I have only three models partially completed, all of them ships. I work on them for awhile and then a group build would come up that I want to be in and set them aside until I finish the build.

33 kits for me, almost all armor, with 4 Eduard bi-planes. Fear of rigging.
Every post I can take a little something from and apply it to my situation. Biggest issue is airbrushing. I suck ! I know it comes with practice. But, I'm in the mindset that I spend so much money & time building that I don't want to wreck the kit with a bad paint job.
Boredom - cleaning road wheel seams & indy track links, I burn out and set the kit aside with the GOOD intentions of coming back to it.
Getting PO'd - I ruined my PE bush guard/ headlight mounts on Hobby Boss's Nagmashot. With no plastic alternatives, I set it aside. And there are others too.
I also build REAL slow which doesn't help.
2018 my goal is to try and reduce that unfinished stack. Starting with that dog of a kit, the Kinetic M109 and go onto the next dog in the bunch. Keep finishing then airbrushing until my weakest point becomes my strongest.
So that's my sad story
Good subject Curt !

Two for me:

-- A halftrack on which I can't figure out the gun/sight placement, and I'm mad at the directions and just stopped.

--A V-22 Osprey that I spent a good deal of time puttying/sanding, and it still needs more. That's chiefly why I avoid aircraft -- those darn seams.

I am a slow builder anyway, and I will keep slogging away at a kit, even if I am "over it," just so it is finished. These two are the exceptions, I guess.

I will add myself to this post. 20+ started but not completed. I even have a display case to store them in. This year I even stopped joining Campaigns including the ones dedicated to unfinished modeling projects ie Hanger Queen etc.

Cheers

I have 20 or so in various stages of construction from barely started to just needing a antenna or light installed!! I’ve found that I’m more and more likely to work on a kit for a while, “lose interest” and move to another. I’ll vome back to the other it and finish it at a later date. But in the end, most get built sooner or later!!

I have 4 as of right now:

Trumpeter 1/350 Kitty Hawk. Just need to add photo etch to the aircraft, paint the aircraft and add decals to the deck.

Panda TOR-M - It's the mental break kit while working on the Kitty Hawk

Trumpeter 1/700 Minsk - Just needs paint once the weather warms up enough

Trumpeter 1/35 Faun - Finished the tractor, just need to get motivated to start working on the trailer.

For me, I'll usually stop working on a kit when a new kit comes out that I really like. Like next week when my THAAD arrives, I'll probably stop on the TOR and hopeful have the Kitty Hawk done

Here’s my list;

Tiger II (dragon) - 60% complete
Tiger II (Tamiya) - 10% complete
Tiger I (Dragon) - 10% complete
Flak 88 (Dragon) - 95% complete
Shilka (Meng) - 60% complete
AMX-30B2 (Meng) - 60% complete
Marder III H (Dragon) - 30% complete

But then again, as the saying goes, a work of art is never completed, only abandoned.

I feel so sad, my list is as follows:
3 Tamiya Challenger Mk 3 MBT
1 Tamiya T-62 + SP Design conversion
1 ICM ZIL-131
1 Grizzly LAV
3 Tamiya/Academy/Trumpeter Merkava Mk 1/2/1.5 MBT
1 AA Models Q-5
1 AA Models J-8II
1 AA Models Jh-7A
1 Trumpeter Leclerc MBT
1 Premier Models Hawk Trainer
1 ROCAF IDF FCK-1D
2 D4 Bulldozers
1 Trumpeter ZSL-92 IFV
1 Academy Hummer
I have to make a dent in this year.

Wow, you are all making me feel less bad about my lack of completing models. At least this subject made me pull out my Dragon Panther, and made me start thinking about how I’m going to attack the camo painting. I so much have to agree with whoever said that you hate to have done a really nice job on a model, only to get to whatever point, for you, where you’re afraid you’re going to mess it up. I guess a lot of that describes me!

I usually pause work on a model if I lose inspiration for it and resume when I regain it for that model. I’d rather pause it than finish one half-heartedly.

What are you looking to do with your panther camo? Stuck on it? It took me about a war to muster the courage to tackle the Terminator splinter camo. It’s the most complex one I’ve done to date.

I've mentioned this on another thread similar to this topic, but I'll repeat a bit of it.

