Am I Losing My Patience?

Lately, as an avid builder of scale models, I've been noticing a trend, though I'm not sure if I should find it disturbing, or just view it as the next chapter in my career.

Years ago I could tackle a complicated project such as my R.M.S. Titanic wreck which is about 80% scratch built and took two years to build, or my 1972 Corvette LT-1 which, among other details, has full engine plumbing down and even a set of keys in the ignition without an issue. But as time goes on, I find myself leaning more toward simplicity: figures, pre-painted snap kits, smaller aircraft, and the like.

Lately, working on larger projects with part counts in the many hundreds, I find myself getting burned out rather quickly. Pile on unforeseen issues such as missing pieces, fit issues, lots of seam filling (my most hated part of building a kit), or a paint mistake and the situation only gets worse. Take, for example, my current project--Academy's M1A1 Abrams. For the past week I've been in the garage about two hours a day, making very little, if any, progress. Last night, though I managed to completed the headlight assembly, which completes the lower hull, I still feel as if I made no progress at all.

Some folks might say "If it feels like a job, take a break!" But here's the thing: I just took one. When I moved I was away from building for over a month, reading magazines and other blogs ravenous to get back to building. And yet, now that I'm back, I can't get motivated to do anything. It could be residual exhaustion from moving, or maybe I just have a complete and total lack of patience. Should build slowly and not worry about it? I mean, slow progress is better than no progress, right? Maybe I should just sit back and let the larger projects take me at their own pace instead of trying to force the issue like I have a tendency to do.

It could be that that's been the problem all along...