Is finishing your goal?

[AC Norton]

......you asked, so I'll throw in on this one.........it's ALWAYS my goal to finish a car to my liking and enjoy the trip along the way,,,,but, like mentioned  on the opening of this thread, in the last couple of year's I just seem to loose interest after the sanding, part's prep, grinding, and the basic start up.... going all the way with a project is becoming increasingly more of a challenge for me, as I seem to loose interest and then start another  that end's up the same. for myself, I know what the answer may be....open a kit, and make the entire build a one week project, like many of us did a zillion year's ago, when perfection and ultra detail along with foil and every other resin part and all didn't even exist....problem is, we have a tendency as model people to fix, correct, repair,,,etc, etc..everything involved in our build's to the best of our ability, making each build more and more involved, until lack of interest rear's it's ugly head. I wish I had an answer to it all, because I have 5 started kit's all at about the same level of  completed work, and just don't really care at this point to continue on any of them. I spend more time on this forum looking and commenting than actually sanding styrene....maybe that's part of the problem, as well as 30 more year's and 30 more pound's  thrown in the mix too......the Ace....

[Tom Geiger]

I would say I'm  "all of the above".

I intend to complete all my models that I start.  Things seem to get in the way sometimes.

1.  Over complicatus -   models where I get stuck on a task I need to do, a decision I need to make or skills not yet earned.

2.  FUBAR - A model with an error or significant "redo" that I'm frustrated with and toss back in the box.  I intend to go back to these once I stop seeing red on that project

3.  Pushed Aside -  for the next great idea, a time sensitive model I want to finish for an event, or something new and cool I've purchased.  These will sit

4.  Expired Project -   Once I've pushed a project aside for a time sensitive model I need to finish for an event--- these are the ones that did not meet that goal.

5.  Interest lost - Just that!

6.  Procrastination -  My old friend!  

I seem to be into the "can I do that?"  engineering phase of the project.  Once I've got the mock up sitting there,  I can squint a bit and see the finished project in my mind.  What's the sense of wasting good time to finish it now?  

I long ago realized my tendencies. In fact it's in my genes. My father was the curator of the "House of Unfinished Projects".  It didn't matter how far he was along, he just didn't seem to get that very last piece of molding in place.    So I devised a plan...   called  The Annual Model Car Amnesty Project -    just as the president would grant Thanksgiving Amnesty to a specific turkey,  I find one of my long sitting unfinished projects and grant it Christmas Amnesty every year.  I usually have had the week between Christmas and New Years off (as I do this year) so I pull something off my unfinished project pile and attempt to finish it before I go back to work.  This year that should be January 2, 2017.  As I got into more complicated projects,  I sometimes extended that to "when it's finished" as long as there were no interruptions in the work.  

I have historically, for the past 15 years actually finished these projects, since it's a personal challenge.  There was one year I didn't do a project when I was between houses, but most other years I have a model on my shelf!

2012  the '34 Ford rat sedan with a Chrysler flathead six

2013 My A100  van - A tribute to an old friend Don who drove the actual truck

2014   The Volare Messenger Car -   This one was started some 20 years ago. Every few years I'd pull it out and fiddle with it, completing a few steps.  

2015 -  The 1960 Plymouth Airport Limo -  Didn't finish, I got into redoing the body stretch once I realized the original work wasn't straight and true.  Still some engineering things to overcome. Needed a rest on the project, so it sits.

I don't know what I will work on this year just yet.  But I'm hoping it's a project that I can actually finish!

[Jon Haigwood]

For me finishing a build is a just a conclusion of my build. 

My goal is to improve my skills and learn how to overcome build problems and set backs.

I also find that I learn something about the car or the history behind it.

I feel a satisfaction when it is complete but I also look at the flaws and try to figure out how to avoid them next time.

It is like reading a good book, holds your interest while you are into it but when it is done its done, put up and almost forgotten. But still available to reference back to.

Like I said finishing a build is just a conclusion of one small chapter in my life.  

Like they say "it's not about the destination, it's about the trip getting there"

Edited December 16, 2016 by Jon Haigwood

[Mr Stock]

Its definitely my goal to finish every kit I start, and I do usually do just that, I work on a maximum of two kits a time, I may fiddle around on a third. But finishing them is very important to me I get really itchy about stuff not being finished. Probably the only time I break my completist rule is when I have a major paintwork ****up that I cant fix quickly .....then it goes back into the box until I can be bothered to deal with it again.

[peteski]

My favorite part of building a kit is when all the finished/painted sub-assemblies are put together.  Suddenly from bunch of parts you have a model.

As for the fun ending when the model is finished, that is not the case for me. I often look over my finished models. I pick them up and examine them closely. I enjoy seeing them finished, and also in my mind I can easily bring back the memories of when I was building it, what were the fun parts of the build and which ones were frustrating. I can do this many times and I never get bored looking at my finished models. But I also don't look at my finished models often - only once in a while I pick up a model, enjoy its finished appearance and recall the time I was building it.