Small Scale Military Headquarters

I wanted to ask some of the rest of you what you do to get yourself going again when a project has stalled. You know what I mean, when you start into something with plenty of enthusiasm, and somewhere in the middle you find yourself with a lack of interest.

Sometimes I find myself wanting to work on "my tanks", but not really wanting to work on any of the projects I have underway. I've told myself no new projects until I finish at least one old one. This has met with limited success. I haven't started anything new, but I haven't gotten a whole lot done on the old either. I'll mess with things, rearrange tanks, dust tanks, add a bit of stowage here or there, organize my workspace, all sorts of things really (sometimes I'll even post here!), but my custom engineer vehicle, my imaginitive insurgent tank, and even my insurgent "technical", a Ford pickup with a quad fifty mount, aren't getting much closer to being done. I'll do something small, like paint the door handles on the pickup, and then say "Well, there's nothing I can really do to that while the paint dries". It's an odd situation, since I want to do something, just not any of the things that need done.

I think at times it comes from dealing with a particular stumbling block, I know with the "technical" I wasn't happy with any of the ways I had tried to mount the quad fifty. Nothing looked right, but I couldn't really go forward until I had it in there somehow. I finally settled on something that I feel looks a little odd, but I figure that's ok, as most real world technicals look a little odd as well. Seriously, what would I have to do so that a quad fifty in the back of a Ford wouldn't look odd... It's in there now, and I think progress is resuming, but I was wondering what you guys do when you find yourself in a bit of a slump.

I suppose I should wrap this post up, the last bit of painting should be dry by now. Maybe I can paint the rearview mirrors...

MV

i'm the king of stalled projects. I'll be really enthused and then one day just wake up and find i've lost interest. I find the best thing is to just set it aside and go onto something else. I find eventually the enthusiasm will return and i will pick up where i left off.

The hobby is supposed to be fun, so i don't see any reason to make a chore out of it by working on something i don't feel like.

(that excludes you pH......keep working {whip cracking sound})

aferguson wrote:i'm the king of stalled projects.

Sorry, but I claim the crown of "king of stalled projects".

I don't really think there is a "remedy" to instantly reinvigorate you, aside from whips of course. When I lose enthusiasm, I just mess around with vehicles that are different: for example, I was modding my King Tiger, when I thought it looked un-detailed and unsatisfactory. Don't like jerry armor? Fine. Mod the Sherman and Stuart to blow them up. Diversity always helps. Looking for pics online, especially action shots, instills inspiration when I think the Hanomags are wimpy. Finally, find the will to "authenticize" your vehicles, meaning to continually improve them until they're model-kit grade. You'll work for the satisfaction of the results and also the enjoy the process of working. Try modding; change ordinary panzers to command tanks, the dusty Sherman to a Dozer, etc. Above all, appreciate your models, and work on them to make them better.

aferguson wrote:i'm the king of stalled projects. I'll be really enthused and then one day just wake up and find i've lost interest. I find the best thing is to just set it aside and go onto something else. I find eventually the enthusiasm will return and i will pick up where i left off.

The hobby is supposed to be fun, so i don't see any reason to make a chore out of it by working on something i don't feel like.

(that excludes you pH......keep working {whip cracking sound})

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The contests have really helped me push some of them forward.. (Thanks Kam!) Sitting on a bunch right now waiting to see the light of day. They look really cool in my head.

I haven't had many stalled modeling projects as of late but in the past, I had several. I guess my Masters Thesis doesn't count as a stalled project

One of my first stalled projects was a 1:48 scale F-14A kit made by Revell. I started working on it around 1997, then got frustrated with it and put it away for about three years until 2000 when I revisited it. My modeling techniques and equipment had improved by that time and I made what I felt was a decent model, one of my favorites, actually. An airbrush really helped with the two-tone gray paint scheme. Only problem was that in the intervening years between start and finish, the decals yellowed...

Another project that is still stalled is a 1:48 scale model of Boyington's Corsair. At the time I started it in 1999, I did not have any small scale model of his plane. The kit, however, did not go together as well as I wanted and my paintscheme was way off, so I put it aside. Then Matchbox made a 1:72 version of Boyington's Corsair, followed a bit later by the 1:18 21c version. No real need for the model existed after that and the old Corsair kit still sits partially completed in its box.

Then there is the 1:700 kit of the USS Essex, but that was really a project started and forgotten by my brother and which I have decided to pick up eventually...

I also have Revell kit of an ME-163 Komet which I purchased in England in 2003, hauled back across the pond, and have yet to make. Part of me just doesn't want to take it out of the box with its "Model Zone" price sticker and all...

aferguson wrote:The hobby is supposed to be fun, so i don't see any reason to make a chore out of it by working on something i don't feel like.

I certainly agree there. I just find it odd that at times I want to work on things, just none of the things I have...

grunt1 wrote: They look really cool in my head.

Ah... Yes... The difference between how they look in my head and how they look before me in a pile of pieces. Sometimes I think that if I could print out a picture of the finished project and set it next to my project table, my motivation levels might stay higher...

Der Kommandant wrote:I don't really think there is a "remedy" to instantly reinvigorate you, aside from whips of course... ...Looking for pics online... ...Finally, find the will to "authenticize" your vehicles, meaning to continually improve them until they're model-kit grade... ...change ordinary panzers to command tanks, the dusty Sherman to a Dozer, etc. Above all, appreciate your models

I'll ask my girlfriend about the whips, but still that only seems like it would further distract me... Looking for pics online is a great way for me to waste time, and learn so much, but at the end of the day, I have several more pics in my already large collection, and still nothing done on my projects... I love to "authenticize" my vehicles, and adding accessories is one of my favorites, it's one of the reasons I've had to tell myself no more playing with new projects until I've gotten something old finished, same goes for new customs.

