Lacking the courage to build a kit

[thepureness]

Hello everyone

 

I'm curious if I'm not the only person in this category.

 

I've got quite an extensive stash of models varying in size and difficultly but I do have some beasts in the stash which outright intimidate me. It's almost as if I don't have the courage to build it.

 

I've got kits like the Airfix 1/24 Hellcat, Zoukei Mura 1/32 Skyraider and HS 129 to name a couple plus some trumpeter 132 jets. I've also got some big 1/48 aircraft with loads of aftermarket as well.

 

Am I the only person like this, do any of you have kits in your stash that you are afraid to tackle?

[PhantomBigStu]

1 hour ago, thepureness said:

Hello everyone

 

I'm curious if I'm not the only person in this category.

 

I've got quite an extensive stash of models varying in size and difficultly but I do have some beasts in the stash which outright intimidate me. It's almost as if I don't have the courage to build it.

 

I've got kits like the Airfix 1/24 Hellcat, Zoukei Mura 1/32 Skyraider and HS 129 to name a couple plus some trumpeter 132 jets. I've also got some big 1/48 aircraft with loads of aftermarket as well.

 

Am I the only person like this, do any of you have kits in your stash that you are afraid to tackle?

 

Yep, Heller E-3 Sentry, definitely a bit afraid to tackle it as its a pig of a kit by reputation, probably more afraid facing the fact I have no where to put it and it'll end up like my b-52 build, in the way for a few years before meeting a tragic accident....

 

generally though more afraid of painting models than the actual construction of them casein point, Hasegawa su35, purchased in the spring of 2018, veteran of the stash, had issues with the original paint brand chosen on other builds so avoided it (and in fact sold the paint recently).

Edited November 6, 2021 by PhantomBigStu

[Heather Kay]

I’m with you.

 

My 1940 stash includes several biplanes from limited run kits, one resin and one vac form. I will get round to them, but I’m worried about the biplanes and keeping the wings arranged sensibly. The vac form will be my first - and probably my last! - and I worry that if I make a horlicks of it I won’t be able to salvage it. The resin kit, well, it looks okay in the box…

 

So, yes, you’re not alone.

[psdavidson]

Yup, most of mine. 

 

/P

 

[Des]

The AMK 1/48 MiG-31 and associated upgrade set.

 

In my opinion perhaps the most intricately moulded and best detailed kit I have ever come across , bought when first released a few years ago and just a bit too nervous that my ham-fisted attempts would handle such fine engineering as well as it deserves.

[thepureness]

8 minutes ago, Des said:

The AMK 1/48 MiG-31 and associated upgrade set.

 

In my opinion perhaps the most intricately moulded and best detailed kit I have ever come across , bought when first released a few years ago and just a bit too nervous that my ham-fisted attempts would handle such fine engineering as well as it deserves.

 

funny enough, this is on my list too

[JohnT]

Yes me too

2 Echelon Lightnings in case I screw them up 

Some Silver Wings resin biplanes all because of that swear word “rigging”

In mitigation I am full on with a lot of non modelling time consuming stuff

[Rob G]

I'm only afraid to start the big ones because I know that I'll lose interest in them and they won't  get finished, which will annoy and depress me. Plastic kits are just plastic kits, they're not scary in and of themselves. 

[Neil.C]

Not me. 

 

Possibly because I don't have a stash.

 

Recently finished a Spitfire which ended up in the bin 😆so now thinking what I can have a go at next. 

 

 

[Ade H]

While Rob has made a very good point, it is rather close to the old chestnut of "it's only plastic, so it doesn't matter if you ruin it".

The problem is that, as we all know, it's more than just plastic. It's an investment of our precious time, effort, and money. One big or challenging project could involve a three-figure cost and many tens of hours, somtimes even more. It could be a practically irreplaceable kit; or a subject which matters greatly to you; or perhaps it's one of those projects which fights you from beginning to end.

So if the end is disappointing or it happens to involve a bin, yes, it can hurt when you've slaved over it and fallen short of achieving what you wanted from it.

 

@thepureness If you are being discouraged from tackling a project because it entails something which (a) you have never tried before or (b) you can't do well enough, the solution is the same. Practice it. It may not feel as exciting and productive as building your favourite kit, but it's a necessary and very good use of your time if you want to hit the ground running with whatever it is which is putting you off.

The fact that you chose some difficult kits or projects suggests to me that you want to progress, learn more techniques, and push yourself. So do so.

 

We all begin this hobby not really knowing whether we can do any of what other people do. There are some who don't care, so they find a level and stay there, and probably be perfectly happy not buying anything too challenging. That's OK. But achieving things which were impossible or even unthinkable when you first bought a kit and some paint is something which all modellers can recognise and it is incredibly satisfying. It makes the mistakes and failures worth it.

[upnorth]

Not so much lacking the courage to build a particular kit as the courage to actually purchase one.

 

I've eyed up some of the Arma 1/72 Hawker Hurricane kits in one of my local shops a couple of times, but chickened out of buying them.

 

The detail is lovely for the scale and they do build into beautiful representations of the Hurricane, but it's the complex parts breakdown that puts me off. They look ridiculously over-engineered for their size.

 

I fear I may not have hands steady enough or eyes sharp enough to do such kits justice.

Edited November 6, 2021 by upnorth

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

3 hours ago, thepureness said:

Hello everyone

 

I'm curious if I'm not the only person in this category.

 

I've got quite an extensive stash of models varying in size and difficultly but I do have some beasts in the stash which outright intimidate me. It's almost as if I don't have the courage to build it.

