I got Da 'Buildin Blues'- How did YOU get outta the slump?

[Mr.Pickle]

Man I am just sitting here feeling kinda overwhelmed, I aint been able to find the ambition to build ANYTHING forever now!! I mean I buy a heli and crash it, so instead of repairing it I buy another cause I am just not in the 'Buildin Mood'!! I got a Wildhare 33% Sukhoi to finish , A 46% Ulti to finish, And a 30% Yak to finish, a 25% Extra, an Extreme Flight Yak, a Chip Hyde DV, a couple helis to get done and my foamies need rebuilt And that aint all, there's more I would like to have done too, I have everything here only partially built or sitting ready and waiting to be started. Now I know that realistically I will always be working on something and never 'have it all built' but I cant seem to hardly want to "get r dun" and finish anything at all!!! It is so frustrating sometimes. I mean right now I have a set of 46% wings sitting in the LR waiting to set in the servos. I got 1 and partially another done and now they just sit there and they will prob. just keep sitting! I brought all the wing stuff in from the shop 4 days ago and I will prob. move em back out to the shop before anything more gets done to em. Now dont get me wrong, I plug away a little at a time here and there, but just cant seem to find it in myself to get serious about my building. Now what this has caused is I have not flown a gasser in over three years, at least ever since I last put one down cause I was "having too much fun" and was'nt watchin my fuel level. I expired the membership to my local field and have stuck to flying my foamies out front of my house. My Prob. is I cant find the ambition to build anything to finish more than a broken foamie, And only cause it goes so quick. But still I find myself buying the big stuff. Is this lack of wanting to build a sickness brought on by the foamie revolution? Mabey it is?? The foamies have made me too lazy to want to build my gassers?? We have to name this disease, I will call it foamititus.

Heck I have even thought I would pay someone to build all this BUT that would get awful expensive real fast, so I really couldnt afford anyone What gets me is I still have the RC bug but I cant seem to find the ambition to build??? I still like to go to all the events that I can make it to, I still find myself here daily-hourly checking things out, I really enjoy the hobby, but really I'm just confused as to where I'm at in the hobby right now!?!? Does any of this make any sense at all? I mean have any of you been here this bad?? I mean I dont really want to leave the hobby but lately I keep looking at all the stuff I got and have one more than one occasion tossed around the idea of 'selling off' most of it

Is there an RC doctor in the house who can give me an ambtion pill?

[crash-n-burn]

I kind of know where you are when I get to much crap in fromt of me sometimes I cant decide where to begin. For me its a reason why I generally only have 3 planes and 2 helies. If I get much more than that I just get annoyed with the amount of work and up keep I need to do. If I were you I would sell 90 % of your stuff. Keep your favorite 3 planes and 2 helies. Pick the plane closest to completion ( prob the EF aircraft ) work on only it, finish it and go fly. Dont do any more building for now after all building is okay but flying is what it is about. I think knowing when to De-Crapify your collection in this hobby is key. A local guy here passed away, a member at my club went to his house and for about $7,000 bucks bought a basement full of RC gear. There muct have been $20,000 in RC stuff down there but the dude just couldn't let it go, he had all kinds of aircraft in various stages of completion, although nice stuff IMO it was just to much. I think you will be more able to focus when you sell off as much as you can, then finish a plane and go fly for gods sake, after all it is model aviation.

[crash-n-burn]

This video always gets my blood boiling to fly that EF extra I got

YouTube - Extreme Flight Extra 300

[Mr.Pickle]

Yeah Extreme Flight planes rock thats for sure, Cash-n-burn thats some good advice, Thank you.

[SleepyC]

When it gets to be work it's no fun.
So what I do is pick one project put it on the table and put everything else away... (or at least move them out of the way)
Clean the shop and kind of make it organized. Then just try to get one simple thing done on the plane each day.
I'm talking ONE small thing. Like mount one servo. Not the linkage or anything just the servo. Then call it quits for the day.
Come back the next day and just do the linkage for that servo. After a few weeks of this.. BAM you realize you almost have the plane ready, and at this point my second wind kicks in, I spend a good 8pm - 5am build session on a Friday night and have a plane RTF.

This method has worked for me in every stage of building. Even covering. Just one tiny piece a night until I get motivated.
You would be surprised how quickly a project gets done with minimal, but constant progression.

