Does anybody practise mothballing kits?

[rtfoe]

Just as the title says does anybody build and store their kits for future use up to a coat of primer or the main color? There are times when you only like constructing or there are other times you just want to paint and perhaps another just weather or starting a diorama. When this happens is there a kit available at a stage you only want to concentrate on?

There are days I only want to construct and leaving the unfinished kit on the shelf doesn't mean it's a shelf queen or rather it's in mothball for further enjoyment. My busy schedules usually exhaust my efforts to go beyond a certain limit of modelling as I treat each process as a phase. And when I have bench time the interest could be different perhaps inspired by something I've seen so having a kit at some stage of build saves time and I can just continue where I left off. These kits have been gathering but someday they will be featured in my dios.

Here's my Leave No Man Behind mothballs...



Do any of you practise this? I seem to have lots of free time to dig these out.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Deleted member 4539]

I can understand why you do this Richard.
For me I start a kit and I finish it, then it is on to the next one.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I can see how it can work ,but I struggle to finish anything so I just try and stick with one build at a time.
Also, I have such a bad memory I worry that I wouldn't remember why I had made the decisions and choices -or I might get a better idea and then it would also never get finished.
Personally, I find once I have shelved something it's very hard to revive interest in it. I admire you if you can do that

 

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Richard
i’m sort of with Ralph on this. One exception could be where more than one vehicle is required in a particular diorama. Other than that I tend to build then finish a kit. That said, I have 2 Roden 1/32 Fokker Dr.1s in a state of near finish that just can’t seem to cross the line! So, perhaps I do!
Cheers
Paul

 

[Jakko]

Just as the title says does anybody build and store their kits for future use up to a coat of primer or the main color?

Somewhat. I’ve got a fair number of models that are, say, 90%+ built and then put back into the box and the box returned to the stash because I lost the interest to finish them (temporarily, of course — hey, 20 years is also temporary! ) but very few of those have a base coat of paint on. A small number do, though.

 

[rtfoe]

Great different reponses guys. I do occasionally build from start to finish if the mojo and momentum is not interrupted. Usually these are aircraft.
The reason to leave the builds in primer or base colors is that depending on the terrain these vehicals road on will determine the amount of weathering and where the light source is coming from for highlights and modulating. Also there is no bare plastic and gives a nice canvas to paint on. Basically I can spend more time on the diorama. Twenty years or less doesn't matter if you actually re-visit it and continue from then on.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[PaulTRose]

erm......no

having that lot sat there unfinished would drive me mental

once i start a kit i like to finish it before starting the next one

 

[JR]

If I had twenty years I'd agree with you Richard

I can see your point about the final paint all depending on the chosen diorama. For me I seem to do all dioramas so like to finish the complete thing, occasionally I've strayed and built the odd plane.

 

[minitnkr]

I do exactly as you. I have an 80% done M10 TD company and a 75% M4 tank company in mothballs along with a 50% complete German flak battalion. PaulE

 

[Fernando N]

Nice collection to finish Richard.

 

[Deleted member 7917]

I was in the process of thinking about other members' model building habits in terms of how many one might have in the production line simultaneously, when I read Richard's thread. His comment about construction versus painting was interesting as being only interested in aircraft modelling, I have a lot of painting to do during construction - e.g. cockpits, engines - whereas with other models the two phases would not necessarily intertwine.

As far as mothballing goes, I only have one model in that state - a 1/48 Albatros DIII that's finished apart from having the wings attached and the rigging done. It's been sitting like that for nearly a year primarily due to my focus shifting away from WWI to other periods and also because my rigging skills aren't great. Apart from this solitary exception, I would always finish a model once it was started though I usually have two on the go at once, one being finished off, one in the early stages, often both in different scales.

 

[Jakko]

I decided to delve into my stash and take some photos. For all of these, what I did was open the box, remove any paperwork, and pose lid and box on my workbench for a photo. Unlike Neil, I have a very good memory for what I intended to do with a model, so I’ll share that too

Trumpeter Cadillac-Gage Commando and Verlinden XM706E2



The Verlinden kit I had built long before buying the Trumpeter one maybe ten years ago. I put it into the same box because it’s easier to keep them like this, as a theme sort of thing The Verlinden kit has the base OD paint on, but not the camouflage — I began spraying that and my airbrush didn’t want to cooperate at the time, so I gave up for the time being. That was a very long time ago


Revell TPz Fuchs



I had originally bought the Fuchs kit when that came out, but wanted to build an Americna M93 Fox NBC recce vehicle from it, so I scratchbuilt the rear hull extension. By the time I had that part done, Revell released the German version of that vehicle so I bought it and used its rear hull for the M93 instead, leaving me with the parts for a regular Fuchs plus the scratchbuilt rear in the box of the NBC version. I then decided to open the roof hatches and put in the interior you can see through those. After removing the roof, building a replacement from plastic (to have the kit hatches in it) and adding the floor, I kind of gave up, though.


