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Screwing up and dealing with it


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The last three builds I've tackled, I've made "now I need new parts" kinda mistakes. This makes me a little crazy and they go back in the box. It doesn't happen to me often, so three in a row is really raining on my parade.

It's hard to get over the frustration from this. I get little enough bench time as it is, so it's not like I need a break. I just get irritated now when I sit down at the bench, and the fun of building is gone.

I'm going to start a kit (soon, maybe ?) with few modifications involved and try to get through it without going nuts. I'm probably not going to post a WIP as it's been the kiss of death for my builds of late.

Anyone else gotten through this?

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It happens, I have atleast 4 builds kicking around that have frustrated me and I need to fix stuff on, or just plain get after and finish. It’s art , so your muse must kick in and guide you to the finish line . Set it aside, create something else, and eventually the thing that was killing you will materialize and fall into place like nothing. Hang in there, it happens to all of us.

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51 minutes ago, Jantrix said:

...Anyone else gotten through this?

Not that specific issue, but I just had a nasty thing happen on a long-term build. Paint buggery on a very complex chassis. Going to be tough to strip and make her look like new, and to make it even more annoying, I did my due-diligence testing first and had no problem !

Disheartening? Sure. "Fun"? Nope. But it's not the easy stuff that shows a man's character.  :D

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Oh yeah...!!!   The last three builds that I started all screwed up at the final paint stage and wound up in the purple pond.  One is almost completely redone and just about ready for final assembly.  When this happens I get turned off to even approaching my workbench for months and it's really aggravating.  I always wind up getting back into the swing of things though.  The "joys of modeling".

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Been there, done that.  I've done painting where the airbrush spits at the wrong time, or the frisket doesn't behave the way it should, and there's a week's work down the drain.  And in the digital age, those days when you are in the zone, and so you forget to save, al afternoon and when the power goes down....

Funny thing is, if you can get past the discouragement, sometimes it's easier the second time around, because this time, you know how it's supposed to go.

Edited by Richard Bartrop
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Yep

My builds seem to take an inordinate amount of time due to screw ups, lost and or broken parts, bad paint, or something unforeseen.

..., but I stay with them (sometimes years), and eventually get them to completion.

I've recently done a run of 3 AMT Indy cars recently,..out of box except for some wiring, and I tell ya it's nice to just FINISH something.

 

 

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My main thing is paint. One on the bench has been in the purple pound 5 times. The other one 3 times and the last one once. I bought it with a bad paint job. But I'm learning to not be so fussy. I don't enter them in shows and my family and friends thnk they are great. So it's really just me and my OCD. :)

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I can count on one hand the number of builds I've finished without having to strip something, it's one of the reasons I buy two of almost everything now. On the L9000 truck l did I couldn't even get a flat black paint job to turn out right, in my younger days I'd have taken it out back and set it on fire. Sometimes you've just got to wait on your mojo to come back. I usually go play a video game or try to figure out the guitar for the 500th time and come back to it with fresh eyes. I try to plan my projects more carefully too to make sure I have enough steam to finish them.

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I think you see that your complaint is not unique to you.  IMHO, anyone who has not  screwed up enough to put the project aside for a while is just doing bone box stock kits with no paint.

When I lose something, I forget about it for a while and usually find it looking for something else.  If a project is giving you frustration, put it aside for a time.  The problem will percolate in your subconcious, so when you do get back to it, the solution will present itself.

Happy building!

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The difference between a good modeler and  a great modeler is the great modeler is better at fixing mistakes.  All to often people think that great modelers get it right first time every time.  Not true!  They are just great fixers!

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When I was building, I had some episode every time I put something together.

I went from this

photo2-vi.jpg

to this, with one slip from hand to floor.

photo-vi.jpg

It took a bit, but I fixed it.

Chassis2-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

 

 

Even the small assemblies can take a hit

This...

gaspedallinkage2-vi.jpg

went to to this when the rotary blade grabbed the assembly and flung it into the back board of my bench

Deathsawattacks-vi.jpg

I rebuilt it

repedal2-vi.jpg

 

Andy Kelleog from SAE once said to me, "If you can do it once; you can do it again."

Edited by Scott Colmer
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Multiple times, with various resolve.

On one project, the paint totally cracked, and rather than repaint, I decided to keep the cracked paint and turned it into an aged patina project.

