interminable builds

[Hobbes]

Have you ever had one of those?
I made another attempt at finishing my VC-10 today, this is the eighth time it's in the spray booth, and yet again something went wrong. I was convinced that Humbrol 127 would be the correct shade for the bottom of the aircraft, but now that it's on, it doesn't look right. I really don't want to strip the paint again, and mask the bloody lightning bolt pattern again.
I'm tempted to give up and move on, but OTOH I really want to finish this as there's so much work gone into it already. 

[Joe C-P]

I have a Whif of the NS Savannah I started over a decade ago. Every few months I pull it out and do some more work.
Of course, when my grandnephew decided he didn't like the paint jobs, there went another few days' work. 

Then there's the P-38L I started converting into a P-38M as a youngster back in the 1970s.

Now I'm working on a USS New Jersey in 1983, with the full PE set, and I've remembered why I don't do these very often, what with all the tiny pieces of brass that can bend or won't sit quite right or disappear. And it's meant to go with an ARII USS Midway, which not only will have PE (adapted from a Nimitz/Enterprise set) plus it needs a deckload of aircraft and vehicles.

The best solution is to have more than one going, and switch between them, and once in a while do a quicky fun build. That's what keeps me enjoying this like I'm supposed to do. 

[Hobbes]

That's my usual strategy as well. In this case though the pile of unfinished projects has gotten so large (16+ in various stages of assembly) that I need to work on finishing a few before I get distracted again.

What were you planning to do with the Savannah? Got one of those as well, painted the reactor then stalled.

[ysi_maniac]

... the pile of unfinished projects has gotten so large (16+ in various stages of assembly) ...

my pile is about 40
do not worry

[ChrisF]

God yes ! I recently finished the airfix club FAA set from a few years back... all three kits were hell to put it mildly... Requiring me to walk away in anger several times or they were going up the wall... I should point out i never normally feel like that but literally every piece every decal required so much PSR swearing and brute force i honestly dont know how much actual airfix was left...

[Taiidantomcat]

Been there!

One of the conclusions I finally came to was "It will not be perfect, and thats OK." I realized I could invest another 50 hours (or god help me even more,) And realize I wasn't going to sink more time into an already long sunken cost. I am happy I never gave up on it, I don't consider the lack of perfection a loss either, more of a realistic accounting of what lay ahead, and maybe I should change my goals and expectations to more realistic levels. After that, I had a lot more fun and I really think it came out well. I am proud of it, It does not have to be perfect for you to look at it and smile. In hindsight I do often wonder how much other stuff I could have done in the meantime though!!

so YMMV, but my advice is completing it is one helluva a reward in itself, perfection be damned.

[beowulf]

been there too

one that sticks in my mind was a 1/24 vw beetle new shape................the plan was do to every panel in a different colour.....started off at 10 diff colours, then down to 8, then down to 6, then 6 again, then 6 again! ...........went in the bag of oven cleaner 4 times cos i had so many probs...still didnt come out how i wanted....................it very nearly got thrown in the bin!

[rallymodeller]

All of them.

Actually, I have a couple that I have had in the works for several years: my 1/32 Revell F-104G that I can't stop detailing as I convert it into a CF-104, my 1/48 Hobbycraft CF-100 that is being converted to a CF-100 Mk. 5D ECM plane (lots of modifications and panel work) and my Plasticart Tu-154 that I'm accurizing. I might restart the 154 soon as I now have great reference material (1:100 technical drawings, same scale as the kit) for scribing the panel lines and such; however, now I'm thinking about converting it to a Tu-152M which would entail rebuilding the engine nacelles and resculpting the tail intake and exhaust... 

[PR19_Kit]

I started an RCAF F-104 back in the 70s, just after they flew a four-ship into the Tiger Meet for that year at Woodbridge. One of them was in the all-over Tiger scheme, I think it was #836 but not sure now. Just after that 'Random Thoughts' magzine published a drawing pack of the aircraft so my '104 became that Tiger. I used Letraset RCAF decals over silver painted panels for the insignia and hand painted everything else, including the tiger on the nose! [I must be mad.....]

The yellow was matt and the black was gloss so it needed some stabilising, and for some reason I paused the build and put it in a box.............for 26 years!  

Eventually I found the thing again and finished it, but it was by FAR the longest build of mine. Until now of course, there's one or two that could beat it. 

[Joe C-P]

My reason for fiddly work? If it's not perfect and it's not accurate, it doesn't go to a museum. A small number of my projects must be museum-quality work, because that is where they end up. I have a few pieces with the Battleship New Jersey Museum, in Camden, although I don't know if they're on display right now, and a few others for donation.
My what-ifs, other than possibly the BBG model, I put together well but far less detailed, using PE only to practice the technique.

As for the Savannah, she is going to be her little-known USN half-sister, USS Hudson City, AON-5. It was meant for my wife's office at the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, but she took early retirement before I finished it and I haven't decided what to do with it. If I hadn't bought and built PE details for it, I'd give it to my grand-nephew.