Moving Models

[Erfolg]

The more I reflect on what is being said, the greater difficulties i have.

I understand the concept, and it seems at first sight very sensible. Yet i am not sure at all that i can adhere to the rules.

I look at my model collection and see that I have a number of IC engines which I have not used in well over 10 (25 ) years. I just cannot bring myself to bin them. Then there is my radio gear, if I had not stored my radio gear for a good 15 years, I would never have restarted, as I would not have gone out and purchased a new set.

I think it will be even harder for my wife, to throw stuff away, I guess she has more stuff than i do.

But it does strike me that much of our rubbish, you are intended to look at, although i guess you see little of it, as you do not see the wood for the trees.

I know something will have to happen, although deciding what is difficult.

I Know that the Sinclair Spectrum, Amiga, Dot matrix printer, flat bed scanner, seat from a Spitfire, a gas heater, surf board that are in the loft can all go. As can two slalom canoes, down river/whitewater racer, paddles, wet suit and surf board need to go (as i will never use them again).

I do find it daunting to contemplate a workshop, as i do not want to change a room in any material way for my hobby. Again, I want to make life easy for my children to clear my stuff, when the time comes.

[Tim Mackey]

Carl - I have had to move 3 times in the last two years - albeit not far, but the distance is secondary, I still had a large pile of stuff to move, including the contents of a v large double garage / workshop with many many tools and so on. I counted 26 models the last time I moved, excluding the dozen or so still in boxes awaiting building. My local ( but I think maybe nationwide? ) favourite is a place called "Lock Stock" - a storage depot and van hire depot.

Weekday rate for an almost new, very clean and reliable transit van is just £28 per 24 hour day. Yes, £28 !

I have used them many times over the last 4 or 5 years, and cannot speak highly enough of the service.

I would also second the call on getting rid of stuff that hasnt been used for a while - de-clutter mate, its actually a nice cleansing feeling.

[Jez Harris 1]

Hi Erfolg.

They say moving is one of the most stressful things you can do along with having kids and getting married...

I found a really ace and relatively cheap way of moving models - A minibus... Loads of rows of seats that make ready made padded holders plus the ability to move even 3rd scale stuff along the length of the bus...

I would say this though...we are only on this planet once so if you decide you want to hang on to stuff cos it makes you happy then do just that!!

I have all sorts of utter junk that means stuff to me and me alone - a stick that a long dead dog had on its last walkies....an empty whisky bottle bought by a brother who died, other stuff from days out, old jobs and yes my first radio and engine...I see it as important stuff now and I don't care if "when the time comes" my family have to deal with it. To them it will be an old stick and an empty bottle and they will put it in a bin...I will be past caring.

Your moving - fact!...If you want to be happy you MUST adapt to the new house and club

.If all you are going to do is look back in regret you will become the grumpy old duffer that you don't want to be.

See this as an opportunity to grow and develop, maybe make better friends and have more fun and make more memories...

What area are you moving to by the way - maybe the crowd on here can point you in the direction of flying opportunities you aren't aware of?

jez

[Barrie Dav 2]

We are going to put our house on the market here in France in the Spring and am in the process of clearing out the accumulated junk. Also after a lifetime of building from plans, I've decided to sell most of my models including my quarter scale Cliff Charlesworth ASK 18 - built but never flown...... I've a number of well built and finished models probably some 15 in all. Some of which I've not put into the air (I liked building).

When we came to France I made a number of large(ish) plywood boxes and all arrived here without damage. I use the boxes for storage of odds and ends now in the workshop.

Edited By Barrie Dav 2 on 08/12/2015 14:39:35

[Erfolg]

Tim

I remember well your pictures of your garage, when you were building your B52. At the time I was in awe of how ordered it was and perhaps a little envious.

I came very near to converting my garage into another room, although i could not resolve the issue of where to store my tools and other things. This room in hindsight would have become available as a modelling room. Although something nagging at the back of my mind says, it will be another spare bedroom, not a spare room.

The house we are moving to has a number of rooms which i may be able to use. I was thinking along the lines which i think I spotted as part of your work area and that is a table in the centre of the room. To be used for building. I cannot decide if it will be possible or desirable to have a desk or draw system for storage of materials and tools.

This leaves the issue of the storage of the planes, with the best will in the world, there will not be enough room for these in the modelling room. I am considering racking out the garage, with a vice bench. Will there be enough room and means to use Gerhard (the Austrian) plane hangers. I have a number of these now (made from cardboard rather than ply) which work well, a brilliant design. May be, these are Carl (the Germans) design, as it is so good.

There is a lot of thought needed to decide the best way forward with respect my room. Then there are the priorities of the actual living areas.

