When is a build complete in your eyes?

[ERIK88]

I am curious to know when do you say you've gave ur build your all, call it done? How do you get past that lil voice in your head that says I should add one more thing, or this didn't turn out right? I am beginning to believe that even the expert builders commit errors on their builds. I think every model just about has something overlooked or error, what do u guys think? I guess that's what makes it yours, gives it uniqueness

Edited December 21, 2014 by ERIK88

[DrGlueblob]

I go away and come back a week later to the thing. If it still looks done, it's done.

[wayne swayze]

When I'm building, I have my "vision" near the begining. I do my best to stay true to that as I progress. When I feel the model is complete I will almost every time put the licence plates on as the last item on my list. Just my little tradition.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I almost always have an idea, a pretty explicit idea, of how far I'm going to go with a particular build. When I reach that point, i quit.

That said, I've stopped in the middle of quite a few builds because either my skills weren't up to the vision I had quite yet, i changed the vision as the build progressed, or I found I needed to do a lot more research for one reason on another.

I certainly don't strive for anything approaching perfection, but my concept of good-enough is pretty high, so it takes a while to get there, and usually a lot of do-overs to get to the level I'll settle for.

[Harry P.]

It's not complete until the mirrors are installed!

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I build it until it seems right. Then it goes on the shelf and gets broken

Then in a while I'll find it again and bring it to the bench for maintenance... Repeat cycle.

[jbwelda]

I build until I think its done, or I am tired of working on it, but nothing is ever carved in stone. sometimes I will know something is substandard but won't want to mess with it at the time. so its "done" and on the shelf but at some point in the future I will look at it and decide now is the time to fix whatever it might be. and it never turns out to be as onerous as I had built up in my imagination, and usually makes a big difference (to me anyway) in the way something looks or sits or is detailed.

jb

[Brudda]

I believe everyone posting here is right. But if you have ever owned a 1:1 hotrod, it is never done!

[hgbben]

I believe everyone posting here is right. But if you have ever owned a 1:1 hotrod, it is never done!

Exactly!!!

[drball]

When I inevitably get a glue smug on a painted surface or window.

[rmvw guy]

I put license plates on as a final touch and then usually post pictures on here.

[Snake45]

Lately, when I get it "finished" enough to put on the shelf and it looks "done" from two feet away, it's done. I usually leave out a bunch of interior and engine details that "I'll go back and add those later." And then I almost never do.

Done enough!

[ERIK88]

Really interesting comments! It's funny I usually call It done when I find I'm doing more bad than good to a model. For example, a glue smudge on a nicely painted body or glass! It's funny I usually leave tne license plate the last item to complete the model.

Really interesting! It's funny I usually call It done when I find I'm doing more bad than good to a model. For example, a glue smudge on a nicely painted body or glass! It's funny I usually leave tne license plate the last item to complete the model.

Edited December 21, 2014 by ERIK88

[Pete J.]

Five minutes before the entry dead line at the contest!

[martinfan5]

When I feel it is

[Atmobil]

As others have said, when the licenceplates are on, it's done! Or, as Jonathan just posted, when I feel it is.

I will always strive to finish my models (as many others I have several that are not finished that I started on years ago) and I have found that to finish a model I must accept that it will never be perfect. There will always be something I would like to do differently, details that are missing, paintsmuges, gluesmuges and lots of things that I will not be a 100% happy with but very often the fix for this problems are a complete tear down job. If there is something with the paint, I will have to put it in the brakefluid bath, clean it up, maybe do some filling and sanding again if filler has come of and start the paint procedure again. Many times have I done this and many times have I ended up saying "Sod it, this will do" because something always happens. Even if I get a good finish there may be dust somewhere on the body, or a small mark that will not polish out. And many times have I failed in the detailing after the paint has cured. Maybe the knife slipped when I was foiling or the paint bled under the masking tape when I was doing the exterior trim. Maybe the paint got a little thick in places and covered up some details or the the emblems got a littlebit wonky.

Maybe the wheels are not sitting 100% straight and I realise that it's due to the suspensionparts not being as straight as they should be. Sometimes because of badly fitting parts (often the case in old kits that have been reissues many times) or maybe I have been a littlebit inacurate when fitting them. Maybe I have modified something aswell and that is the reason that a part is not fitting aswell as it should.

But if I should go back and do it all over again on every model I build I would never get any finished kits.

I know a lot of guys that get bogged down in faults, trying to rectify problems and then getting bored with the kit and tossing it away. Start a new one and end up with a huge amount of buildtime and nothing to show up as a result. When they then go to a show, they will not bring any models because they have not finished anything since last year they where at the same show and they will complain that there are not enough models dissplayed. They will also post on forums but never show any work and the forums die out.

Much better to accept that it's not perfect and just say that it's done. Take some pictures, post them online and put it on the shelf and then start a new one, try not to the same mistakes on that one instead.

[disabled modeler]

When the builder is happy with it.

[rmvw guy]

For a collector, it's when they buy it!

Edited December 21, 2014 by rmvw guy

[Agent G]

I'll be at the bench and suddenly realize there is literally nothing else I need to do. It is then "done".

G

[Belugawrx]

I have gone back to a model I thought looked done,..

taken it out of the display case and added a detail or technique I have seen.

Sometimes months later.

[bbowser]

It's not complete until the mirrors are installed!

If there are any. Mirrors are a glaring omission in many kits.

[atomicholiday]

I know I'm done when there aren't anymore parts in the box.

[rmvw guy]

If there are any. Mirrors are a glaring omission in many kits.

I think Foose leaves the side mirrors off on a lot of his 1:1 builds. And speaking of Foose, sometimes my finished models get pulled off the shelf and "Overhauled" much like on the show. only by me of course. To be finished again.

[Rusty Irons]

The last thing to attach is the antenna no matter how many times you have done it.

[Guest]

When I'm building, I have my "vision" near the begining. I do my best to stay true to that as I progress. When I feel the model is complete I will almost every time put the licence plates on as the last item on my list. Just my little tradition.

What he said.