No, but personally I don't worry about it. Whatever you do there's always someone who is better, faster, more skilled or whatever; that's life.

Regards,

Andrew

Hi Chris, if you continue to feel that you are inadequate (and I presume you mean in making models) then the feeling may always be with you. You should continue to do what you can and learn better skills. Often one can make things and gain experience and find a better way of doing the same job by different techniques the next time.

I've been in industry, mostly in maintenance all my working life, and have had to make all kinds of things, very often a copy of what has rusted away or of a replacement part that the company didn't want to pay the high price of a genuine replacement part. With this in mind, I doubt that I will ever achieve the same standard as some of the gold medal winners at the shows, but this does not make me feel inadequate, but I'm still learning.

Model Engineering is classed as a hobby for most people, so you should do what you enjoy doing and not worry about it being in the same league as those that you see in the shows.

Just keep cutting metal and you'll gain more experience and confidence, and who knows you may one day win a gold medal.

Regards Nick.

Take into consideration that some people spend upwards of 10 years building their loco…I set myself a target of 12 months, and thats including making the boiler, so I can live with a compramise on quality. None of us live forever!

I'm 57 as well and I've built a couple of locos in my time.

Like anything else in this world, it's all a case of determination. If you want to build a loco badly enough, you'll build one. It's a case of prioritising your time. If you have to spend seven evenings a week helping your other half watch television, it's not going to be easy. But then, nobody (except LBSC) ever said it was easy.

Building a loco as a hobby is like being in love; you have to be really entranced by the loco you're building, so it becomes a labour of love. If you try to build a loco you're not particularly attracted to but you're doing it because somebody said you ought to, that is a recipe for disaster. Choose your project carefully – too much detail on it (say Les Warnett's 9F or something) and you could easily get disheartened; too simple or twee (say Tich) and it might turn you off because you have a hankering for something more true to life. It's your call; think carefully about it, don't rush into it. For a first loco I suggest you build something a lot of people have built, so that all the bugs have been ironed out. A lot of people turn their noses up at "Sweet Pea", but here is a basis for all sorts of variations to suit your own ideas of how it should look – see what others have done.

Whatever you end up doing, remember that here is an excellent facility for asking questions about your chosen loco – or whatever you end up building.

Go for it – and enjoy yourself doing it.

Edited By Nigel Bennett on 03/11/2012 14:41:01

Hi Chris,

It is a normal feeling when you look at you own work that you rushed (as others have said) because you had limited time to spend on it at the time, and then compare it to something that somebody has spent months getting just right.

I like to see fabulously well-made items and work out what the builders have done to make them so much better than mine, and then, next time, experiment to see if I can improve what I do.

A friend, who regularly posts on here, and I were having the same conversation a few weeks ago. He makes a tool and spends a lot of time tidying it up and painting it. He told me of a chap that he learnt a lot from who would make his tools just adequate to complete the job. Who is right and who is wrong? The answer is that there is no answer. My friend takes great satisfaction in making his tools as part of his main build and displays them to his satisfaction. The other chap took great pride in the finished article. I tend to make things that serve a purpose. I prefer oil to paint. My tools do the job required but only I have to see them. I don't show them because they don't look very nice. My projects improve with each hour in the shed of earthly delights because I try to emulate those better than me, but, as long as they work, I don't mind so much what they look like.

My engines will never be as good as my friend's, but, as he says, he has been doing this for thirty years, I have only been doing it for three…

Andy

Yep V8Eng – or in my case several not yet finished products!

N

I'm 67 and building a 5" guage loco. I intend to be around to finish it. I anso started in ME when I was 57.

Russell

Yesterday I got my little toy steam engine running for the first time on steam ! Built from a "kit". Silver soldered brass boiler, little brass flywheel etc.. It is not well finished ,by most standards, even the varnish has run. But I'm quite pleased. How long did it take ? 21/2 years.

Ian S C, I like your angle on the subject. It is relevant in all things, not just our hobby. The master always learns from the student.

Regards Bear..