Monday, March 09, 2020

Project fatigue

Polar Bear on the Groudle Glen Railway

It probably sounds daft, but sometimes I get tired of modeling. 

At the moment, I'm hopefully entering a quieter period at work, but just recently there has been an awful lot of building. Interesting work, but now I find myself drained of interest in making things. Slumping in front of the TV appeals in the evening. Going to sleep even more. 

I know that it's not actual tiredness - I'm hardly working down a coal mine - but mental exhaustion. The cure for that is to stimulate my brain with something interesting. Besides, I need a project to blog about. Much as I enjoy conjuring posts up out of nowhere, writing about something I'm making is a lot easier and almost certainly more entertaining. 

That's the point about this blog. It does what I started it for - giving me a focus and some drive to get things done. We all know how long a project with no deadline takes - forever. Slap some "milestones", as project managers like to call them, into your life and things get done. 

Anyway, I'm not exactly short of projects. All I need is one that excites me as much as it did when I bought the bits. Trouble is, that thrill dissipates over time which is why I can look at all the potential candidates for my workbench and just decide checking Instagram is more rewarding. 

In the hope of finding something, I had a root through the cupboard in my office. My memory must be failing as there were a number of discoveries in there I'd completely forgotten about. 

Tucked away was this IP Engineering laser-cut kit for Groudle Glen electric locomotive Polar Bear.

This shouldn't be too taxing, but ought to provide a bit of entertainment. I'm not in the right frame of mind for a serious project right now. Whatever I do need to go together with the minimum of fettling. 

As an added bonus, I need another 32mm gauge locomotive for the Garden Railway in a Day I'm building next month at the National Garden Railway Show. Why not one of my favourite locos?

1 comment:

Paul B. said...

We all lose our mojo from time to time (mine's been gone for a few months now), I never worry about it as my interest in making stuff always returns. This is when having a few simple kits stashed away pays dividends, something small and interesting that will be pleasant without being too taxing. It must be different though when modelling pays the bills.