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Attended Nordiccon yesterday, in Twin Cities of Minnesota. In spite of concern lately about where are the young people, we had a good turnout of juniors, with some very nice models. The astounding thing to me was who picked up awards. Now, there was one junior who did not pick up an award, so I do not know the gender of that person, but all the remaining junior winners were girls! I have never seen suck participation in contests by the fair sex. Is this happening in other areas of the country?
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
Nothing wrong with girls hitting the jackpot in awards. Why does it bother you?
Don -
At the IPMS chapter near me there are several young ladies active, the model RR club in my city has many lady members, and the free flight model field where we all meet to fly is the same. A great hobby for the whole family to be involved in. I say good for them, all welcome.
Patrick
BlackSheepTwoOneFour Nothing wrong with girls hitting the jackpot in awards. Why does it bother you?
East Mids Model Club 32nd Annual Show 2nd April 2023
http://www.eastmidsmodelclub.co.uk/
Don't feed the CM!
Yes, I have noticed it happening around here, too. And it's a good thing. I hope the trend continues, but I am not optimistic. Let's face it, this hobby is male-centric and suppliers are too short-sighted to take advantage of the non-male demographic.
Oh, nothing wrong with it- I think it is a healthy thing. I raised a daughter and two sons. Daughter is the only kid to pursue a technical career similar to mine. She is mechanical engineer, boys are a lawyer and an actuary (accountant sort of).
I've raised six kids and exposed all of them to model building. Only my now 23 yr old daughter really liked it. She won several awards at age 11. My 12 yr old son likes to build the Star Wars easy kits.
I observed that my daughters seemed to be more artistic and were better builders. I also noticed that they were not as ingrainly competitive; my sons were disapointed that their first builds did not look like the box art or as good as their dad's models. The girls didn't care and were proud of their models. My girls also were not as "in to" video games as the boys were and thus didn't haven't that activity competing for their free time.
Listen here ;
I applaud the inclusion of the opposite gender in modeling , Hail , in anything ! I know for a fact at the Museum we have five ladies of all ages interested in model trains , not the scenery but the running gear ! We do have one very talented lady who specializes in scenics . She's without peer in my book .
Now the LEGO group I belong to has many ladies messing with those widdle biddy bwicks . We all have fun believe me . Many of the other LEGO LUGS ( LEGO USER GROUPS ) have lady members and they are some awesome builders . So women of all ages in models ? Right On ! T.B.
Among figure painters, there has always been a contingent of ladies. It seems to be growing, as fantasy subjects have become more established alongside the traditional historical subjects. There is cross-over from the wargaming world, too. That's where I see a lot of younger painters getting in to the hobby. And that can be an entry to the broader hobby, including scale modeling.
The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.
My 31 year old son did a little modeling when he was in middle school, but it never really took. He loves the real things though, and frequents air shows and museums wherever he is. His wife is Russian and an engineer, so they've seen some interesting places In Russia and China. My 26 year old daughter never got into modeling, but is into re-enacting and loves just about anything from the 20's, 30's and 40's including old planes, cars, and swing dancing. So even though neither got into modeling per se, the history and technology bug is there. My son's a serial entrepreneur with half a dozen small international businesses, my daughter a second year veterinary student.
Interesting comment about girls, as they would seem to be naturals for building intricate models. Some of the interest in cars and ships might not be there, however.
As for young people's interest in modelling in general, I have found that young people may still be just as interested in models, but most now do so with a computer. Since my own interest in 3d modelling began, I've found a huge number of young people building stuff, but as virtual models and not as a kit. Seems to be cheaper.
Let's face it. You don't have to worry about that x-acto knife rolling off the table and impaling your foot while working on the computer... unless you're doing it wrong.
Gary
I have a daughter that is in the u.s. navy, her job is as a mechanic (as3 to be exact), i raised her exactly the same (ie building models, shooting guns, working on cars, building furniture, cooking cleaning) as i have my two boys. her choice of jobs shows this. i am glad more girls are getting into building models. (my wife also builds an occasional model too).
i personally think its awesome they are winning awards.
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