Jump to content

do you keep all of your finished models?


Vynce804

Recommended Posts

I have many partially finished projects that are never going to be finished b/c they reached a point where it is obvious they won't be "perfect" (or perfect enough!) once completed.

 

Those go in the garbage or cardboard shipping boxes out of sight.  Finished models that I just don't like or didn't go according to plan meet the same fate.

 

Finished/completed projects that look good and I am proud of go in the display case.  If something gets boring or there is a fit issue, that goes in some "tupperware" boxes I have with lids and handles.

 

One thing you might want to consider is trying to sell a completed model on Ebay.  If the price is right and the model looks good, it will sell.  Not at a fair price mind you to justify the hours spent on the project, but it will sell.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep all my builds but once they’re built they mean little to me, I’m always in search of that perfect build so the one on the bench is my favourite. Once it’s done... the shelf is just a place to put it to make room for the next all elusive perfect model... that I’ll never attain

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get rid of some of mine occasionally.  I have a display cabinet in the man-cave, and the rest live in boxes.  They're not on display, but when I'm going to a show I can instantly grapb the box/boxes I want to take to display.

 

But I do need to clear some out occasionally.  Sometimes they just go in the bin, particularly if they've suffered some damage in transit to/from a show.  Minor damage, or even more major damage to something I want to keep, will be repaired, but I won't waste too much time on repairs.  Sometimes I'll give one away to someone who particularly admires it, especially at a show again.  I've dontated a number to various museums - for example, my 1:48 B-24D 389th BG assembly ship resides in the 389th museum at Hethel.  And there is something called the Heritage Collection here in the UK, their aim is to collect built models; I've passed on quite a few to them.

 

I enjoy the research, the building, and exhibiting at shows, but I don't want to be the person trotting the same dusty old models to shows for years. 

 

Bottom line: I keep those I'm particularly proud of, or otherwise want to hang on to, but I try not to be sentimental.  And if I'd kept every model I'd ever built for the last >50 years that I've been modelling, I'd need a somewhat bigger house and storage facility!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Luckily I am a slow builder, so it takes a while to fill up my display cabinets, these will take 21 1/32 scale single engined models each, I have 3 of them, plus lots of shelves.

But there does come a time when I have to have a clear out, so the models that are the least well finished get scrapped, at the moment I'm looking at a Hasegawa Zero and P51D that I build in the 1980's as prime candidates for the scrap yard, or retirement to the loft.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im not by any means 100% happy with my builds, but some 4 or 5 years ago, I found a company doing full 21" deep cabinets as it was obvious my pitiful wooden shelving was  way too inadequate for displaying any builds, for as soon  as I put them up, they were nearly filled.

 

That company I mentioned sold me two 72" x 39" x 21" glass an aluminum cabinets that are indeed going to take me a long while to fill up.

This was actually taken several years ago, and the case is actually much more full now, but not by a ton:

 

DSC03336-XL.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have very few models on display, I used to display them in Cases in our house but my wife did not like that.  Eventually we had a basement and I kept some down there but never had the cabinetry for more than a couple LSP.  In the end I started selling them.   We moved last year and I have a dedicated work shop but even less space for display.  Every inch I devote to display takes away from my work and storage space.  As a result, I cant keep anything bigger than a car model or a 1/48 single engine fighter.  Right now I have about 10 models on display in my shop.  I sold most, gave a away a few, and threw a few in the trash.

 

Shipping is hit and miss, I am getting better at packing.  I have been building a jig along the line of the ones we use to hold the model during construction, if the plane is light enough I use cardboard, line the contact points with felt strips and fasten it all down with tamiya tape.  Those have shipped well.  

 

On average, I complete one or two big projects per year, so it is not a lot anyway.

Edited by cbk57
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, chrish said:

I keep all my builds but once they’re built they mean little to me, I’m always in search of that perfect build so the one on the bench is my favourite. Once it’s done... the shelf is just a place to put it to make room for the next all elusive perfect model... that I’ll never attain

 

I've never really thought about it until reading this but I am exactly the same way. Rarely do I even look at my completed builds unless it's a subject I am building again?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, LSP_Ron said:

 

I've never really thought about it until reading this but I am exactly the same way. Rarely do I even look at my completed builds unless it's a subject I am building again?

 

 

I am the same way too; I bet a lot of us are, maybe most.

 

It is strange.  When I am building something, I sweat over every single last little detail, and always try to make everything "perfect".  It always seems so critical to me, b/c I know down the road, when the model is completed, it will kill me to see visible imperfections.

 

But then, as you say, once the model is finished and on display, I almost never examine it in any purposeful way. 

 

The models are there and I do see them, but it's just a casual glance.

 

In this way, trying to make everything perfect is really just some sort of idealist philosophy.  It's really not important in a pragmatic way.  I just don't spend any time whatsoever going over finished kits with a fine toothed comb! 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's the reason i switched to do commission build. that way i can enjoy building but I don't have to bother with storage.

 

Yet  i still from time to time build stuff for myself and usually stuff larger than my limited storage in my display cabinet :)

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/11/2018 at 10:16 PM, LSP_Ron said:

How does one sell a completed kit and ship it?

Get some slabs of semi-rigid foam (not the rigid kind you can snap in two with your hands).  Cut it into 4 rectangular slabs  the depth and width of the shipping box and clamp each  wing between two pieces.

 

Make 2 more pieces to clamp the aft fuselage.  The whole construction should fit snugly into the shipping box with the model touching nothing but foam.  Do not add packing peanuts: they can break pitot tubes, antennas, etc.

 

Pack the shipping box inside a larger box with packing material separating the boxes top and bottom and all sides.

 

I've used this method successfully.

Edited by AdamR
Paragraph
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...