Boredom

[Mudkip Orange]

What do you do when you get a decent chunk of the way into a layout project, and then you find that you have absolutely zero interest in continuing to work on it?

[Samurai_Chris]

Sorry to hear that mate.. My biggest problem is the monetary layout. Not that I can't afford the hobby. But should the money be put elsewhere? As for building, it is a long process agreed, but worth it in the end.. Don't give up just yet!

[DanMacK]

I try and find something in the project, like a structure, or a scene to try and repique my interest.  Or, failing that, I take a break from it and start researching something else :P  By that time I usually find something to work on.

Doldrums happen, but they do go away.  Sometimes it just takes stepping back to take a break.

[bill937ca]

I find it hard to remain focused on one aspect of Japanese trains.  There just so many aspects to model, small private railways, major private railways like the Kansai region lines, JR commuter lines, JR limited expresses and Shinkansen lines. Not to mention freight or trams, rural or urban landscapes, rice fields, tea fields or mountains. A solution may be semi-permanent layouts where the hobby is modeling itself instead of modeling one narrow aspect or several smaller layouts rather than one layout.  Its kind of an extension of being in multiple gauges like many of us are.

[cteno4]

Mudkip

Where did you get stalled? What stopped you specifically if you know?

Perhaps knowing this we can be of help.

Jeff

[Mudkip Orange]

Where did you get stalled? What stopped you specifically if you know?

I'm at the "foam is done, ready to apply plaster" stage. Building this layout. Pic of current state is attached.

I've got two buckets of lightweight drywall compound waiting to be opened. My Dad and I used this stuff on his layout and it works like whoa. Theoretically, then, all I've gotta do is pick up a spreader, pop open the compound, and start applying. I'm just... not interested?

[quinntopia]

I have a pretty ADD approach to the hobby...when I get bored or disinterested in some project, I do something that gives me more joy.  Ultimately if its something I NEVER feel like coming back to, I try to figure out a way to do without it (for example, adding DCC to my Portrams...way too complicated; or caring too much about how neat the wiring under the layout looks!) or start over.

The bottom line is that all of this stuff serves the purpose of giving me something to provide satisfaction. If it doesn't, it needs to go.  I got rid of all my O Gauge because I never felt comfortable with all these random railroads and felt this need to prototypical (sort of ridiculous with 3 rail lionel, but i read too many magazines back then and got kind of brainwashed into a certain way of doing this hobby that ultimatly robbed me of the fun) and it plain just cost too much to do all the stuff I wanted (it did have the benefit of making anything in N guage look cheap by comparison!  $1,000 engines are no big deal in that scale!).  

Anyway, random rant to basically tell you to find a way to make it fun for you, which you probably already know!

[Sir Madog]

Is it just this project or is it the hobby that you got bored with?

If it is the project, I´d suggest to step back for a while, do something different, and then revisit your project. If it still bores you, discard it and start anew - that´s the way I handle my own personal doldrums in our hobby.

Right now I am also stuck building my mini-modular layout. I hope this will go soon, but I just don´t find the nerve to continue with it.

[Hobby Dreamer]

Figure out what you like from this hobby!

If you like to run trains but not build then you will automatically lose interest at the build stage..

What I like about hobbies is that you get something in return for the time invested, which is not true of work..  Maybe you can buy a cheap piece of wood maybe 12" square and try to do dioramas...

Personally I enjoy buying stuff, opening up items, maybe dry fitting things to get a sense of scale etc.

I'm bored with N right now because I don't want to invest time and money until Kato starts selling a few more tram tracks.. as a result my guitar playing has improved!!

Sometimes hobbies require feedback.  Maybe snap a few shots and get some feedback here.. It might be a great motivator!

[keitaro]

What do you do when you get a decent chunk of the way into a layout project, and then you find that you have absolutely zero interest in continuing to work on it?

you buy me models thats what you do.

then after 5 or 100 models you feel refreshed and ready to get at it again :D

or you do what i do and jump between projects in the blink of an eye. one day i spend an hour placing people in trains (beleive it or not it takes ages) the other i'm doing some miscelaneous planning on modifying some of my older not so great models then back to the layout....... eventualy.

[disturbman]

I would tend to agree, if you are bored leave it aside for a moment and concentrate on another hobby. This is how I deal with my own artistic practice (gosh, that was hard to write down). If I get bored with one project, I move to another one and maybe try another medium. I also do the same with my home renovation.

[keiman]

I'm currently dis-enchanted with Japanese N at present, and going back to working on British N.(Steam 0-6-0 loco's)
Selling some of the stuff that I have decided I will never use and have made the decision that apart from the trams and some 4 wheel freight(to go with the Kato Pocket line freight set) I need to re-distribute the resources.
I shall finish Keitown 2 when the mood is right again.

[Bernard]

I think we all get "lulls" in the hobby at times. What helps me is looking at videos of other people's layouts or scenes that they've done. Usually that gets me motivated again. If not, I'll go onto another project....maybe an animated scene (a bulldozer moving a pile of dirt) and think about putting that in my layout in the future.
After I laid down all the track on my layout and had trains up and running.....the next job I knew I had before me was ballasting......it took me months to get motivated into finishing that job.

[keiman]

One of my biggest problems because every thing is on shelf sized modules (that is how they are stored)is getting round to making up the frames and boards for new sections.
My wood work skills are C*** at best. However once they are built and the track laid things tend to progress quite well.

[inobu]

Mudkip Orange I could be wrong but I think your answer is in your posts.

Your mind already knows what the out come is going to be. The layout you want verses the layout you have space for are on opposite ends of the spectrum. You are the type that calls it like it is and your mind is calling it. If you look at the layouts you were drawing out they were "flowing" meaning natural or truer to form. The question is does the layout you are working on today fit your criteria of a layout? Chances are the answer is no.

