Model Building Essay

i started in this hobby back when my son was a little over a year old (same as my join date) and built a few models on my own here and there with him only seeing the end result.  he loved the finished projects but he could never fully participate for safety reasons.  my job started taking most of my time after a while and i had little time to dedicate to the hobby so eventually i put everything away. 

luckily i saved all my tools and supplies but they were out of sight so i didn't really get the urge to come back to the hobby.  two weeks ago,  out of the blue after a quick shopping trip with his mom he comes back with a revell kit from hobby lobby and says, "dad can you help me build this"?   we dug out all my equipment and found about 6 models i had completely forgot about.  he's a pretty big fan of exotic cars so his eyes lit up when he saw a couple of tamiya ferrari and F1 models in the stash.

so 10 years later i have the time to build my kits and spend time with my son at the same time!!  we're practicing with easier kits before we move on to the more complicated builds and i think were here for the long haul  .

Hmmmph !

 If that's the case then why is my LHS sometimes overwhelmed with not only kits , But the customers waiting in line to buy them ? I do believe that although some are older and coming back , there are those out there , in search of something to do with all that time saved-  LOL. that they are trying something more creative like model building .   Tanker - Builder

A fading hobby? The quality and level of details have elevated the toy like plastic models of yesterday into today's works of art. There are things like resin and decal aftermarket sets, pe details, glues, pigments and paints that I never dreamed of as a kid. Not fading but getting better and better.

My oldest is too much of a perfectionist to practice; if it's not perfect right away, he sees no point in doing.  My youngest, though, is willing to play around and put stuff together and be happy with his results.  

My experience with differing enjoyment with age is the same as GM's.

It's aaaaaaaaaaall lies!

Days! Hours maybe!

Cutting? Nahh, just snap them off!

Mixing paints!? Who's kidding who!

Putty and sand? WTF a firecracker would be harder to get in there.

I've modeled since I was spending paper route money, but it's a completely different hobby to me now. I spend more time, more money and get wildly different results than I did when I was a kid. I think the transition for me was when I started superdetailing racing car models during college years.

I don't think my daughter or her friends model at all. They do however have lots of other creative outlets, like painting, drawing, designing clothes and traveling.

But that might be cultural. From what I see when I go to a LHS in the City, and read online, (generalization coming here for which I mean NO disrespect) young Asian kids are really really into it. I wish there were more international members here from Asian countries. From what I understand, it's HUGE!

I did think the hobby may have been on the way out a few years ago but now I am not so sure. It may have shifted from the LHS to online, but it seems to me to be going from strength to strength. Yes, those building are more of the older generations, but that's fine as long as they keep coming into it.

And I have heard a number of reports over the last couple of years of people returning to the more physical world. recently it was reported that books sales are on the rise and a large book chain in the UK is to stop selling a e readers.

So maybe the future of new model builders is not young children and teens but those in there 30's who have had there fun and want something more constructive.

Too bad he didn't go into more detail on the golden age of models or why he thinks modeling is fading. Kinda reads as more of a lament than anything else.  It may have shifted to the older generation, but my opinion is it's better than ever before, and may even return to another era of glory.