An honourable retirement

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Not for me.  For most of my models.  I came back to the aircraft modelling side of the hobby just about twenty years ago.  With the obvious exceptions (models built for other people) I have never got rid of a finished model.  I decided to count them and gave up at the 400 point, with two more shelves to go.

 

And these are not your normal display shelves.  They were filled up years ago and I simply started stacking models on top of models!   

 

For me, it's not the finished model that matters.  It's the joy of building them.  Once they are completed and on a shelf, I rarely look at them.  The ones that have been there the longest are now so dusty that the markings can no longer be seen! 

 

So, I think I'm going to give everything over two years old an honourable retirement and take them to the local recycling centre.  It's not as though I have a major emotional investment to any of them.  I know that I have the skills to reproduce them again if the fancy should take me.

 

And given that I completed more than sixty models last year, it won't be long before my shelves are full again! 

 

What do other Britmodellers do when their display shelves are full?

[ColonelKrypton]

I rarely keep many. 

 

Some stick around for a while but will eventually move on.  Shelf space is limited and SWMBO does not want the clutter around the house. 

 

Some are given away to anyone who shows an interest, others recycled. 

 

I, as you and I suspect many others, enjoy the journey of making and building rather than collecting finished kits.

 

cheers, Graham

 

[bootneck]

32 minutes ago, Enzo the Magnificent said:

What do other Britmodellers do when their display shelves are full?

You finish models?  What's that like?

 

 

[Dmitriy1967]

It's a pity to recycle beautiful models. Children would be delighted with such toys. Maybe send them to schools, children's hospitals or other institutions for young children. In the process of recycling, the models will simply disappear, and so they will have a second life, they will bring joy to people.

[Adam Poultney]

Fortunately I'm not quite at the point where I'm so limited for display space and don't expect to be for a few years yet. When I do have to make tough decisions about which models to keep, I'll ask around various aircraft museums which have some models on display to see if any would take them. Certainly I'm sure some would appreciate good quality models and replacements for ones which have become damaged.

[Tojo72]

I only complete 5-6 models a year lately, it has been 25 yrs since I re started building, at this point I still have a good amount of space,about 100 on display.Over the years I have trashed some older and lesser ones,and rebuild them.

As far as you,you can box them and rotate your display if that works.

Perhaps sell some off.

Edited August 10 by Tojo72

[Alex Gordon]

When we cleared out my late friends mancave all the built stuff went to a local air museum to be sold on for fundraising.

[bootneck]

24 minutes ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

Children would be delighted with such toys. Maybe send them to schools, children's hospitals or other institutions for young children.

I tried that, many years ago, with tanks and ship models but they were refused.  Being plastic models the staff said that they could shatter if dropped (children don't handle kits the same way as modelllers) and they could get cut with any sharp edges.  

 

Mike

[Pete in Lincs]

1 hour ago, Enzo the Magnificent said:

the local recycling centre.  

IIRC it's been mentioned on here before that we use the wrong type of plastic for recycling. Besides, it will be 'contaminated' with paint, filler, aftermarket metal bits etc. Best check first.

If you have easy to post stuff, cars, tanks, etc then ask on here, free to good home or reduce them to spares and just bin the other bits. 

[Robert]

One of my colleagues takes part in a summer fair and takes the models he no longer wants to sell, and the money going to charity. The charities have done well in the past few years from this.

 

Regards 

Robert 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Similar boat here Enzo, Ive decided next year Im going to rent a table at the local airshow and offer them up for donations to a Veteran’s fund. If not they will also get into the recycling. I figure my # is close to 350-400 as I have so many in storage it makes them hard to count. 

Edited August 10 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Bullbasket]

Seeing as my build rate is around three per year (if I really push myself), I still have some room on my shelves. The question is, will I run out of display space, before I find a load of daisys to push up!

As far as disposing of these models, do you attend the Nationals at Telford? If you do, they have a "give an old model a new home" desk where you can donate any old model, and then they can sell them for charity. Some people buy them to display, whilst others buy them for spare parts. Either way, the charity benefits.

 

John.

[pigsty]

2 hours ago, Robert said:

One of my colleagues takes part in a summer fair and takes the models he no longer wants to sell, and the money going to charity. The charities have done well in the past few years from this.

... nearly 50 sold at our last event.  The rest go to charity shops.  At one place he left a batch of models with them, and before he'd got home they'd left him a message asking for more.  You'd be surprised how popular they can be.

[theplasticsurgeon]

Those that I've finished with go to Jet Age - where they sell really quickly.

