Competing with Yourself

[Hawkwrench]

My wife calls it a nerdy hobby and everytime we go to a contest, she chuckled at all the "nerds" who are there!

 

Tim

[MikeC]

2 hours ago, Hawkwrench said:

My wife calls it a nerdy hobby and everytime we go to a contest, she chuckled at all the "nerds" who are there!

 

Tim

It is a nerdy hobby, and nothing wrong with that - I claim the title of "nerd", along with "geek", with pride.

[Dpgsbody55]

It may be a "nerdy" hobby, but it's also a lonely hobby as it needs total concentration.  I find even music playing tends not to be heard.  I don't multi skill as the task at hand doesn't get done to the best of my abilities.

 

So the interaction on forums like this tends to become important.  Seeing how others are tackling a subject gives me ideas and I will sometimes refer back to them when I'm building that plane, which is why I contribute a WIP or GB of the model I'm presently building.  Some time back, I realised that my work wasn't getting any better, but at that time, there were no such forums as this and I live in a place where there aren't any model shows.  It was like existing in a vacuum.

 

A little encouragement goes a long way, as does constructive criticism, and it does become disappointing when your WIP gets little attention.  But it doesn't define my effort or passion for my subject or even the final outcome.  I'm not a competitive person, but I do like to challenge myself to improve and always have some pride in my work.  Being a part of this forum has become part of the pleasure of modelling and I've learned a lot here.  I'll keep doing what I'm doing as long as my aging eyes and shaking hands allow , as well as until my interest wanes, which it hasn't in almost 60 years .  Even if it is a "boring" 109.  I may even build another straight after this one.

 

So that's my perspective on this.  And thanks to MikeC for posting the link.  Such discussions as this need to be had sometimes.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

"Competing with myself" ???   I used to but I kept losing. So now I just try to limit my own

expectations, l ike I've said many times, it's all about expectations. It's not as easy as I thot

it would be but I'm getting better at it. Trying to 'make something better'  just takes too much

time and I've got too many models I 'want' to build to spend time fixing things when I know

they're just gonna sit there on the shelf where I will look at them occasionally and say

"man I killed that one". I've only done a coupla WIPs as I like to share my mistakes and hope

someone can learn something and also know that they are not the only ones who can screw

up badly like we all do. I've grown to feel like I know folks here and if it weren't fun, I wouldn't do it.

[Neo]

13 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

Hi Neo.  Like almost everyone, i returned to this hobby as an adult.   But as a kid, i was on some speed run, anxious to be finished with a model.  I taught myself rudimentary airbrush use, puttying seams, very basic. 
 

When i returned, i was in a high pressure career, and needed a distracting hobby.  I started with 1/35 armor, and forced myself to paint figures until i finally got a third place award at a local show.  That has immensely helped my detail painting.  I also adopted a mantra, i will not move on until i have achieved the best result i can achieve.  Its never perfect, but, often, the third or so attempt is far better than the first.  
 

i started a WIP of my first LSP, a Hase T bolt i won at a local raffle.  I started in Fed 2017.  Im not finished.  My thread is now 35 pages long.  To be honest, it DOES feel good when someone leaves a flattering comment.  But on my thread, i really value the criticism.  Not negative, but honest comments to help me make a better result.  An example is, i used HGW wet transfers for the prop markings.  They place the logos in the wrong spot.  Woody pointed out the issue, and even sent me new logos to fix it.  Right now i am wrestling with how and where to replicate the drop tank plumbing. Several guys are being super helpful with photos and engineering drawings to try to get it right.  Jay W and TAG have helped in this immensely. I could never do this by myself.   I am absolutely building this for me, to go on my shelf, which i dont even have yet, but i am getting a lot out of this community.  
 

hopefully in the next couple weeks, i can post an RFI thread.  I know for a fact that for me, this is the best i am capable of, and far better, than anything i could have done without this resource.  I know there are warts, my formerly immaculate reflector for the gunsight was mashed flat countless times before i wised up and put on the windscreen. Live and learn.    
 

i am always conscious of the fact that many of the posters here have amazing skills that i can only aspire to, but even that makes me a better builder. 
 

post up a thread, i will follow it with interest. 

 

Thanks for the reply, I think we have the same view on this, i use to be very active on ARC especially the group builds, I was so active in all of them that i became the GB admin/manager.

