How do you find the time?

I have 6 kits, 3 started and 3 waiting. I start one and work for a day or two on it then it seems that i have no time to build. It's really frustrating. Right now I'm in the middle of cooking dinner and then after that I have some work to do, then sleep, plus I'm married ..so you know. How many hours per week or day do the rest of you get to spend on your passion/hobby? I log on daily and see all these great cars getting built and I feel like taking 2 weeks off just to build.

That's a dilemma that most of us face. Work, family, etc all eat up time. Not to mention time spent surfing places like AF!!!

All told I might spend a total of 2 or 3 hours a week building models. Some more some less. Some nights after work I'm too tired to do anything. Sometimes, 10 or 15 minutes at the bench is a real treat.

I have built one model this year and have 3 in progress. Just build when you can and enjoy the time you get.

Within the last 6 months I bought a house, planned a wedding, and just 2 weeks ago got married. Now in the process of moving the wifey in. I have started 2 projects since i moved in (a firebird and my sas/ssw ITR) and i seem to have not had time to even think about working on either of them. I sat down for the first time tonight and straightened up my work area, and before I knew it I started planning a 3rd project. I 'm going to try to spend a little more time on them since we are almost fully settled down in the new house, but who the hell knows how that will go.

My main problem is that i can surf the web all day long at work and think about building, so i have a bout 4 diffrent ideas for each model in my collection. By the time i finish one there is no telling how monsterous it will turn out.
Problem 2... I still have plenty of time to buy more modeling stuff!

Well it seems between school and activities that I think about models more than I build them. I might get two or three nights a week to work on them.

Ya, I experience the same dilemma with you guys. I can only spraying the models in my summer holiday. I have school basically through out the year and have tons of exams and assignments. And you know, the tamperature in Toronto, Canada has started to fall in this week. So it may not be a good idea to paint the models any longer in this year. :banghead: What I did in this summer? I put layers of pink primer on all my ferrari kits, and hopefully I can put some SIKKENS AUTOCRYL in next summer. :banghead:

I have about 40 - 50 kits (and growing each month) in my room (not counting the ones I store at my friends model shop) and only 7 to 8 hours on Saturday and Sunday to spend on building my models. Currently I stop building cars for the moment and are building robots (Gundam actually) for a competition next month (my first and last entry for Gundam modelling) before going back to building cars :iceslolan . I'm not sure whether I can complete building even one car this year :banghead:

Work, study and time spend with my girlfriend eats up all the time I spend on my models. (Thank god my gf understands my passion for modelling :iceslolan )

As for AF, I spend most of the time browsing it here from my office. :lol:

I've found that engineering classes are cyclical when it comes to the amount of time required; I'll have a week where I only have 3-4 hours of homework total (and only 3-4 hours of class every day), so I have a lot of time to work on models. Then I'll have weeks like this one, with two tests in one day (tomorrow) to study for, as well as a lab due and various other assignments. I'll make up for it this weekend though; I'll polish and do final assembly on the 2004 Z06 and sand down the Viper for it's final wetcoat. Then I'll probably finish up a 1968 GSX I started months ago...and then maybe the 87 GN..and then....who knows? Unfortunately, I left all my unbuilt kits back home, thinking I wouldn't have as much time as I do.

I have some 60 models, mostly cars that is in some state of progress. I tend to build on a model as long as it feels good and I have the inspiration for that particular one. If I manage to finish a couple of models every year I'm happy at the time being. With Two little boys ( Adrian 3 years and Simon 9½ months) you don't get very much time building. Just now I'm home with the youngster for about 6 months and gets some modeling done when he gets his naps in the day time. So I hope to finish some more models this year before returning to normal state.

Niclas

I understand you, I have the same problem.
Check this thread (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=262095) I started a few weeks ago and asking the same question. You could find there other answers to your problem.

My model building is the way I wind down from work, fortunately my wife understands this and leaves me alone when I bury myself at my work bench.
I tend to do some work on a model everyday right now.......

I've got school most of the time, i'm doing my A Levels which is pretty hard work, but i manage to squeeze in some modelling time when i can.

Happy to see that I'm not alone on my planet guys (ho, and girls) !
Near Montreal (QUÉBEC, Canada) it's freaking cold now so I'm gonna close the "scaled garage workshop" for a while... like every years then start the kit building in spring. That's how I work because I'm a father now and I don't want anything to happen to the kiddo because of shooting vapor (or anything like that). So, I'm gonna finish the kit that I found the time to shoot in the summer and will take a break.

I'm not a quick builder though since I had the time to shoot only 5 body in my entire summer and finish only 1. Typical week is about 2/3 hours of model building.

There's so much to do everywhere else... Windsurfing, working, nursing the cub, housekeeping, reperation on real cars............