 

I've got kits like the Airfix 1/24 Hellcat, Zoukei Mura 1/32 Skyraider and HS 129 to name a couple plus some trumpeter 132 jets. I've also got some big 1/48 aircraft with loads of aftermarket as well.

 

Am I the only person like this, do any of you have kits in your stash that you are afraid to tackle?

Sadly one model for sure and one possible are in my collection like that. The first is a maybe Im scared vacuform kit (my first). Im a bit terrified of the cutting out process and then scratch building the interior. But think I’m ready for it after 40+  years of builds. The other is my one and only Wingnut Wings kit. The Dr.V Albatros was a gift, as they were going out of business and I knew Id never be able to buy or build one. Im terrified to start it because every attempt (6) so far to rig a bi-plane has ended in complete disaster. I don't want to not build it, and I don't want to build it without rigging. A darned if you do/don't situation. So until then it just sits there quietly waiting until someday I get the skills to do it justice. 
 

Dennis

[RaceAddict]

I've found myself somewhere between "lacking the courage" and "lacking the skills"...

 

My stash is barely big enough to be called a stash, but I have kits I want to build really well and I know I don't have the know-how to do it the way I want to, yet.

[IanC]

2 hours ago, Rob G said:

Plastic kits are just plastic kits, they're not scary in and of themselves. 

 

Hmm, I'm not so sure. I know some mean kits, real scary ones. They wouldn't think twice about roughing you up, bunging you in the back of a Jag and then chucking you into the nearest flooded quarry.

 

Don't mess with them...

[Mike]

As you can see, you're not alone. I've got a MAFFIS stash, and although I can start a kit, I get busy looking after the site for a while, and the kit gets put to the side, forgotten about.  I'm also addicted to anything new and shiny. 

[jackroadkill]

It's not the kits I'm scared of, it's the paint job.  For some reason I'm developing a real issue with just getting my backside into gear and cracking on with the painting once the build is underway.

[mps02]

I too have a big stash, but I think the 'eyes are bigger than my belly' syndrome comes into play. I am concerned about my 1/350 Graf Zepplin and the metal rails, knowing that I am almost certain to balls it up. I also have a b36 peacemaker which just dares me to build it. I look inside the box and go an look for a fw 190 to build! Then a new shiny one gets released.... And round and round I go!!! So yes I absolutely can relate!!!! 

[dnl42]

I'm sure there are kits in your stash--or on the LHS shelf--that you're not afraid to tackle. DO THOSE!

 

One of the most important things I've internalized is an old aphorism, perfect is the enemy of good--and of progress! When I make a mistake, I fix it, or fix it again, or live with it.

After all, most of us are doing this for relaxation.

[Tim R-T-C]

I get this a lot - particularly because a lot of my kits - being mostly 144th scale aircraft - are not widely available and if I were to mess up, it would be hard to get a replacement.

 

Not that I have yet really 'messed up' but it is an annoying mental block that does stop me starting some projects.

[IanHx]

Yes.  The ones that say "Mach2" on them 

 

And also the 1:72 large subjects that I have no idea where the finished article will go.

3 of them begin with "V".

[sinnerboy]

Oh yes, plenty in the stash that intimidate me,

I don't mind too much if I mess up a cheapish kit, and i have & binned a few, I consider that to be a learning curve.

However there are some that, whilst I maybe would enjoy the challenge, are quite expensive to screw up & bin or just plain daunting (FHM Halifax springs to mind on the later )

Also I'm afraid the I havnt the patience to mangle some of my bigger projects....have i the staying power for a 1/200 ship??

 

[Moggy]

The one that comes to mind is my Silver Wings 1/72 Supermarine Southampton...

Beautiful kit in the box; but it's ALL resin with huge complex biplane wings .

I use resin parts all of the time without problems - however an entire kit needing cyanoacrylate ( a substance I have a complex relation with) makes me nervous.

 

What I'm going to do is to make a much simpler resin kit with both a lower £ AND personal value. 😁

An obsolete Ni.29 fits the bill perfectly including being a biplane 😎 If I cock it up it won't feel like the end of the world 🤪

This way I can learn of my mistakes while not destroying an irreplaceable kit I REALLY want to get right.

 

Still - even the experiment makes me nervous! 😇

 

Cheers, Moggy (cool with vacu kits but unconfortable with resin kits)

[Duncan B]

You are not alone. I bought the GWH 1/48 Su-35S when it came out in 2018 and it sat in my stash until a few months ago because I was so intimidated by it's size. I shouldn't have worried as it's an excellent kit with no vices at all. I have a few Wingnut Wings kits that I'm showing "a lot of respect" to due to them being subjects I'm not really used to building but I will get around to them. I actually have an Albatros part built that stalled at the decal stage because I am concerned about applying the lozenge decals but I'll get over that hurdle soon.

 

Duncan B

[Neil.C]

21 hours ago, dnl42 said:

I'm sure there are kits in your stash--or on the LHS shelf--that you're not afraid to tackle. DO THOSE!

 

One of the most important things I've internalized is an old aphorism, perfect is the enemy of good--and of progress! When I make a mistake, I fix it, or fix it again, or live with it.

After all, most of us are doing this for relaxation.

 

Wise words.

 

If the hobby is not about relaxation but apprehension about how it will turn out or if you can manage to do it justice, perhaps take a break?

[-Ian-]

Airfix 1/72 Phantom FG1. Not the bulding or painting though, it's the huge number of stencils (my least favourite part of modelling) which keep on putting me off.