Random thoughts...

[James2]

So here is my question for the ages.

HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED? 

Not just motivated but interested. Have you ever been disenchanted or disillusioned by the hobby? Not just the hobby but the hobbyist as well? 

Allow me to backup a bit...

I started building model cars, like many of us, at a young age. Continued building through my adolescence at a leisurely pace but took a break from the hobby in my 20's to sow as they say, my "wild oats". And then in my 30's after getting married, I rediscovered the joys of building model cars. Acquiring a few kits, aftermarket pieces and parts and all the required tools I could afford.  My patience, imagination and skills increased with every project. Seeking that PERFECT representation of my automobile love in plastic, resin and paint. That was 20yr ago and nearly 50yr if you count the beginning. I have built glue bombs, shelf models, trophy models, award winning models and have had some models published in various magazines. 

Today...

I recently attended a show/swap meet, were I entered a few of my latest pieces, some well done some not so well. But I was there for more than accolades. I was there in search of the love of the hobby. Arriving sometime after the normal crowd of venders, I made my way through the door to see an old friend's smiling face and hardy handshake. Thinking to myself, that is some of what might be missing. As I made my way to the assigned table in a room full of hobbyist, I encountered familiar faces of friends I see once your twice a year. Having made the pleasantries I set my meager stash of unwanted kits and parts out on the table. And then it began. Like vultures, all the usual suspects began circling and surveying the objects on the table. As they moved in for the kill, inspecting each box and it's contents for what could be their "Holy Grail" I watched their faces change from delight to disappointment, realizing that their quest must continue.  I was not there to make money, win the largest trophy or purchase the grandest kit for next to nothing. I was there to find what was missing in my hobby.

Observations...

What I found was disappointment. And while I did see a few glimpses of genuine pleasure, most of what I observed was a letdown. Like defeated and downcast craft pearsons or weary travelers trogging through another event they looked more like retirees at an assisted living home, just waiting for the inevitable end to come. Seemingly and endlessly saddened with permanent frowns, droopy posture and sightless eyes. Why were they even here? What could they possibly be looking for? As the day went on and the awards were being given, I realised that they came for many reasons. Some like me for what might be missing in my hobby, some to find that missing piece to a long overdue project, some for their Holy Grail of models. Others to enjoy the friendliness of the hobby or to be awarded with the best and biggest trophy for all their efforts. Whatever the reason for being there, I hope they found what it was. For myself it seems that I am even further from my joy of the hobby than before. I seem to lack interest, motivation and vision to continue.

Hope...

As I ponder this issue in my mind, I reflected on the moments that made me smile that day. It was the youth! Those youngsters just starting to enter this world of modeling. Perhaps for the first time! Eyes wide open, enthusiasm, wonderment, the joy of something new, the excitement of creation and imagination. I remember encouraging those youngsters with words of guidance or advice and even gifting a few kits to the ones who who showed interest. As I stated I was not there to make money, receive awards or purchase anything really. I was looking for inspiration! Perchance, had I found it? I believe  I may have, it was that youthful wonderment of doing something new. Or perhaps it is the thought of being young. No matter what and contrary to what some might say, the answer may be. I need to just enjoy what I'm doing and without a doubt become more Childlike! So if you need me I'll be at the kitchen table building a model car...

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by James2

[restoman]

Ayup...

I feel the same. To me, it's all about having fun and relaxing. The need to be seen or recognized has never been with me, the need to be creative has.

[SCRWDRVR]

I’ve always built to please me, I’ve entered one show in my youth but I realized that would just frustrate me when it came to the things I’m not good at and stopped. I recently went to my first event since and enjoy looking at the work of others but I don’t compare in ability and know it. So for me I will continue to do it for my joy so I will continue to want to start that next build. I’ve learned a lot on this forum that has really stepped up my game but I am decades away from the ability I see here.

[hpiguy]

I stay motivated by building every single genre of models under the sun. Two full builds per week can kill your motivation really fast if you don't find ways to keep that fire going. Cars, trucks, all scales, ships, planes, helis, sci fi, figures, buildings, resin, metal, plastic, whatever. 

I love models and model making.
I'm not at an amazing level of skills and likely never will be, but I love the assembly, paint work and just zoning out in my shop on whatever kit I have to build next.

Any brands, makers, styles, love it all. I'm not an expert on any of it. I make mistakes, I call a part by the wrong name, I stick a tiny sci-fi laser gun on in the wrong direction, so what.

If I only built muscle cars, or one type of car, or only did weathered things, or just shiny new things, I'd lose my motivation in a couple weeks. Kudos to those that can be laser focused on just one type of model all the time and not get burnt out.