A general note on how sentimental i am, i have a bottle of Special Jack Daniels Bourbon Unopened, from when daughter No.1 worked in Charlotte South Carolina and Goldwasser that daughter No.2 brought back from her stay in Germany. Even with my lust for the demon drink, the presents mean far more than the contents. They are yonks old.

[Area 51]

Erf, get an A4 book and use it for notes on the move.. consign some of these worries and solutions to paper.. wuill help get a few out of your head and leave you clearer to focus on important stuff..

Important stuff (now those bottles of JD & Goldwasser have been waiting for a big day/project like this)... draw up a plan of potential new model room(s), workshop with bench in the middle, garage with racking & vice / piller drill bench etc.

I always find once on paper, projects & tasks are halved in magnitude.. from here they can be broken down into smaller activities.. plans if you prefer.. and we all know how we love a plan!

Let the girls know youre opening their respective bottles for this new project and chapter in your life.. it may spur them on to lend a hand & share some of the tasks that may seem daunting..

Good lucky with it

[Erfolg]

Area 51

I will do.

I have already a to do job, that is to find when my nearest club primarily flies. That needs to be done now, as once I move, I will have no internet connection. Other than piggy back on my daughters, I could sit outside, and clandestine use her router, just like baddies do in th movies, or something similar.

Which is yet another to do, that is sort out a internet connection.

Yes you are so right, then there are banks, RCM&E, driving licence, and probably much more to inform.

[Area 51]

Hi Erf.. Good lad, I’d wave the flag at the family youre moving closer too and tip them off you need them to look after the broadband etc.. if they are on BT Broadband you can easily buddy on their Wifi and on your mobiles too via BT hotspots.. you can even get Sky via a pass on from the sky account holder..

Anything else you’re wanting to keep after moving, draft up one letter and just change address to supplier.. try to make it as simple as possible for yourself mate... good luck with it...

[ted hughes]

Well, if you children are in full-time work and are with partners who work, they should get their own nannies and not expect their parents to babysit/child-mind for them!

You have done it once, you don't have to provide child care no0w your children have grown up!

And take it from someone who has been there, you wont get gratitude, only ingratitude if you try to take time off!

[Erfolg]

God, Ted you are as grumpy as me, we can form a club

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Erf,

my heart goes out to you. You're clearly really unsettled about this. I think the first thing to recognise is; there is nothing at all wrong about that. Its a perfectly natural reaction. You have memories associated with the place you're in and, by the sound of it, there is where you have done most of your "living"! Your children were born and brought up there, you had happy times with family - and maybe a few sad ones as well. Those memories and experiences define who you are.

But notice - its the memories and experiences that define you - not the place. And that I think is a key element.

So you keep your treasured possessions that remind you of who you are - and that includes your models, they are labours of love. Try to enjoy the experience of packing them ready to go to your new home and allow each of them to remind you of something important. It needn't be just a chore - it can be a voyage of rediscovery, if you allow yourselve the time to reflect as you pack.

For your models, I'd go with the van idea. Pack them carefully and move them yourself. Removal people can be very good - but if you leave the models to them it will only stress you (and them!). So pamper yourself a bit and treat your models to a "TLC" moving experience!

You'll soon find your feet. Give yourself a liitle project for just after you move - a nice simple build - that will encourage you to set up at least a basic workshop, its a start. And MAKE at least some time for it (and you). Intersperse it with unpacking all your memories and take some pleasure in finding the right special place for each one. It doesn't all have to be done in a day!

The best of luck with it all and I hope that in 12 months you'll be able to look back on it as actually quite an enriching and positive experience.

BEB

[Simon Chaddock]

My Dad (who was a arch hoarder (30's depression and WWII?) used to say "we have one of everything and two of most" a situation that proved useful many times as I grew up.

When my parents died I was left with the problem of what to do with it quite a chunk of stuff and being 'my father's son' kept most to ensure I too had "one of everything"!

So I keep telling my kids that part of any family 'inheritance' is they will have the problem of what to do with it all. Seems only fair to me!

[Erfolg]

Simon you will have to come and fly with us again. Unfortunately since you flew with us Jim (Chairman) has died. The good news that the current field is much better. I will be continuing here as Secretary.

There is a bizarre element in leaving, in that at club number 2, I will really miss, almost in a masochistic manner. The field is as flat as Alps, the field is totally closely surrounded by trees, the outer field is a jungle of wild vegetation the majority above head height, which becomes marshy the near the river that surrounds closely on two and a bit sides. What I have come to totally respect is that it must be near to one model a session, is claimed by the environment. That running out of power, particularly at a moderate height, is a real quick thinking challenge to regain the field and so on. Yet the members are not phased by the considerable challenges, taking them in their stride. There is one legacy, particularly for an ex slalom canoeist, I have a total fear of this river, in particular, as I fear falling in from the hidden bank and a reconnoitre indicates few locations where getting out are obvious.