Another time, on a long term project, I had spent a lot of time building this rear end. From the airbag mounts out, it is aluminum tubing. image.png.8d5dba48b78e88a8c74064c68add15f5.png

However, when I primed and shot the paint, I did not like the paint, and without thinking, dropped the sub assembly into the purple pond, only to discover, and be reminded, that aluminum does not hold up to Purple Power.All those nuts are individual resin heads, and the mounts were scratched, so I was not about to let this one go. image.png.4ace41f63c1089a4aaa86cd1c239410c.png

Scrubbed all the ooze off

image.png.b634c0762fd1bb83da4a3ee7a8f5236a.png

rebuilt it, despite being initially upset and disheartened, it worked out. (turned out I needed the axle to be a TINY bit longer anyway)image.png.75db0868e7ae11215c7e9e5841c8fa0c.png

image.png.c14c045e274e0f1586bf31ad6488fce1.png

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That *never* happens to me.  ?  I call it crapsmanship.

I had the paint crinkle in spots, after going for the color twice.  So made the executive decision to make it a work-in-progress, budget restoration.  The really big **** up was stuffing the parts box 427 engine in, then looking up the scale of the donor kit and seeing it was 1/24, when this Corvette is 1/25, amazing what a difference that made!  So it's a 502.  ?
IMG_4805_Fotor.thumb.jpg.e56b8ba323d2af09684cfa76c9ec2fac.jpg
IMG_5441_Fotor.thumb.jpg.b5328d66d4180c2542251bf9eb41cff9.jpg

 

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I too feel the pain.... started this project in 2013, reworked the Revell body to correct the back window and trunk area. Was going to be Shirley Muldowney’s  yellow mustang, after 2 Sets of decals failed to cooperate, I threw it back in the box. Pulled it out and decided to try and save the body. Into the purple pond, painted it black and two sets of  Trojan Horse decals later, I applied the clear, Testors brand new can just for this body. Sprayed the clear coat and it crazed the decals, not the side decals, there fine, no problem, just the decals on the top panels?????? 

CE2F448A-5DEE-41EA-8A0D-B4E08275C712.jpeg

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Thanks guys. Nice to see I'm not alone here. I definitely screw up models occasionally, but it was the back to back to back nature of these last few frustrating builds that just has my nerves worn thin. 

I'll try to get back on the horse here soon with something a bit more forgiving.

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14 minutes ago, Jantrix said:

I'll try to get back on the horse here soon with something a bit more forgiving.

There is something to be said for doing an "easy" model once in a while just for the fun of it.  My preferred relief are egg planes.  However, having said that, to me the real joy of modeling is taking it to another level.  The joy of doing the difficult well.  The challenge of doing something you didn't think you could do.  In short, leaning a new skill.  At 70 years old, there is still much I can learn how to do.  It gets me out of the bed every morning.  

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9 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

 

...The really big **** up was stuffing the parts box 427 engine in, then looking up the scale of the donor kit and seeing it was 1/24, when this Corvette is 1/25, amazing what a difference that made!  So it's a 502.  

Sorry to rain on your parade, but a 502 is the same dimensionally and visually outside as a 427. The difference is the bore and stroke internally. The 502 has siamesed bores that allow the larger cylinder diameter. There is a "tall deck" truck or aftermarket block, but the only dimensional difference is...wait for it...the deck height. That's the dimension from the crank centerline to the head mounting surface...not really noticeable on a model.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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19 hours ago, dragcarz said:

I too feel the pain.... started this project in 2013, reworked the Revell body to correct the back window and trunk area. Was going to be Shirley Muldowney’s  yellow mustang, after 2 Sets of decals failed to cooperate, I threw it back in the box. Pulled it out and decided to try and save the body. Into the purple pond, painted it black and two sets of  Trojan Horse decals later, I applied the clear, Testors brand new can just for this body. Sprayed the clear coat and it crazed the decals, not the side decals, there fine, no problem, just the decals on the top panels?????? 

CE2F448A-5DEE-41EA-8A0D-B4E08275C712.jpeg

It really does not help the confidence when one continues to be bad luck! I threw out a body that I had paint problems with a couple of times...

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14 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Sorry to rain on your parade, but a 502 is the same dimensionally and visually outside as a 427. The difference is the bore and stroke internally. The 502 has siamesed bores that allow the larger cylinder diameter. There is a "tall deck" truck or aftermarket block, but the only dimensional difference is...wait for it...the deck height. That's the dimension from the crank centerline to the head mounting surface...not really noticeable on a model.

Buzzkill. ?  Doesn't matter anyway, nobody will notice.

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As a past expert in mucking things up, I don't mind putting things right.

Having only started model car building in the last year, I find I have more patience than I used to. Some kits, not just oldies, require a bucket load of patience, but there are ways and means to tackling them. I do more planning and test assembling than I used to.

If you never make a mistake, you never learn.

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