How long has it been collecting dust?

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My oldest partial build has been just sitting there for…. (Pick only ONE)

  • 1 to 3 months

  • 3 to 6 months

  • 6 months to a year

  • 1 to 2 years

  • 2 to 3 years

  • Longer than 3 years


Results are only viewable after voting.

LW Bercini

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It has happened more than once…

I start on a build, get partway through it, and for some reason set it aside. I intend to get back to it, but I just don’t. And it sits there, gathering dust for too many weeks….months….

I’m sure I am not alone here.

So tell me: How long has YOUR partial build been collecting dust?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clarifications:


1. "Partial Build" means some assembly has already happened. You've progressed beyond just gathering parts.
2. Only consider partial builds that you actually intend to complete some day. Don't count any that you've written off and never intend to go back to
3. For the purpose of this poll, a "completed build" is one that you consider flight ready. Some people consider their builds to be "flight ready" before painting, some do not.
 
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I have all of the parts necessary to first complete my vacuum set up
and also to complete my next build ( need the vacuum set up done first )
Since early last fall....
Then I got hot and heavy working on the house AGAIN....
I'd really like for this to be the last big push on the house...
This has been going on way too long...

Teddy
 
I finish all my builds within a month. Getting time to fly them is another story......
 
Right now I have a HPR rocket that needs the fillets fixed and a recovery system then a paint job. It's been sitting the corner for a little over two months. Most of my LPR and MPR I finish up within a couple of weeks.
 
I've got a couple of builds that I started before I moved into my current house 12 years ago. Maybe it's time to unpack them.
 
Most all of my builds are completed rather quickly, but that pesky MadCow Bomark has been an on / off project for quit some time - I hate sanding. :wink:
 
All of mine are completed except for that pesky Madcow Sea Wolf. Been sitting for about six months. Huge fins/fillets and I hate sanding...
 
Well, it's no secret around here that I threw in the towel on both, my Saturn V & 1B. This past June marks 4 years that I began building it, got frustrated before years end and they just sat there in the way. So I moved them into the other room to collect some different dust.
 
Team Fiesta (Dave said no to Fiesta Area Rocket Team) started a Miss Riley upscale that we were going to try and fly at LDRS , but I had to flip back to complete my L3 rocket.

So now the plan is to fly it in October like real Rocket Boys .

Also started a Super Saucer with upgraded NytFlyr illumination ...but was trying to arrange it to be almost solderless like the original Funk Saucer , but with 300 plus LED the strip will need to be cut and some jumper wires soldered . Will be targeting this for October also .. if I start soldering tonight .

Kenny
 
Over three years.....

Cosmodrome Vostok...was a gift form my brother. I decided to convert it to a Soyuz and Sandman turned a great Soyuz NC w/ an escape tower.

Building stopped while I began trying to find a suitable material for those grid fins.
Then I saw Boris's Soyuz cluster....and that was that.
 
Not sure of the definition of partial, so going by this:

I have some in primer needing paint. Assuming completed (flyable)

Some that need ebays made and are painted. Assuming completed (borrow an ebay and fly)

Some that need more parts attached. (not completed)

Some damaged in need of repairs (returned to partial state). (once flew - so completed).

Some I made parts for, and still need to make more parts FG tubes, nose cones, etc. (not completed)
 
My Sat. V has been unfinished for about 27 years, the Sat. 1B is also about the same.
 
I have one high power project that is over 20 years old. And a partly built AT Astrobee D that I started about 20 years ago.....
 
I used to build a lot faster, but this last year it's taken me more time. I've been working on more rockets at a time, bigger rockets, and trying to make them look nicer. Plus, painting outside is a bit more inconvenient where I live now, and it took me many months to set up something inside. Once I did that, my production picked up pace a little bit.

Plus, I don't like to build when I'm tired, and I am tired a lot lately.
 
I may take a long time to do a build but I work on it steadily until it's done, so I have nothing collecting dust. I *wish* I could have a few in progress so I could always be choosing what to work on, since finishing always bogs me down and I long to glue some balsa together.
 
I have an Estes Shuttle stack 1284 that's had the boosters and fuel tank all done, but haven't started on the orbiter, for 20+ years. At least I found the orbiter parts!
 
Estes Saturn 1B (K-29) and Estes Saturn V (K-36).

Both almost ready for finishing work.

Been that way for 35 years... :eyeroll:
 
I have a heavily modified NCR BrightHawk (yeah, I know, old school-right?) stated in the early 90's as a cluster. It's still a cluster....
 
Well, it's no secret around here that I threw in the towel on both, my Saturn V & 1B. This past June marks 4 years that I began building it, got frustrated before years end and they just sat there in the way. So I moved them into the other room to collect some different dust.


My Sat. V has been unfinished for about 27 years, the Sat. 1B is also about the same.


Estes Saturn 1B (K-29) and Estes Saturn V (K-36).
Been that way for 35 years... :eyeroll:


Things that make you go "Hmmmmmm"
 
Yeah, I do and have had dust collectors, but for sure not 35 years. Most of mine come when I hit a roadblock and need to step back and think. Case in point is my 6" dia Hanger-11 X-15. It is sitting with last coat of filler-primer now and has been that way for almost 3 years. The roadblock came when I really wanted to install a Möbius camera in the shroud area and I wasn't happy with my first approach. So I shelved it so I could think about my options. Finally back in March I figured it out (here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...for-Mobius-Camera-mount&p=1566567#post1566567). So now I have to get it back in sequence with all my other in process builds for ground testing, base coat, and finishing.
 
Man I feel better about my builds now!
I have an LOC Hi-Tech finished and painted except for the AV Bay, 6 mos and I have 2 H45 ready for it and the electronics. I even enjoy building AV bays.

All others I have finished to flying ability, but end up speeding through the finishing side so they look like crap.

PS, I power sand everything! Good investment
 
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My oldest non-finished is an Estes Starship Enterprise
But I can join the crowd as my second oldest is the Estes Saturn V....
 
I had a Goblin that was unfinished when I dropped out of the hobby in college that only got finished and flown 30+ years later. But currently I think the oldest unfinished one I have is a Semroc repro Estes Shrike thats in the 2-3 year range, I think. I need to finish sealing it and get it ready to fly.
 
After reading the above posts, I do not feel so bad being on a year long medical recovery period due to knee tendon surgery. What makes it so bad is that my rocket building area is upstairs in my shop. No stairs for me until April 2017...sigh.
 
After reading the above posts, I do not feel so bad being on a year long medical recovery period due to knee tendon surgery. What makes it so bad is that my rocket building area is upstairs in my shop. No stairs for me until April 2017...sigh.

Well, yes, part of my delay too with one knee and one hip replacement in the last year.
 
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