controversial statement

[Sprue42]

Hello my name is Ralph and I don't have an addiction stash - Yet!

As a returnee to the hobby, I do not understand "The Stash" I get having a few models 'in stock' as it were, but to have dozens and even hundreds of unmade kits piled up makes no sense to me whatsoever... or am I missing something. When I was last modelling there was not the amount of availability as there is now, but was there, was always there and readily obtainable. Is it the case today that kits disappear from the shelves, never to return? Does one have to buy them now, to avoid disappointment later... or is that what we tell out significant-other to avoid admitting to an addiction?

If I see a kit that I might like to build, do I have to grab it while it is there or is there another reason to build a stash that I have not thought about.

Even more relevant, do I need to allow for kit storage in my ne workspace?

Ralph.

 

[Ian M]

The problem is, as you sort of mentioned, many kits are produced in a rotation. Airfix are famous for it. Release a new kit in insufficient quantity so everyone runs out to purchase one..."I'll build that next"....
Then there is the bus effect. A long time with nowt coming along, then all out of the blue come 10 long awaited models. "I'll build those next"....
Then as life catches up with you the time to build in gets shorter...those darn new kits still keep coming though..." I'll build those later"...
Then you retire from the 9 til 5 and sit at the bench, looking at the stash that has appeared as if by magic. A pot of tea/coffee later you reach out for a box on the shelves. A voice calls out, its your partner, sweetie couldn't we redo the living room...
You put the box done on the prepared table....

"I'll build that later"...

And that is why most of us have a small model shop somewhere in the house.

 

[BarryW]

I try to keep my stash to no more than 10, it does sometimes go a little above that and at one point it did reach 23.

There are reasons for this. I build primarily 1/32 aircraft and plan to build all the kits I buy. So these are bigger, more expensive and take longer to build than small scales. When it did hit 20+ I was doing a series of 1/48 builds as a break from large scale and these were much quicker builds, under a month each.

My stash now is 10, this built to that over Christmas and over a period when my last build took over 4 months. All the kits except one (a gift) are fairly new releases, most wothin the last year, though one is a rerelease I had been after for a lot of years.

I now just buy new releases I want to build. HKM are releasing their A20J soon and I will get that so the stash may rise to 11 simply because my 1/32 Border Lanc may be a 4 month build. After that I expect to build a kit every 1-2 months and the stash will thin out.

So why the stash? On average a kit sits in the stash 12-18 months in which time I do research into possible subjects and gather the aftermarket I need. As I have a lot of new releases aftermarket gets released over a period of months.

At one point a little before Christmas my stash was down to six with the research and aftermarket finalised on only three of them. Only because I have two exceptionally long builds results in the stash being now at 10.

I mentioned cost. My 10 kits in the stash come to around £840 plus the current build which alone cost £600. On top of that there is probably around £300 of aftermarket purchased for them with more to get. This is why I only buy what I want to build and why my stash is not bigger.

Within 12 months my stash will be down to 7/8 (allowing for buying 2/3 new kits in that time) I will be getting twitchy about not having enough kits to last more than a year!!!!!!

 

[rtfoe]

Adding to that Ian, we take that much longer to build now with added detailing and such. Not like the early overnight builds we used to do so the buying overtakes the building.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Mark1]

I just wanna build a fort with all the box's

 

[peterairfix]

I am a victim of got every kit that have been looking for without thought to I am ever going to build them so I have a stash of nearly 40 so at I rate I now build and if I don't buy any more (a likely story) I could a decade without buying any more or to put simply I buy more than i can build

 

[David Lovell]

If you can avoid it or keep it very limited, for some time I stuck to the buy one build one rule of thumb ,now like many I am desperately seeking a help line number.

 

[Tim Marlow]

The bottom line is that it’s far easier (and faster) to spend money than it is to build things…..and virtually all modellers are afflicted by the “oohhh, shiny” disease so buy kits at a disproportionate rate.

In my case I have “fads”, buying several kits suitable for a period or subject, then get bored before I build them and move on to another one, so I’m guilty of it.

 

[Andy T]

Don't feel like you have to build up a stash, it isn't compulsory

I generally see a model I like, buy it, then build it. However, for some of the reasons mentioned above I am starting to build up a few extras, ones that I've seen on offer, or when there's a new release that I fancy.

I also build quite fast so I can't see me ever building up a huge stash, but if I did it would have evolved naturally, not just for the sake of it. With some people having been part of the hobby for decades it's easy to see how that effect could grow & grow.

And we are all different. Some may like the collection side of it, some can't resist a bargain and might buy something they may never have time to build.

After my few brief years in this hobby I'm finding there are many aspects to it. Find the one that brings you the most joy and run with it, but don't feel like you have to have 50 unbuilt kits stored in the loft to be taken seriously.

 

[stillp]

My problem is that a) I'm a slow builder, and b) I can't resist bargain kits at charity shops, boot sales etc.
To some extent I'm compensating for the years when I couldn't afford to buy the kits I wanted, but now I'm fairly comfortably retired I'm just hoovering up bargains! I'm not as badly afflicted as some though, from where I'm sitting I can only see 14 kits... sorry, 20... but there are a few in the wardrobe, and a few more in the garage...
Pete

 

[adt70hk]

I just wanna build a fort with all the box's

Excellent idea......I should be able to build a very substantial fort out of mine!! Think the Alamo but twice the size!

Ralph, in all seriousness, I think Ian and Tim have summed it up nicely.

I really do infect to build every kit I have AND have a plan on how to do it but I know hand on heart that I will struggle.....

