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Give up

Jimbo

Jimbo

Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
82
Points
78

Hi,
I have been building model kits since I was 12ish
but while I enjoy building models, I look at the detail and effort people put into their models and think ! OMG, I could never achieve that ! I have watched so many YouTube videos but nothing ever comes close!!
However! my question is, has anyone spent a fortune on a kit, started it, then gave up :(
I have Given up on !
Cutty Sark
The Royal Caroline
Queen of the river !
all quite expensive kits :( but I knew I could never achieve the looks of the builds on here :(

Now 65 thinking maybes it's time to give up ?

but I do love watching the builds on this forum. Keep it up.
 
Jimbo said:
Hi,
I have been building model kits since I was 12ish
but while I enjoy building models, I look at the detail and effort people put into their models and think ! OMG, I could never achieve that ! I have watched so many YouTube videos but nothing ever comes close!!
However! my question is, has anyone spent a fortune on a kit, started it, then gave up :(
I have Given up on !
Cutty Sark
The Royal Caroline
Queen of the river !
all quite expensive kits :( but I knew I could never achieve the looks of the builds on here :(

Now 65 thinking maybes it's time to give up ?

but I do love watching the builds on this forum. Keep it up.
Click to expand...
Hi Jimbo
My suggestion is to find sections of kits you do enjoy doing and just make them. See where that leads you. Maybe when you perfect a particular skill to your satisfaction, be it planking or building tiny parts, or rigging, you will be motivated to complete other parts of a kit to complete a ship.

Not saying this is easy because often you have to complete things you don't like doing so you can get on with things you are good at, but experiment.

And don't take this as expert advice. My first wooden ship build (Medea) is from scratch with my own timber so there are certainly bits I'm not good at and other things I really enjoy. It's far from perfect but my skill level improves with every step and at age 76 I am motivated to complete it to MY satisfaction.
 
Remember this is a hobby which is supposed to be fun. You are not expected to be a master artist on your first build.

Some of the kits you listed are not for beginners by any means.

Look for some small simple builds to gain experience in areas, and as you keep growing you will learn skills.

Some of whom I think are master ship rights on the SoS forum keep telling us how they made mistakes and what they did to fix them and they are always learning from new methods to make things look better.
 
Can you provide your city or region of the UK to us.

You might want to check out who from the many members of this forum are from the UK, maybe one may be close enough to you to come give you help and guidance on getting one kit finished, that is the key to get going again, one at a time slow like a turtle.
 
Hi Jimbo,

Hang in there. Remember it is your model and you decide what's right - don't let others tell you anything else. You learn as you go and you decide how far that will be. For lots of reasons (i.e. life) I stopped building models in my late teens and didn't re-start until the summer of 2020 - at 66. It has been a fun sail so far, and while I haven't tackled any of the ships you listed, I've built some interesting ones - full rigged solid and POF hulls, small boats, wagons, aircraft engines and now the Wright Flyer. Have gotten to the point where, even though I have my sights set on eventually building the USS Constitution at some point, I'm having fun with my spur-of-the moment decisions. I'm currently working on my most challenging & complicated model to date - the Wright Flyer - and on my patience and motivation. As I'm still working full-time, what I've found helps keep the model going and in focus is looking at it in small chunks that can be accomplished in an hour or 2 each day during the week with longer sessions on the weekend (when not out hiking). Good luck and have fun!
 
Jimbo said:
Ciao,
Ho costruito kit di modelli da quando avevo 12 anni
ma mentre mi diverto a costruire modelli, guardo i dettagli e lo sforzo che le persone mettono nei loro modelli e penso! OMG, non potrei mai raggiungerlo! Ho guardato così tanti video su YouTube ma niente si avvicina mai!!
Tuttavia! la mia domanda è: qualcuno ha speso una fortuna per un kit, l'ha avviato e poi ha rinunciato:(
Ho rinunciato!
Cutty Sark
La Carolina Reale
Regina del fiume!
tutti kit piuttosto costosi :( , ma sapevo che non avrei mai potuto ottenere l'aspetto delle build qui:(

Ora 65 pensando che forse è il momento di arrendersi?

ma mi piace guardare le build su questo forum. Continuate così.
Click to expand...
Buonasera Jimbo, non devi scoraggiarti, nessuno è nato dotto, ti consiglio di fare dei piccoli passi e quando hai dei dubbi chiedi aiuto che nel Forum ci siano persone che possono darti un aiuto
 
Kurt Konrath said:
Can you provide your city or region of the UK to us.

You might want to check out who from the many members of this forum are from the UK, maybe one may be close enough to you to come give you help and guidance on getting one kit finished, that is the key to get going again, one at a time slow like a turtle.
Click to expand...
Hi Kurt
I stay in Motherwell scotland.
 
