I have been in a modeling rut for a few months. I would work for hours and it seemed I could not get anything done. This discouraged me and made me ineficient with my time, which made me even more discouraged. I had three beautiful builds going on and could not show any progress. After a while I just stopped going to my work desk for over two months. How can you break out of the death spiral?

I finally decided to pull an Eduard kit out of the stash and do a quick, colorful OOB build.






I chose the Eduard kit because they are typically wonderfully engineered to go together well. Everything needed is in the box. And most importantly, I would be able to do the whole thing in about a week, start to finish, with good results.

I still have a little bit of rigging to do on it, but I am very happy with the results. And this wonderful little build got me out of my rut.

Do something different. OOB no fancy stuff ... how about a car or one of the nice 48 scale armour from Tamiya .... anything as long as you have fun.

chhers and good luck

Steffen
P.S aah I see, it was just a teaser ... looks very nice!

If you are in a rut, go get yourself a nice little Eduard 1/48th scale kit.

The kit was mado oob, with one exception. I used Gunsight Graphics Fokker streaking decals. They look great, but I do not think they are 100% accurate. To me they look to orderly. The streaking was done by hand, and probably should have more imperfections to it. But I really do think they look good, and I will be using them in 1/2 scale in the near future.

I have also been able to make some progress on the two Albatros and the SE 5a I have going. Pictures of those guys will be appearing in their blogs as soon as I can bring them forward.

Greetings Carl & all;
Its a grand soft day here in my corner of the Aeroscale airfield. Typically there are several kits in progress and I have done some few parts today. There has been some turmoil in the billets lately but thats also typical. The coffee is hot, French bread, stew and chilli are the fare this evening. For desert lemonade, apple and or cherry pies.

The subject of this memo is burnout. That dread affliction first diagnosed in 1916 by Dr. Hertz Van Rental while he was but an intern at Sister Consumpta's free clinic / bar and grill. It is noted in that with the diagnosis of AMS (Advanced Modeler's Syndrome) that the patient may find that there develops dry and scaly (1/72) patches. This is often accompanied by bouts of lacko-ntrest in modeling. These are but symptoms of larger issues.

Most critically is the visual aspect of wide open pupils, noting verbally "...I will never build all of these kits..."

The road map to modeling longevity is a healthy outlook.
1. Never let healthy competition (contests) and their out come taint your enjoyment of the build.

2. Build for yourself, but never be afraid to try new things. Variety is the spice.

3. Stay out of ruts. Consume solid norishment and beware of fast internet feeding frenzys. Take your reference information first hand not the from 30 year old speculations and regurge that lead to disappointment when you discover your triplane should be red and white not blue and white.

4. Have a life away from modeling. Life is short and you can't take anything with you when you go. Enjoy yourself.

5. Nothing is permanent, there is always room for one more build.

6. Revisit an old friend. take one of your favorites down from the shelf and build it without aftermarket PE, resin or decals. Out of the Box therapy.

7. Evaluate your condition and pick the therapy that gives you the fresh perspective.

8. Never mix alcohol and cyano...it does not make a better bonding agent. Trust me on this one.

9. Visit the Aeroscale hangar and peek under the tarps...Especially over on Merlin's side...

10. Have fun, its a hobby enjoy the praises and critiques of people you admire. Never take anything personally.

Hello again Carl:

Wise words Stephan. And as Carl himself wrote, the Eduard kit got him out of the rut.
I haven't broken spru since May I think. Now that I am re-married, and we are trying to sell both of our houses and fix them up for the sale, it will be awhile. As the temperatures are beginning to fall here in the great upper midwest, and the motorcycle riding is coming to a close I am smitten with the bug. I am thinking of an old Aurora kit, just to build OOB and enjoy.

You will be back in fine form Carl, and I am looking forward to more of your builds and comments.

Best
Mark

Darn Stephen, now I'm even less motivated but my apetite has been increased twofold thanks to all those great munchies!
I too have been struggling, starting something and jumping to something else, then just staring at the darn thing. Really weird. Even the wife said I'm spending a lot more time in the mancave.

Burnout requires a break. Maybe even off topic subjects. Often it can be jump started by picking up a snap tite kit and builing it for someone else. Or a built kit donated to a museum. A child in the hospital. A child in the neighborhood. Looking at the builds of others and rethinking how to do what they did. But in the end you simply have to build. Whether its on a cofffee table, kitchen table or your work bench. Take inventory. Have what you need on hand and a bit more. Your build does not have to be a show stopper, but should challenge you to do something different than your normally involved with.

If you were to put a build down on a contest table how would yours be different than anyone else's that had built the same kit? If you build for yourself you are building what you want. What you want should reflect your tastes.

I have at least 10 @ Eduard 1:48 Alb. D.V / Va kits on the shelves all partially started with resin and brass parts chosen for the build. Each has the instructions annotated with small sketches on what my original idea or vision for the build would entail. I work on each a little at a time. I have written down references and keep the list in that kit's box. So I can go back in a few years if needed to finish.

Being a moderator and editor here has me very active on the site. Bringing in News, Features or Reviews. As some of you have noted I am very active. But I don't let it get ahead of my desire to build. Our very own Rowan "Merlin" Baylies is swamped with the same issues as me but on a much grander scale. I may give him a gentle nudge in the ribs but seriously if it were not for him and Jim Starkweather we would be building on some lesser scale, on a less than stellar forum.

Burnout in these hard economic days can be very common. Outside influences tend to rock our worlds very hard at times. It is now that we need our hobbies to inspire our dreams. Keep looking to brighter and better times. Chin up. This art form is just an expression. You build, you enhance, you improve your skills, you improve your cognitve thinking. These are 3 dimensional puzzles for you to conquer. Growth is not always about fun its about meeting challenges. That is why the Tango is easy to do. No mistakes in the Tango. You get tangled up, just Tango on. Model On!

I think you got that right, Stephen. Sometimes the best way out of a rut is straight forward. I have a lot of special kits in my stash I can use when my forward progress becomes impeded. It is amazing how finishing something can make you feel good. I felt good during this build. I got up every day looking forward to some build time. I saw progress every time I finished for the day. When I, got to the point I took the photos, I was ready to pull other projects out and work on them. I now have three projects ready to be rigged. Most important though, I am once again enjoying what I am doing.

I find that building at a weekend workshop (when I can), and watching others develop their various projects, keeps my interest percolating along-even when my work is in an early stage, when little is accomplished because of prep work.

By the way, love that Dr1, Carl

Thanks Doc. It is a sweet little kit.