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How do *you* get your mojo back?


gwana

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I can't seem to get myself back into the groove. I went to a regional IPMS show on Saturday, drove 3 hours each way, and I was sorely disappointed. I did see a few nice models on display, but I was really hoping the vendors would have a full array of stuff I could drool over and look at in person, not just admire online. I wanted inspiration and ideas, instead I saw basically a garage sale - a bunch of old kits in battered boxes, parts missing, or just junk. It was advertised as 80 vendor tables, but in reality I think it was maybe 7 or 8 vendors, and only 3 or 4 of those actually selling kits. I actually had a better time at a local show weeks ago that was 1/4 the size and got a couple of deals there that got my juices flowing.

 

I left really dejected, and it has lingered. I could have spent Saturday working on my own stuff, but I wanted to catch some excitement. Instead I got home not wanting to look at a kit and since then I haven't really wanted to bother. Between my commute and other responsibilities, I have very little time for my hobby, and I look at the thing and think "I need to do x,y, and z before I can proceed, and for that I'll need to dirty up the airbrush, clean it, paint that by hand... eh, screw it.

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Sometimes doing a subject of something you really love can kick in the juices.........

 

Other times for me, its about a change of pace; If you normally do aircraft, maybe try your hand at one of the new Meng "Egg-tanks" or maybe a helicopter or even ship.   For me, in the past getting back to basics and actually accomplishing something can also get the MoJo flowing.   

 

Try a new build of something you really are "into", and make a point from the beginning to NOT worry about "I need to do x,y, and z" and make sure from the jump its a kit that goes together really well with no issues right OOB, and just dont worry about adding junk to it.    A really nice OOB smaller or simpler build that does not require a lot of "fixing" or AM can do wonders to get one back in the groove. 

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What I did recently was sell down a lot of the stash, got rid of almost all of my aftermarket stuff and put away a good portion of my reference material. In the past month, I've been able to get three kits (although they're 1/48) just about ready for paint. At my current rate, they'll all be finished before the end of this month. Fewer kits to choose from, no aftermarket to deal with and not looking at photos for every detail actually put the fun back into building!

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read some ref books on what you have in the stash, build something out of your "comfort zone"....go get any of the Meng World Wartoons tanks, Kids Planes etc and just build! 

 

my mojo thread:

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=64680&page=1

 

these are "palette cleansers" between LSP builds.

Edited by Shawn M
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Question yourself. Why were you doing the modeling in the first place?

Why is it wrong for you to find it no longer satisfies you?

As times we get so involved in a particular job or hobby we become dependent on it for out identity, our happiness, etc. 

Is it really necessary to make models for your life to have meaning?

These may be hard questions but they should be asked.

Since the early 1940's I have been making models. But there were times where modeling no longer interested me and I  left it. Sometimes for 10 years or so. There were other things to do in life besides making models. 

When you no longer find a beloved activity of interest we call that burn out.

When something else interests you more so you give up modeling that is progression.

I have gone through this several times in my life. I realized that to allow one activity to rule my life, like making models, is like the tail wagging the dog. 

By the way, do not be too quick to sell off all your models right away if you find something else to do.  I did that once and I still regret it. Store them somewhere for a while, a few years, 10 years, whatever. You may come back to it. 

Do not feel bad if you have burnt out. You are a human being and are capable of getting deeply involved in more than one activity. Nothing wrong with leaving one for the other. You haven't signed a contract with the devil to make models the rest of your life. If you do decide to put away your modeling for a while take a deep breath, look around and enjoy your new freedom. 

Notice I said put away, not throw away. You do not have to burn your bridges behind you.

At one point in my life I felt the need to live the life of a teen age hot rodder. I missed that when I was in High school. So I started driving cars which I bought for $500. I would spend every other weekend under these clunkers repairing them, rebuilding parts of them. When the clunker finally rusted out from under me I'd buy another for $500. I had a wonderful time. The past 12 years I have been back into modeling and then I got back into sculpture and am combining the models into my art. 

Enjoy your life.

:punk:

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I have found in the past that my greatest satisfaction comes from the build itself. So I think I put off the detail painting and move on to another sub-assembly, and eventually I'm at a point where I've got 5 or 6 different things - pit, undercarriage, engines, wings - in various forms of partial completion and I can't move on until I paint some fiddly details. And there's no point whipping out the RLM02 to paint just this, when I'll just have to paint that and that two steps later. So maybe I'll just start this other kit right now, and do a bunch of paint at once... but I never seem to get there and there's parts from 3 kits in the booth. So I made a decision on Sunday to concentrate on one kit, and to go back to Step 1 and finish that and move on. And that led me to painting detail, and I had a pretty good time figuring out artist's oils and brushwork, but I didn't get a whole lot of progress made in the grand scheme.

 

I think I may have to change my tactics and paint more stuff on the sprue before assembly (and plan ahead better), but that's never been my process. I'd rather have as much gluing as possible done and paint the whole thing. It's not working.

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Question yourself. Why were you doing the modeling in the first place?

Why is it wrong for you to find it no longer satisfies you?

As times we get so involved in a particular job or hobby we become dependent on it for out identity, our happiness, etc. 

Is it really necessary to make models for your life to have meaning?

These may be hard questions but they should be asked.