I also love watching other people build and get a kick out of seeing what others are doing. There is a guy on this forum that shows off all the new Japanese kits on his videos, I watch that stuff too.

I stick with the positive channels, those that don't drag drama or sniping at others onto their videos. Folks that are as eager as me to just make a model fire me up to keep working on all mine.  I simply do not get those that have to try to start stuff between channels, or troll others or cut others kits or work down. Terrible. We should be lifting each other up and having a blast. It's models!  It's supposed to be a fun past time!

I refuse to drag drama or anything else but models and fun onto the model videos I do. There is enough bad stuff in the world, my model videos are about the model and that's it. And having fun doing it no matter the skill levels.  I have bad paint jobs and slipped marker scratches and show my mistakes all the time so that people know that perfection is an illusion and the main goal is just to sit down and make something.

Edited September 29, 2019 by hpiguy

[StevenGuthmiller]

Personally, I have become more motivated in the hobby in the past 8 or 9 years than I have ever been in my nearly 50 years of building!

I know exactly where that motivation comes from.

It is purely the subjects that I am building now.

I have been building exclusively vintage kits since coming off of a 10 year hiatus about 10 years ago.

The thought of building interesting and unusual subjects keeps me excited about what project I'm working on or want to start next to the point where I think about it while I'm at work, or even laying in bed at night.

 

I guess you could say that if I had to rely on what is available in modern kits today, I would likely loose interest again and stop.

I'm pretty certain that was a major factor the last time that I stopped building for an extended period.

 

As far as shows go, I only attend one or possibly two shows a year.

Just enough to mingle a bit with other people who share an interest in the hobby.

 

I will confess that boards like this help a great deal in keeping the fire burning.

Being able to to share what you are doing and what you have accomplished with other hobbyists is a great motivator to me.

 

 

Steve

[tbill]

For me, it’s the fact that I really don’t build in the good weather months, just too much other stuff to do and enjoy, but with the weather starting to change, I got the fire again, and when the flame was reignited, I painted about 8 bodies. Those are all lined up in plain sight in my model room, and every time I look at them I get fired up.......

[Jantrix]

On 9/29/2019 at 9:31 AM, James2 said:

I need to just enjoy what I'm doing and without a doubt become more Childlike! So if you need me I'll be at the kitchen table building a model car...

My wife and I have a small farm now for two years. The upkeep on this homestead is taking what used to be my hobby time. In two years, I've finished ONE model. This frustration turned into a kind of depression. I'd avoid the hobby room even when I would have time, because I didn't want to get involved in a build and then have it sit for 6 months. Lately though I've had to sit back and think about my building style. The realization I've made is that I've gotta curb the cutting without the cutting the creativity. That is - less fabrication or major modifications. Do more with the kit parts, so that I can finish a build with 40 hours invested instead or 80. So I'm looking at each kit a little differently, and like you mentioned, building a little more child like.

[Mike 1017]

This is the hobby I chose. I luv it. It challenges me to do better every time. Now because of MCM, SAE, and other forums I can share pictures of my cars. 

Now unintended circumstances {taking pictures of my cars.} has now caused me to purchase a camera,a small tabletop photo studio, and Photoshop. BAM !!!!! another hobby.

Mike 1017

[randyc]

THIS forum is my favorite "social media".   I am not inspired to go to shows or swap meets.  I like building to suit myself and try to make things you guys will comment on.  I try for accuracy, but I don't go overboard with details anymore.   When it's on the shelf, it should look reasonably realistic.  I do miss some of the folks I've met in person over the years.   

I went through a period with a job change that kept me away from home during the week.  I made a "go kit" for my house while I was at work.  I worked on things there, did my airbrushing when home when possible.  Didn't complete a kit in that time.   Messed with little sub assemblies.  Got job back at home and stareted up again.  And am in full swing with a mostly entirely different collection now.   Selling off the ones that don't fit, building new plastics that do and buying diecasts to play with as well.

It's all in finding what pleases you and keeps you going.   If I had to build sports cars all the time, I'd lose interest again.  I had a couple hundred NASCAR models - can't bear the thought of building one now.  Give me a big American barge and a bottle of glue and I'm happy.   Well, ok, give me all my modeling supplies and a big American car kit.  And an occasional NICE sportscar kit.

[Lunajammer]

I'm definitely unmotivated and not building right now. But I'm not concerned and all my paints and tools remain on the bench because I know these things come and go. I've learned to let go and allow motivation take its ebbs and flows. It always comes back around, so I'll just wait for that warm glow to return and not fret over doing nothing. Until then, I get my quiet fix by staying connected here.

