detailing items!) And because they do that all of the time, with such consistency, it sends the message that you "have to" build that way, all of the time. Not true! Realize why they're pushing that mindset: detail-makers want your $$$. (Which is neither good nor bad, in itself: I only question the conformity / standardization.)

I guess the big thing I'm saying is that if you want to strictly conform to a group's mindset, there are a lot of military modeling groups that will hand you big lists of Thou Shalt's and Thou Shalt Not's. Car guys (and gals), on the other hand, are a lot more supportive and free-form. That's one of the big things that attracted me to this end of the hobby, in the first place.

[flounder]

I am a detail junkie. For some reason I just can't let it go. The last two highly detailed models I built were to be fast builds. One of them ended up with butterflies visible through the injector stacks. Consequently, it takes years to finish.

I would like to go faster but it just eats at me to let it go.

With that said, one of my favorite events is the Rat Plastic Thrash where a single parts box model is built in one day. I actually saved this year's project.

I currently have a C project that is stuck because I don't have the time to complete the engine detail. I will, and when it's done I have a low detail - plug wires only - Paddy Wagon bash I want to whip out.

Let's see what that really means.

Flounder

[chief]

Wardster, I totaslly agree with you,when I was aloy younger than now I built cars and military stuff, but when I really got into military THERE WAS THOUSANDS of DO'S and DON"T but with care or any vehicle here is NOTHING BUT INSEPRATION both for MODELS AND FAMILY SUPPORT,THIS IS TRULY THE BEST GROUP OF GUYS YOU WOULD EVER WANT TO KNOW EITHER INTERNET OR IN PERSON, TRULY BLESSED MYSELF buy being a small little part of this GREAT COMMUNITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN KLOWNS,...............................Chief

[Deleted]

I'm not fast enough to keep up with all the ideas that pop up in my pea brain - but sometimes I actually remember what I want to do. I try to do something different and new on every build ( or should I say Project - nothing's finished) and so far far it's working for me. A while ago was jacking up the springs on a 57 chevy and I truly screwed things up - ended up with a big mess and I mean a BIG mess. If that happened a couple of years ago it would have been stomped on and chucked into the garbage. Now I figured out how to fix it and move on. the chev is a project - purposely on the bench just to try new things and see the results. I'm by no means a "contest " quality modeller but man - I'm having more fun. I think the best NEW thing for me is to look at a pile of second hand junk and see what I can do with said junk. AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!! LOL ;D ;D ;D

Gollum