Frank48 said:
Buonasera Jimbo, non devi scoraggiarti, nessuno è nato dotto, ti consiglio di fare dei piccoli passi e quando hai dei dubbi chiedi aiuto che nel Forum ci siano persone che possono darti un aiuto
Click to expand...
Good evening Jimbo, you do not have to be discouraged, no one was born learned, I advise you to take small steps and when you have doubts ask for help that in the Forum there are people who can give you help
 
Welcome Jim. The kits you listed are pretty sophisticated, try something a bit easier. Rome as they say wasn't built in a day. In the words of a 101 airborne commander during WW2 when asked what the situation was, he replied, "We are surrounded, we have the enemy just where we want him".
 
Jimbo said:
but I knew I could never achieve the looks of the builds on here :(
Click to expand...
this is not important - It is only important to have fun with the hobby and building a model.
Therefore it is also completely ok, stopping a build, when there is no fun.
Try another one, or maybe another type of kit - maybe POF kit, a section model or similar would make more fun......
 
Jimbo, there is always going to be someone better than you. And me. You just have to deal with that. When I was in my early 20's building R/C planes a guy I worked with showed up at our club. He'd never built a model before but he had set his sights on a glider, 8 foot wingspan, double dihedral. We tried to talk him into something easier but we couldn't. About a month later he showed up with the wing. It was perfect. A lot of us took a real close look at ourselves. As time went by this guy tried all sorts of stuff and excelled at all of them. He tried pottery and inside of a couple of years he had a contract with Hudson's Bay company. Just a natural at building stuff. I've always been considered very good at building stuff by family and friends but I was dog dirt compared to him. All you can do is deal with it.
 
Steady on mate! I too am in your place, I have been working on my Connie for over a year in fits and starts, checking out how others, some masters; and there comes a point when you need to build for YOU! Remember, unless you sign up for one, this is not a compitition, but an enjoyment of a hobby for fun. This group is well policed with regards to destructive critisism, and I have learned alot, and I am only on my 2nd build. Stay the course and enjoy your hobby!
 
When I was a kid, we would build models and light them on fire or blow them up at the ball diamond at the park. Maybe try this. It’s pretty satisfying
 
Jimbo,
I‘ve found myself in your position many times (as recently as yesterday).
Like many, I’m always amazed by the level of skill on this forum.
Sometimes I get dejected thinking I’ll never be at that level.
Truth be told, I will never reach the highest level.
At other times I’m able to use it as motivation to improve my own work.
Don’t give up! Take a break when it gets to be too much. Charge ahead when the storm passes.
Every so often I step back and realized that I have accomplished something worthwhile, flaws and all.
I’m 72 with badly shaking hands and eyesight issues, but still trudging ahead.
Hang in there and enjoy.

Dave
 
Don’t compete against others. Compete against yourself. Pick the model you are closest to completing and complete it. Then take the other kit you have started and make your goal to do better work on it than the first kit. Only one person can be the best model ship builder in the world, but all of us can be the best builder he (or she) can be.
 
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Panexpoguy said:
Don’t compete against others. Compete against yourself. Pick the model you are closest to completing and complete it. Then take the other kit you have started and make your goal to do better work on it than the first kit. Only one person can be the best model ship builder in the world, but all of us can be the best builder he (or she)can be.
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Amen to that, Panexpoguy. We all started with basic models, full of mistakes. It takes practice to make better models. Even early models still have a place. Up until recently, I had a Revell Spanish Galleon that I made when I was 16. I'm 57 now. My very first rigged ship model. It finally went away as the glue bonds all came apart due to extreme age. Until then, it was proud on the TV stand for decades. It certainly wasn't perfect, but I was still proud of it. How many real galleons lasted that long? Making better models is a journey.
 
On a serious note, I’m still on my first wooden ship model, being a carpenter by trade, I stumbled through it, Constructo is a terrible kit to do For your first model, I almost gave up on bending the Sapelly, im at the point of doing all the rigging, I think that’s why Im at a stand still. Not sure where to start.
 
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Sea Burd said:
On a serious note, I’m still on my first wooden ship model, being a carpenter by trade, I stumbled through it, Constructo is a terrible kit to do For your first model, I almost gave up on bending the Sapelly, im at the point of doing all the rigging, I think that’s why Im at a stand still. Not sure where to start.
Click to expand...
Post a picture. We can help figure out the next step. Sapele wood almost the same as mahogany. It is course grained which means it tends to break when bent unless soaked and steamed. I am wondering what you are bending that needs sapele. Usually that is reserved only for the finish layer of planking, and not a structural member.

Let's Go Brandon!
 
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