FOR GOODNESS SAKE, JUST BUILD IT!

Let me first lay my cards on the table; I have never, not once, bought a kit and then thought it was too complex for me to build. In fact, I’ll go further: I simply don’t understand the basic premise of buying a kit that I know will overwhelm my levels of skill.

If there is one thing that make me raise an eyebrow or two within this hobby (narrator’s voice: there are many more, but we’ll keep them to ourselves for now…) it’s the stories of modellers who have bought a kit and then are too terrified to build it. Every time that happens, I ask myself the same question: if you are so intimidated by the kit in your hands, why on earth have you spent money on it?

But here’s the thing, that state of affairs actually throws up a number of other thoughts as well, some of which I’ll offer over the next few paragraphs.

Let me first lay my cards on the table; I have never, not once, bought a kit and then thought it was too complex for me to build. In fact, I’ll go further: I simply don’t understand the basic premise of buying a kit that I know will overwhelm my levels of skill. Everything that I have ever bought has been something that I know I could build and paint, immediately. I can’t conceive now, as I have never been able to conceive in the past, grabbing a kit that I have spent my hard-earned on, only for that to sit on a shelf until I felt my skills were up to it. That being so, I don’t understand why others would do that when they could use the same money to buy something that they could enjoy once they return home, not at some point in the future that let’s face it, may never come.

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So let’s say that you have bought this incredibly intimidating kit and you’ve decided to set it aside. That makes a number of assumptions, doesn’t it? 

Firstly, that you will at some point reach the levels of skill that you personally want to attain in order to build the kit to a standard that you are happy with. What if that never happens? What if your skill levels remain at a point where that kit sits on a shelf for ever and you never get around to it?  

Secondly, what if your interests move on and that kit that you were so keen to buy is no longer something that floats your boat? You’ve spent a lot of money on a kit that has languished and now you have no need for it. What then? Sell it on? Give it away?

Here’s the thing. I would wager that there are very few kits released these days that are too difficult to build. And before anyone starts up with yeah, but what about Magna kits, please pipe down! I’m talking about mainstream plastic kits. From pocket money releases all the way up to the most expensive über kits that have hit the model shop shelves over the last few years, there are precious few that can’t be assembled and painted with little more than basic tools and a few basic colours. But that’s not really it, is it? No, there’s more to it than the cost and the complexity of the kit; there’s the desire by many to reach the heights seen by those they admire.

If I’m pushed, I feel that the real reason modellers are intimidated by the kits they buy, is that they see them completed and then don’t feel that they will be able to reach that level. They want to, but self-doubt and unreasonable expectations put the brakes on their work and ultimately their enjoyment of what should be a relaxing project. I’ll never be able to do that! What If I wreck this new kit?! Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… 

To any modeller reading this who may find themselves in that position, let me say one thing: build the bloody kit! You will learn absolutely nothing from looking at the box. You will learn a huge amount from cutting the parts from the sprues, gluing them together and painting results. So what if the results don’t match your expectations? Modelmaking is to the vast majority of participants, not a competitive sport. All that matters is that you have enjoyed the process and at the end of it, passed away some time in a relaxing way. The kit is already paid for. Why not use it for its intended purpose and build it? If you mess it up, so what? You will still have had hours of pleasure from the process of assembly and painting. Stop placing roadblocks in your path. And please, stop comparing your skills to others: It’s Not. A. Competition!

At the end of the day, when all’s said and done and the hen’s come home to roost, you have two choices (actually three, if we include not buying such intimidating kits in the first place…) and that is to stash the kit away which will add absolutely nothing of value to your hobby, or open the box, and simply have a go. I would suggest that having dreamed of the kit, paid your money for it and then taken it home, the latter is the sensible, shall we say, more fulfilling course of action? You wanted to build that latest release – why not simply do just that?!

See you next time. 

• PHANTASTIC PHANTOMS!
• PUT A FORK IN IT, IT’S DONE…
• AIRFIX REISSUES: THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITES, AVAILABLE ONCE AGAIN!
• RISK AVERSION, SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE HUNT FOR INSTANT GRATIFICATION…
• FROM THE WORKBENCH: AIRFIX 1/48 DE HAVILLAND VAMPIRE FB.5

1. 

   sorry the last comment was me Andrew wright but it came up as anonymous

2. 

   hi Spencer, not sure if I had one reserved but can I get one please money has just been transfered…

3. 

   Hi Spencer could you put me down for a copy of the phantom printed book please. I have emailed you…

4. 

   Hi Spencer: Not sure if I already have, but yes please reserve a copy of your new Phantoms book for…

5. 

   Yeah, whatever Spencer. Petty gripes over not a lot methinks.