Why Do I Do This? Start To Build Another Model Before The Current One Is Finished?

[David Davis]

I don't suppose that this applies to everyone but it does apply to some of us. Why is it that if we have a model to finish, or several models to finish, that we start to build another?

Take my case. I just need to fit the radio, engine and undercarriage to a Galaxy Models "Mystic," I have a DB Sport & Scale Auster in a similar condition and I need to repair the wing of my Guidato after the dog had jumped on it, and yet I am tempted to start building another Junior 60! If I build it, it will be the fourth which I have built and that's not counting the Junior 60 which I helped my protégé Frans to build. I have both an OS 26 FS Surpass and an ASP30 FS which are currently unemployed but I'm tempted to build it very light, cover it in doculam and tissue, which will be a first for me, and power it with a 15 two-stroke. I have a roll of Micafilm which I could use but that looks awful! So I have the materials and the plan and the temptation but I'm kicking myself now for having given away a brand new Enya 15 last year! Mind you those old Enyas require an awful lot of running in so the neighbours have been spared!

The Junior 60 was my first successful RC model so that may have influenced my thinking. There are better trainers, not that I need a trainer these days, but I just love the way the Junior 60 just seems to hover in calm air.

I'll let you know if I start cutting balsa. Two of my previous J60s below, one with my much younger self!  My first one was covered in olive drab nylon. The dullest-looking Junior 60 you ever saw!

PS. As for the dog jumping on the Guidato's wing, it was my fault. I had incarcerated her in the van for too long when I was in England for a few weeks last year, and she made a bid for freedom damaging the Super Sixty's wing and that of the Big Guff too. I've repaired the Super Sixty and the damage to the Big Guff's wing is only superficial.

 

PPS. In all of the Junior 60s I have built I have used standard servos, mostly Hitec HS 311s. For this new projected Junior 60 I plan to fit lighter servos. I have a Savox SH-0255mg sculling about. If I were to buy two more, would they be suitable for the Junior 60?

[leccyflyer]

It's just part of life's rich pageant and different personalities. I have modelling pals who will only ever have one model under construction at one time. The have the discipline to methodically work through completion of that model in a linear fashion and that sort of order fits with their personality. I have other modelling pals who operate on more of a parallel processing style approach and will have more than one model on the go at a time, at various stages in the process. I'd estimate the latter type forms the majority. A lot of modellers really enjoy the building part, where results are often very rapid, starting with a box of wood and quickly progressing to something tangible in a short time. It's the exciting bot for them and you can soon arrive at a model that is 90% completed, with just the 80% left to do to finish it. Quite a few don't like the covering and finishing stages anywhere near as much and the temptation is to put that to one side and move onto another model for their favourite bit. It's a hobby, not a job, so that is perfectly acceptable.

 

Then there are those - myself included - who find the greatest joy in the research, seeking out, selecting and kicking off new ideas and the pesky real world parts of putting that into tangible form is to be transcended in order to achieve an end result. These are essentially dreamers and will often have multiple projects on the go, quite often leading to project inertia where lots of  projects are stalled for the sake of a few hours work or a minor tweak. To give an example, I have a wee foamie Me163 that I bought the "kit" about 25 years ago, finished it bar the painting within a couple of years, but which has been sitting pending just adding some markings for about 20 years. I finished that last year, but I still haven't flown it. My Balsacraft Hurricane has been sitting, repaired, awaiting some tape stringers for the rear fuselage for more than 20 years, but is now at the point of just needing some panel lines and weathering, having recently done the stringers and moved on to painting.

 

Add to that a tendency to see benefit in taking on other folks uncompleted projects and that's how you can end up with dozens of works in progress, some of which stay in that state for years. However, it's a hobby, not a job and provided that you are comfortable with that and enjoying what you are doing, it shouldn't be a problem.  Such a situation would be viewed as catastrophic and stressful by the chap who must have one project on the go at one time, but we are all different and that's fine. So try not to beat yourself up for starting another model before you've finished the last one - in the end it's a hobby, a pastime and a passion and we can all enjoy it in our different ways.

[David Davis]

Oh I'm not beating myself up about it Leccy but in addition to the models mentioned above I have five unstarted kits still in their boxes: a Hawker Hurricane, a Stampe Monitor, a Supra Star, a Super Kaos Junior and a quarter scale Fokker triplane. Then there's that DSM Aerostar in need of refurbishment and that Flying Flea I inherited when my best friend died over twenty years ago but as you say it's a hobby not a job. 

 

No wonder the garden's in such a state!

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

I Never start a new model till the last one is finished, like eating, I don't leave half finished meals and dirty plates all over the house,,,

[David Davis]

My dirty plates are in the dishwasher.