Since the early 1940's I have been making models. But there were times where modeling no longer interested me and I  left it. Sometimes for 10 years or so. There were other things to do in life besides making models. 

When you no longer find a beloved activity of interest we call that burn out.

When something else interests you more so you give up modeling that is progression.

I have gone through this several times in my life. I realized that to allow one activity to rule my life, like making models, is like the tail wagging the dog. 

By the way, do not be too quick to sell off all your models right away if you find something else to do.  I did that once and I still regret it. Store them somewhere for a while, a few years, 10 years, whatever. You may come back to it. 

Do not feel bad if you have burnt out. You are a human being and are capable of getting deeply involved in more than one activity. Nothing wrong with leaving one for the other. You haven't signed a contract with the devil to make models the rest of your life. If you do decide to put away your modeling for a while take a deep breath, look around and enjoy your new freedom. 

Notice I said put away, not throw away. You do not have to burn your bridges behind you.

At one point in my life I felt the need to live the life of a teen age hot rodder. I missed that when I was in High school. So I started driving cars which I bought for $500. I would spend every other weekend under these clunkers repairing them, rebuilding parts of them. When the clunker finally rusted out from under me I'd buy another for $500. I had a wonderful time. The past 12 years I have been back into modeling and then I got back into sculpture and am combining the models into my art. 

Enjoy your life.

:punk:

Thanks for this - it's a good thing to think about. I'm not at the point of selling off my grand stash of 8 kits, or even quitting, I think for me it gets to be more like analysis paralysis. I think 20 steps ahead, forget 3 steps, make big plans, then get disappointed with myself when I can't deliver. Maybe it's like writer's block. I have the ideas and the want to write them down, but they won't come out because I get hung up in the process. I wake up thinking today I'll jump in my hobby room and spend 3 or 4 hours catching up on paint, and then I go in there and realize that first I have to mask and prep and get things organized by color and oh, I didn't prime that piece, so I'll have to do that first, and now it's 2 in the afternoon and... and I just lose the drive.

 

I don't want to quit because it's hard. I want to learn how to let myself be an artist, and I think I need to slow down and lower my expectations of progress. I have a vision of the completed project, and I want the pride of looking at it and thinking "I made that." And I think I need to find ways to derive more satisfaction from the process itself.

Edited by gwana
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I've had the same issue before, and I realised that it's a hobby, we're meant to enjoy our time doing it. So I done something that is completely different. Get something like a car from a favourite childhood show, I've seen ecto 1 from ghostbusters, or the general Lee, have fun building it, and then give it to the kids to play with. It'll be broken in no time, but just glue the wheels on and away they go again. You then might be able to reset and tackle the large scale planes you like.

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Over the last year I found myself working back and forth between LSP and an Opel truck, Luftwaffe R-2 SAM, 1950s missile kits (done) and a DUWK. This practice gets me going and seems to keep me out of a slump. The I am currently working on the new Revell P-51D and the paint job for the R-2 SAM right now. The R-2 missile just needs to get done.

Rick

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Lower your expectations drastically. It's not easy at first

but when you do it you'll feel a sense of relief.

I get the most done when I say to myself, oh to hell with it !

 

Then slug down one of these ...

 

                                                        1cHTfDe.jpg

 

;)

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Also...

 

If you don't have one, buy the DVD movie(s) featuring the subject you desire to work on.

 

This can help you get into and keep you in the mood. 

 

I recommend both historical docu-dramas as well as actual documentaries.

 

As with the scale models you wish to build, ignore the critics, buy and enjoy the ones you like.

 

I have a small player/TV combo nearby in my hobby room/"Man-Cave". So, if nothing else, when I get tired of the build subject, I can enjoy the entertaining theme of the movie as well.

 

The main thing I have to watch out for is what I call:  

 

"The Dr. Frankenstein Effect"...

 

That is where I get the feeling that I have created a monster by achieving a newer, higher threshold, that like Dr. Frankenstein, in order to please others, especially the critics, when the Monster was coercing him into creating a female Monster like himself, of course.

 

In the original novel he trashed and abandoned the project because he felt trapped by being expected to use his medical/surgical skills only to make more like his original creation, without the time or freedom to re-think what he just did and to see if he could find other more rewarding alternative channels.

 

But then, I realize that most critics are typically those who frankly like his "monster" are not in a position to tangibly reward me for pleasing them, are they not the one who bought my kits, much less purchase and send me any of the extras to get the special results they might pressure us into.

 

So to get past it I buy something "off-subject" like others, a model car, a space ship, etc.

Edited by Gigant
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Sometimes doing a subject of something you really love can kick in the juices.........

 

Other times for me, its about a change of pace; If you normally do aircraft, maybe try your hand at one of the new Meng "Egg-tanks" or maybe a helicopter or even ship.   For me, in the past getting back to basics and actually accomplishing something can also get the MoJo flowing.   

 

Try a new build of something you really are "into", and make a point from the beginning to NOT worry about "I need to do x,y, and z" and make sure from the jump its a kit that goes together really well with no issues right OOB, and just dont worry about adding junk to it.    A really nice OOB smaller or simpler build that does not require a lot of "fixing" or AM can do wonders to get one back in the groove. 

Very similar to me. Pull out a good kit and do it OOB, or grab a SciFi kit and build that OOB and just have fun weathering them.

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