[Mr.Pickle]

Also some good advice, and with this advice I get to keep my stuff. I keep trying to plug away a little here and a little there. I think your right, I would be best off focusing my efforts on one. And then there is the 'switch'. I want to switch to a 2.4 radio so that I can fly at some of these events that require it Thanks fer the advice Steve!

[gareth.ky]

I know what ya mean.

The thing that really kills my building mojo is not knowing how to do something well. This is supposed to be fun. I find I have the most fun when I'm doing what I know how to do to 100% of my ability. When the result is exactly what I set out to do its a real feeling of accomplishment. When I doubt the result will really be something I can be proud of I loose interest.

This is why I hate doing repairs. Everyone wants quick and dirty repairs. My idea of a repair is doing what it takes to put it back in mint condition. I can be proud of that. Drizzling CA all over some splintered up ARF is not something I can really feel good about.

So I try to:

1. Do the next thing that I know how to do well.
2. Identify the things I cant do well and devise a plan of attack.

Once I put my finger on what it is that's really bugging me everything else seems much more enjoyable. Do some research on FG or talk to friends about the issue and see if they know any neat tricks. Sometimes I can throw money at the problem, sometimes I have to change my expectations and sometimes I just throw the airplane in the trash can.

[crash-n-burn]

gareth I Totally agree with you about the repairs. With my big planes I will recover whole sides of the Fues after a small repair b/c I want the plane to look brand new everytime I bring it out. Im not some snob but I take great pride in my work / install / repairs. I love flying a plane that I know is 100 % the way I want it, no cutting corners BS. I guess it gives me peace of mind in the air and that is priceless. .... Also people oooohhhh and aaahhhhh.

[Extra nuts]

If i dont fly enough i go thru those phases. I am so buried in plane projects that it is completely overwhelming, and i lose motivation. It takes alot more concentration to keep things organised when you multitask projects. That extra remembering where everything is takes away from the main task at hand, Getting somthing finished so you can go fly it. I definatly have to clear a worktable and organise my tools and clutter so i may concentrate on one project only, until completion. I find that once i get going with it and feel a little motivation working that i get going to fast, and over a week or month, i'll fall back into the void. But thats where i am at psycologicly with the building thing. I am working to be more consistant with my time and my excitment. Its so easy to get ahead of the big picture. It think we can all realte to that. Our hobby has grown so much lately that it is hard to keep up with it all. Smtimes i go out to the shop to build and end up sitting in front of the PC on FG!!!! Take it all in stride. I too have been selling most of my new stuff, well trying, to focus on just a few planes instead of 10-20-30-40-etc. The worlds a ****ty place right now. Everyone is feeling a change right now because of the econemy. It contributes mental , ,, things. Foamies rule dude. Dont think that foamies are the problem cause they are only allowed to be good. Ok. You need to bust out a giant and huck the f#$%^ W$$$%B ^^%^% out of it. That will fix your blues. Come over and visit. I think i can help.

[Mr.Pickle]

Great response man, I can sure relate to the clutter feeling when I am trying to get into some serious building. I have just recently cleard off the bench for that 'fresh run' feeling of a clean work area.

[Extra nuts]

Nice. Now take a deap breath.

[Mr.Pickle]

Hey NutZ, you lost me????? you sure your posting on the same thread your reading?? LOL HAHAHAHA

[bgold]

A lot of it is just plain being lazy, it's a lot easier to do nothing than go to the garage and "play" with your airplanes. I just got over this, I think, and I had to force myself out there but once I got there and started it was fun. Cleaning the area first is great advice and doing just a little each day is exactly what I did, I just didn't realize it was an organized recovery method. Mostly it's just self discipline of which I have almost zero. Remember it's fun.
Bill

[Bob]

1. Pick one plane and plan to bring it to Joe Nall, that way you have a time that it must be ready.
2. Start a build thread, it will keep you going.

[crash-n-burn]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Mr.Pickle
	Great response man, I can sure relate to the clutter feeling when I am trying to get into some serious building. I have just recently cleard off the bench for that 'fresh run' feeling of a clean work area.

A clean slate is a good place to start just finish 1 plane and huck it. Dont forget the AFC / NFC championships are on TV today, maybe drag a TV into the work room toss back a cold one watch the game and "work" on a plane.

SleepyC , do you own a Shamwow ?