I love doing wip because in general you learn allot and you get tons of motivation from them, but ive been demoralized  in the past couple for low interest.

 

Dont get me wrong im not crying in my corner saying nobody loves me! But Knowing that LSP is a very supportive group,Im aware that the problem is 18 inches from the screen (i e me) so i stoped making wip for the moment to try to learn/improve this skill and hopefully make a glorious comeback!

 

Thank you for you answer /support

Edited May 1, 2022 by Neo

[Neo]

7 hours ago, MikeC said:

It is a nerdy hobby, and nothing wrong with that - I claim the title of "nerd", along with "geek", with pride.

 

Me a geek noooo

 

[Jeff T]

9 hours ago, Hawkwrench said:

My wife calls it a nerdy hobby and everytime we go to a contest, she chuckled at all the "nerds" who are there!

 

Tim

....Tim, I laugh at all the "nerds" there!...a lot of the characters you see at the comps are as interesting as the models!..

 

[mozart]

30 minutes ago, Neo said:

Dont get me wrong im not crying in my corner saying nobody loves me! But Knowing that LSP is a very supportive group,Im aware that the problem is 18 inches from the screen (i e me) so i stoped making wip for the moment to try to learn/improve this skill and hopefully make a glorious comeback!

 

LSP most certainly is supportive in very many ways, but I know where you're coming from Neo.  Some years ago I decided to participate in a "Trainer GB", not on LSP but shall we say a forum where 1/72 and 1/48 definitely rules.  I was doing a 1/32 KH T-6/Harvard, another fellow was also doing a Harvard in 1/72.  It was so noticeable how my build was ignored by all but the GB administrator whereas the other one was lauded and applauded to the heavens.  I got so p***ed off that I stopped the build and let them know why.  Didn't win me any friends! 

 

My Harvard worked out quite well though here in the LSP family:

 

 

 

[LSP_K2]

13 hours ago, MikeC said:

It is a nerdy hobby, and nothing wrong with that - I claim the title of "nerd", along with "geek", with pride.

 

This may call for a "Model Nerd" T-shirt. I'd buy one in a minute.

[Hawkwrench]

2 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

 

This may call for a "Model Nerd" T-shirt. I'd buy one in a minute.

That makes 2!!!

 

Tim

[LSP_Kevin]

3 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

 

This may call for a "Model Nerd" T-shirt. I'd buy one in a minute.

 

https://modelnerds.myshopify.com/

 

Kev

[Kagemusha]

On 4/30/2022 at 1:06 PM, Neo said:

There are some interesting points in there. 

 

For me at the moment ive stopped posting in the WIP section based on the fact that for some reasons (yes most likely more than one) my last 5-10 barely got any comments, and it really demotivated me in my progression. 

Ive done some quick research to see if it was the kits/markings that just had low interest but found builds of the same topic to have 10-200x interactions/comments on. 

 

To the point of that article, ive decided to build for me, I do miss the support i use to get from the WIP's but less then the feeling nobody likes my work from low interaction count 

 

Thanks for sharing the article

 

 

 

Low interaction count is befuddling, there was a build on here last year I think, which was absolutely wonderful, a true artist at work, but very little comments, might have been down to the esoteric subject matter. 

 

Unfortunately I don't have the time I'd like to follow builds, and when I do take a look, it's unsatisfying to a degree, because I've missed what went before, I intend to go back to the beginning, but it's that lack of time. Tom's Lanc was a case in point.

 

You could always show a RFI with some WIP pics? 

[europapete]

I believe that subject matter can definately affect responses. I am totally guilty of that myself. I enjoy looking at builds from the Wright Bros up to WW2, but tend to ignore the jet scene ( much to my detriment sometimes! lol) 

[mozart]

4 minutes ago, europapete said:

I believe that subject matter can definately affect responses. I am totally guilty of that myself. I enjoy looking at builds from the Wright Bros up to WW2, but tend to ignore the jet scene ( much to my detriment sometimes! lol) 

Also guilty m'lud!

[Out2gtcha]

100%. I think subject matter can make all the difference when it comes to how many people look at your posts. There are some exceptions to this of course, our own Peter from Airscale being one I can think of that I would look in on no matter what he is building.  You do need to know about his unbelievable skills in his threads prior though for that to count.