Over time my preference in a single build has turned to assembly line building, building 3, 4 or even 5 kits at the same time. What got me there is the constant getting out, putting away, then cleaning all the tools and building materials...all for just one build, and it started turning me off to modeling. I found that non building chores got in the way, and took longer, of actually building. Been doing the assembly line thing now for a better part of a decade.

Currently, and going on over 2 years, is the building of 4 M47's at the same time...representing Jordan, Portugal, Somalia and Spain. I'm complicating 1 of those builds by working a previously made M47E2 turret from a Testors kit and morphing it to fit the chassis of the Takom M47E kit...which in itself prolongs this current assembly line of builds. I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel as well...having applied primer to some areas of the builds looking for flaws to correct and I think I'm about 75% complete on all the builds combined.

I have a few . Old dragon kits that were not fun and far too tedious to finish A afv and bronco kit maybe over the last 60 years 5 or 6 .

3 kits unfinished but 90% done.

VAB a few details to finished before paint.
Unimog need his camouflage scheme and his turret gunner.
Fennek need his slat armor and paint.

None,just the current one i'm working on.I work on one kit at a time,and finish what I start before moving on.

Pretty boring,heh

Curt, put it this way, it would be easier for me to count the ones that I've finished rather than the unfinished ones.

Every so often I'll sell off some of my partially built stuff. Usually impulse buys outside of my area of expertise that momentarily caught my attention.

The largest category of unfinished builds are the ones I just can't decide how to finish. Since most of my builds are based on photos of specific vehicles, sometimes I can't decide between the markings on one vehicle, the stowage configuration on another, or the camo etc. I've tried to settle by building a composite of several vehicles but I get hung up on making it "real" and usually end up putting it away.

Some builds stall because of PE/detail set overkill or getting hung up trying to find the perfect reference photo for super detailing. Cutting back on buying PE sets has helped decrease the number of kits that fall into this category.

The smallest number of unfinished kits are in the poor fit/crappy kit category.

Recently I've been pulling out a bunch of kits that I think it's just time to throw some paint on and call it a day. Not every kit needs to be super detailed and/or part of some elaborate dream diorama.

Ya mean we're supposed to finish them?

I've got at least a dozen in boxes, where I'm at least halfway through. Often the stopping point is when the assemblies need sprayed, as my paint booth only comes out rarely. Then there are the long-term conversions, and the "I'm bored" kits...

I have about 6 kits ufinisd 2 helos 2 jeeps and 1 mule and 1 defener ,but I'm not couting .

I have several in various stages of completion in descending order from how close they are to completion, major assembly on all of them are done and all at least need crew figures.

Tristar flakpanzer 38(t)

Takom Skoda PA-II "turtle"

Tristar Panzer IV ausf,b

Tristar Panzer IV ausf.c

Trumpeter KV1 model 1940

Dragon M1A1 AIM backdated to Desert Storm M1a1HA

Tamiya Tiran 5

Italeri M32 converted into M4a1(76)

Heller Hotchkiss H35

I think I'm about average, based on the answers so far-- I have about 15 uncompleted kits and scratch builds on the shelf, and another 5 on the workbench for a total of about twenty. I have a stash of about 130 kits (including the 20 or so unfinished ones). At one point in my life though, I had a couple of thousand kits-- owing to 30+ years of building inactivity while I was in the Army and still collecting, and then working in a LHS for six years. I finally realized I was never going to build them all, so I sold, traded, and gave away many kits (sold some for almost nothing and gave away about 600+ kits to schools, veterans, and other modelers-- including a few folks here on Kitmaker. I also traded many to LHS for supplies and a few nice kits I really wanted. I'm retired-- and I like to work on various subjects occasionally, sometimes I work on two or three kits at a time (I'm doing that right now in fact-- A Douglas B-18, an F-106, and a Sherman tank from the Luzon Campaign). But, I resolved about two years ago to not start or another kit until I'd completed some of the unfinished ones. I also have about 50 finished kits in my display case, and completed another 30+ for my wife's classroom (which we gave away to students when she retired). I guess some would say I need my head examined-- but I'm in no rush, and just enjoy puttering around when I feel like it. I do get a Wingnut Wings kits for Birthdays and Xmas from my family-- its just easier for them to buy for me that way-- but its hard for me to not start those right away!
VR, Russ

