Repair Shop - or How Do You Mend a Broken Mojo?

[Dioramartin]

(Apologies if the thread title set off the HeeBeeGeeBees falsettos in your head. Next up – Tragedy!)

Recently I showed some examples of storage/transit damage amongst individually-cased models after moving home in October:

Don't move!

So we moved from Sydney to Canberra two weeks ago, which provoked the challenge of transporting my models. I strapped the two main Perspex display cases containing WW2 vehicles to the back seat of the car for the 3 hour drive and they came through almost unscathed – it was a whole lot easier than individually packing them, far more breakages likely that way. But the move also allowed me to finally unpack my car/ship collection that had malingered in storage for nearly 10 years unseen. I was sur…

Having lost my hobby mojo over a year ago it didn’t surprise me to feel zero motivation to do anything about those derelicts. I planted the Golden Hind on the desk…

…because it seemed an amusing metaphor for how I’d been feeling about the hobby, or rather my participation in it. But after a couple of weeks the joke wore thin, which left three choices; 1) chuck it back in the cupboard with the rest of the wrecks, or 2) chuck it (and all of them) out altogether, or 3)…

Back on the desk its metaphorical meaning shifted & to my surprise the mojo spluttered into life. First out of the cupboard was the Aston Martin DBS with a wing-mirror & hood knocked off. Hard to believe I was so stupid not securing the cars in their cases. Back in the noughties/teens when I built them had I never expected them to be transported?? Duh.

Repair was tedious/fiddly, using a pillar of Bluetac to hold each mirror in place until the superglue took hold…

That’s not dust, it’s IIRC “pearl-black” from a (Tamiya?) rattle-can with tiny rainbow-reflecting flecks in it. With the speed of a 3-toed sloth I moved on to the XJ220 with both mirrors and the spoiler off…

Probably my #1 car model for the paint finish alone, helluva design too. I should explain all the cars were built OOB, only rarely with extra detailing and with little intention of showing off engines/interiors. It was all just fun (some built with my young son’s assistance), so nice to see them again after 7 years in storage even though all had suffered…

This Mini was the first car I ever made, still love it mainly because when photographed right (IMHO) it can still look 1:1…

So what’s my point? Simple - if your mojo’s MIA, try slapping a few of your models around. OK maybe that’s not exactly the panacea, but the fact I’m now looking around for something fresh to build must say something.

PS - A big thank-you to all the guys who liked a few examples of the above cars I showed in the “What did you do in your modelling workshop?” thread last week, you gave me the confidence to post this thread…or, depending on response, it’s all your fault

[Tank_1812]

Build Tim build!

[Arch-Stanton]

Dude, you can shoot some paint, huh?

Beautiful work. All that Pininfarina goodness…

And your mostly 24 Hrs Le Mans winners (well not chassis 917-20 , he came in second, right?)

The 917 reminds of this guy I spotted in Monterey CA the night before the Concourse on the Avenue in 2015 ? I think…

And then there’s these other guys the Amelia Island Concourse in 2017…

[18bravo]

Perhaps an aquarium is in order.

[Uncle-Heavy]

@Arch-Stanton that green & blue car gave me associations
and then @18bravo mentioned aquarium …

[golikell]

Beautifull work Tim! I am very happy that your mojo found its way back from the slums and barely can wait to see what will be your next build!

[SamS]

I think these may be appropriate……

[BootsDMS]

Tim, I feel your pain. This last year, I’ve managed to pull my socks up and get some models actually finished. No great Damascene moment but once I managed to finish my Spähpanzer Luchs I seemed to get back in the groove.

Prior to that I was certainly Mojo-less. I’m not sure why; there were other factors such as the recognition that I was now officially “old” and to be honest, that took some grappling with.

Elsewhere on the site, I note that a/some modeller(s) referred to a “palate cleanser”- an excellent term and I did exactly that. I tackled some of the kits I had made in my childhood – some are still around, bringing them up to a better spec than I could 60 years ago, but still not quite going full-on. The kit I chose was the ancient Airfix Me 109G; now, I’m fully aware that there are loads of far better renditions of this, but I deliberately wanted to tackle this version. The build simplicity was refreshing; I added a few details to the cockpit, added some sort of half-arsed generic small markings (which can hardly be seen) and hand-painted the camouflage finish, because that’s how I did it back in 1963 or whenever. I also sourced some swastikas which were completely unavailable – or at least to me – back in the 60s.