[Futura57]

I'm definitely in the category of multiple builds at various stages on the go in parallel. I won't bore you with the details of every model, but I fly fixed wing and helis, so that compounds the issue for me. I do have a couple of unstarted fixed wing kits in my loft, plus half a dozen helis, mostly scale, in various states of construction. These were mothballed 10 years ago when I moved from a much larger house. Back then I could leave multiple models on the bench and flip between them. As the glue was setting on one model, I would do a bit on another. All have 60 to 90 nitro 2-strokes, some unrun. At this time I have no intention of converting any to electric.

 

Sometimes I get an idea for a design and I put it straight to the top of my build pipeline, then everything else goes on hold. I recently had the urge to purchase a foam EDF requiring barely an hour of assembly and setup, so that slotted in the pipeline line real quick. The weather was cold and wet so I didn't  fancy trotting out to the shed. It was assembled on the dining room table. Back in the day, when you could get an ARTF bargain at a show I made even more impulse purchases like this.

 

I currently have 4 builds to finish, plus I bought a built Brian Taylor BF110 last year from a club mate which needs painting and electrics installing. I really should switch attention to helis to prepare a couple for upcoming fly-in events. But hey, the sun is out, the wind is low, I think I will go flying instead. I literally change with the wind 🤣

 

 

Edited April 2 by Futura57

[Cuban8]

Despite have a very serious word with myself a number of years ago about unfinished projects and only one at a time from now on, I've got half a dozen to choose from yet again.

Not unique at all by all accounts.

[EarlyBird]

14 minutes ago, Cuban8 said:

Not unique at all by all accounts.

Same here.

I hit an issue I can't solve immediately so i start a new build.

[Geoff S]

1 hour ago, David Davis said:

My dirty plates are in the dishwasher.

 

Our dirty plates are on the draining board, ready for me to wash-up in the sink after dinner in the evening.  We have a dish-washer - it's me, and I wash up once/day! 🙂

All the plates are cleared of food - both being brought up during and just post-war, food is never wasted.

 

Much as I would like it to be otherwise, I'm in the several models on the go camp.  The trouble is, I like doing the woodwork and seeing something that looks like a model aeroplane appearing on the bench, but I'm less keen on covering and installing servos and their (mechanical) connections.  If I get stuck (most recently, trying to decide how to make a sprung undercarriage for the Fokker DVIII) I tend to freeze and move onto another build.  Of course, repairs can intrude, such as making a new fuselage for my ARTF Wot 4 Mk2.  (I'm just about to cover my creation, so that's nearly finished)

[GrumpyGnome]

Yup, multiple models on the go - some in build/assembly (MiniPlane & Wot4), some being refurbished (Spitty & Rocky), some being fixed......

 

If you only work on one at a time, what happens if something else needs fixing...... does it have to wait?

[Murat Kece 1]

I rarely have more than 1 on the go. I am a doer/shaper.. If I start it I finish it asap.. That has been my personality and it continues with my hobby too.

[leccyflyer]

3 minutes ago, Murat Kece 1 said:

I rarely have more than 1 on the go. I am a doer/shaper.. If I start it I finish it asap.. That has been my personality and it continues with my hobby too.

Murat - no doubt you will have received the HR training at some time, which will have described such attributes as being those of a Completer/Finisher. 😎

[RICHARD WILLS]

My wife says I dont finish anything ......

She gets very frustrated .😕

[Ron Gray]

1 hour ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

My wife says I dont finish anything ......

She gets very frustrated .😕

Better that than multiple ones on the go (at your age).

[Basil]

On 02/04/2024 at 10:40, EarlyBird said:

Same here.

I hit an issue I can't solve immediately so i start a new build.

When stuck with what seems an unsolvable problem, thats sometime the only way forward............ I tell myself. But it does work, but in a long time frame.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bas

 

[Don Fry]

I’m in both camps, depending on the cycle of my mind, get on with it, or I really want one of they, and I want it now. But one thing strikes me, over the years, sometimes a build stalls, because what you like just alters.

I’ve got a Top Flite P 47, wood finished, glassing nearly finished, all servos etc have been fitted, fettled with control rods, ditto motor, ditto undercarriage and it needs painting and fuel proofing. No issues, nicely made.

No longer interested in flying or maintaining that sort of model. I’ve been staring at the fus, standing on its nose in a corner by the central heating boiler for 15 years.

[Mike T]

Hmm.  I have an Aviation Design 1/5.5 scale Spitfire which I've been working on, on and off, for about 17 years.  According to the designer, it's a quick build kit...