ICM T-35



This was going to be an abandonned vehicle with the turret hatches open and some German troops on it. The sprues were very oily, and I never did finish it.


AFV Club Centurion Mk. 5 NL conversion



This is the AFV Club Centurion converted to a Dutch Army mid-1970s upgraded vehicle with an MR Models fuel monotrailer. The build stalled due to lack of information (mainly dimensions) on the mounting plate for the searchlight, as well as the camouflage scheme (nobody has colour photos or knows paint numbers for the colours used by 41 Tankbataljon back then ).


Italeri Leopard 1(NL) conversion



A conversion of the German Leopard 1 to the early, non-upgraded Dutch version. It’s mostly done except for the smoke grenade launcher mounts, of which I found the shape almost impossible to work out The tracks in the box are actually AFV Club ones for the M26/46/47, because at the time the early chevron track type for the Leopard was impossible to get.


AFV Club YPR-765 range wreck



Having already built a YPR-765 soon after the kit first came out, I bought a second one to build as a hard target on a firing range. The interior bits are from Academy and Tamiya M113 kits.


Dragon M51 Sherman



This is the Dragon kit built mostly from the box, with some extra detailling and the upper hull replaced by one from Italeri because of the extreme texture on the Dragon piece (they apparently interpreted many layers of peeling paint as cast metal texture). I originally intended to put AFV Club tracks on this one, but I recently put those into the box of a Tamiya HVSS Sherman instead.


Emhar Medium A Whippet



Almost twenty years ago I was quite interested in this type of tank, and so bought the Emhar kit to build and correct, as it was the only choice but not overly great. There’s a set of Accurate Armour resin tracks in the box to replace the awful Emhar ones.


Tamiya M551 Sheridan



This is the old kit, that I bought in the late 90s when it was finally reissued. I corrected some details and converted it to a Vietnam version, with the commander’s cupola armour.


Meng Tortoise conversion



Bought when it was only recently released, I decided to convert it to a vehicle as might have seen active service in the 1950s or so. If anyone has a plastic barrel from a Conqueror left, I’d be happy to take it off your hands because I later decided that might be more likely for such a vehicle

 

[rtfoe]

Great set of mothballs Jakko. Hope you get to finish some that are doable. Looks like you may have the paint stage syndrome as I notice your kits are just one or two steps from being primed. I some times force myself to paint even though it is my strongest point in my building process. Perhaps I'm critical with my own abilities which slow me down. I do have some surprises kept in the box and love discovering them when I spend time digging in the stash or spring cleaning. I don't have a memory like yours so it's like christmas for me. I have that same Sheridan which I have scratched the crows nest back in '94 I guess.



As for my mothballs you will notice most are without interior unless the dio calls for some maintenance work on the engine or a destroyed vehical. I just want the build part settled and ready for any dio idea that comes along for it.
Thanks for showing your collection Jakko.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jack L]

I tend to put something aside when I get frustrated with it; i.e. a Takom 1/35th Jagdpanther with interior...I can't get the superstructure to fit over said interior, or the grilles to fit over the engine components. May re-think to go for an 'exploded' display, but that is beyond me at the moment = frustration. There are also a couple of 1/48 aircraft I can't get the masking on the canopy right.

I intend to come back to all of them, just need the right mojo. I have never thrown anything away, but getting frustrated isn't enjoyable, so I move onto something that I will enjoy.

 

[Jakko]

Great set of mothballs Jakko.

I actually have a bunch more much like that, maybe I’ll post pics of them too if I dig them out. Maybe I should, one of them is a Tamiya 1:25 scale Centurion …

Looks like you may have the paint stage syndrome as I notice your kits are just one or two steps from being primed.

Most are a little shy of that. These things tend to stall for a number of reasons, usually a couple of the following combined:

• Something else taking my interest enough to start a model of that.
• Lack of information on something that needs to be built to finish it (like the Dutch Centurion above).
• Tedious but difficult bits remaining to be done, like small but intricate stuff that needs to be put together or scratchbuilt.
• Dislike of equipment I need to use (read “airbrush” — I had a less-love-than-hate relationship with that for quite a while, mostly because of the hassle in using it; having bought a paint booth and a compressor for in my hobby room changed that, though).
• I realised recently that I like building more than painting

I some times force myself to paint even though it is my strongest point in my building process. Perhaps I'm critical with my own abilities which slow me down.

I’m far from the world’s greatest painter, and sometimes find it hard to think of a good way to achieve the look I want, but that usually stops the model after the base coat is on, not during construction. But I agree, forcing yourself to just do it (whether painting or putting together those tedious bits you’ve been putting off) does work to get the model finished: just get on with it, get through the bit you don’t like, and you cn do the things you like better again

I do have some surprises kept in the box and love discovering them when I spend time digging in the stash or spring cleaning.

