There are many steps when building a model. Open the box, get the first look at all that plastic. Start the research to see how accurate the model is, see what the model got wrong, and start figuring out what must be done to diminish the errors/commercial decisions. See what aftermarket bits are available and decide which, if any, to get for it. Notes get made on the instruction sheet. Paints are sometimes purchased (but only if someone is looking). It’s at this point that needs vs wants starts to pop up in my mind. I want to do this thing…whatever the thing is. Things like upgrade the instrument panel on an aircraft model. I want to do that, and I need to do that. (That sentence refers to what I see in my mind as the finished build.)

Work starts.

Notes are referred to frequently. As the work moves into the “yeah, I need to fix that” part of the process that is directly related to “I want this to be accurate” that’s driving the project. Needs vs wants align. It’s at this point that I often question my decisions. It’s a lot easier to scribble something on paper than it is to transfer that intention to the plastic, resin, photoetch, copper, brass, and so forth. Sometimes transferring a want into a three-dimensional presentation ends up at a choke point. (“Sometimes.” That’s funny.)

I suspect that all builders (and probably even assemblers) have aspects of a build that they dread having to deal with (PE comes to mind as does clear parts), so pretty much anything that’s not the dreaded chores gets done instead, but there’s only so much at any particular point that can be done and eventually (or sooner) there’s nothing to do but THAT THING I HATE TO DO. For some it’s painting, for some it’s decals, but there’s always SOMEthing in a build that I just don’t want to do. Yet in order to get this thing to look the way that I want it to, that thing indeed must be done and now everything else that could be done instead now has been done.

This is a choke point.

Before anything else can be done, THIS damned thing has to be done first and the build abruptly stops until THIS damned thing is taken care of. Every modeler I know has a shelf of doom. This is where builds go when the builder doesn’t get past that choke point. And when asked about why that build stopped, the modeler doesn’t even need to open the box(s) to answer it because each box on the shelf of doom is there for usually just one reason and the builder knows exactly what that reason is. The builder just doesn’t want to do it. (Might also be why some modelers have multiple projects in process.)

I’m lucky enough to have a dedicated space for my modeling shop. It’s at one end of the house and my roommate is frequently at the other end of the house. My colorful and obscene invective carries clearly the length of the house when something goes wrong in the shop. So far I have managed to restrain myself from dropping the offending project onto the floor and stomping it until it’s unrecognizable dust…but I am quite vocal about my desire. Sometimes things get so loud and obscene that the roomie will stick her head in the door, and in passing (because she’s not dumb enough to stand there and wait for my reaction) will say things like, “And you do this because it’s enjoyable?”

Well, no. This part of it is something substantially less than “enjoyable”.

Just in case it’s not evident to you yet, I deal with AMS. AMS stands for “advanced modeler’s syndrome”. (Some call it “aftermarket syndrome”.) I work in 1/48 scale or 1/35 scale because the work is larger and easier to see. (Old eyes.) That’s the benefit. Benefit, however, also brings with it  liability. The liability of working in larger scales is the flip side of the benefit because things ARE easier to see. One of my inner guidelines is that if I can see it, the viewer can as well. That means that since it’s visible, I have to address it and make it as accurate as possible. Aftermarket, scratch-building, and often prayer (from an atheist*), are frequently involved in getting from where I am with the build to where I want to be with the build. Y’k’now…finished.

But I don’t kid myself into thinking that just because I have to break through the choke point (like, writing about this incredibly annoying choke point) and get on with the build that there isn’t another choke point waiting.

I have no shelf of doom. I don’t work on multiple projects. The real problem is the choke point and the only way to solve it is to SOLVE IT.

Or write about it…

*I’m figuring that I will exit this mortal plane when I invoke gods that I don’t believe in and one of them gets sick of my shit and nails me with a bolt of lighting, probably out of a clear sky.