Cluttered Workbench?

[JayBee]

What causes you to have a cluttered work bench?

Recently, for me anyway, it was the realization that I had taken on too much in the way of model projects at the same time.
For me this was caused by the RAF's 100GB.
I had lots of ideas about what to build, but they all bunched up and I ended up not knowing where to go. They all developed problems.
Most of these problems were with masking for painting especially the canopies.
DO NOT ASK!

The point remains? Why do We do this to ourselves?

I do not know.
I certainly have learned some things!

Avoid Group Builds like the plague, they put too much pressure on you, both time (Dizzi excepted) and in many case capability.
Time limits, they are not your friends! You are never likely to finish all those models in time.

That is all I can thinl of for the moment, but I do look forward to your comments.

[AeroplaneDriver]

I generally avoid more than one build at a time.  The only time I have two going at a time is if I'm waiting for parts, decals, paints, etc to arrive.  I also clean my (limited) work space and organize everything between builds.  It's a mess when I'm done with a build, and it's a nice feeling to start a new build with a nice clean, organized work area. 

[PR19_Kit]

The last time we had a census of unfinished projects, some years ago now, I recall I swept the board with a count of 62. Admittedly not all were Whiffs, there was some RW stuff in there too. I'd like to think that I've got some of the backlog sorted out, but while that may be true I also know that I've started some others, all Whiffs, that have come to a grinding halt.

Why?

Because I've come up with some problem on most of them that needs some serious thought and I'm not sure I can do that these days, my brain is too full od ideas of new, un-built Whiffs, that are bursting to be committed to plastic, and come to grinding halts in turn.

It was ever thus............

[TheChronicOne]

There's an old saying that goes something like, "Sometimes having a thing is not so pleasing as wanting a thing...."   It's really fun to think about and even "start" new projects... it's a whole 'nother to get them knocked out.

I DO have old projects I'd like to complete. Not very many; 2 unfinished and a couple others I thought about re-doing. BUT these are old old ancient years past projects. I CAN say that since I re-entered the hobby back in June 2016 that I have not had a single build go unfinished. Sometimes they stall for a couple weeks or a month but if it hits the bench, it eventually comes back off a completed model.

[kerick]

Hey Chronic you are on a great roll, keep it up!
I always get stalled at the painting stage. I love to build but the painting is a chore to me. And a messed up workspace is not helpful. Mine has not been cleaned off in years. I have a whole desktop to use and a little 10"x10" space to actually work. Most of the mess is just crap that has accumulated as leftovers from other projects. Perhaps it's time to get brutal and actually throw some stuff out. It might be good therapy for me.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, bud!! 

I get the same way about painting, but, to the topic... I found that some times, it wasn't the process of painting that I wasn't thrilled with, it was all the looking and searching for things. I've since gathered all my most common used paint colors, brushes, and accessories and just leave them out on the desk top. Things are "Funner" now all of a sudden when it comes to painting. Sometimes I get to going and will use 6-7 different colors and 5-6 different brushes, paint thinner, water, etc all in rapid fire succession. It's so very nice to be able to do so instead of blowing chunks of time constantly having to get up, look through things, etc.  It's kind of like a drummer that would have to retrieve then put away each individual percussion instrument whilst playing a song opposed to having a fully-ledged drum kit set out neatly in front of him.

[kerick]

Good analogy I'll keep that in mind.

[Weaver]

I'm terrible for losing the Mojo halfway through a build. It's like I've had all the fun thinking about it, and now the actual execution is a chore. Then, right towards the end, I'll start to get that heart-in-mouth "oh my god I might actually finish this one DON'T SCREW UP NOW, DON'T SCREW UP NOW, DON'T SCREW UP NOW!" feeling. The few that actually have screwed up at the last hurdle have been really, really demoralising.

I also have a very good visual imagination, so I can imagine in exquisite detail just how the finished build should look, but then I'm always disappointed by what my actual physical skills manage to achieve. This doesn't help with mojo-maintenance either....

[The Rat]

For me? Probably a number of things. A certain level of (self diagnosed) Attention Deficit Disorder (only explanation I can come up with!), procrastination causing me to pull something else out before finishing another, too many crazy ideas, too many models within reach (must get rid of that rolling swivel chair  ), and general disorganisation. Without them even leaving the top of my desk I have managed to lose decals, sandpaper, instructions, paint jars, and once a complete but unpainted 1/72 Hurricane! They were all eventually located, but that's an embarrassing level of mess right there.

[kerick]

Well, I've never lost an entire model!
I managed to clear off some space on a second workspace so I can remove the things I'm working on and start removing junk from my primary desk.

[Thorvic]

Jim

Its just the way we work, we tend not to be building a kit out the box with supplied scheme & markings, which given the free time and an active mojo should enable a steady build cycle. With whiff the kit is just the starting point, we may revise, change or combine kits to create the build idea were working to, we then have to settle on a suitable scheme and investigate and then find suitable markings and scheme. Mojo can come and go especially if a build idea isn't quite working out quite as you hoped or just doesn't work, someone else may have had a similar idea on here or elsewhere and steal the thunder, or something else pops up to give a new idea or even an stalled build fresh impetus and of course there is the new kit syndrome where a new kit comes out and you must have it and start it putting all other builds by the wayside.

That's how it happens, don't worry about it after all its just the way we work, occasionally we get the buzz and blitz the hanger queens stuck on the shelf of doom, but sooner or later those vacated spaces will be back filled by fresh stalled work 

[Dizzyfugu]

I simply work in dirt and chaos, shoveling parts, paint, tools away as I need it... Sounds chaotic, and it's certainly not pretty, but that the way and how I personally "work".
This is in so far not an issue since I normally work on one model at a time, so there's no part confusion - and this way I get my build finished, I literally pull things through. When the project is through I tidy everything up, and the progressive mess starts all over again. 

[zenrat]

Sometimes part confusion can result in unexpected synergy.

I keep a clear area in front of me but have a coffee table to my left and an exam room desk to my right on which opened kit boxes are stacked and balanced into which I dip as I build my many ongoing projects.

[The Wooksta!]

An antiseptically clean work bench as seen in modelling magazines is a sign of an unhealthy mind.  I like working in a clutter!

[kerick]

I really do need to remove some things that have been laying around for years.