How many builds do you have going simulateneously?

[chromdome35]

I currently have in some phase of construction

Academy 1:35 M18 Hellcat w tons of aftermarket - I have the body pan ready for the resin interior. Next Step: Interior
Tamiya 1:35 88mmGun Flak 36 - Gun and one bogie done, lots of PE and scratch-built details on this one. Next Step: Primer.
Tamiya 1:35 M4A3 Sherman - Construction is done, primer and base coat of paint on. Next Step: Clear coat
AFV Club 1:35 Scorpion(Early) - Construction is done, Next Step: Primer
Academy Panther G 1:25 - Early, working on the suspension and road wheels. Next Step: Finish cleaning up the road wheels.
AMT Space 1999 Eagle 1 - Construction is done. Primer on. Next Step: Main painting.

I don't have any issues building the kits, but I'm hesitant to paint them. I think my fear is that I don't want to ruin all of the hard work I put into building them. How do you get past this fear?

[mustang1989]

I only have one at a time going on. I've tried to do multiple builds and that's what got me out of the hobby several decades ago. Too many projects at once overwhelms me and since I use this hobby to relax, I tend to take all of my builds one at a time and slow at that.

  As for making it past the fear part of any given build, try picking any one of your stalled builds and getting a spare kit/ sheet of plastic or similar, prime it with what you have on the stalled build and then try your hand at painting that. Get your technique down.....whatever works best for you until you're satisfied with the results and then move on to your stalled project. Finish that same one out to the end and then bring up the next one and do the same thing. I've done this with stalled out builds and it seems to work out for me. 

I had a fear of getting a good high gloss shine on my autos. So, what I did was I started painting everything black (which to me is the hardest color to get right) and built 3 black vehicles. I made it my life's modeling goal to get past this. It took me some time to get it all down, but I finally found my technique and I use the same method on all of my auto builds now.

Results are guaranteed when patience and determined persistence is utilized:

[chromdome35]

Thank you for the thoughts…I think you are 100% correct, just do it and keep doing it until it is mastered.

[reserve]

Overall the secret is practice and play, you do enough of that and you'll develop your technique. Practice on beer cans, the kids old toys, etc. you don't have to spray your models 'till you get comfy. This assumes you paint with an airbrush, keep your paint thin and your needle 3-4 inches from the model. Plan on a couple of coats to finish the job.

Right now I have four in the pipe largely 'cause I'm trying to clear the SHELF




Takom Tiger II Porsche turret and interior


Tammy Flak 36


Dragon STUG III late


Takom Panzer III N


I don't like simultaneous projects very much but I really need to catch up

[mustang1989]

Nov 20, 2022 9:44:17 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

Thank you for the thoughts…I think you are 100% correct, just do it and keep doing it until it is mastered.

That's the ticket bud. Patience with ourselves is key. Just keep at it and watch the magic unfold. 

[mustang1989]

Nov 20, 2022 11:13:50 GMT -5 reserve said:

Overall the secret is practice and play, you do enough of that and you'll develop your technique. Practice on beer cans, the kids old toys, etc. you don't have to spray your models 'till you get comfy. This assumes you paint with an airbrush, keep your paint thin and your needle 3-4 inches from the model. Plan on a couple of coats to finish the job.

Right now I have four in the pipe largely 'cause I'm trying to clear the SHELF




Takom Tiger II Porsche turret and interior


Tammy Flak 36


Dragon STUG III late


Takom Panzer III N


I don't like simultaneous projects very much but I really need to catch up

That is indeed some serious catching up to do Mark. 

[Steve Zuleski]

I recon I'm anal retentive, only one project at a time for me. My space is tight anyways, and I can't stand clutter, or at least clutter without a purpose, HA!

My bench space is tight:


But maybe if I think on it enough, I might figure out a way,.......

[chromdome35]

Love your space! Definite proof it doesn't take much space to turn out world-class results.

My modeling area is not very big



Everything has its place

[chromdome35]

It had not occurred to me to practice on Toys, that's a heck of a good idea. THANK YOU!

That 88 is the one I need to paint. I added some PE and other detail to it.

[mustang1989]

Nov 21, 2022 21:40:27 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

It had not occurred to me to practice on Toys, that's a heck of a good idea. THANK YOU!

