The Hideous Stash
After completing something like the Golden Hind, I’m going to go into a state of paralysis for a while. It takes time to determine what should come next. My usual method for gaining inspiration is to go through the decal stash.
It’s extensive.
But today I’m doing another thing that I do when I’m not in the middle of a project. This is the thing that I do for no reason except to remind myself that I’m not the paragon of manly virtue that I’d like to be.
I visit the hideous stash and take an inventory. When I do this, I don’t gain inspiration. I feel ashamed of having collected kits I’ll never build (or probably never build). I’m not a kit collector, but I have kits that are collectible. Some of them I really like, whether I build them or not, like the old Revell bombers–but others are a mystery. What was I thinking?
I am never going to build this. I acquired it because it was cheap and it had nostalgia appeal. FROG kits always remind me of the extremely rare childhood visits to “the big city” and seeing exotic kits from England on the shelf of a real hobby store. FROG kits were the most exotic. With a name like FROG–it had to be good!
I spend a lot of time on the Airfix Tribute Forum, where I indulge my Anglophile impulses while posting unadulterated self-promotions. Because the forum is Airfix-specific, I do buy Airfix kits solely in order to prepare for ATF group builds, etc.
Here is one I got for that purpose, but now I wonder it it will ever be built.
I doubt it.
Here is a kit that I “had to have” at some point, and then I realized that I don’t have to have it.
What prompted me to get this? Cheap on eBay? Nostalgia? What? A lot of my weirder stash contents are like this. Orphans in the storm.
What the HELL is this? I’m ashamed to admit that I not only have ONE 1/144 Revell F-18, I have TWO of them. These are NOT the new ones, either.
This next kit was cheap on eBay and I think it came as part of a lot. So now I have two good Hobbycraft F-86’s and one Heller f-86, and the Heller kit has raised panel lines. It also has a more accurate shape than the Hobbycraft kits, but I can’t pull the trigger and commit to this. Trying to scribe in those panel lines is not something I’m going to do. It’s a non-starter.
Thanks for joining me on a tour of the hideous stash.
Next time–it’s the decal stash, where we will find a MUCH more encouraging set of items to ponder. A word to the wise–when you don’t know what your next project is going to be–never, never go digging around in your plastic kit stash. It’s too depressing.
You have a few difficult kits in there, but also some I would like to see built. The Revell Hunter would be a nice build, or the Tamiya Zero, which is a nice quick build to get the juices flowing. I also don’t collect kits, but somehow I have a lot of kits! I also build military vehicles, cars and sci-fi/Gundam, which adds greatly to the range of kits in my stash. I usually build a run of kits in one genre at a time. It keeps my skills fresh and my interest engaged to switch between different subjects. If I buy a kit now, I usually try to build it right away. I’ve been pretty successful at keeping the stash at level numbers the past couple of years. Looking forward to your decal survey.
Both the Zero and Hunter call out to me from time to time. I’d like to build the Hunter in Jordanian markings. I have a fondness for middle-eastern paint schemes.
You don’t want to build a Buccaneer? I have built 3 of them, from various manufacturers and even just bought another Matchbox one. Why don’t you buy a nice Armour model and some figures and make a small diorama?
The French Hurricane is up next. One thing I’ve been successful at (for a while) is limiting my builds to the hideous stash. No new kits. I seriously wonder if I can build all the kits in the stash in my lifetime. If I really tried, I could do it, I suppose. But at this rate, it won’t happen…. c’est la vie!
I hear you. It is very difficult though, when you go to buy some new paint or other products from a hobby shop to refrain from getting one (or more) of the new kits you see for sale. I always seem to find something that I ‘need’ to have, which then takes its place amongst the horde…I also have been trying desperately to hold off, but have had issues with needing to buy any Revell (ex matchbox) 1/76 armour kit I can find. Oh well, could be a worse addiction I suppose…
I just made a list of 60 kits I’m going to sell or trade, partly cause I’d never build them, and to upgrade to a few kits I will build.