Why is it?

[LyleW]

Sitting here in the Ol' Piddle Palace, enjoying a large cup of coffee (after almost knocking the entire thing over...). I've ordered groceries to pick up this evening, after I get our daughter's kiddos off their school bus.

I had a revelation on why you do not sleep at night. It is because you are awake.

TTTHHHHHPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

but, hey, in all seriousness, why do we so easily crack open a new kit (thus dooming it to the Shelf of Someday) when we have so many already in that state? I've been putzing around on a B-26 for the Bullitt County History Museum and keep finding things that need attention, thus requiring drying/setting times that leave me with "time". I've already trimmed the nose hair, crocheted a new set of shorts, etc. I have a lot of unfininshed kits staring at me and I hear tiny muffled voices calling out to be picked up and worked on, yet the unstarted kits in the stash are laughing and snickering knowing that one of them will likely be the next on the block.

Sigh.

[Stikpusher]

Yup… trying to bounce between at least one other project while something dries on the first project is a good way to make more efficient use of available bench time. But the discipline to stay strictly on those two has to be strong, or those projects to fill downtime can multiply like tribbles.

[midnightprowler]

I gave up years ago. I have over 100 started, in stages from minor sanding to almost finished. Oldest started one is from 1992.

[BlackSheep214]

My mojo is gone for now. Probably because of work, honey to dos, holiday decorations to put up, and the upcoming Christmas holidays.

I’ve got 4 on the bench in various stages. One, I’m missing tail rudders, the Typhoon I need to order Spanish roundels for, the iconic bomber has been giving me fits which is surprising since it is an Airfix kit. Yeah, I gonna need to order canopy masks for that too.

The H-111 is waiting for primer but I need to order masks for the greenhouse nose first. Darn things are out of stock at the moment.

[Duke Maddog]

Well, I found having a load of kits on the go has always allowed me to make progress on so many at a time since there's so much I get done while waiting for things to dry. I guess because of my loose system, I'm able to get a lot done fairly quickly and and get many models done each year because of it.

[Medicman71]

I was reading a blog post about losing your mojo. Among the suggestions were start a kit completely different than what you normally do, clean the bench/model space, etc. The writer said that none of those worked for him. Then he took a look at the shelf of doom and said that it was those kits that were killing his mojo. So he threw them out in the garbage. He felt instantly liberated and got his mojo back.

So I came home from work and did exactly that. Four kits that were in various states of build that I had either made mistakes on or were bad kits and six old completed kits were tossed out. Gone. I feel relieved already.

[cbaltrin]

As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to start a kit than to finish one...

Lets face it. We do this for fun and relaxation, and starting a kit is fun and relaxing where as finishing a kit can be hard work and stressful.

Think about it. A new kit = endless possibilities/dreams/inspiration and, at the start, you can focus on the aspects of modeling that you like the most (unless that is putting decals on). However, as you get further away from the starting line, you start boxing yourself into things you may not enjoy so much, or into dealing with the results of decisions that you made previously and now regret and/or changed your mind about (such as the color you wanted your Dodge Muscle Car to be but have already painted the engine compartment another color).

Maybe you are a perfectionist, and once you get to the point where you realize the kit is not going to be perfect, you lose your motivation...

The reasons are really endless...

[jeaton01]

I was reading a blog post about losing your mojo. Among the suggestions were start a kit completely different than what you normally do, clean the bench/model space, etc. The writer said that none of those worked for him. Then he took a look at the shelf of doom and said that it was those kits that were killing his mojo. So he threw them out in the garbage. He felt instantly liberated and got his mojo back.

So I came home from work and did exactly that. Four kits that were in various states of build that I had either made mistakes on or were bad kits and six old completed kits were tossed out. Gone. I feel relieved already.

Yes, but will you still love them in the morning?!!

[KSaarni]

I was reading a blog post about losing your mojo. Among the suggestions were start a kit completely different than what you normally do, clean the bench/model space, etc. The writer said that none of those worked for him. Then he took a look at the shelf of doom and said that it was those kits that were killing his mojo. So he threw them out in the garbage. He felt instantly liberated and got his mojo back.

So I came home from work and did exactly that. Four kits that were in various states of build that I had either made mistakes on or were bad kits and six old completed kits were tossed out. Gone. I feel relieved already.

For me that makes sense! Curious to know Mike, what were the 4 kits ?

- Kari

[Gary Brantley]

As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to start a kit than to finish one...

Lets face it. We do this for fun and relaxation, and starting a kit is fun and relaxing where as finishing a kit can be hard work and stressful.

Think about it. A new kit = endless possibilities/dreams/inspiration and, at the start, you can focus on the aspects of modeling that you like the most (unless that is putting decals on). However, as you get further away from the starting line, you start boxing yourself into things you may not enjoy so much, or into dealing with the results of decisions that you made previously and now regret and/or changed your mind about (such as the color you wanted your Dodge Muscle Car to be but have already painted the engine compartment another color).

Maybe you are a perfectionist, and once you get to the point where you realize the kit is not going to be perfect, you lose your motivation...

The reasons are really endless...

Well said, Chris!