[David Davis]

Just a little rider to all of the above about a lightweight Junior 60 powered by a 15, I have just dropped £6 on an Enya 15 which looks new but it must be very old because it has a butterfly valve over the exhaust port. If I win it, I hope it's not too noisy!

 

I did think of using a PAW diesel but changed my mind because they're so oily.

Edited April 6 by David Davis

[Richard Thornton 2]

Meeting the pilot of an interesting aircraft with a wealth of history with it, reinvigorated my interest in picking up where I left off. I have been building my Tigermoth for over 18 years but have really made progress since Covid. However, would I have started actually building the thing in the first place if I had known how long it would take.

Don’t know the answer to that one but I am glad I did start it, met some amazing characters, learnt so much about my own Engineering skills, lack of other skills but that have been learnt but most importantly spent time delving into the history of the type, Aircraft Company and everything to do with the nuance of my chosen subject has been fantastic.

Model Aircraft and Engineering porn, can’t get enough of it 😊

Edited April 18 by Martin Harris - Moderator

[David Hazell 1]

I'm so far sticking to the "don't start building another one until the last one is finished. I find it difficult, but I am strict with myself!

[Ernie]

Before I start a new build, there is, in my minds eye, a perfect model. Not a good one, but a truly perfect one.

BUT, as soon as I start the build, those wee imperfections begin to creep in. A pin splits a bit of wood, Too much cyano spoils a joint, and, inevitably that perfect model begins to be less perfect. So, that nasty thought begins to creep in...If I started a brand new one, then it would be the beautiful one that I really crave

ernie

[Chris Freeman 3]

I have normally a few projects that I am building at the same time. I often get sidetracked by articles and forums like this that manage to get me going in another direction. A son and friends also manage to add to the confusion by bringing new projects into my workshop. A 70% framed up Ziroli P38 is a recent addition to the build program! How can you say no to that!   

[Futura57]

My build pipeline is usually pretty stable for the rolling 3 to 6 months going forward. Impulses and changes are usually slotted in behind this. There are, of course, the inevitable little flying incidents which precipitate some queue jumping intervention, but those have not been an issue so far this year🤞 However, I have offered to cover a friend's model in the next couple weeks, which I can slot in during the evening, otherwise he will never finish and fly it. I also just volunteered to repair and service a new club member's Kamco Kadet trainer, unflown for 15 years. Including its gummed up and seized up OS30 rc engine. So my planned build pipeline is a little off course right now and about a week behind.

Edited April 19 by Futura57

[Futura57]

21 hours ago, Ernie said:

Before I start a new build, there is, in my minds eye, a perfect model. Not a good one, but a truly perfect one.

BUT, as soon as I start the build, those wee imperfections begin to creep in. A pin splits a bit of wood, Too much cyano spoils a joint, and, inevitably that perfect model begins to be less perfect. So, that nasty thought begins to creep in...If I started a brand new one, then it would be the beautiful one that I really crave

ernie

I know exactly where you are coming from. But at least you are always striving for perfection. Reminds me of when I was a young child I used to love colouring books. Once the pencil or felt pen went over the lines more than a couple of time I would abandon that page and move to another fresh page with the intention of making it perfect. Usually the book would be filled with unfinished pages 🤔

Edited April 19 by Futura57

[Futura57]

Here's a good example of how my build pipeline can get interrupted...

 

There I was making progress with my Strange Quark Mk2 prototype (vectored thrust) when a friend, who'd finished building his Top Quark from my plan, wanted me to cover it. He hates covering, is not great at it, and didn't want to ruin the model. I hope he likes Tigers 🤣

 

This was quickly followed by a new EDMAC club member who'd extricated a Kamco Kadet trainer from his garage, which was last flown about 15 years ago. He asked me to repair the damaged tail feathers. But there was a fair bit of other work I deemed necessary like stripping down and cleaning a seized 40 year old OS Max 30 RC, replacing a perished fuel tank bung and replacing the 4-cell NiMh flight battery that, after multiple cycling, no longer held sufficient charge.

 

I also have made two purchases from the BMFA classifieds. Both largish biplanes circa 72-inch span. The first, a Moki 135 powered Bipablast, I've spent a couple of days checking it over, cleaning it, and ordering a few bits and pieces to get it fully airworthy. The second, an Ultimate 120 airframe, I'm collecting tomorrow. This will solve the problem of what to do with my recently acquired un-run Saito 125a 4-stroke. 👌

 

Before returning to my Strange Quark Mk2, after 2 or 3 weeks' absence, I first had to repair the nose of the Mk1 prototype I accidentally sat on and crushed. 🤬

 

Happy days.