I did discover the July 1997 issue of FineScale Modeler magazine in the M551 box, that I didn’t know I had anymore. The reason it was in there is that it has an article in it in which Cookie Sewell fixes up the Tamiya kit by using only the turret, wheels, tracks and a few bits, that I used as reference for making some corrections to the kit. This one, though, I’ll never finish — if I want an M551, I’ll buy the new Tamiya kit instead.

I have that same Sheridan which I have scratched the crows nest back in '94 I guess.

You showed it a while ago too, I think in response to me making a comment about having scratchbuilt the cupola armour for a kit Yours looks better than mine ever would have.

 

[colin m]

No, I don't mothball, but do actually like the idea. I could have an aircraft grave yard like the do in the USA, full of cheap part built 1:72 kits.

 

[Jakko]

I just now went deeper into the stash and took some more photos Let’s start with something that comes nowhere near what @MikeC is currently putting together …


Trumpeter Challenger 2



This is mostly built, but I wanted to make a vehicle on exercise, with simfire gear and a load of mud over the front like shown in photos in Military Modelling way back when. The model stalled because of the difficulty in finding references on and actually making the simfire equipment. I was thinking last year or so that 3D-printing may be an option, though.


Heller AMX-13 conversion



Converted from the standard variant to an Israeli one, but I’m not sure anymore why this stalled.


Dragon IS-2 and Trumpeter IS-3



The IS-2 is (to be) converted to a postwar IS-2M, using bits from the IS-3M, while the latter was to become one of the pillbox-type tanks the Russians still have on the Kuril islands. They never got finished mainly because something else came along.


Dragon LSSC



This is actually finished, and so are the figures, though really to the standards I built to about 25 years ago — it’s been mothballed for that long The idea was to make a diorama in which the SEALs are either being delivered or picked up by the boat (probably picked up) under fire. Everything is built except the diorama


Tamiya Centurion Mk. III



This one is big, as you can tell by comparing the space the box takes up on my workbench to the previous ones It’s the 1:25 scale kit with full interior, and it’s mostly built, probably about two-thirds or so. I had the idea to convert it into a Dutch vehicle, but that requires a different turret roof, since those were Mk. 5 tanks. However, the only source for conversion parts was Mouse House in Australia, and I never did get round to ordering all the way from there. I do really want to get this one finished someday, though probably just out of the box rather than converted to a Dutch vehicle.


Edit: my eye caught these in a corner of my workbench as I had just posted the above:



A bunch of Discworld figured by Micro Art Studio. From left: Sergeant Angua, Captain Carrot (almost out of sight), Sergeant Detritus, Rincewind, the Luggage, Susan Sto Helit and her grandfather.

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Colin, yes, the concept is the same that if I learn a skill to better the mothballed kit at a later stage then its a win for both the kit and me or it's salvaged for parts like the US desert mothballed graveyard. I think they have one for ships too in James River, Suisun Bay and Beaumont.

Some jems there Jakko except I never could like the AMX...the turret mantlet system was wierd. Have an idea to do up my Dragon LSSC too, still untouched in the box...it's that or the Pibber. I had a Tamiya 1/25 SU-100 once and at the time they only had the motorised version with the full illustration on the box top. The tracks destroyed my thumbs as you had to press them to join the links. I now have the Academy panther with the same thing.
Haven't gotten into the fantasy genre yet.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mini Me]

I don't exactly mothball an unfinished kit but have been known to build to a complete model minus the weathering and sometimes a small amount of final detail. This all pending on a final display whether a base or multi vehicle Diorama. Does this count Richard?
Rick H.

 

[Jakko]

I never could like the AMX...the turret mantlet system was wierd.

I kind of like it, exactly because of its weird shape

I’ve also got an unbuilt Takom one that I intend to build as a Dutch Army one, but even though Takom provides the decals for it, some of the details are wrong for that particular variant — not least the tracks. Haven’t got round to building it yet, though, nor the Heller AMX-13 VCI that I want to convert to a Dutch AMX-PRI.

Have an idea to do up my Dragon LSSC too, still untouched in the box...it's that or the Pibber.

I’ve built two PBRs. One I finished in a diorama of the boat underway with some SEALs on board, the other was to be a diorama with the Verlinden sampan being searched. I’ve got the two boats built, the figures painted, and even a piece of plexiglass with a hole roughly cut for the PBR, and then moved on to other things.

I had a Tamiya 1/25 SU-100 once and at the time they only had the motorised version with the full illustration on the box top. The tracks destroyed my thumbs as you had to press them to join the links. I now have the Academy panther with the same thing.

The Academy kits are straight copies of the Tamiya ones, as I recall, so not too strange the tracks are much the same I (part-)built this Centurion long enough ago that I don’t remember how well the tracks went together. As you can see in the photo, I have two runs of them coiled up, so I did build them already.