Hi Krupp,

I am not planning on anything special for my Panther, just a 'regular' tricolor dunkelgelb, green and brown. My problem isn't a specific color or pattern; my issue is how to do the masking. I have a bunch of poster putty, and I even bought a canister of Panzer Putty, I think it's called (the black Silly Putty like stuff that is purpose-made for masking). My issue is doing the masking over all the details. For example, on the left hand side of the upper hull, there is a long, thin tubular shaped item, which needs, per the kit instructions painting scheme, to have at least 2, or all 3 colors, painted on it in various places, and I'm simply not confident in being able to mask around that shape, and in many other cases, because this tank has so many sharp/pointy details, I'm afraid of using the masking putty because I think it will break or pull off the parts. Plus, being able to mask around many of the very 3D parts will be difficult to be able to do a good job of masking. I have yet to do a multi color camo paint job using masking; all of my tanks thus far have been single color, or freehand multi color camo. I don't have a particular need to do a specific camo pattern on this tank, but I DO need to learn how to do specific camo patterns and, to learn how to do hard edged camo, or, in some cases, slightly feathered edges. I'm simply afraid of the damage I may/will do to a build, that, up to this point, has ended up pretty decent, IMHO. I don't want to be limited to just single color tanks, though. I really want to do an M1A1 NATO color tank, and will also want to do an Australian M1A1 (both of which require specific camo shapes), and the Aussie M1A1 has slightly feathered transitions between colors. I don't want to feel limited in the tanks I build only because I can't paint them in the needed camo colors and patterns, but up to now, that is exactly what is causing a lot of my issues and finishing builds. Fortunately, many of my tanks are single colors, by definition. Many of my M1 Abrams tanks will be/are simply sand color, and I happen to have been drawn to a lot of IDF armor, which are one color (albeit, the one color for these vehicles is a source of huge debate, but that is easier to address than masking, at least in my opinion).

Guess I'm just a scaredy cat. Anyway, that's my issue

I have had a lot of unfinished kits for Years! Then when I found Armorama a few years ago and got back in the hobby I found that doing campaigns actually got me to finish some kits!

Sadly with an unplanned move all my finished kits and unfinished kits are in some need of repair

Cheers Rob.

I have a few too. Mostly out of frustration with the complexity and fit problems/broken parts. 20 kits in total. Mostly armor but others are Sci Fi and airplanes. two kits were "forgotten" in the stage of half painted.

I ahve only 4...and I have mwade a wow that for every new kit I start I finish one of these as well

Curt, I think you just need to accept that each kit is in a sense practice for the one you make after it, otherwise it may stall your progress. Mig Jimenez points out that lots of modellers don't finish kits due to fear of ruining the good work done so far, but that means you only have part finished kits all the time and you deny yourself the opportunity to advance your skills.
With the putty masking, try breaking the putty down into smaller pieces, softening it by warming it, both of which should make it easier to get around awkward shapes. Use a toothpick to press the putty on and keep the edges thin. Some v delicate parts should perhaps be removed and added after the masking. Don't expect the paint job to be perfect after the masking is removed but expect to do touching up, so use standard colours not special mixes, so that it matches. Washes and filters or thinned oversprays will hide all the imperfections later anyway.

I have a few "proper projects" part done, that involve scratching / converting / diorama / correct parts to come together. Building for a succession of Armorama reviews has been a double edged sword - it's distracted me from some of those projects, and has led to several built but unpainted models which I am happy to leave to one side; but I wanted to make sure I wasn't only building and not painting, so I tried to speed up the painting technique as well with the result that I finished five over the last year, one of which was to an exhaustive finish, the others just basic, (yeah, all braille scale) but also added another six or so to the part completed pile... So progress of a sort. Time pressure is an interesting motivator for kit completion. Makes you a finish things and develop quicker ways of doing things, allows practice, but can be a little bit stressful at the same time. It's like my wife says about her book group - it makes her finish books even if she doesn't like them that much.

I have 8 models stuck in different weathering phases and 3 scratchbuilt projects that need considerable construction effort.

Couple of the weathering phase Queens await for their respective gun pieces to be finished(Pavesi Artillery tractor and ATS-712) to get similar treatment.They'll be ready by early spring,promissed!

Yet I have some of the Queens waiting for my attention for more than a year(shame on me)...

Not taking wows, but I intend to finish the 3 scratchbuild projects within the planned Scratchbuild Campaign.
The rest- well, we'll see, hopefully some day I will get into the mood...