mugenkidd has it. How do YOU define time? Do you rush through the process, trying to get it over with? Do you work slowly but methodically, with an eye on finishing it within a certain period? Or do you work at your leisure, making sure everything is just so, savoring the experience?

I have gravitated to the third option. It usually takes me forever to complete a project. This past summer, I had an unexpected week of free time, so I rushed to finish an ARF I really wanted to get in the air. I assembled it properly, but the finishing details are less than stellar. It has become my main flyer, but I'm not all that proud of how it looks.

I'm currently working on a SIG Somethin' Extra ARF. I built the kit version a few years ago, then foolishly sold it. This is probably the best all-around FUN airplane I've ever owned. But the point is that I've been putzing around with this kit for over a month. I'm putting a YS 63 on it, and I felt the need for a larger tank than is normal. Fitting it to my satisfaction was quite a project. In the meantime, I spent at least two weeks getting the engine mounted to my satisfaction, checker-boarded the wing bottoms, fabricated a new tail wheel set-up, then discarded that and just last night started to modify the kit tail wheel set-up. I've still got quite a bit to do on it, but will probably finish it up during the time off I'm taking at Xmas. I have no idea how many total hours I will eventually have invested; and I don't care...<G>

It's all about what you want out of the experience. For me, it's a way to pass the time while creating something I can use and enjoy. When this SE is done, I'll be starting a new helicopter project, and in tandem with that I'll get back on a Top Flite Contender that is about half framed-up. I discovered that having two involved projects going at once is the way to prevent frustration and burn-out. When one is causing you grief, or you just get tired of looking at it, put it away and drag the other one out for a while. I think that's called therapy...<G>

Kit-building is very rewarding, but you just cannot beat today's ARFs for the best bang for your buck. Yeah, some of them are crap. But you will not be disappointed with any of the upper-echelon offerings, such as Kangke, World Models, H9's "Premium" line, and The Empire's top-of-the-line models.

However, I think that if one measures the like/dislike factor of a model by how long it took him to build it, he is missing the whole point of the hobby.

Steve