Here is your most recent comment........

"Thrice around in a 3x5. R282 minimum, except for some R249's for the spur tracks in the middle." you have already counted the laps thrice around and you are done......that fine for some and boring to others.........and I think your sub conscience is calling it and flipping the boredom switch.


What make me think this? I'm in the same boat. My yard layout has to be a minimum of 21 feet or 7 meters that's why I took mine down. The yard I had is not what I want. So now I'm focusing on the components that I need, learning how to render and building small sections. Kinda learning and practicing for the big layout. That may be an option for you.

Your subject heading pretty much says what you are feeling...Bored..........

Draw out your mega layout and break it into sections and build that section. That way you can put you modeling situation into perspective and things wont look futile............ at least that's what I'm doing.

The roots of this hobby is ironic in that, as children we wanted a good layout but could not afford one and vowel one day we will. Some wait for the first good paying job and some/most wait till all the children are gone and go for it.

Do what you can in the realm you are in and strive for the best and you wont be bored.    

Inobu


 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

I don't really get bored of it, but I do get frustrated because things don't work or take too long or something.

For example, I'm building the modules bases for the storage yard now, and I don't know exactly how I want to do the legs. Also, putting the modules together is quite a bit of work, because I want them to be sturdy and last a while. And of course, even at the local hardware store they can't seem to manage making straight cuts, so there's a lot of work to be done even when the things are put together. The thing is, the woodwork is the most important part.. If you have a crappy base, you'll end up with a lot of headaches later on, especially when building in modules/sections.

Also, while I have a tons of ideas for a track plan, I either can't seem they get them on paper, or when I do I notice it doesn't work the way I have it in my head due to space constraints. Very frustrating and not very motivating at all.

On the other hand, seeing the full Morning Daylight, or Orient Express, or a nice painted train in action does make me feel like building a layout again ;)

[westfalen]

These things happen. Progress on my Shin-Nekotani module has been at a halt for a couple of weeks because I can't get motivated to solder a couple of wires to an RCA socket, but we've got a running day on Saturday I want to take it to and I have the day off today so I might get the soldering iron out and do the ten minutes work it will take. Once I do that I might even decide to put the decoders in my second Kato Eizan set to run on it, that after figuring out how to do the first one should take about ten minutes as well. I'm sure once I get the wiring finished and see two trains running I'll dive in and start the scenery.

But, I might not either.

[Mudkip Orange]

I don't think I really like having a constantly unfinished project in my living room.

Like, I built a bed... and when it was done, it was done, and now I sleep on it. I built some shelves... and they were done, and now there's books on them. I assembled some Ikea stuff... and it was done.

But when I think about the sheer number of man-hours needed to finish this thing... plaster, paint, roadbed, track, scenery, buildings, etc... there's no big "push through and then you're done" moment, it's just endless.

[inobu]

See, nothing really applies when you are practicing.........You cannot label a practice layout done nor have a "done moment"..............because its practice.


Inobu     

[cteno4]

Mudkip,

well thats good info, sound like you need to have finished products at a regular interval to keep you satisfied. in that case it sort screams to think modular/sectional. unfortunately you wont get as complex and dense of a track plan with sectional layouts, but you can attack them one at a time, finish and get some completion satisfaction to head on to the next. after getting the min to run some you get another shot. then as it expands you get some bigger layout shots. also might let you take it to a show and get some gratification from showing it off and others marveling at why you have done. always fun to see the excited looks in others' eyes when they see a japanese layout!

i know my interest in the 'big' basement layout has been flagging recently, but after watching the single track video iso8 posted last week, i am now thinking that a single track bookshelf modular may be in the cards now for something to work on for the next year or two while plodding along on basement meg desires. ttrak was just a tad too small and usually ends up with the pretty boring double track loops.

also maybe  a hobby switch for a while? ive recently started looking at getting back into some simple rc planes to have some fun with something different. a break can sometimes really be good.

best of luck getting out of the doldrums...

cheers

jeff

[DanMacK]

Mudkip,
is it the size of the layout that's daunting?  It's a nice design, but I can see how you'd go "Whoah" over the amount to do.  Maybe go for a smaller layout instead?  Or a linear modular layout as alot of us seem to be doing...  Modules seem to help keep ideas fresh.

Just throwing more ideas out there.

[Mudkip Orange]

I'm just gonna take a break on this thing indefinitely. My complex has storage lockers that come with your apartment... I put the layout in there for the time being, and the leftovers (lightweight spackling, WS inclines, etc) I'm going to take over to my Dad's place this weekend so he can use them on the HO layout.

[surfingstephens]

Interesting thread.   I built a pretty good sized HO layour 18ft X 10Ft and had it all wired, landscaped and finished.( Well never really finished, but you get the point) The work went on and off over a period of about 4 years.   To my families dismay, over a period of about a month I decided I wanted to switch gears.  I stripped everything off and sold it all on ebay.  With that money, I  built a very nice digital slot car track and have had a blast with it (7 year old son).   I also switched to N scale and am building a smaller layout with kato track.  My goals are different this time.  I want a layout I can "play" with in terms of changing the layout and for me, I never really enjoyed the scenery stuff so unlike my HO build I  am doing just basic green roll out grass and some basic roads and buildings.   This time I am more focused on reliable running and just playing with the trains themselves.     The trick is to do whatever it is you enjoy ( it is supposed to be fun) and decide what YOU want.   During those 4 years I worked on my layout I would sometimes take a month or two off just because I did not feel like messing with it.  Then I go like crazy for two or three weeks if I had the time.    The thing I do like about the trains is you can just leave it there a few months, come back and it all still works and you can just pick up from where you left off.  

You might consider something less ambitious and just buy some kato track and play with the trains.