Ever Get Stuck?
 

Hello Members, especially kit builders. I havent done anything with my kit for almost 8 months now, my table has gatthered dust, and I cant seem to get motivated to finish, anyone relate to that?..and how did you get out of it. I didnt have much time the last few months, but now I do..any advice?.. thanks

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

This is not really an uncommon problem Janet. It usually happens to me in the summer... building tends to take a back seat to flying.

My cure for it is pretty easy - Just sit yourself down next to your building table, and do something mindless. I smoke, so for me, it's sit in the workshop and have a cigarette (It's the only place in the house that the boss lets me smoke).

Maybe (If you don't smoke) you could just sit there and listen to music.

But you would be surprised at how easy it is to look at the table and say, "Hmmm, that 'so and so' is ready for glueing" or "Gee, there's a burr on the edge of that wingtip that needs sanding"

Next thing you know, you're up to your elbows in sawdust. :D

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet,
First you have to decide if you want to finish the project. If so, then commit to it and set your mind at peace. Go back to your instruction book and find the last stopping point. Then study what is next. Look at your schedule and if say at x:00 o'clock on Tuesday you have 90 minutes lock that construction task in. DO IT. If you can keep up this sequence and are able to say to 3-4 hours per week then you will punch it out to completion over a couple of months. As you near the end you will become more excited when anticipating the finished project. You can also say to your self "this week I WILL install those push rods", etc .

Been there, doing that as we speak.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

For me its easy, clean the shop. I don't mean just move stuff around but really put everything in its place, clean off the building board completely, shop vac everything and throw away all the trash. A spic and span shop with everything in its place is a big motivator for me to build something, anything!

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

I'm beginning to get that way too. I keep having to do minor work on other planes, so I'm at the bench almost every day. I need to get up the steam to plow thru the parts of building that I don't like best.

What are you building and what stage are you at?

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

I got that problem too. Sometimes......

I'm one of those that has a few flying planes, and double that in ARTFP "almost ready to finish projects" languishing in my shop. Most need only an hour or two to finish.

The AADD doesn't help, I'm here, I'm there, I got to go work on the ??? hey wanna go ride bikes? Oh wait I was in the middle of something important, then started something else.....now I'm out on my boat. Oh yeah didn't I have something IMPORTANT to do???!!??
Seriously though it's not as much fun as it sounds.[&:]

Jetts

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

One problem I've had is getting to a "sticky" point in the building sequence and putting off doing it. Then the momentum is lost and it's hard to come back and deal with whatever put me off in the first place. Sometimes I'll switch to an easier area of the project to get going again, then come back to the problem. Another is losing interest in the whole project. I've let one sit as long as 2 years until finally it looked interesting again and got finished. It sounds like a lot of us end up with unfinished projects cluttering up the place. Another good motivator is cutting off your kit buying funds until the current one(s) are finished! Sometimes it's so much easier to buy them than to finish them!

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Every kit I build results in my being stuck when it comes time to cover it. I will build like a daemon till then. I HATE covering. I have a Super Sports 20 that is at that stage and has been so for almost two months now.
Going out to the field and watching some people fly usually gets me outta the funk and back in gear.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet I feel your pain. I fix cars for a living. I work with my hands all day. I get home cook my wife and me supper ( I love to cook but hate dishes, she doesn't mind dishes and hates to cook, good arraingement all the way round). I clean up and take a shower. It is now 7:30 and I am beat. The last thing on my mind is airplane building.

The way I get around it is to just peck away at it. A little here a little there. Sooner or later the project is done. Just do a little at a time. No more than 1/2 hour or so. This will keep you from burning out. Good luck with your project. And my congratulations on joining this hobby. And for summoning up the courage to build a plane. I only wish more women would take up the hobby. I enjoy the different point of view women have. Congratulations and good luck.

Mark Shuman

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

I feel your anguish Janet. I built for others for a very long time and I got so burned out that I didn't even want to see my shop, more or less build something.[&o] It has taken a long time for it to come around but it slowly is, but having some health problems sure doesn't help. I started one plane that turned into a royal POS and finally stuck it at the end of the workbench and maybe somewhere down the road it will get done. I'm doing an Ultimate now and I'm having a real good time, taking my time because I have no time frame to get it done like when I was building for others. I have 72 cap strips to put on and I'm 1/2 way there, no hurry and then the last thing to build will be the fuz! I do like Minnflyer and go down and have a smoke even though I'm not suppose to[&o] and just look at what I'm working on and plan ahead, sometimes I will glue something and then just look. I plan on cleaning my shop this week as it's really bad and there's a lot of it and once cleaned it will be easier to work on the plane. It will come back and you just need a break for the time being, good luck and hang in there.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

yup just recently too, got motivated when i went out and flew my Nexstar and was like BAM, building time (guess also cause i lost my easy sport over spring break too lol) needed my own plane to fly off the ground cause i have a seamaster and the nexstar is my dads

