What do you do with the kits you've built?

[pjgtech]

I now have a small collection of kits that I've completed. They are currently stored on a spare shelf in my study. But the shelf is rapidly filling up.
From past experience I know that plastic model kits are dust traps. and tend to get knocked about, bits get broken, etc.
I don't really want a huge collection of built/completed model kits, I may keep two or three, but thats about it.
My main enjoyment comes from building and painting them. Once built I am happy to move on to the next project.
I do have lots of photos of the builds, before during and once done. So if I want to look back I will always have those.

This therefore poses the question....what to do with my completed kits?
I have thought about just binning them, but seems s bit harsh and a waste.
I have thought about selling them, but I doubt they would fetch much if anything at all.
I have thought about donating them to a charity shop maybe.
Most of my many nephews and nieces have all grown up themselves, I do have one small young guy in the family (he's about 5) who I could give them to, but these models are not really for "playing with" and are a bit too delicate for small hands, so would probably be reduced to many bits in quite a short space of time in his hands!

What do you do with your completed kits?

[Steven000]

Mine go into a vitrine when finished, unfinished models are stored in the closet. Cheers

[pjgtech]

Lol, nice, but I did have to Google what a vitrine was, never heard that term before....every days a school day. 8-)

[Steven000]

Yes 'display cabinet' is probably the better known word for it, it keeps the dust out and you can store models vertical ?

[PaulTRose]

Never bin anything til you have stripped it of useful bits for the spares box

Ikea do nice and fairly cheap upright display cabinets that dont have a big foot print if you are tight for space

I buy plastic storage boxes that fit under the bed to keep stuff i really dont want to discard

[Miko]

I have a system imposed for a large part by missus Miko!
Since the steppie left for Uni and the wider world bless her I managed to negotiate the use of her room as a 'modelling studio! (pretentious, moi?. . . Ha!)
I have two Ikea floating shelves about four foot long one above the other on which my completed builds stand, the lower shelf is where keep my best work and the upper is like a completed build conveyor, the most recent completed kit enters the shelf to the left hand side displacing all previous builds one place to the right, the build to the extreme right being package up in a suitable cardboard box and placed in storage in the loft space like some mini version of Davis-Monthan air force base in Arizona .

The concession from missus Miko in our living room is, I'm allowed 'one' completed build pride of place on top of the bookcase as permanent exhibit currently occupied by my 'what if?' Kaizoku , which is a JASDF Maritime reconnaissance platform based on a Blackburn Buccaneer

Miko (Kaizoku 海賊 is Japanese for 'pirate or buccaneer)

[pjgtech]

TBH, I do have space elsewhere, eg: a whole spare room, the loft, the garage, garden cabin, etc.
They are stored on the study shelf just now, but only cos thats the room where I build them.
But I don't want to keep them! The enjoyment for me is the building and painting, I don't want a large collection of plastic bits that will just attract dust, etc. I'm not really a hoarder of stuff.....actually thats a lie.....I do hoard some stuff, eg: tools, shooting stuff, fishing stuff, cycling stuff, motorbike stuff, car stuff, etc. But I don't want more hoarded stuff I s'pose.
Just wondered what other people do when they get rid of their models, but sounds like you all keep them! Lol 8-)

[pjgtech]

Current shelf status, filling up fast.... ?

[Miko]

Just wondered what other people do when they get rid of their models, but sounds like you all keep them! Lol 8-)

Nope, never throw kits away, they're good for spare parts for 'what if?' projects and as guinea-pigs for experimenting and developing modelling techniques

Miko (frugal in many ways, not so much in others!)

[pjgtech]

Hmm, could keep them for spares, but I'm averaging about a kit every two weeks at the moment, so in a years time I'll have well over 20+ kits! How many spare parts do I need, Lol...! ?

[Miko]

Hmm, could keep them for spares, but I'm averaging about a kit every two weeks at the moment, so in a years time I'll have well over 20+ kits! How many spare parts do I need, Lol...! ?

Maybe members of our community might need them.
This is an important point and worth mentioning, since I first got online and joining modelling forums, the original Airfix forum was my first, there is a community spirit that spans the globe, I have sent and received parts from all over the world! Usually gratis, my first was a canopy for a 1/72 Saab Tunnan, somewhat predictably from Sweden and the last quite recently was a decal sheet of Japanese 'hinamaru' all the way from Australia. I've collected the specifically Stratos 4 parts from a number of modellers from the Airfix TSR2 kits for my what if? projects. I've donated quite a few parts too such as the Blue Steel stand off bomb and 617 sqn decals from an Airfix Vulcan, and various weapons such as missiles and bombs (I don't 'arm' my builds) I've also donated and received entire kits for little more than the price of postage. I've found the modelling community to be generous and helpful and going the extra mile for a fellow modeller

Miko (this could do with it's own thread!)

[pjgtech]

Good point never thought about that. I'm on a thriving airgun forum, and its quite common for peeps to send each other bits/parts.
I can see the logic of keeping some bits for spare parts, and/or seeing if other peeps want the kits/parts.
I'll have a think and see what I want to do when I have no more room on the "shelf of limited capacity". Lol...

[PaulTRose]

How many spare parts do I need, Lol...! ?

Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it lol

[pjgtech]

Yeah, but thats also why I have a garage full of tools, paint, nails, screws, bolts, bits of wood, bits of plastic, bits of metal, etc, etc, of which I'll probably never use 90% of it! But yes, you and I both know, as soon as you throw something away, within a few days you will need it....

[Geoffers]

One of the reasons I model in 1/72 is that they are obviously smaller so take up less room which helps with this problem ?

I do have a display cabinet for my completed models and once this starts to become full I have a purge and pass on the older inhabitants to my niece's 7 year old son.

Fortunately my glacial build rate also helps ?

Geoff.

[boatman]

WELL Readin through all your comment guys as what do you do with your completed models so for me i dont have that problem as thats why i like to build big 1/32 scale planes as a 1/72 scale model can be built in a fortnight or so an not for me as my big models take up to 6 months or so so no build up of small planes or other such models an for 6 months or so im building an enjoying the challenge of modeling an its keepin me happy
chrisb

[PaulTRose]

Theres one other thing you can do and thats slow down

A forum i used to be on we had the habit of doing a running total of how many kits bought in a year to how many built.......i realused i was buying twice what i was building and i was still finishing 18 to 20 models a year......and i realised i was getting the cursed loss of mojo more and more often... think i was getting burnt out cos it was like a production line
So i drastically pulled back......went for quality rather than quantity......took twice as long to build something....still got the pleasure but over a longer period......learnt new techniques......learnt to airbrush properly......stopped buying stuff just cos it was cheap only if i really wanted it.......money saved on kits went on better air brush or fancy weathering products or stuff like that....think i got down to buying 6 or 7 in a year and finishing about 11...which is less than 1 a month...can remember Roger the Droid took me 3 months to do...and never felt happier

Also dont fall into the trap of having one kit on the go and thinking 'i could do a little one at same time too'.....you end up building extra and quality goes down cos you cant have enough enthusiasm for 2

I guess its less is more for me lol

[minitnkr]

Working in 1/87, I mostly do dioramas. I can reuse the bases to display other models, storing the originals or displaying them in a curio cabinet.

[Mr Bowcat]

Mine are in and on an Ikea Billi Bookcase. I recently had a cull and binned around 25% of my built models to clear space for new ones.