In my case, most of my purchases last year were second hand kits for reasonable prices, so hopefully if I do end up selling some of them I will at least break even.

ATB

Andrew

 

[minitnkr]

I had accumulated a huge stash in my 1/87 scale due to its' relative scarcity, many home moves due to my job & SWMBOs need for change of environment and a demanding career. Once we retired, my new occupation was constructing the stash. There is now only three military kits and a 'still in the box' locomotive remaining in the stash, but many shelf queens awaiting completion.

 

[Jakko]

The problem is, as you sort of mentioned, many kits are produced in a rotation. Airfix are famous for it. Release a new kit in insufficient quantity so everyone runs out to purchase one...

Added to that, once you get more deeply into things than just building straight from the box what you can buy in the shop: coming across rare things that are long out of production, but which are still the only game in town. For example, in my stash I have stuff like an SKP kit of the A30 Challenger tank and a Verlinden set of the T1E3 mine roller device (for mounting on a Sherman tank):



The SKP kit is rare as hen’s teeth, and even though it’s in need of about 50% replacement of its parts by ones that are up to scratch, the only alternative is a by-now elderly resin kit that will probably need about as much work altogether. Similar with the mine roller: you just can’t find this anymore unless you happen to come across one by chance, and there seems to be exactly one alternative, from a company I don’t have great experience with. So I purchased both when I did find them (for what I considered reasonably prices, that is) — though the net result is two more kits/sets in the stash that won’t get built in the foreseeable future …

 

[Waspie]

If you can avoid it or keep it very limited, for some time I stuck to the buy one build one rule of thumb ,now like many I am desperately seeking a help line number.

That's me. When I finish a kit I then have a think about what I want to build next then chose from what's available out there at the time.
For me, if I had a 'stash' and knowing my mentality I would probably start one, hit a snag, put it aside with every intention to return to it, chose another, start that before I know it I'd have 10 on the go and finish none.
No, I'll stick to one build in progress and then decide on what's next!!! But that's me, we are all different and that's what makes it such a good hobby.

 

[Gern]

To stash or not to stash? That is the question. The guys have given lots of good reasons for both choices.

I have around 450 kits at the moment. In my case I think it's some sort of compensation for not being able to afford kits when I started as a kid. I was lucky if I could afford to buy one of the old Series 1 Airfix kits every week, and I was restricted to what was available on the Airfix stand in my local newsagent.

Now I'm older and have some 'disposable income', I like being able to buy kits I like the look of rather than just kits I can afford. Although I admit that approach has left me with a roomful of kits I couldn't possibly build in two lifetimes - and I care not! I drag them off the shelves every so often and gloat over the contents of the box while dreaming of how good they'd look if I could only build them properly!

But it's your hobby, you pursue it the way you want to. If you want a stash, large or small, build one. If you want to buy and build one kit at a time, do that. We have both sorts of modellers here and such differences between us makes this a better forum.

 

[boatman]

WELL ME ive only just started back into plastic kits after quite a few yrs of scratchbuilding big r/c model warships an im still waiting for warmer wheather to try out my 1/72 scale hms tiger to find out if i can say yes its finished so while im waiting ive started on my big platic 1/32 trummpeter super tomcat kit as i like big models to make some parts work on the eletric side an ive still got the big 1/32 trumpy super hornet to build an a couple of 1/700 ships which i dont think i will ever build as presents from the missus or freinds so a big stash for me no
chrisb

 

[Mini Me]

I'm a Builder and Collector......last count plus two new arrivals puts it at 950 unbuilt kits. In defense of my madness, I started this collection in the mid 1960's so it has been developing for quite some time. The other important factor is the scale. At 1-87 scale my collection hardly occupies any space at all compared to say, 1-48 or 1-35 scale. I would say it's all up to the individual to decide whether or not to "stash".....as long as you are having fun is all that matters.

 

[BarryW]

That's me. When I finish a kit I then have a think about what I want to build next then chose from what's available out there at the time.
For me, if I had a 'stash' and knowing my mentality I would probably start one, hit a snag, put it aside with every intention to return to it, chose another, start that before I know it I'd have 10 on the go and finish none.
No, I'll stick to one build in progress and then decide on what's next!!! But that's me, we are all different and that's what makes it such a good hobby.

That’s quite a common thing. A lot of people have many models in the go at a time. Personally I consider starting a new model as a reward for finishing one.

 

[rtfoe]

My mistake actually was all my fault when my dad made a business trip to Singapore and I ticked off the kits in the Italeri catalogue should he come across just anyone of them which he did nearly all the armoured kits and I love him for it though at the time I didn't know my horror stash had made it's beginnings. I still have a few from that fateful day...one of them I had just completed and fitted to my latest diorama Ambush.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Funny you should bring up this subject, I have just tidied up my stash of 60 unmade, and while doing so decided on a list of current models I would like to build. This has totalled out to five kits to be purchased in the future. This will include any add-ons like etch, but between now and then I will not be buying any more models. For me to actually even consider buying, the model will have to be exceptional, if I can quote Wingnut Wings as a subject where I bought quite a few of their kits. And by exceptional I do not mean having full interiors/engines that you cannot see - but you know it is there, but for instance the Dora railway gun which led onto a whole railway subject.
So now I have enough to keep me going untill the hands start shaking, the head keeps bobbing and the drool never stops and that's just listening to AC/DC in the headphones while modelling.
As for the wide world of modellers/collectors it becomes an addiction to 'must have' of all variants and manufacturers of kits even if 50 all the same but from different manufacturers.