This little model occupied far more of my time than it had any right to this week. WHen the daily eBay alerts came in, a couple of clicks lead me to a listing for this Kymodel Mooring Tug kit.
I was facinated as it looks like the hull and superstructure are a small series of larg plastic mouldings. OK, the boat is 35cm long, so not that large, but large and complicated on model boat terms.
Digging around when I should have been doing some work, leads me to beleive that the parts are either 3D printed, or low-pressure ABS mouldings. My money is on the former, although I can't see any printing lines in photos. There is discussion of making the model watertight though, an issue with 3D printed boats (and submarines as one of our club members knows).
At £114, the price isn't bad, and it's small enough for comfortable workbench building, but large enough (as seen in this video) to sail on a normal model boating pond. It will even pull a load withouth falling over, which is quite impressive.
The problem is - even if it landed in my lap, I'm still short of the urge to make anything. I'm not short of projects. I'm sure there is even a similar size boat kit in the stash. If there isn't, I know I have plans for a scratchbuild. I managed to sternly tell myself this long before the credit card starting calling.
Should I think the buzz of a potential new project is a good thing? Not sure really, as it's never entirely gone away. Over the last three months, a tiny numbers of kits have been added to the pile. Admitedly, these are models that I've fancied for many years (over 30 on one case) and are on eBay searches as much to scratch an itch as anything else.
While I'd hope to have plenty more years left in me, I still wonder if I have already built a stash too large for me to ever hope to build. Maybe if a lottery win left me with no need to work, and able to build that perfect workshop. But then I'd have the cash to buy even more projects, so maybe it would never end!
Why is it that the new project buzz is so strong? I know I'm not alone in feeling this.
8 comments:
It's evolution- there is an advantage to having a strong mental focus on new things (because they might be dangerous).... This leads to what I believe is called the "focus illusion". Daniel Kahnemann ("Thinking, Fast and Slow") is excellent on this stuff.
You could try getting one of you stash projects out and focusing on it...?
And rest assured that you are not alone.
best wishes,
Steve Cheetham
New projects are great - The future is bright! - hasn't had chance yet to go wrong!!!
Take care and keep smiling!
Hugh (aka Kim's Dad)
Good point Hugh - if you don't start something, and don't even buy it, you can't go wrong!
Knitters talk about SABLE - Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy.
Let me turn this around in my best management consultant style, but without the fee.
How do we retain the new project buzz whilst building a long term project?
I guess part of the answer is to speak to those who do, the builders of "lifetime layouts" or model engineers who might take ten years to build a loco. There is a wonderful story about David Lloyd, builder of Coolcalaghata that I think was in his RM obituary about how he would go home at night with one clear objective in mind, like turning a chimney
Steve,
I think there is something else going on here about motivation. We need some sort of big story to motivate us, allied with lots of little successes along the way. And now I'm thinking about the psychology of computer games that do just that to keep us hooked.
The computer game analogy is an interesting one. Regular doses of success to keep you hooked.
I've never understood lifetime layout builders. It's just not in my makeup to spend forever on a single project like that - although I admire many of those who do.
James,
yes, think you're right about the big narrative point. It's what kept people on the edges of their stools night after night for the medieval epics, or into the wee hours for the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Also, the doses of success - if you don't get these it's easy to be demotivated. I shall go and see if I can get some by finishing my wagon kit...
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