I subscribe to some model railroading channels on YouTube. A personal favorite of mine uploads more than just layout progress, locomotive modeling, and such; he sometimes posts videos where he discusses some thoughts he’s had or other areas of the greater modeling hobby. He models in OO, P4, and N scales, so the parts of this article regarding his video will come from a background in traditional scale modeling (i.e., not LEGO). Today I’ll expand on a point I find to be particularly interesting.

Perpetual Woes of an Improving Modeler

To summarize the four minute video, the creator, Gavin, presents the viewer with a theoretical timeline that goes like this:

• A beginner modeler builds their first kit, like a goods wagon, or model plane, etc. and is satisfied with the finished product, and earns a sense of gratification from it.
• The modeler begins work on another kit, and finishes it to the same or slightly better quality than the first.
• Over time, the modeler’s skill improves greatly, and he no longer can accept the standards at which he began at.

After this, Gavin states that it can be difficult to move on from old models. It takes forever to “push it off your desk”, move on to a different model, or quickly finish the model, forget about it, and move on to a new one. At some point, you return to a simple kit, which quickly becomes complicated because your new modeling standard has far surpassed the old standard.

How does this apply to LEGO train modeling?

I find that Gavin’s ideas apply to our hobby in a slightly different way. Instead of taking forever to finish models (which does happen sometimes, I’m guilty of this for sure) old models begin to look more and more dated. This really hits home for me with two cases in point.

In 2015 I built a model of the Reading Crusader streamlined 4-6-2 and installed a sound system in it. This model probably has the most mileage on it out of anything in my collection, and has proven to be reliable and fun to use. However, that model turns 5 later this year, and to me, there is a lot of room for improvement that I can’t help but notice when I look at the locomotive. The same is true for my Cotton Belt 4-4-2, which I finished almost a year after the Crusader.

Four and five years later, I have greatly improved as a modeler since I built those two locomotives, and I have started, scrapped, and completed several other projects in that time. I still have my Crusader and Cotton Belt, but they just don’t look as good when I compare them to, say, my Buffalo Creek & Gauley #13. For this reason, I haven’t brought them to as many shows or ran them as frequently.

Moving on to other projects has been great, because new challenges are always nice and I enjoy being able to have a variety of models in my collection. However, there’s always a voice in the back of my head that suggests that I return to the old models and build new versions.

Tying it all together, I guess I could say my perpetual woe ad an improving modeler is wanting to build new versions of my old models using the new skills and techniques I’ve learned since the originals were built, but often times the lure of new ideas and models is far greater. I have yet to find a good balance between the two, since there are so many new projects to work on but an increasing number of old models to improve.

Can anyone relate to these “woes”? What are your thoughts, and what are some woes you may relate more to?

Thanks for reading.