That 88 is the one I need to paint. I added some PE and other detail to it.

wow

[chromdome35]

Thank you! This 88 was my first attempt at using both PE and working with styrene to add additional details. I still need to go over it and clean up some things before I prime it.

All in all I am happy with it.

[Steve Zuleski]

That model bunker is way too clean, sheesh!

[chromdome35]

I've been redoing my entire office for the last couple of weeks and three of the grandkids (6,6 and 7 YO) will be here today, so I've got everything put up to keep the little hands away. Figured I would take some pictures while it was in the very rare clean stage.

I picked up three Bandai Gundam snap together kits for them to build while they're here.

[mustang1989]

I hear you on getting 'er all cleaned up. We used to get a visit every now and then from some really good neighbors of ours with a little boy that was a frickin' ROCKET!! I mean that kid was on fire!!! He'd be there one second and then the next he was across the house (or in my modeling room) in no time flat. Had to tell the parents that there were scalpels out on the bench and that stopped all that. lol

[Tojo72]

I only build one at a time,I don't care to have an assembly line of Models going,a couple of times I put something aside and started something else while waiting for a part or paint,but thats it,usually just one.

[mustang1989]

Dec 16, 2022 5:08:50 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

I only build one at a time,I don't care to have an assembly line of Models going,a couple of times I put something aside and started something else while waiting for a part or paint,but thats it,usually just one.

That's how it is for me most of the time. If I do start something else, it usually means that I'm stuck at a point in an ongoing build. I'm A.D.D. so it frazzles me to have multiple projects going on at once. 

[george]

I have about 15 started projects 😔

[Prop Duster]

Well shoot, I'm not alone after all. I have on me model bench 3 projects in various stages of cobbling together-ness.  I have 1 project on my computer desk, the bench is full remember.
In one of the cabinets I have several that I bought already completed including a die cast or 4 which after checking them out and taking 'em apart for what needed to be inspected, I put 'em up ....uh .. just so they won’t get "broken" or sum such thing.  You know, just while "I wait on parts"...HUmmm maybe I should order those  parts now?  

Seriously, for cromdome, go ahead and practice painting on “stuff” but don’t get too hung up on getting it perfect, yet. If you wait for perfection then you will never get anything done, as well you know.  As Mr. Silverado said he kept after a specific goal (painting black to practice getting a shinny on) until even his critical eye was satisfied. But over the course of several completed builds. 

Build for you, not some outside entity that probably doesn’t give a rusty crank about it anyway.  

Good Luck Brother Modeler the sprue awaits 

[m1keh]

Academy Panther G

Hobby Boss TA152 C

Some Bolt Action 1/52 wargame figures

[tubbs]

boy, this is a tricky question. projects (or unfinished builds), no joke, probably around 80. thats 80 projects that are at least 25% started. how many are on the bench or am working on at one time? probably 5 to 10. i have them all over the room. i will do a little here and a little to this one. something is always going wrong to all of them, so thats when i move onto another instead of fixing the problem then. this isn't even my true bench, the orange containers have started projects in them that i bounce around on. you had to ask...

[tcoat]

I do not have enough fingers and toes to count how many I have.

[jeaton01]

If I only work on one project at a time I am too impatient to let the the glue or paint dry sufficiently. 3 or 4 is my usual, with one of them a larger or more complex (for me) project.

[Prop Duster]

edit to or update of my Dec2022 post
Well I “always” work on only one project at a time.
Which is to say the other 3, 4, or 5 are Not being worked on, so they don’t count. Do they?

Then I have several (I have forgotten how many, and not sure I really want to know), that have been set aside because I need to learn how to do some thin’, figure out how to correct some (mine usually) mistake, decide what the “real” plan is for that model and finally there's the ones I just got tired of all the thinkin’ it was takin, so I moved on to “greener fields”. That also had its problems ‘cause I can’t seem to get anything done out in those fields. So, I give that up and came back inside and start some thin’ else-----again.

But heck I’m having a great time and watchin’ all of you guys builds. Its inspiring and humbling.

