Sprue Cutters’ Union – Old Dog, New Tricks

I’ve decided to jump on board with the Sprue Cutters’ Union, a blog carnival, to help keep me focused and share a bit too. There is more information about SCU at the bottom of this post if you’re interested.

Let’s jump right in…

More Old Than Tricky

Old Dog, yeah that’s me. I’ve been in and out of this hobby for 44 years. Not as long as some but longer than a few I’m sure. I don’t have any new techniques or products on the list to try in 2015 but I do have some demons to kill. Like anybody that has done something for a long time I have my habits. Some are good and some are bad. I like to call the bad ones ghosts because it seems no matter how hard I try to crush them they always sneak back. There are some that I would like to kill off for good this year.

My Biggest Enemy

A lot of us fight this one, some with more success than others. Some call it AMS but I call it The Anal Ghost. There really is no better description. Now I know some of us embrace this ghost as a friend and live happily ever after but not I. This ghost totally ruined the hobby for me back in the 90’s. I got so caught up in correct details, especially color schemes and markings, that I would freeze. I could barely get a kit finished and when I did it was never good enough. The only thing that stopped the cycle was a growing family. Having small children in the house put a damper on any serious modelling attempts for about 12 years.

After a few false starts I came back to the hobby full force at the beginning of 2010. My focus was on getting a good looking model, not so much as to having all the details right. Perhaps it was because I was a noob again? I don’t know. I was more concerned with technique than results and all was right with the world. The Anal Ghost was nowhere to be found.

But it’s not over. That ghost continues to pop into my hobby tempting me with things that really don’t matter, things that I know will destroy my sanctuary if I let them. He seems to have gotten stronger lately but I fight and the battle continues on and on.

My primary goal this year is to kill this demon or at least banish it from my life so that I may enjoy what I enjoy and not be led astray.

Don’t Screw It Up!

This ghost visits me often. The Ghost of Paralyzing Fear. Fear of what you ask? Fear of screwing up of course. Lets face it, this is not necessarily a cheap hobby anymore. Nobody wants to destroy an expensive kit. Not only that but there are lots of  irreplaceable kits or aftermarket sets or even OOP paints? What if you screw up something that literally cannot be replaced? Paralyzing it can be.

I have pretty much beaten back this cousin of the Anal Ghost. I just had to learn to expect and accept that I am going to botch something somewhere on every build. That wasn’t an easy one to swallow but I got most of it down.

The Time Bandit

This guy is my worst enemy at the moment. He really has been for many many months. The only way I see to beat him is to schedule my bench time. Not a big deal you say. Well it is for me.  You see, my home life isn’t that organized. A wife and three kids between the ages of 10 and 16 tend to put a kink in any plans a man can make. It seems there is always something that somebody needs from me at all hours of the day. Not only do constant interruptions make trying to start something hard but it absolutely crushes any momentum you may have. We all know how important momentum can be during a build. My wife tries to force me into my workshop from time to time but there always seems to be another task that “needs” to be handled by dad. My wife recognizes my need to decompress and that I do that when I build. I guess we need to come together as a family and figure out when dad gets his time. We shall see.

Know thy enemy… and kill him!

Everyone in this hobby has their own ghosts. Be they ghosts of excess or need or want, we all have one or two or more. Although not necessarily bad in themselves, they can suck the enjoyment right out of this hobby. I am not willing to let that happen again. My goal in 2015 is to identify, evaluate, and destroy these ghosts .

Model on.

Other Members Posts…

The Combat Workshop
Doogs’ Models
Yet Another Plastic Modeller
The Museum Modeler
Kermit’s Bench