Nice to see that I'm not the only one who loses interest at times. And others have the same ideas for getting back on track (save for the whips, that's a new one!). I think I'm moving forward now, sometimes it helps for me to remember that not everything has to be "perfect", in the case of my insurgent "technical" it better that it looks a little odd, it adds to the realism. And as far as the items street vendors have for sale in the market place, heck, there are times I'm in a real swap meet or farmer's market and I don't know what's being sold, I figure a 1:32 marketplace is every bit as likely to have things I don't recognize, especially one from another culture on the other side of the globe. As long as my 1:32 Iraqis are willing to buy them, I figure it's good enough.

I'm going to go... Well, cook dinner. I spent too much time on here tonight to make any progress in 1:32 land. Dang. Tomorrow, that's the day!

MV

It's also encouraging to know other people want to see your work. Like me: bring on that technical!

I have a few out there....a Zero floatplane in 1/32 & 1/144 scale. A 1/144 carrier deck. 1/144 dio with armor & aircraft battlefront, a few 1/6 little bird -ceiling-fan projects, etc. The list goes on but I think the real reason is that I am running out of room/workspace.

warhawker wrote:I have a few out there....a Zero floatplane in 1/32 & 1/144 scale.

Ah yes...those rufes of ours . Maybe we should have a rufe contest to bring them out of hibernation.

Well I have no advice. I have so many stalled projects that I can't keep up. It so much easyer to start a project than finish it. That is actally part of the fun. Starting something new. But when mine stalls there is usually a reason or in the case of a select few it is total burn out. When you invest hundreds of hrs in a project and there is no end in sight, I just move on to another. Here is a partial list of some of my stalled projects. Mind you this does not include my 1/6 stuff

1/18 scale work has been started
A7V
P-40 E
Ki-61 Tony
Maus
M-3 Grant

1/18 plan stage only just prints
P-39
Hs -129
Ho-229
F-82
Wildcat
Ferdinand
Stuart tank
Mig-3
Sturmovick

1/18 works in progress that are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel
P-36
Stuka D

1/18 Joint project started with the Hun.
Hetzer

I also have 2 other projects in the planning stage but need to keep a wrap on them at this stage.
So if there is a King of stalled projects I may not be him . But I am a contender.

what are you doing typing? Get back to work.

Sorry, but I claim the crown of "king of stalled projects".

Hmmm.... seems we're going to have more than one "coronation" around here. At least it's nice to know I'm not alone in this tendency.. I agree with Andrew, when a project starts to become a chore, it's better to put it down for a while till the enthusiasm returns. I have more stalled projects than I care to admit, but the way I look at it is, they'll still be there when I'm ready to dive in again.

I do this too but what is really frustrating is I will get them 95% complete and then stop. For some reason those final, finishing details don't interest me.

I have some stuff in 1/18 that is more a sci-fi focus than XD: a mech, some urban assault troops and a tank I shamelessly ripped off from Fritzkriegs wonderful work. Maybe if you guys tell me you won't mind me posting them here I will get the lead out...

Oli, if you've got a mech, I would sure like to see it. I spent a good deal of time playing the computer version, Mechwarrior II I think it was. Years ago, staying late at work to use the bosses 486, because it was way better than the 386... When Pentiums came around I was amazed... I passed a good deal of time that way while a fiancee was living out of state. Knowing what I know now, I'd have been better off sticking with computer games...

MV

OK, the glove has been thrown down!

Give me a week or so to finish these up and I will post them in the customs.

finally got back on with the Pz III N, got the adler nest MG and Radio mast in, for it and other projects. Chassis is done, upper hull is getting worked on again. Got a crew assembled and a few grenadiers to do a small Diorama/set in Italy with the 26.Pz Division.

Got a Tamiya M13/40 that going to get worked into a Beutepanzer in Italy 43, but it should really be a M15/42 aka PzKpfw. 738(i) which is longer than the M13 but a notch, and has a few other upgrades..so I am going to hack it...til the Italeri L6/40 light tank comes out.


More VWs, A Tasca Luchs(9 Pz Div), 2cm FlaKvierling, numerous figures, a old Tamiya Jagdpz IV L70, which is going to be done as a L48 w/o a muzzle brake are stacked on top of the scanner/printer.

ordered a Traks(sp) resin 7.5cm le IG 18 for 17$ on sale from Squadron, and it should be here on the 24th...first resin gun I've done since a verlinden 88mm years ago. Also ordered a new pin-vise and some more paints/pigments..and a copy of He-112 in action for 1.99

I have two moving boxes of model kits that have been sitting for the past 8 years.
It's funny how marriage & kids can change one's priorities.

I might just start off building an X-15 or M163 VADS...

About that M-163, what scale were you planning on? I know the actual vehicle has fallen out of service, but I wouldn't mind a few for my forces.

MV

It's an Italeri 1:35 M-163 A1.

It's one that I have always wanted to put together, but never had the time.
Now that I have an airbrush & compressor and some free time, I can do it right.

Believe it or not, it also has some sentimental value.
On of my friends bought it for me after a bunch of us went down to the US Ordnance Museum in MD.
Good times...