[keavdog]

Wow that 88 is a thing of beauty! Even w/o paint.
I tend to work on 3 or 4 at a time for the same reason John E does. I get to a point where the kit needs to sit, so I move on to another. Plus I build different stuff. Right now I have the following on my bench:

1/48 Tamiya Rufe - just some cockpit preshading
1/20 Tamiya McLaren MP4/7 - 20% done
1/12 Tamiya YZR500 - Kenny Roberts - 75% done
1/48 Italeri Hawk T Mk1 - not started

Just getting back to the bench after 9 months or so of everything being in storage sorting through where I left off

[armornutii]

   3 off the top of my head, more when I think about it. Something gets in the way..life, dogs, wife, etc, and I just get bogged down. I start by sanding EVERY defect, seam, or bump and by the time I get to the " fun" stuff of glueing and finishing I have lost interest. I do finish things however they are very far from what my intent was when I started. I keep trying though.

[Real G]

Only one at a time, but there are a lot going in parallel!

Amodel 1/72 Beriev Be-10 Mallow:


Kit from Hell, Trumpeter 1/48 RA-5C Vigilante:


Trumpeter 1/35 Objekt 490B:


Tamiya 1/35 M3 Stuart:


Trumpeter 1/35 KV-2:


Bronco 1/35 Seehund:


Bandai 1/144 MSM-03 Gog:


Wave 1/20 Seapig:


Plamax 1/72 Sirbine


My problem is the painting stage, as I need to set up the airbrush in the patio and it's a little humbug.  Hand brushing stinks up my room (I use mostly enamels) and weathering makes a mess.  Nothing has been moving recently, but I hope to change that soon.

[Whiterook]

Funny, back when I was a kid, and then when I reentered the hobby a little over a decade ago, I was a 1-Kit at a Time builder. For the former, mainly ‘cause I slapped them together quick so I could play with them, as they were toys for me; later, as an adult (although my wife would gawfaa at that designation), because I was learning to build and paint them as collectibles, or artwork, or whatever you call this high-falootin’ building thing we do.

That changed for me when I got into wargaming miniatures several years ago… it’s kinda an assembly belt job kinda thang, where you generally have several things going at once, with several different subjects (figures, armor, air, etc.). Somehow, that mutated into my model building process… with a couple at a time, and then just increased from there. I’ve always said that wargaming and model building are brothers in arms, no pun intended… a lot of the same concepts and techniques are employed…for me, it’s hard to discern where the boundaries lies!

As for speed, as mentioned by others… I’m like SteveZ, in maybe being a bit anal retentive in my building sometimes, but for the most part, it’s all relaxation and fun…it goes at the speed it goes. Sometimes, I’ll speed through a build, and other times it will take several months. I admire those that post the exact time it took to build… somehow, I always forget to track that.

Currently, I have these on the bench:

• 1/35 WWII German Panzer IV Ausf. H (Italaerei)
• 1/48 American P-51D Mustang, (Revell)
• 1/35 Italian Carro Armato (Italaerei)
• 1/72 Interstellar “Ranger” (Moebius)
• 15mm American, Vietnam era U-H1 “Huey” helicopters, two of these (Battlefront “Team Yankee”)
• 28mm SGC Stargate SG-1 Team (Phoenix Miniatures)
• 15mm American “Wolverines”, five of them (Old Glory Miniatures)
• 28mm Underground Bunker Surface Pillbox (for DUST Tactics)

My basement furnace room workbench area is my main work space…



…it’s currently in a state of clean out and reorganization. I have a backyard shed, being converted into an Artist Studio this Summer, which will likely see some building out there, too.

As for the question on getting past fear of messing up your work: My college degree and post education was in Fine Art. I taught sculpture, and my main focus was as an oil painter. I learned four decades ago that… you’re going to make mistakes; you’re going to screw up a work; it Will happen…what you do with that is what defines you as an artist, because artists realize that screw ups are all learning experiences! Move on to correct of you can, or leave for a future try at correction.

[stikpusher]

I tend to have 2-3 projects going at any given time. usually so I can swap back and forth between them while paint or glue is drying. But occasionally (read almost regularly) I get sucked into another GB that I want to partake in, either online, or in one of the clubs where I'm a member, and start up another build beyond those... My only modeling goal/resolution is to clean up the backlog of started kits from when I had less self control...

[dukemaddog]

Me? Well, I have about 15-20 going at one time, although I'll tend to work on 5-7 at one time. I try getting as many to the paint stage as I can and then spend a day just spraying models.

Anyone who wants to see all the projects I have going right now, feel free to read my Maddog Manufacturing thread to see all of them.

[19kilo]

I’m a rather methodical guy. I build models one at a time. Once I pull a kit out of the stash, my complete focus is on that model until it’s done.