~Matt

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

sounds familiar, we all go thru the mood swings. for some of us its years inbetwen. all it takes is the desire to start in again. just don't try to make up for lost time-- little bit at a time and soon its complete ready to fly, and another one is on the board. dick

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

One more tidbit janetC- remember that each time you work on "the project", it gets a little closer to being finished, even if it's one step every couple of days/weeks/months/years. A project never unbuilds itself. (well, not until you fly it into a tree, or the good old terra firma)

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Boy can I relate to this. My first Kit was/is a Something Extra. By all accounts this plane is a straight forward build. I started in February of last year and am "almost" finished. When I lost interest, I would hang it up and sooner or later I would come around to wanting to build. In the interim, I build several ARF's just to keep me in the air. This had a big affect on my progress. I was building, just not the kit. Well, about a month or two ago, I said, this WILL get finished, and over the last several weeks I have progressed to where I have just the aeleron servos to install (will do that today), finish up painting the wheel pants (also today), balancing and radio programming. For my first kit I am pleased on how it came out, and I really learned alot along the way. I have a SIG Hog Bipe kit in the wings, and will probably start this Fall. Also to build/assemble, a U-Can-Do 46, an Ultra Stick lite, and a Tower Voyager (just because). I know the bipe will go the same way as the SE, but in some areas, doing it once will certainly speed up the process. Basically I build when I want and don't when I run out of steam.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Hasn't happened to me, but like someone else pointed out. You don't have to try and finish the whole thing in a week or two.

I make it a point to spend a minimum of 10 minutes in the shop every day. Sometimes its in the morning before I go to work. Somedays I just throw a little spackle filler on and I'm done in 10 minutes, and others I look up at the clock and 3 hours slipped by. I have a tv in the shop, and if I'm sick of building, I just cruise through the channels until a commercial and then look back at the plane.

Nibble away at the project and it will be done before you know it.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

You obviously know by now that you're not alone, and I'll add my voice to the masses. I haven't worked on a kit in about 3 months now, and I have at least 4 that are in various stages of completion.

Don't fret over it, leave it be for now. If it's really bothering you, then find another kit that you're interested in building (maybe something easier), and start that. I've found that I quite often will finish a different kit, then wind up going back to the one that was set aside.

By the way, here's a potential motivator for you; on June 26th and 27th is the Regional Scalemasters Qualifier at the Gardner, MA. airport. (Gardner is north west of Worcester.) Flying generally starts about 9:30 or 10:00 each morning, and there's usually some very nice aircraft competing. Maybe seeing some of them will help.

One of the clubs I belong to sponsors it, and I'll be there as a static judge again this year. We have a food tent, and if you come you might want to try "Jim's Surprise". (Or maybe NOT. ;) )

I'm guessing it would be an hour and a half to two hours drive for you. Assuming you still live where you did when we last wrote. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you decent directions.
Dennis-

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

I got stuck on one for 5yrs... I came back eventually. It kind of sucks looking at it though for that long. I'd put it away...then get it out... finally it clicked one day, and I finished it. I haven't looked back since...that was probably 2dozen kits ago. It happens.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

It's easier for me when I'm flying competition. There's always the hope that the new one
will be "THE ONE".

tommy s

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

I got stuck on one when I couldn't turn up a bolt in the size I wanted. It really upset me that the designer of the kit would say buy such and such part number and it'll work, then it's not even close. So, I hung it up for 3 years and as I was learning how to weld so I could build a full scale plane I thought, ya know, I can weld 2 bolts together and make the size I need. I did and it didn't take me a week to have it in the air.

It's funny how you can get stuck, then while working on something else you learn a new trick that suddenly is exactly what you needed to finish that stuck one, then they just go together. Of course I have another Cap to finish up and a P38, but what's the rush, I'm flying the one I finished and all is well.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Hi Janet, good to see you back again. Its been a while.

I get burned out at times too. Usually I set the project aside and build on another and then usually end up finishing both together. Depends on how much room you have. Right now I have 3 going. That gets to be too much at times but I had a huge one come in that I just had to finish, and when I had carple surgery, I could only do some things so I got one plane to the point of needing sanding, then started another. Gotta work on the parts that interest you and then build momentum to finish the other.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Bingo! Nothing is more depressing that 3-4 projects sitting around in the way of each other not getting finished! Put all the tools away, pack away the projects that will take the longest and voila!, one easily digestible project with plenty of room to work on it.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet, we all get 'bunt out' after a while. It's not that we're bored, but we jsut need a little motivation, something different, or we need soemthing else to occupy our time.