I count the time required to do a kit with my skills and speed and my 1967 Corvette 427 took me 30 hours. So... I can't build more than 4.7 corvettes a years !!! :loser:

Of course, a kit like the Tamiya 350Z is a lot less than that but I'd be very specialized to only build 350s... :screwy:

Im not to busy right now, light courses, so when i get ome from college i just start building. I only work 2 days a week, which includes 1 saturday. So during the week is usually models, and sunday is my 73 Nova outside.

well, since I away at College. all of my kits and supplies are 4 hrs away. last year I would bring some up and build them but this year I've had very little free time so I havent brought any up. and during the summer I worked so much i've been able to only build three kits all summer. (down from about 7 the year before), and of course my skills have gotten better so it takes me longer to build

I usually build when I go home for weekends. but that about it

Had no time over the last few months due to moving house etc. But now things are sorted i hope to start up again.
I usually try and set aside 1-2 hours aday if i'm not busy with other stuff.
If i'm building a model that i really enjoy i will spend as much time as i want on it till its finished, sometimes up till 6-8 hours aday!

Pman... the luckiest man alive !!! But that seem to be the secret of a good modeller !

I do not have that mutch time. i am studdying at hig school in sweden. we have alot of home work to do so i have almost no time to spend for models.. and when i have i usaly get stuck here at af.. and then i had no time left;) but some times i need to take a huge brake from school work, and then i build models

Generally, my summers are pretty slow as far as model building goes. When the weather is nice in Canada, you tend to enjoy as much as you can.

Life is generally pretty busy for me too (my 2 year old keeps me running lately), but I can usually find little bits of time to spend at the bench. Rarely do I get a couple of hours, more often 20-30 minutes. Here's what I've done to stay focused:

- I try to keep my bench relatively clean. Clutter just seems to distract me and I lose focus of the task I'm working on.
- I create a 'to-do' list for each model. That way, when I sit down at the bench, I pick one of the items and just work on that. I cross off items as they get finished, and add other items to the list if I think of them along the way. The tasks are usually pretty simple, like "build headers from solder", or "install plug wires", or "spray primer". This way it's realistic to get the job done in 20-30 minutes.
- I try to minimize the projects I'm working on. One or two kits at the most.
- I use a gravity feed airbrush (Badger 100) most of the time. I find that I can clean it much quicker than my Paasche VL.
- Once I'm done, I do a quick clean up, shut off the light, and get back to the rest of my life...

Eventually, I get done the model and move on to another one. My first task is always creating the 'to-do' list - that usually takes an entire 20-30 minute session itself.

Hopefully that's helpful to someone...

Murray

Generally, my summers are pretty slow as far as model building goes. When the weather is nice in Canada, you tend to enjoy as much as you can.

Life is generally pretty busy for me too (my 2 year old keeps me running lately), but I can usually find little bits of time to spend at the bench. Rarely do I get a couple of hours, more often 20-30 minutes. Here's what I've done to stay focused:

- I try to keep my bench relatively clean. Clutter just seems to distract me and I lose focus of the task I'm working on.
- I create a 'to-do' list for each model. That way, when I sit down at the bench, I pick one of the items and just work on that. I cross off items as they get finished, and add other items to the list if I think of them along the way. The tasks are usually pretty simple, like "build headers from solder", or "install plug wires", or "spray primer". This way it's realistic to get the job done in 20-30 minutes.
- I try to minimize the projects I'm working on. One or two kits at the most.
- I use a gravity feed airbrush (Badger 100) most of the time. I find that I can clean it much quicker than my Paasche VL.
- Once I'm done, I do a quick clean up, shut off the light, and get back to the rest of my life...

Eventually, I get done the model and move on to another one. My first task is always creating the 'to-do' list - that usually takes an entire 20-30 minute session itself.

Hopefully that's helpful to someone...

Murray

Thanks Murray, I'l try doing what you do. Problem I have is I don't have a dedicated model table, but I'll sort that out this long weekend. Hopefully I get a lot done this weekend and update my progress threads. :iceslolan

I almost never seem to find the time. I'm majoring in mechanical enigneering and graphics design, and all of my classes give tons of homework. I usually spend the entire day after class doing homework. During the summer, I worked and went to welding school, so I didn't really get much time to build then (although I did finish an R/C car). I've been working on the same model (240Z) that I started on about this time last year. I did get to start on three other models, but they are far from completion.

It's really depressing, because I have spent so much money on models and supplies and I can't even build them. I don't see how you guys with full-time jobs and families do it. After this semester is over, I definitely won't be taking so many difficult courses at the same time. I think building models is one of the things that helps me keep my sanity.

I steal time whenever I can; usually during the day when I'm home and everyone else is away at school and work. I work a swing shift so I can get in a good deal of building time when I can be bothered with it anymore. I also get time at night here at my job during 3rd shift.

I steal time whenever I can; usually during the day when I'm home and everyone else is away at school and work. I work a swing shift so I can get in a good deal of building time when I can be bothered with it anymore. I also get time at night here at my job during 3rd shift.

Dont be giving up :uhoh: on us now Antonio !!!
Mike