Very few children have the skills or patience to build models these days,  so mine, even from >30 years ago, are a real novelty to them.

[Stew Dapple]

My finished kits go across the road to the Diabetes charity shop; the lovely ladies there are always pleased to see them. I wasn't sure anyone would want to buy them, but apparently they sell quickly  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[FalkeEins]

I'd love to own a 'genuine' Stew Dapple, seriously. I've managed to sell some of my smaller 1/72nd on ebay, but packing can be a hassle. Otherwise the 'better' models get an occasional 'run-out' on the club stand, although this usually results in some damage (depending on who's driving) which just hastens their transition to the bin! 

[spitfire]

Once I have finished a kit it goes into one of my 3 display cabinets, if they are full then one old one will be scrapped, with salvaged parts going to a spares box.

This does not happen very often as my modelling output is small, so far I have finished only one this year.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Ratch]

On 10/08/2024 at 12:02, Enzo the Magnificent said:

For me, it's not the finished model that matters.  It's the joy of building them.  Once they are completed and on a shelf, I rarely look at them.  The ones that have been there the longest are now so dusty that the markings can no longer be seen! 

 

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. 

 

I regularly dispatch older builds to the big granulator in the sky when they get damaged,

[iainpeden]

with 60 years worth of modelling behind me I wince when I think of those which have been binned or blown up with bangers etc and are now worth a fortune. (Airfix SR53 for example).

 

At one point I had a lot of shelving (basic e-frames covered with hardboard) in the loft but over the years every gets dusty and deteriorates. 

 

So sometimes its the black plastic sack. However, I have sold a fair bit on ebay over the years (cat food pouch boxes are good for smaller a/c ) and there is a chap who advertises in the IPMS mag to buy kits and models - a few years ago I sold him about 100 models and got about £140 = fair enough he sells them on but that gave me some money to more !

 

I have also donated a few boxes of models to Duxford Aviation Society who sell them at air shows and believe that the Shuttleworth volunteer group will accept models for sale.

 

The better stuff - and all Phantoms (if they are not on the display shelves)- are boxed. 

 

When my dad passed away in2010 he was about to move house and had all his models (500+) in large boxes (lawnmower ones are good) stuffed with shredded paper. We thought he house sale was still moving on so had to get rid of everything PDQ - (5 skips worth including the models) - you guessed it, the sale fell through and I could have had another 12 months to get rid of everything but hey ho.

[PLC1966]

On 8/10/2024 at 12:02 PM, Enzo the Magnificent said:

 

For me, it's not the finished model that matters.  It's the joy of building them.  Once they are completed and on a shelf, I rarely look at them.  The ones that have been there the longest are now so dusty that the markings can no longer be seen! 

 

So, I think I'm going to give everything over two years old an honourable retirement and take them to the local recycling centre. 

Not that I am likely to build enough to fill the shelf on my modelling cabinet....

 

I believe you should follow the route all eight year olds did and attach bangers or crowscarers to the fuselage, light the said explosive and throw out of the bedroom window accompanied by the appropriate dagga-dagga-dagga noises.

 

[MODeller]

I've donated two of my MOD aircraft collections to FAST to dispose of as they see fit. First lot were 1/144 scale and were still on display last time I visited. Second lot 1/72 1/48 and 1/32 were still in their model show travelling crates which was much appreciated as when they  travel to give presentations they can now put some models on display.

[Rob G]

At my current rate of one finished every two years, I'll have to live to be about 225 before I run out of space in my small (only) display case. 

 

To clear the stash, I'll have to make it well into the next millennium...

[Rob G]

2 hours ago, PLC1966 said:

I believe you should follow the route all eight year olds did...

 

 

Actually, not all 8 year olds did that. Some of us had few enough toys that we treasured the ones we did get. Deliberately damaging one was unthinkable, as we didn't know when (if) it would ever be replaced.

[Neil.C]

2 hours ago, PLC1966 said:

Not that I am likely to build enough to fill the shelf on my modelling cabinet....

 

I believe you should follow the route all eight year olds did and attach bangers or crowscarers to the fuselage, light the said explosive and throw out of the bedroom window accompanied by the appropriate dagga-dagga-dagga noises.

 

 

Or simply buy an air rifle! 😉

 

TBH Once I get up to about half a dozen on display I bin the rest.

[PLC1966]

24 minutes ago, Rob G said:

 

Actually, not all 8 year olds did that. Some of us had few enough toys that we treasured the ones we did get. Deliberately damaging one was unthinkable, as we didn't know when (if) it would ever be replaced.

I apologise for my childhood not being hard enough.