Do you overthink your builds?

[naturbo2000 1271]

1 hour ago, Mad Ax said:

I'm probably going to have to leave the room while she covers it in puppies and unicorns.

My daughter is now old enough to have an interest in craft. She's decided she's going to be the one painting the driver for my Top Force Evo. At least the windows are small.

[Mad Ax 9313]

2 hours ago, wintersdawn said:

Cheers for that, I feel like I know so much about unicorns now!

I'm glad I could help you understand a bit more about them.  They are very complex and diverse creatures, but culturally, I think they have a long way to go, and some hard lessons to learn.

[Tizer 606]

Without reading the rest of the thread, I have to say I do this too. I have SO MANY unfinished projects because I get hung up on the details. I want all of the builds to be perfect and I want so much from it that it always gets stuck on the last 5%. The build then takes too much time and I move on to something else where I can make fast progess... to ultimately get stuck again If anyone has tips on how to deal with this I'm happy to try them haha

[Mad Ax 9313]

27 minutes ago, Tizer said:

If anyone has tips on how to deal with this I'm happy to try them haha

Go back to @Gebbly's post, #2, where "versions" are discussed.  Decide what constitutes version 1, bearing it mind, it won't be perfect - that may not be until version 10.  Admittedly it's something I've not even tried in an RC context (although I do it in software a lot), so maybe I'm on the right person to advise (or preach), but it seems to be a really useful way to make good progress without getting hung up on perfection.  You can always come back to a project over and over to improve it, but you'll achieve milestones along the way, and you can share those milestones.

My TC showroom only has a fraction of my models in, because I don't generally share until I'm 100% done.  But since nothing is ever 100% done, it never gets shared.  Instead I share build threads, where I can document as I go, and then have something to link back to when the showroom entry is finally created.  I think being able to update a showroom entry with version 1, 2, 3 etc of my projects as showroom entries will be rewarding and also help me to use the showroom feature as intended.

[Gebbly 588]

37 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

being able to update a showroom entry with version 1, 2, 3

It can also be really interesting to see projects (of all sorts not just RC builds) and the iterations they went through. You see how someones idea of what they want evolved.

Another benefit of having versions of a thing is that often a few versions in you may learn something new that changes your mind about what you would like the end product to be. We learn as we go.

[Mad Ax 9313]

15 minutes ago, Gebbly said:

...you may learn something new that changes your mind about what you would like the end product to be.

Yes - I noticed above, a few people say they don't start a build until they have all the parts they'll need.  While that may be OK for kit builds with hop-up parts, I'd not choose that way for a custom build.  It's not until I start hacking around with the saw and drill that I know what's going to fit where.  Sometimes I have to work to a certain point, then measure for parts, then do something else until those parts arrive.

Cosmetically, I rarely know how I want a finished project to look until I've got a fair way into it, so I don't usually choose paint or design decals until I'm a good way into the build.

That's not to say that buying all the parts first is the wrong choice, for those who make it work  

[Kevin_Mc 411]

I'm another one who uses a spreadsheet to keep a track of parts that are fitted to my finished builds and what my thinking was / is for planned builds.

I've done the same with my lego collection too! 

[Willy iine 18805]

7 minutes ago, Kevin_Mc said:

I'm another one who uses a spreadsheet to keep a track of parts that are fitted to my finished builds and what my thinking was / is for planned builds.

I've done the same with my lego collection too! 

I use to do this until about my 20th car.. then got lazy..   now some cars I don’t remember what I used.  At least I have the owners manual in iCloud.. (?)