GUEST EDITORIAL
To Finish or Not to Finish
Finish It!
How many unfinished models do you have on your workbench or already
returned to their boxes and placed back in your treasure cave? Too many.
Right? Starting a project is always more interesting, stimulating and
fun than completing it. The only way, however, you can get the satisfaction
of seeing that model finished and on your shelf or on the contest table
and continue to learn about modeling and develop your modeling skills
is to complete it.
So, get your assets in gear and do it. It's all in your mindset. I'll
bet you hit a snag with it and as a consequence let your attention shift
to that new whiz-bang kit that you just bought. The new kit is all glorious
promise, uncompromised by intrusions of reality; whereas the one you're
working on has become a pain and disappointingly disillusioning because
of that @#%&*% or, maybe, you've simply lost interest in it.
Try this: Carefully, and as objectively as possible, assess where you
are on this particular unfinished, potential, masterpiece and jot down
a list, in precise order, of the things yet to be done. That list will
show that you most likely do have the skills and resources to complete
it and will probably also surprise you by how short it is. On the initial
jotting you'll probably get things messed up a bit by getting some tasks
out of a practicable sequence, forgetting steps, etc. So, recopy it neatly
onto a note card and start to work on the first item on the list. Try
to do some work, however little, on the model everyday. This will get
you rolling, building momentum and deepening your interest in and anxiousness
to see the project completed. Cross each item off your list as you accomplish
it. Even though it may still look like all you've got is a pile of parts
and subassemblies in the project box, the list will give you a big psychological
boost by showing you that you are, in fact, making progress.
A side benefit of this approach is that you can spot tasks in advance
that you suspect will be troublesome so that you can seek advice and counsel
from others, buy a special tool, or after market part, find another reference,
etc. To ease this and to get the worst over right away and into the fun
stuff, I always do what I reckon are the most difficult tasks first whilst
enthusiasm for the subject is still fresh and high.
Just do it! You'll like it! By the way, as of this writing, I have
seven such unfinished projects in addition to one that is actually in
work. Get on the ball Jim!
On the other hand..................
Why Finish It?
Great kit, great subject, good engineering, state-of-the-art, plentiful
references, lots of good color schemes and you start building it with
great enthusiasm. A few weeks/months into the project and the blankety-blank
whatzit won't fit, or broke, or you can't figure out how that such and
such detail works and your blood pressure and angst are rising. Or, you
simply lost interest in it. Hey! This is a Hobby. It's supposed to be
fun. Lighten up; set it aside for awhile. Start that great new kit you
bought yesterday and have not yet consigned to the treasure cave. You
can come back to the project that you just set aside - anytime - or never.
This is a hobby; it's supposed to be fun. Don't feel guilty about not
completing a hobby project; it's supposed to be fun. There's no law of
nature or man that requires you to finish everything you start.
At some point in time something you see, read or hear may reawaken
your interest in that project that you set aside. By then you'll be a
much better modeler because of all the experience you've gained from all
of those other projects that you've started in the interim and the original
problem that turned you off will now be a piece of cake to solve or your
interest will have been reawakened. And if that never turns out to be
the case, what the hell? You've had your money's worth of fun from the
research, the actual work, fondling the plastic, daydreaming, etc. Thus
you've written off the cost in pure entertainment. Besides, it's only
money and life is short. Enjoy.
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