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THE SHELF OF WOE


Dakimbrell

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All serious model builders have a Shelf of Woe. That shelf (or shelves) of unfinished models. I have about 50 uncompleted projects. How about the rest of you. Here are a few of mine.

Dak

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I think lots of people call theirs the “Shelf of Doom”.   I only have five on the SoD right now, and one of them may actually be coming off it soon....

At one point about 5 years ago, I had about 20 - mostly kits where something had gone wrong, or I found an error that would be too hard/no fun to fix.   I then decided it was time to do something about it-  so I decided to clean it out. Several were just finished as best I could, ignoring the errors. Several others were sold as a bundle (box full) for a couple of dollars over the cost of shipping. One or two were parted out and tossed.  It was refreshing to have that shelf empty!  

Edited by rcboater
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I always called it the Shelf of Woe because the stuff is not dead, but because I stopped working on it for various reasons. Last year I revived several and finished them. 

They set there mocking me. 

Dak

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I guess I'm an exception that proves the rule.....I don't have one. I've only thrown out 2 models in my entire life. The first was a 1/32 Revell F-4J Phantom I was attempting to build as a teenager back in 1975.....and it was too warped and I was too inexperienced to overcome it. The second one was one of my first major vac attempts: the 1/32 Combat P-6E Hawk biplane. It was just so ill-fitting that I couldn't complete it either. Other than those two, I've completed every other model I've ever started.

There has only been 1 true "shelf-sitter" in my collection, and that was a 1/24 Combat vacuform P-51B Mustang. I made a "tactical" error in construction and let a small problem halt my progress. I set it aside fully intending to come back and solve that problem after a few days and it sat there for over 10yrs....BUT, about 3-4yrs ago, I dusted it off and finished it. I currently have one car model that is painted but not finished, and it's been that way for about a year. It'll get it done this year.

A "shelf-of-doom" seems to be the norm for most modelers; and I see nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you have one, I'd simply look at it as a project you have a HEAD START on when you get ready to try to get something done! It's not a shelf of potential failure, it's a shelf of potential time-savings!

Here's 3 pics of that 1/24th P-51B...2 of where I stopped its progress, and the other is after I got it done.

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130093145_BigvacP-51B_0006_NEW.thumb.jpg.d6f24d4fec6911917e6ca210a9b61044.jpg

001.thumb.JPG.ec50527ead9843f4fba61e39875242e6.JPG

GIL :cool:

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I see "Shelf of Woe", and all I can think of is the professional wrestler ("rassler") Kevin "The Prince of Darkness" Sullivan speak about the "Tree of Woe":

"I did go to the Tower of Torment, I did climb the Thirteen Steps, and I did strap myself to the Tree of Woe.  And the Sifu did come to me, and he did give to me the Beetle Nut, the Cosmic Cookie, for that I was to chew on as I did hang from the Tree of Woe.  And as I did chew on the Beetle Nut everything became clear in the Amazon river of my mind..."

Ahhh, professional wrestling in the late 1970's-early 1980's.  Kids today don't know what they missed...   :)

Ralph

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I've actually exceeded the capacity of my shelves in my closet and have been given permission by the lady of the manor to put up some shelves in our designated hobby room.  I'm thinking that if they are staring me in the face more it will shame me into building them, eventually.  😁  I have picked up the pace with my building though.  I've already completed as many in 2019 as I did in all of 2018!  😃

My problem is that some many cool ones are coming out that I keep buying more!  😃

 

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As far as the Shelf of Woe/Doom meaning kits I've started and not been able to finish, I'm over with Gil in that I only have one. 

It's a miniature garage kit that was created on the computer. The tolerances are so tight and it had to be assembled in a certain order. But they don't tell you the order - just give an exploded view. Being it's resin you glue it with CA. which is a bear to pull apart. All the parts were glued onto main part A, and all the other onto main part B. But doing that, A and B won't go together.  Took all my strength to not whip it across the room.

As far as stash I have about 5 piles of boxes that are nearly floor to ceiling... 🤩

Same as Richard I too am in desperate need of more shelves in my room.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I think we all need the help of Gandalf the Wizard to cast a spell to build all our models that will outlast most of our lifetimes!

Seriously though, I have ruthlessly cleared a lot of my stash down to just the models that I probably will actually build.

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Well, I have about 400 models in my stash, but I have about five or six models on the Shelf of Woe, or Doom if you will. I do need to get more of them done. I'm tired of them taking up space in the workbench and hobby room.

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At SMW Telford IPMS UK has what is named the Kit Swap area. A bit of a misnomer really as it is  basically an organised second hand kit sale area where members can off load kits from their stashes and IPMS UK takes 10 per cent. It is only open to IPMS members from any country on the morning of each day and then also to the general public in the afternoon of each day. All the sale items have to be booked in on special sheets that the organisers use to track both the sales of and unsold models to return to their owners  and also to work out payments for sold kits minus the 10 per cent fee. Does IPMS USA run something similar at the US Nats for members  stash disposals?I

I was standing in the queue awaiting payment for my off loaded items with a friend of mine who jokingly said " I don't know why we do this? We all go out and buy kits, decide they will never be built, and sell them at a loss! "

Edited by noelsmith
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Nothing like that at NATS here in the states Noel....the "stash" sellers usually just buy a vendors table and sell their items. The table costs for the IPMSUSA Nats is too steep for most individuals to do that there, but those types of stash sales make up the majority of all the other local and regional model shows!

Our club hosts a "kit auction" each November where people can put what they want up for bid at that meeting, and the club does take a 10% cut of those sales. But, since we do "pay-as-you-go", the seller gets paid as soon as his lot is done, and the club takes its cut at that time. There's no need to "inventory" anything that way. The down side is you're generally only going to get pennies on the dollar for what you sell, but you can also pick up some really great bargains! It's one of the more fun meetings every year!

 

GIL :cool:

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One member of our club had a solution for this problem. Instead of having to buy kits, we should be able to just rent them.

But Noel’s friend’s observation about buying kits then selling them at a loss can be turned into profit with one word - VOLUME! Good luck.

Nick 

 

 

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Gil, we have something similar, only we call ours the "Distressed Kit Auction" Kits, tools, parts, or anything else model related are donated by the club members. We offer receipts for those who wish to write the donation off on their taxes as we are still a 501c3; but all proceeds from our auction go straight to the club. We do ours twice a year and it's a great fund raiser for our club (second only to Orangecon) and is also a thrilling and fun meeting.

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Nick,  unfortunately your selling volume to make a profit statement  is a bit lost on me.?  Please explain. Unless they have become old rarities I have only always managed to sell kits on (usually bought on a whim at the time) at a loss. I am taking about kits that modellers tend to simply accumulate over a period of time and realise they will never build them rather than trading.

Edited by noelsmith
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It is just a stupid old vaudeville joke. One guy says “ I am going to get rich. I will buy gloves for $1.00 a pair and sell them for .50 a pair.” The other guy asks “How will you make any money?” The first guy responds, enthusiastically “Volume!” 

Your perfect description of we modelers’ blinkered financial planning reminded me of this silly old routine. 

Regards, Nick

 

 

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