I have many hobbies, and recently have been 'in your boat'. Despite having a few kits to do, I have reverted to an old hobby of mine.. (see the pics below)

And since it is now finished, I'm a little more inclined to get back to building.. (but model rockets are this month's flavour!!)

Stats: 3/8" ID, 14 awg Anodized & etched aluminum rings, standard '4 in 1' Eropean chain mail weave, consisting of probably a few thousand rings!

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

yeap.. work on one project at a time
set short term goals so it dosen't seem overwhelming.
or you'll just get tired of looking at it.[X(]
make a list and check them off
set deadlines for task.
keep building area clean and tools orginized.
orginzed and mark parts for building sequence.
wear mask or keep building area well vented....
saw dust and glue fumes makes me tired and then some.lol

go to flying field, hangout and watch other flies
to get the flying bug back . renew your ama or club's fee...
if spent money, that might help motivate also.

maybe you can get to meet newer memebers.
by helping others you'll get back into flying again.
thereby, you'll helping yourself.
sum'in like.. " i can only keep what i have by giving it away"

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Nice mail!
I have made 1 14 gauge hauberk weighs about 30lbs, a coif/bishop's mantle, 2 14 gauge vests for friends and a 16 gauge vest thingie for a female friend. The last was one of the more difficult projects.
Got pictures someplace but dont know where right now. LOT of work! Been stuck on shirt #2 for about 3 years now...

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

It helps to remember that this is a hobby, not a job, and therefore not something you have to do. If you are "away" from a kit for a time, it probably means you are pre-occupied with other more important priorities.

All builders get stuck now and then. Recently I had 5 unfinished planes, kits and scratch built, cluttering up my shop. Last week a friend stopped by and I gave them all to him. I have an LT-40 on the way from Sig, and at the moment I am greatly motivated.

My favorite plane, a Super Sportster 40, took over 7 years to build. Since it is highly modified, there were times when I would spend several evenings just contemplating a detail. One time I woke up at 2 in the morning with a brainstorm, went to my shop and worked out the problem. If you are stuck at a particular phase of building, you will probably work it out. If, however, you simply don't like the kit you are building, my advice is to sell it or give it away, and get another. We've all been there.

Bob

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet,
Sometimes projects get ignored or put aside because of other things in your life that come up that are more important. Right now I've got a vacation trip coming up and a very busy week at work when I get back, so my current project will sit for 3-4 weeks until I can get back to it.
Motivation to finish a project for me comes with having the "next" one ready at hand. My shop is too small for multiple projects, so I have to finish one before I can start another. Right now I have the box with my next project sitting where I can see it. Having it there is motivation to finish what's on the bench. Good luck.

papermache

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Thanks Fubar. I found a place that sells pre-cut rings, in just about every size and material available, even neoprene rings!! www.theringlord.com

Aluminum is sweet, easy to work with, light, and comes in many [anodized]colours.

I'm currently making a hauberk, 3/8" ID 14awg Stainless steel rings..

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

OK -- whats the status after all the good words from the guys? your lucky-- my habit, model building took a vacation for a few years as I started restoring antique automobiles. made lots of new friends and a couple of $$. now back into the model airplanes and having fun again- design my own plans of antique aircraft, build giant planes, try to fly them, what more could a 80 year old man do ?. its all a matter of mind. latest project attached. dick

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Here's my 2 cents worth....

First, though, let me set the stage. I work, I commute, I'm married, I have 4 kids, I mountainbike and I build and fly R/C. So I don't exactly have a lot of time.

I have to find ways (whenever possible) to do things in 10-15 minute "bits". Well, the only time I get to build is when the kids are in bed so I'm pretty tired. I make a point of putting 1 part on or completing one task each evening. I might be something as small as a couple of wing ribs or laminating a firewall. The point is, though, the project bit-by-bit gets done, and the unpleasant jobs are broken down into digestable parts.

For example, I have a GP Ultimate Bipe I'm building. I've been working on it for 7 months now, and it's (finally) at the covering stage. Well, I hate covering. So last night my 1 task was putting a piece of covering on the bottom of the lower wing. Tonight I'll do the other side and over the weekend the top of the wing. The top wing is done, so by Monday the wings'll be covered. Eventually, I'm going to finish. The point is just to keep taking steps forward even if they are small.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Thanks for the link! Got that puppy fav'd. I Haven't worked in anything but galvanized steel but that aluminum sounds interesting.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

So Janet, are 'ya building that plane again, or what? Did you go and get something to fly in the meantime? Janet............ Janet, are you out there?

