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Is There A Way Back ?


'V'

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Life after death ? My last aircraft model build was in 2015, the passion had died.

I often wonder what it was that killed it, because I moved onto railway modelling to satisfy my fidgeting hands.

Was it striving for higher and higher standards that gradually knocked all the 'Fun' of doing it ?

One of my regular sayings is "When it stops being fun, stop doing it"

 

So suddenly here I am, looking at a part started Viking/Valetta vacform. Already I note the level of inaccuracy in what I've already done.

Windows cut to the fuselage moulding lines that don't agree with photographs I have. Is that accuracy bug still causing problems.

Can I come back ?

Is it possible to start again without being 'driven' to achieve excellent results ?

But if not accurate, or as accurate as I can make it, is there any point ??

 

Certainly the cost is not a factor as I still have in excess of 300 unmade kits in the loft, from Monogram B52's to unspecified Czech vacform bi-planes.

Now pushing 80 I don't intend to do exhibitions any more, been there and done that, including IPMS Berlin !!

 

IS there a way back ?????

 

'V'

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I certainly hope there is if that's what you want. In my case the chase for accuracy and "perfection" in my builds was the cause of my lost passion for the hobby. I found that making something completely outside my normal areas of interest revived my enjoyment so since then I have tried to broaden my modelling horizons with each build.

 

Duncan B

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Hobbies don't necessarily need to be "fun", which I think is an oft-misplaced word, but they do need to be fulfilling. Without that, hobbies are not a very good use of the considerable time, effort, and money which tend to be expended. Part of that fulfillment comes from the challenge. In that sense, they are almost the opposite of most other pastimes.

 

How each person finds fulfillment is up to them to figure out. Mine comes from two things.

 

Firstly, I love trying to achieve the highest standard of which I think that I may be capable, and I enjoy finding out what that may be. I have no interest at all in organised competitions, as my only benchmarks are the best models which I have so far made and the best of what I see elsewhere (such as in Air/AFV Modeller, in books, or from well known modellers). Seeing whether I can get anywhere near to what other people can do is fulfilling because it's challenging.

 

Maybe that gives the same dopamine high as playing a video game. You struggle with a difficult level, you fail repeatedly, and you curse it; but you get better, and eventually you beat it. I was a keen gamer in my teens and I can well recall that feeling of huge satisfaction.

 

Secondly, there is variety. I have never understood why anyone would only make, let's say, WWII fighters or DAK tanks. Or why some modellers seem unwilling to try to improve their skill, learn new techniques, or try different modelling disciplines. Doing the same thing in the same way to the same standard would be really boring to me because it is just stagnating.

 

This is not to claim that I have never lost interest for a period. Far from it. I can walk away for a few days, focus on work, and not worry about when I will go back into the other office. My longest gap lasted for a few months due to a personal loss, during which I ignored this forum and all else modelling-related, like none of it existed.

 

And I have never mentioned this here, but I have had to contend with mental health issues for many years, so I know only too well that modelling can be a salve from that and yet sometimes a trigger of it. I know that it can be hard to reconcile oneself with a desire for perfection and a (sometimes overly) critical eye. Everyone has a different balance point in that respect.

 

How one deals with a complete loss of interest and a long time away is not an easy question to answer. Some people have forthright views about that. I think that it's down to the individual to know his or her own mind and situation better than any of us can. Maybe doing something different will draw them back; maybe dreaming up a project about which they are really passionate will do it, as it did for me.

 

But to answer your question in short, there is always a way back. I guess that you just need to relax, don't sweat it, and perhaps you will stumble upon it.

Edited by Ade H
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I went from planes, to cars, to tanks....currently back with planes again.

40 year journey,  gained considerable skill, eye for detail, etc

Not finished a lot, beat myself up about it, but no longer.

Not about the finished kit, but the  building!

So now if a cockpit takes my fancy, I go for it, next week, some tracks....much more enjoyable!

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@'V' I'll try to answer some your earlier questions directly.

Can I come back?

Yes, definitely! Do you want to? I imagine that you miss scale modelling, otherwise I wouldn't be here typing this reply.

 

Is it possible to start again without being 'driven' to achieve excellent results?

Perhaps, but perhaps not. That may be a cop-out. It's just that I've learned the hard way how we are happier if we can accept, accommodate, and even embrace are own character traits rather than trying to fight ourselves. There's nothing really wrong with striving for perfection as long you can accept some failures.

 

But if not accurate, or as accurate as I can make it, is there any point?

Yes, of course. Accuracy is just one valuable facet of what we modellers do; it is not the be-all-and-end-all. It doesn't impress anyone who knows nothing of the subject or of modelling.

 

I get a warm, fuzzy feeling of validation when a friend or relative looks at my display cabinet and says "hey, wow, that's nice". And it probably won't be that super-accurate Churchill AVRE which took 100-odd hours of research, detailing, weathering... It may be something shiny or eyecatching; maybe something which I thought was ordinary.

 

Are you the only audience for your builds? If so, change that. Make something shiny. Go up to that loft and see if anything there compels you to make it. If not, go out of your comfort zone like Duncan suggested. It could be the simplest thing, done to a high standard, without accuracy being even possible, let alone required. One of the most enjoyable sidesteps which I have ever made was to start painting busts. Completely different ethos.

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Thanks for the replies Guys, ade H put lots of thoughts down.

 

I'm cracking on, started a work in progress thread. A Bi-plane, something I never did much of and therefore different within the scope

of making non-flying aircraft models.

In a way it's also helping me face something I've always shied away from - the passing of friends. Within my circle of contacts one Ray

Williams was the bi-plane builder. When he passed it sort of tore the heart out of my aircraft modelling, his was an additional loss after

Bert Littlewood a year, or so earlier. I just decided to move on .............

 

It can never be what it once was, very different, but constructive.

 

'V'

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How I found my way back after being stuck on "advanced modeller syndrome" for years:  I thought back to when modelling was the most fun with excitement and wonder for me. I decided to build a model as a 10 year old "me" would have. That meant tube glue, very limited Testors square bottle paints, 1 brush and no filler. It was decidedly liberating and fun! Here is the proof.......the hardest part was NOT using any techniques I learned as an adult.

 

 

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