[Jim N]

The legendary coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers - Chuck Noll - would tell his players this:  "If I have to motivate you, I will fire you!"  What this meant was motivation that lasts comes from within a person and not from outside influences.  

There will always be the "Negative Nellies" as I call them and they are in every group, every company and every organization.  And I will be darned if they don't always find each other.  These people do nothing but tear things down.  They will never build something up. 

My suggestions are to find what motivates you from within and build on that.  The second is when you run into the negative people, don't let them bring you down.  Their negativity is all on them, and they only succeed when they infect others.

[Justin Porter]

It's funny, but I've found that motivation seems to come most easily from setting boundaries with my builds. 

I build a pretty wide variety of things but I've narrowed that to subjects inside of that variety to things I'm truly passionate about. I've weaned myself a bit off of the "well that looks interesting" purchases and instead focused on better tools and paints. I've binned projects that I've finally come to realize are well and truly stalled, and come to understand that when a project is really that stalled out it's because I just plain don't want to do it anymore and there's no shame in that. 

I'm a happier builder and a better builder now, and the added challenge of building the best example of a thing - whether a sports car, a Universal Century Gundam, or an obscure WWII fighter or early jet - complete with references has all come together to make me a more prolific builder too. 

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

This is an interesting thread. I think motivation and time is what haunts us all. Being a hobby, it's most likely something we all do "when we have nothing else that needs to be done" (honey-do's are completed). Like all of us I built as a kid, put it  all aside when I reached high school age and through college. I got back into it when I bought my first house and had a place to build (the basement). At first I was frustrated that I couldn't bring my ideas to fruition, but over the 30 years that I have been building I have pretty much gotten to the point where I can build what I envision. Keep at it guys, you will get there as well.

What motivates me is the desire to build something unique. I have little to no interest in opening a kit and building it box stock. A model kit is a box of parts to me. I'm not that interested in building a replica of a 1:1 car. Truth be told, if i had the funds (I know, it's a priority thing) and space, I'd own a real street rod. Since that's not in the cards, I build them in scale. I get motivated by seeing a hot rod (street rod?) in Street Rodder magazine and Rod & Custom (RIP) and taking cues from that car to build my own version of it (or take cues from that car and incorporate into a build), limited by available parts, etc. I really enjoy parts scrounging at the start of a build. My favorite part of a build is the initial stage of engineering and fitting parts together and scratch building, fingers all covered in super glue and squadron green, parts all over the bench....Final assembly, when it's easy to screw up fresh paint, is my least favorite part, that's probably why I never polish a paint job and my painting always has a bit of orange peel to it (weathered paint jobs anyone???). I bought an air brush, compressor, the whole nine yards, about four years ago. It's still sitting in the box!!!

To me, the final overall 'look' of a car is the most important, stance, the 'right' wheel and tire combo, I don't get bogged down in the details. I truly admire builders that go that extra mile with all of the correctly placed hoses, cables, wires, springs, etc but that's just not for me. I do have limited time to build with a busy household (five of us in three generations and three dogs) and a busy job. It's what I'd rather be doing than most anything else and I dare say I spend more time thinking about being at the bench than actually sitting at the bench. 

When KK and I lived in the Pac NW, we had a really robust modeling club. I miss that. There is a small group of guys down here that I get together with once in a while, i'm planning on reconnecting with them soon. I enjoy going to shows, few and far between as they are, I don't necessarily build to win a trophy but I do bring home my share, reconfirming that others enjoy the look of what I build. 

I enjoy sharing my tips and techniques with others and I see how the www has enabled us to see what others are doing, source parts (thanks, eBay!) and improve our skills exponentially. I enjoy seeing how my friend Dennis Lacy has progressed in his skills in a few short years and I do believe that being able to see and share information in this digital age (wasn't around when I started back up in the mid '80s) has benefited him greatly. 

Now, stop typing and GO BUILD SOMETHING!!!! -RRR

[James2]

16 minutes ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

Now, stop typing and GO BUILD SOMETHING!!!! -RRR

Been working on my 67 Camaro this morning!  Thanks for sharing, I to have given up on all the aftermarket, detailing and over the top scratch building. I to admire those can do that stuff, but any more I build to satisfy the desire to create automotive memories...