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Hey.... I didnt realize we all get this sometimes, Thank You ALL for responding.. Seriously I think cleaning the table is a way to begin..and yes, i do have too many kits, i should probably hide them... Now, who wants to clean?..lol

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Clean? No thanks! I can't keep my OWN shop clean. ;)
Dennis-

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet:
I replied earlier and here is the link to what I have been stuck on for over a year. My answer in this post was based on this.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/Fina...1914644/tm.htm

I am not sure how to quote another thread, so this might not be working.

Now I guess I better go clean up the shop and go get stuck on something else. (No pun intended)

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

janet, i read this thread and this is exactly what i'm going through.

the aircraft i am building from plans is so labor intensive , that i just
get boged down and lose interest .

I WILL NEVER!! build a plane from plans again. its kits all the way
for me.

this will be a two year project, easy

HAWKER TYPHOON CRAZY

its supposed to be fun!!!!!!


dan

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

sorry about your minor problem. treat it like one. go to the other project that was on hold-- like a nice trip to Florida or Quebec. hobbies are like a work-- after awhile its a pain in the --- . difference, your paying for the hobby. dick

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Thanks, I have FLA on the schedule . I think what happens to me is well..its kind of weird..in a way as you said its intensive ya know?..and then I get stuck because I dont want to go through the hard parts..and then the dust begins, and its like...I wish I had a magic wand... its a terrible cycle sometimes. And this is only a guillows kit BTW....a fairchild..and its build by number so yes maybe it bores me. ... I think in part because I dont have a flight system in mind and I have been back and forth so many times with conversion to rc on such a small plane and it all seems so difficult.. I dont want it rubber power, and I dont want to make it and crash it either because i did that with some bad advice...NOT HERE Mind you...and overloaded a Guillows Lancer with a heavy Motor and watched it dive first time free flight w/ a homemade battery pack and motor that was way too heavy. I guess I dont get it all. Probably never will...Gosh.. I sometimes feel i need an engineeering course. I am fond of the small planes though and I am reluctant to go larger . Heelp!!! ;)re: building from plans... too much for me, never will try..to each his own, i just wouldnt have the patience.

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

so whats NEW? we all have been thru that routine-- in fact i"m in one right now, myself. got too shut off the computor get get back to the REAL world. lately its 6 hours of RCU, per day, and zero drawing plans and building, have forgotten what flying is. Just have to shake off the Blahs and get with it-- can't make mistakes when your not doing anything-- dick

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet;
Build it as a lovely idsplay model, then.....
Since you have already experimented with the Lancer (great little rubber powered plane BTW) try "just whipping something up" like a foam glider with a home-made battery, and bigger electric motor, ect. I know it sounds a little silly, but make it crappy on purpose, and then just go try to fly it, you won't be heart broken if it crashes, or doesn't fly too well. Then take that experience, and look at what worked and what didn't, and go from there. Make it a challenge, but a fun challenge. You can do it!
Also remember, there is no time limit, no deadlines here.

Jetts

RE: Ever Get Stuck?
 

Janet, your last post told the tale... There is another post here that I answered so I'll keep it short. A lot of people will procrastinate when they are not sure of what they are doing or if they are afraid of making a mistake. Iv'e done it myself. Some kind of sub-consious thing I think.
The Gullows kits are neat. I built a little P-51 but it ended up being a table model. I have some suggestions for you. I have built 3 .40 Midwest kits and all are pretty good kits, good plans, instructions and are easy to build. (The instructions are wrong about the balance point though, balance it on the front edge of the wing spar).
The smaller the plane the harder it will be to see and fly. Here is a combo I fly and love it... Midwest Aerostar .40, Fox .40 engine, Futaba PCM 6 channel radio. ( about $500 for everything)Take out most of the dihedral, be sure to twist some washout into the wing when you are covering it, make the elevator wider cord-wise, scrap the wire mains and install hardwood rails inside the fuse and use the aluminum gear with larger wheels if you plan to fly off grass. Use a spinner that reaches across the engine compartment and shape the nose to it, Put as big a tank in it as will fit. make the tank cover removeable, also install a cover under the engine and shape it to the spinner as well, to reduce drag. My .40 will out run a .46 on a plane with a shorter wing. I believe its because of the aerodynamic shaping I did to the nose. Also, I made my wing a bolt on wing because Iv'e had problems with rubber bands. I did all this on my second one, the first one flew great after changing the CG but I wanted something a little hotter.
If you really want to fly a little plane, there are mini reciver/servo/motor/speed controller/battery combos at the hobby shops for less than $200. Check out www.towerhobbies.com. There are little planes there and suggested equipment for them.
If you have never flown R/C before, join a club and get an instructor to help you on a buddy box. Good luck and welcome to the hobby. James