Shelf Queens

The Nylon Gag

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Joined
Nov 14, 2011
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829
Ello,

Fact, My brain isn't big enough to do more than one thing at a time

But i have subscribed to various peoples build threads for them to just peter out and never to be heard from again (you know who you are) but i see them start new projects all the time, so my questions are :-

1. How many projects can you keep going at any one time?

&

2. How many shelf queens do you currantly have?

Don't get me wrong, i would love to be able to start someting else to build on the side, but like i said my brain simple can't handle more than one project at a time,
put another way, i think i would only be able to give 50% focus on each project.

It may just be the way i was trained to work as a machinist, i can usually only have one job on the go at a time, either that or i'm just not that bright ;D

What are your opinions?

Talk to me Heardsters

Gagsterman
 
I probably have 30-40 kits in various stages of building and painting. I know people are gonna groan and say "why can't you finish what you started?"

Well frankly, build something for awhile and get bored with it, or something new comes along that catches your eye at the time, or you just loose interest in the build. Better to put it aside and choose something else then not be as interested in the build anymore and it ends up being not your best work.

I will get back to them and finish them at some point, just not right now.

Some people may look at that number above and think it is alot, but really it is a small percentage of the total number of kits in the stash (approx around 700ish).
 
I think I have 7-8 shelf queens at the moment/kits that I've started that I plan to get back to. My personally philosophy is "No matter what, just have fun!" If at any point during a kit I stop having fun I'll stop what I'm doing, pack it up neatly and put it away until later. Half of the shelf queens I have I've picked up and put down a few times. I'm sure I don't complete nearly as many builds as I could if I followed a build all the way through to the end once I've started, but like I said, I'm in it for the fun!
 
I've got my shelf queens/unfinished builds down to 7 0r 8, not counting miniatures that need painting.

I get bored, or a new build that I really, really want to do comes up.

This is also part of how my stash got built
 
I'll admit that some of my builds that I started WIP threads ended up getting smashed to pieces out of frustration and some of them did get boxed back up for later. I really try to keep a minimum of 3-4 projects going on, that's all I can really wrap my head around.

Sometimes I'll start a new project if my current project is at a stand still. For example, I started a WIP thread way back in January for a vinyl Godzilla kit. Its finally ready to paint, but I ended up damaging my airbrush, so while I save up for new parts for my airbrush, I'll start another kit to keep me occupied, which ended up being the Moebius Spindrift I started a few weeks back. Once I get my airbrush back in working order, I'll go back and finish Godzilla, and the cycle continues ;)
 
For me the shelf queens stack up at the start of the spring contest. Anything that isn't done by the start gets put on the shelf and left for later. This summer I hope to finish them up.

I only have two going at once, and I tend to alternate between them. Right now I am working on the Brakiri cruiser from Babylon 5 (Shelf queen) and a AMC gremlin which is a new build. Both are near done.
 
I probably have 4-7 projects going at any given time. I hate seeing uncompleted stuff taking up shelf space. So after enthusiastically completing a bunch of projects, I eventually get sick of partially completed stuff and finish it up.

That being said, they're never as good as projects I fully complete all at once in a short time with the maximum enthusiasm level.
 
I'm like you Gag. My brain can only handle one at a time. ;D
 
Gag I can only work on assembling one kit at a time. Its the OCD in me coming out. I have to the best of my ability to the skill level I have at this stage, come as close to what I feel is perfected before I can move onto another build. However, I do have about four kits prepped ready to paint. The way I prep, is I take all the parts of each individual color and tape to a bigger index card. When all parts are taped to the proper color index card, I put them in a Tupperware container (the style Scott Girvin, showed in his one how to tutorial) and put it in the to do stash. Once a build is completed, I then turn to the to do stash and choose which Ill start assembling next. Works pretty well for me. When I get frustrated, I may put the current build Im assembling at the present to the side and prep another kit for paint. My way of taking a break without breaking the current kit Im assembling if it should frustrate me. Recently, Im to the point where all I have in my stash are nascar kits. Im getting bored with them so I chose to finish my last kit, started the next one, it frustrated me so Im now looking to get into Aircraft and Armor vehicles. I went to ebay and bought two Airfix new tooling aircraft kits, put the current Nascar build in its container and to the top of the to do stash kits. When the aircraft kits arrive the beginning of the month, Ill start one of those. When aircraft start boring me, Ill then turn to either a Armor kit I purchase this month or back to the current Nascar build that frustrated me in the to do stash. haha hope you understand my mumble jumble :D
 
I have 2 WIP and 1 'shelf queen' sitting staring back at me that needs finishing.
I also have half a dozen 'box queens' that are kits that were only just started or got to a point they refuse to be finished, things like a lost crucial part, or warpedparts that refuse to go back.

There are some that could be redone, or made better it i like to keep them the way they are as an evolution and timeline of my builds.
 
I normally have 2 kits going at one but with an off set start.

Reason for this is simple i hate having to watch paint dry. And since Murphy's law is always tapping me on the shoulder the day i have the most modeling time available is always the day that you need to paint a major component then 30mins later nothing to do but wait!! Here come the second kit at this point.

Right now i have 2 real shelf queens on i had to stop because my apartment man cave was too small (i.e the corner of my pc desk to build a 1/32F-16) and the other because i ruined two part (a-4 intake) witch i got a replacement by a fellow member. Its currently being finished on the side with my current 2 builds. now if you counted fast that makes 3 builds at once this time! :p

Cheers

Neo
 

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