[Kit Karson]

1 hour ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

This is an interesting thread. I think motivation and time is what haunts us all. Being a hobby, it's most likely something we all do "when we have nothing else that needs to be done" (honey-do's are completed). Like all of us I built as a kid, put it  all aside when I reached high school age and through college. I got back into it when I bought my first house and had a place to build (the basement). At first I was frustrated that I couldn't bring my ideas to fruition, but over the 30 years that I have been building I have pretty much gotten to the point where I can build what I envision. Keep at it guys, you will get there as well.

What motivates me is the desire to build something unique. I have little to no interest in opening a kit and building it box stock. A model kit is a box of parts to me. I'm not that interested in building a replica of a 1:1 car. Truth be told, if i had the funds (I know, it's a priority thing) and space, I'd own a real street rod. Since that's not in the cards, I build them in scale. I get motivated by seeing a hot rod (street rod?) in Street Rodder magazine and Rod & Custom (RIP) and taking cues from that car to build my own version of it (or take cues from that car and incorporate into a build), limited by available parts, etc. I really enjoy parts scrounging at the start of a build. My favorite part of a build is the initial stage of engineering and fitting parts together and scratch building, fingers all covered in super glue and squadron green, parts all over the bench....Final assembly, when it's easy to screw up fresh paint, is my least favorite part, that's probably why I never polish a paint job and my painting always has a bit of orange peel to it (weathered paint jobs anyone???). I bought an air brush, compressor, the whole nine yards, about four years ago. It's still sitting in the box!!!

To me, the final overall 'look' of a car is the most important, stance, the 'right' wheel and tire combo, I don't get bogged down in the details. I truly admire builders that go that extra mile with all of the correctly placed hoses, cables, wires, springs, etc but that's just not for me. I do have limited time to build with a busy household (five of us in three generations and three dogs) and a busy job. It's what I'd rather be doing than most anything else and I dare say I spend more time thinking about being at the bench than actually sitting at the bench. 

When KK and I lived in the Pac NW, we had a really robust modeling club. I miss that. There is a small group of guys down here that I get together with once in a while, i'm planning on reconnecting with them soon. I enjoy going to shows, few and far between as they are, I don't necessarily build to win a trophy but I do bring home my share, reconfirming that others enjoy the look of what I build. 

I enjoy sharing my tips and techniques with others and I see how the www has enabled us to see what others are doing, source parts (thanks, eBay!) and improve our skills exponentially. I enjoy seeing how my friend Dennis Lacy has progressed in his skills in a few short years and I do believe that being able to see and share information in this digital age (wasn't around when I started back up in the mid '80s) has benefited him greatly. 

Now, stop typing and GO BUILD SOMETHING!!!! -RRR

Been there... done that!  Friendly builders, clubs and model magazines were all we had back in the day.  On-line forums have become the norm and a great advent to the hobby!  RRR & I met Dennis (ADL) on another forum years ago!  We have been inspiring each other off line via texting and emails every since!  We each have our own building styles, yet complement one and other on detail and many of the different aspects of the hobby!  ADL has a great eye for the old school hot rods and RRR has blown both of us away with his rod & racer builds!

We have enjoyed swapping ideas and techniques... and picking up on what others are doing in this forum and others, as well.  FB has also been a resource, but has become way too political ;( 

More later!!! -KK

Edited October 5, 2019 by Kit Karson

[Greg Myers]

Join a Club.

Our Moonlight Modelers In Phoenix Arizona has been going strong for more than 35 years. 

We have a monthly theme contest with a very nice plaque. 

Good friends, good food, good times.

 

 

[89AKurt]

Very well written and passionate essay, great observation!

There have times in my life, going through the valley of death, to nothing else matters in life than model building (current state).  This forum has been a HUGE inspiration.  My first contest was in Case Grande, I was a new member in a casual club in Prescott, a veteran (not age but experience) IPMS member who did military subjects talked me into entering a model car contest.  I didn't win anything, but he was instrumental in getting me into dioramas, the AMT Ferrari 250SWB beater just didn't do it, so that became a diorama, and the rest is history.  They were giving out kits for entering, picked a Corvette, which got kit bashed into my only street rod ever built.  I've done well at contests, but I go there knowing there could be someone better than me, just like showing up at a pool tournament.

Motivation, having about +-160 kits in my stash is motivating me.  Being in a model club helps, I represent the car culture, so it's a challenge to be interested in military subjects that I never had an interest in.  But last month, I did a tank, and another guy did a Russian cargo truck, so we came to common ground.  I'm doing kits that are not on Hobby Lobby shelves, the more rare the better.  I'm also building for myself, what I like, with the exceptions being for sarcastic moods.

Being on this forum is my best inspiration.  Thanks to everyone who chats with me! ?

Edited October 5, 2019 by 89AKurt