And you know what? It was great fun! It led me to completing my Luchs and that was that; the term “palate cleanser” being spot on I thought.

Anyway, here’s the model:

A bit clunky? Sure – but it got me back in the groove.

PS: Tim, ‘love that Mini!

[golikell]

It would be fun if you were able to put your original build next to it. But my guess it went to the plastic kit heaven after all this time?

[BootsDMS]

As I recall it would have had an unpainted canopy, no antenna wire, fingerprints and glue splodges everywhere and paint applied with the consistency of custard. Oh, and decals less than straight. But it was fun modelling back then!

God knows what happened to my collection when I left home at 15; I think my Mum must have trashed the lot.

[Dioramartin]

@BootsDMS

PS: Tim, ‘love that Mini!

Thanks Brian, those two photos were pure fluke and make it look better than it actually is – obviously poor natural light provoked the digital camera I was using back then to flash. Anyone wanting to take realistic car shots might try replicating that accident, although these days an Iphone or equivalent may refuse to do it, and just intensify prevailing light which is what I’ve found in recent experiments.

(PS is this a thing? My Mum also ditched all of my teenage builds without telling me when they moved/downsized in the very early 80’s. Granted there was egregious contributory negligence on my part, but I would’ve appreciated a phone call first!)

[Armor_Buff]

Tim, happy to hear the mojo’s nack and you’re in the saddle again! Good to see those fantastic looking cars all together again!

Your cars and realistic car pictures are inspiring. After your previous post showing the sports cars, i kicked around the idea of a 3rd Gen Camaro model build and found a resin LS1 engine for it.

Looking forward to seeing your next build.

Cheers

[18bravo]

Play it. Open a new window so you can listen while you browse.

- YouTube

[BootsDMS]

Yeah - certainly a thing: I’m not sure why I even bothered to go and visit my parents when on leave!

[BootsDMS]

Ah the great Al Green; the record that every single soldier potential seducer had amongst his collection back in the 70s; to be played on those massive stack stereo systems we had, with the lights dimmed, and a hopefully compliant WRAC girl ensconced in one’s bunk, sipping her first cup of tepid coffee as that was the reason she was there in the first place after a hard night’s disco-ing in the NAAFI (Services’ Club) right?

Well, I had the bloody record and that was about all. Sigh.

[18bravo]

MOTOWN was not on my radar until later in life. Growing up in Hawaii in the 60’s I can remember two things - endless reel to reel tapes of Johnny Horton, and for some reason - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. It’s the only song I can remember hearing on the radio. The early 70’s in Florida, growing up in a racist little town all they played was C&W. All the cool guys in high school had shotguns in the rear windows of their pickups. I strayed and started listening to the weirded bearded one on Q105 - good stuff like the Eagles, mixed in with the short lived hits like Billy Don’t be a Hero and One Tin Soldier.
In Michigan in the late 70’s I finally got introduced to real rock and roll. Living near Bay City, I actually thought the Bay City Rollers were from there when I first heard them - they certainly didn’t sound Scottish. And sometime in '78 I got my first Scorpions Album - Lovedrive, and trying to get my freak on to their slower tunes like Always Somewhere and Is there Anybody There? At least I knew enough not to play Just Another Piece of Meat. in the back of my '71 Cougar.
Nope. It took living in Berlin of all places to be introduced to MOTOWN. All the different cafes had their own vibe, some MOTOWN, some playing the latest Euro pop, (Take On Me comes to mind) and some concentrating on the the likes of Falco and David Bowie. I took a liking to all of it, but I’ll still choose MOTOWN on Spotify sometimes when I tire of “classic rock.”

[BootsDMS]

@18bravo

All the cool guys in high school had shotguns in the rear windows of their pickups.

There’s the cultural divide for you; this side of the pond at my school the “cool guys” had cigarettes (and acne).