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My wife and I have a running gag about a certain restaurant that we won't go to. It's been around for years, always has a steady stream of customers, and generally gets good reviews. But we don't go there, simply because when we tried it out, once, nearly fifteen years ago, the food was lousy. To this day we joke about the "fish wine" that was served there.

It's not that we're generally hypercritical: as of this writing, my thirteen-year-old daily driver has over 287,000 miles on it and I have no plans to retire it (repair, yes; retire, no). Our five-year-old digital camera is at the shop again, but unless repairs are prohibitively expensive we'll have it fixed and continue to use it as long as possible. Tim Allen has a lifelong free pass for as many kids movies as he wants to make, thanks to Galaxy Quest.

The reason why we're so willing to overlook the faults of all of these things, but not the Fish Wine place, is because we had good impressions of them at the beginning. The car became "ours" after the first test drive: it performed nicely, was comfortable, and could be purchased for an excellent price. The camera was ready to use out of the box, interfaced with my computer flawlessly, and had some really cool features like an intelligent built-in macro setting, decent video capabilities, and expandability that is usually unheard of in a point-and-shoot cameras (things like a standard tripod mount, standard lens adapters, RAW file format option, etc.). And Galaxy Quest remains one of the two greatest Star Trek movies ever made.

The importance of first impressions has been drilled into us in everything from formal schooling to deodorant commercials, but it's surprising how many times we forget the concept. Take model building: it is generally delicate work that requires attention, patience, and the ability to observe and reason. Ideally, you want to work in a relaxed environment with good lighting, plenty of space, and few distractions. Yet there are still people who go into it under the worst of conditions, and as a result never pick up a kit again.

Keep this in mind if you're thinking about trying a model for the first time. If you're going shopping during the Christmas rush, you'll be crowded and hot and sweaty and never find a kit you're happy with. If you are trying to work on it while you'd rather be outside on the first warm day of spring, you'll be bored and distracted and nothing will come out right. If you buy the cheapest kit available you will get frustrated with the poor parts fit. If you choose the most expensive kit available you will get frustrated with the high number of too-delicate parts.

If, on the other hand, you find a decently-priced kit online or in a hobby store while you're killing some time, you'll have time to do some comparison shopping. Try to work on it when you have some free time, maybe during a rainy day when you didn't have anything else to do. Don't try to get it done all at once, but stop when you feel tired, bored, or hungry and come back to it later.

This holds true if you're introducing someone else to the hobby, too. You can give someone a kit as a gift, but don't be offended if they won't work on it right away. Give them time, offer to help, but don't force the issue. If they do decide to give it a try, let them work at their own pace. Don't hover over them and take over parts of the build because they're "doing it wrong." Let their skills develop naturally, and be there to offer assistance if one part or another is too difficult and they ask for help. Be sure to watch for signs of boredom or frustration, and offer to take a break and come back to the build later.

When the model is finished (either your own or a new modeler's), it will likely be imperfect. Parts may be somewhat misassembled, all four wheels may not touch the table, or the paint may have a fingerprint in it. Don't take any of these problems to mean that it is a bad effort, though! Instead, focus on the positive aspect (which is true regardless of what it looks like): it was something that was started, worked on, and is now finished. How often in your everyday life do you get to see real, tangible results for your labor? Revel in the satisfaction that something now exists that did not exist before, because you made it. Encourage new builders the same way: don't let them get bogged down in perceived faults, but commend them on the effort they put in.

If a first experience building a model is unpleasant, it's unlikely that the task will be tried again. But if the build is a relaxed, happy experience, it will be easier to work through the inevitable paint runs, glue drips, and lost parts in the future. After all, this is a hobby - have fun with it! Even if there are bad days in the future, a good first impression will make sure that you can weather them easily and not have to suffer with fish wine.