I know that I am going to get flamed for this
but, it is the truth
the hobby is not dying
and the scales that people from other groups claim are dying,,,,,,,are also not dying
in your scale,,,,,go to a large vendor,,,,,,,type just the scale in their search box,,,,,using their version of "only items in stock",,,ask yourself what could possibly be on alllll those pages generated by your search
yup, those are items not yet sold out at that vendor in YOUR scale
now, do the same for 1/72, the scale that "everyone knows" is dying because our old eyeballs are falling out and rolling into 1/32 kit boxes for safety's sake
yup, pick a large enough vendor,,,,,,,and dozens of pages of products, again
now, back to your own scale,,,,,,,,how many things have sold out when you heard of them, and you didn't get one right away,,,,,,,,and now they are all gone?
that means that either "the hobby is dead" (so no one bought those items) or the "hobby is alive" (and all those items sold to SOMEONE)
pick a paint line,,,,,you have 10 minutes to decide, and you have to look at all the lines in production,,,,,,,,,,that can't be done, you can't even click on all the paint chip sales sheets for the current paint lines in 10 minutes, let alone compare them and choose that fast (an hour won't do it, either)
so,,,,items are being produced faster than a normal hobbyist can find out about them, decide to get them, and buy them before they sell out, if that hobbyist is operating from the perspective of using a budget to work the hobby into (the filthy rich are doing other hobbies, I think)
and tips?,,,,,,,really?,,,,unseen?,,,,,,,so, that might include using baking soda as an accelerator for super glue? (and the mess that makes 2 years later),,,,,or the ever popular chestnut that some clearcoats don't yellow over time? (wanna bet?),,,,,I can name a hundred construction fads that have come and gone,,,,,that are just fine for building and popping a photo, and then throwing the model in the trash,,,,,,but, don't work if you want to build an actual display of aircraft over a span of time
all this screaming over "the hobby is dying" ,,,,,,and it is always from someone that has been in the hobby a whole wopping 10 or 20 years,,,,,,,and some of us have been in it for almost 50, seen it change a dozen large ways, and don't see it being dead, just evolved
Flame away,,,,,,,,I won't even don the suit this time, I'll just stand here and take it
Rex, the Accidental CAG