The Average Modeller Returns

Well it is not a return as such as I have not actually been anywhere to return from, however I was thinking that it was about time that I put fingers to keyboard and typed another load of thoughts. It has been an odd kind of year, it all started off with another national lockdown which filled me full of hope that I would manage to get back to the workbench and finish off one of the many part started projects that have been hanging around the workbench and to be honest I started in earnest however as is the norm this tailed off as life and work once again got in the way. I think that model shows being a non entity over the last 15/16 months has in a way curbed my modelling enthusiasm as I feel that there is nothing to work towards, that may sound odd to many of you however that is what drives my modelling in both a positive and negative way. It is a cycle for me, I leave Telford every November with numerous purchases ready to get my backside to the work bench full of enthusiasm which soon disappears as modelling fatigue takes over which is helped along by a busy end of year at work culminating in a burnt out average modeller by the time we hit the Christmas holiday. There is a positive in this and as we progress through the festivities and out the other side the opportunity arrives for me to get some quality modelling time whether that be at the kitchen table at my workbench or the modelling space away from home. Much building can then take place with a refreshed mind and body, the trick is to stay focused on one build at a time and not be tempted to start one of the new kits Santa Kerry has bought me for Christmas. Once the new year starts and we return to work the mind turns to the builds that I want to get done for the shows that will be attended during the year, there are probably 2 or 3 shows that require models for display on the show circuit and that is what I try to concentrate on, and try being the buzz word.

Once my enthusiasm wanes in early January and I spend more time cleaning and tidying the workroom than actually modelling, January is a funny month, there are usually no model shows for us, very little money and it is usually very quiet in the modelling world, I guess it is an opportunity to get to the bench, sadly not at Average Modeller HQ, I spend far too much time tidying cleaning and procrastinating to get any modelling done. It is a cycle that although I try my best to avoid it has become so ingrained that it becomes the norm, it is nice to work at a neat and tidy work space, I find clutter around the bench very off putting and there are times that it just feels that the things around me are closing in and it is difficult to concentrate. The workroom is what is termed as the box room so is not very big, so once it is filled with that ever increasing stash and a workbench across one wall there is not much room for much else so to a certain degree one always feels that the room is a bit on the small side and can feel quite intimidating, so a clean and tidy work space helps the mind and with that hopefully it allows the modelling juices to flow and keep me focussed.

I probably have done less modelling this year than last although having said that I do have 3 kits primed and ready for paint, none of them of course are my planned Scale Modelworld builds, I tell myself that there is plenty of time to get them built painted and finished although we all know what is going to happen come October 1st, I shall be entering zone panic as I scrabble around trying to get my planned builds over the finish line. It is a case that I never learn, of course we are not sure that SMW 2021 will go ahead with all the uncertainty around large indoor gatherings and with Covid still hanging around like an unwanted family member at Christmas so maybe I am just edging my bets. Of course I will be bitterly disappointed if there is no long trip up to Shropshire again this year as it was greatly missed in 2020 and it has been far too long since we last saw the modelling family which is the highlight of the weekend, getting together to chat laugh and enjoy this great hobby of ours at the biggest and best show of the year. Maybe I should be getting my finger out and dig out those planned builds and get them started and prepare myself for the run up, you know just in case it does go ahead, and believe me I have everything crossed that it does, it has been far too long since I sampled the atmosphere of a model show and I just cannot wait to feel it once more.

So as I sit here in early July pondering the next 4 months, and although that may seem a long time for some with my usual modelling output that is about 1% modelling 49% cleaning and tidying and 50% procrastinating, I need to halt that cycle if things are going to change, although I have not cleaned and tidied the work room for at least a week or so, that may have something to do with having a busy week at work and I do not know about anybody else, I always leave the work bench tidy after a modelling session, I put the tools away, the unbuilt kit parts back in the box and the part built model on top of that box in the centre of the cutting mat, maybe I am hoping for a visit from the modelling elves that I am sure certain members of my modelling club have visit them during the hours of darkness and help them finish off their part built projects, they never visit however I live in hope. With a cycle to break, maybe it is not a cycle maybe I am just a lazy modeller and unless I have a deadline to hit the drive to complete something evaporates with my enthusiasm to make a change, sometimes I reflect on my years modelling and remember the good old days where you would pop down the local model shop, pick up a kit, part with your hard earned cash and rush home to open the box, looking at all the kit parts in the little bags not being able to curb your excitement and making a start even before you have taken your coat off, ah, they were the days, such enthusiasm I do miss that, modelling for yourself without the pressure we put on ourselves to emulate the models we see in magazines, on forums and on social media. Maybe modelling was simpler in the days before the internet, I guess it is swings and roundabouts, what you gain or lose in one hand you lose or gain in the other. One thing is for sure, modelling is a great hobby which enables us to express ourselves in an artistic kind of way and hopefully inspire others to do the same, I am not saying that I see myself as an artist, far from it yet it enables me to express myself and share the finished results with my friends family and my peers. Until next time.

The Average Modeller.