I am coming to terms with the notion. Perhaps i became relaxed that a move would not happen, as two previous offers fell through during the process. Whereas this one appears to be going ahead.

I have taken on board the idea of using my memo pad as aide memoir to facilitate what has to be done.

I will hire a fan and obtain a roll of bubble wrap (still need to source this).

As to how much to throw away, that is difficult. Do i need all mt text books, which I have not looked at for a long time? I still keep both my daughters early school work, just can not bare to dump them. I have occaisionly shown my granddaughters some of them, when asked, how clever was mummy. It certainly shocks them out of their complacency.

I am trying to work out in my mind what a good workshop will look like, without touching the walls.

I have been thinking about BEBs comment on getting started on a new model, as a project. At present I am trying to complete a Me 263, modify a Me 163 (tailwheel) and instal a additional servo for a steerable tail wheel on my TH CS, as it is a handful and a hostage to fortune now having a UC on take of (has a "V"" tail). To draw a line under the present building programme. So was being compliant without being prodded into a sensible set of measures. I have decided to put the mods to the RH mini Phantom on the hold. The intention is to mod in line with the present small design of RH (after my brilliant mod to the original design, was so flawed, in that a complicated Tx mixing was required to control the head, as probably to be unworkable in the real world of operation).

As to the daughters inheritance, we decided not to wait until we had died in that respect.

[Wingman]

Erfolg, I, as I suspect everyone here does, feel very sad for you. What a terrible bind to have to uproot yourself from your home of 45 years because your children, who you have provided with a magnificent education, are unable to balance their life to provide adequate care for their own children, expecting their aged mother to travel 120 miles 3 times a week so they can earn lots of money to spend on themselves. How terribly terribly selfish of them - huh! the things we do for our kids eh? I extend my very best wishes and greatest sympathy to you Sir!

[PatMc]

Posted by Erfolg on 09/12/2015 11:34:36:

I will hire a fan and obtain a roll of bubble wrap (still need to source this).

I haven't moved house for 50 years so can't offer any advice on that score.
However for a good source of bubble wrap try a garden centre, it's used for greenhouse over-winter plant insulation. You can usualy buy it off the roll but if you need a large quantity probably cheapest to buy a complete roll or two.

[Paul Marsh]

We use large bubblewrap at work, think we can get it at £20 per roll, but each roll is 50m long and 1.2m wide.

When I moved to my house from my parents a few years ago, the models, like the other stuff were done in stages, as it's only across the town, and did it about 2 weeks, apart from the shed and larger stuff where I did use the van from work at the time, as I was doing some site work and used the van as well.

[Erfolg]

Wingman

I do feel sorry for my self, I know a bit self indulgent

The education of both daughters they did for themselves, if I am totally honest. Like many parents i do like to claim some credit, although i would probably over state our part.

As for my daughter looking after herself, I know i could not do the hours she does, nor stand the continuos stress , or the unrealistic expectations well all have.

In essence we are moving as much to help their children to also have a life. I remember the long hours my parents put in, which left me to look after myself. My wife and myself are in a position to help, so why not.

That does not mean that I totally welcome the changes, mainly because i am selfish, being able to fly 7 days a week, which i have done at times. The change could also be beneficial, in that I might stop continuos building of models, which is almost ritualistic, bordering on a religious devotion or flying when ever possible.

Perhaps it is time to have a bit more balance in my life, not always modelling in some way and thinking only of myself.

Patmac , any idea where garden centres would purchase the rolls?

[Area 51]

Evening Erf.. good to read you are getting your head around it.... Well done.. I have had some bubble wrap delivered to me from these guys, they have small and large bubbles...

**LINK**

Larger bubbles are great for model storage/shipping..

[PatMc]

Posted by Erfolg on 09/12/2015 23:00:42:

Patmac , any idea where garden centres would purchase the rolls?

Sorry, I've no idea but looks like Area 51's link will be the most economical source.

[leccyflyer]

Moved all my models just under three years ago, and that was a lot of models - >50 airframes -though nothing bigger than a Puppeteer. It took several trips in the car, where they had always been transported previously. Wrapped them in bubble wrap and loaded the car as if going to a fly-in. The kit mountain went separately and took at least a few trips as well. Those were 360 mile trips, one way, but were done on the weekly commute.

All the rest of the modelling gear went with the removals guys, who did a fantastic job of moving everything. 120 boxes of stuff, including thousands of books, lots of equipment etc, all neatly boxed up and stress free. Three guys, one of which was a young Polish lad who carried the vast majority of the boxes, in the snow, down the stairs and into the lorry, on a significant slope. I couldn;t recommend them highly enough. Not one single item damaged and it filled a large lorry, but I wouldn't send my models even with those professionals.

[Former Member]

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