I've never been this excited over anything, and only a few days into being a father, I can already say there is nothing like it! I get a natural high everytime I complete a kit, because I am able to create something beautiful (in my eyes at least) out of something ordinary. Now here I am with a baby, and he is beyond compare. It's a bit scary too, because he seems so fragile..it's not as if I can just putty over a scratch on his skin!
I expect my hobby to take the backseat for some time, but once we've settled in and the daddy duties become a routine, I will slowly get back into building gunpla. Having a baby means my free time will be spent mostly on him, so I will need to be more organized if I intend to finish any projects I take on.
I'm trying to come up with ways to streamline the whole process, particularly the pre-painting and snap-building stage. Some friends from the GundamPh facebook group suggested that the runners can be organized like files - standing on one end for easy access. I decided to go with this as it seemed to be the most practical solution in terms of space. I took their advice a little too literaly I think, as I ended up with an actual filing box with file dividers.
With my new runner organizer I was able to make slow but steady progress in snap-building the Daban EXs, finding time whenever my baby is fast asleep, or in between feeding sessions.
As for the modifications (which my builds never go without), I've been doing a lot of drafting on my laptop and my phone. I downloaded some line art to test some color schemes out, and I've installed Quill - a sketching application - on my phone. By loading up some stock pictures of kit sections and sketching over them with the S-pen, I am able to do rapid prototyping of design ideas, taking inspiration from various custom builds.
Painting in MS Paint with the Fill tool... |
Sketching on my Note using the Quill app... |
Once I am happy with the design, I can then break down the customization phase into smaller tasks that I can fit into short (maybe 1 hour) building sessions. (i.e. head scribing, right leg scribing, left leg scribing, and so on) With a clear plan of attack (and an insane amount of luck) I might still be able to put out a kit every two to three months.
Now that I'm a dad I have to budget my time as well. I'm sure there are a lot of modeller dads out there, and I hope you guys can clue me in on how you are keeping the hobby even when you have kids to look after!
Is it just me or you did a jumble on your son's name from Amuro? Hehehe great name dude!
ReplyDeletenot really..but now that you mentioned it...i guess it happened on a subconscious level!
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