Before PC's

While I like the PC-age I must see that I personally things that Original Kits and designs were superior prior to the general availability of computers.

Here are just a few names and words to show what I mean:
Perry Rhodan, Buck Rogers, Gerry Anderson, 2001, Albert Whitlock, Ray Harryhausen, Star Wars, Star Trek(early series), Alien, Predator, Battlestar Galactica(original), Buck Rogers, S.F.3D, Blade Runner, Gundam, Battletech and many more designs that are based on pre-PC designs.
For me good SF and other designs ended in the late 70's and early 80's.

Why because todays designs are there to sell merchandise rather than be based on good scientific facts, etc.

I must say I really miss the days when this hobby was grounded in the brick & mortars. The online community is great but it's nice to hang out with a cup of coffee and your model building buddies.

Imagine the research alone, if you do a google on let's say the F-14, you had go to the library that had o course it's opening and closing hours, you had to go to bookstores, to airshows or other photo-oportunities, it could cost you weeks to get enough reference materials. Now do a google, or a copernic at the same F-14 and try and count the hits you've got in a couple of seconds.... but where has the romance gone ????

I've only had a computer for the last 3-4 yrs and it has improved the way I enjoy my hobby immensely, however, before I hooked up to the infomation superhighway interweb, I used to read a heck of a lot of books and visit shows and museums, hence I used to meet and talk to a lot more folks than I do now. I've got to say I really miss that side iof the hobby.

Darren.

also before clubs some people had friends to model with

Right now, I tend to research my builds at least a little bit. Before they were straight OOTB, with box-top markings. SOme techniques and effects I just could not try as I had no idea how they were to be done.

I know that, in my case, modeling BC meant I got a heck of a lot more models built than I have AC!!!
It seems that I've always done research before I started a build. But now, I do a lot more. By the time I get all of my research done on a particular build? Another kit comes along and BAM!!! I start researching it!!!!
I think that I'm going to, except for the kits I've already researched and started, I'm gonna do some "what if" builds so I don't HAVE to research. Then maybe I'll get my stash thinned out enough to start restocking!!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk QUOTE: Originally posted by vapochilled QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk Don't laugh, but I only got a computer about 2 years ago... But the effect has been tremendous. Have you been "away?" You mean like "up the river?" No, no...just never saw the need or charm of 'em. It finally took a buddy of mine giving me his old computer to get me into it! Still using that old warhorse to this day...

I think it means the same,lol

Before PC's I would pretty much have to build my kits to the way that the kit came. Now with online shopping I have a multitude of references out there, I find it hard to what way I want to finish a certain build.

Modeling prior to PC's, IMHO, was the best time.

Yeah, we had to do our own research and yearned for new tips and tricks but getting them was a treat and not the "instant satisfaction" we now get with modern kits, magazines and online forums.

Granted todays "John Doe" can build better kits than most of us could do back than, said that back than the top-guys didn't just use better tools, etc but had real skill.

Do I miss those days, yes, to a certain degree as back than we had to do a LOT of things ourselves and those skills come in handy even today.
Naturally, I will use a modern short cut if I can(no longer a child with plenty of spare-time) but the skills are helpful when there are no shortcuts available.

But than my gripe is not just with modeling but with most areas of human endevour, peole these days can get by without the need to learn the basics and put in the time to develop those skills.
Examples, of this can be seen on ANY internet forum where people ask how to do the basic skills.

Anyhow, enough of the rant.

QUOTE: Originally posted by vapochilled QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk Don't laugh, but I only got a computer about 2 years ago... But the effect has been tremendous. Have you been "away?"

You mean like "up the river?"
No, no...just never saw the need or charm of 'em. It finally took a buddy of mine giving me his old computer to get me into it!
Still using that old warhorse to this day...

And you could make a phonecall from a payphone for a dime. And model kits cost a fraction of what they do now

Yes Tankmaster-those were dark times; there was a thing called money and people called postmen and rotary dial phones and B&W TV and AM radio....and lemon-fresh glue that didn't stick worth a damn.

what are these "1980's" you speak of? You mean to tell me there are years before 1990? Weird... LOL. I didn't model before there was internet. well whaddaya expect from a 15 year old...

I've always said that if all of the computers in the world were to crash at the same time humanity would cease to exist because we have become to dependent on them. What would the young pups do?? they wouldn't know what life was like BC (Before Computer) they're only used to life AC (After Computer). I don't think anybody realizes just how much humans have become dependent on them.

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk Don't laugh, but I only got a computer about 2 years ago... But the effect has been tremendous.

Have you been "away?"
There are days when I wish I'd only got a computer 2 years ago

Don't laugh, but I only got a computer about 2 years ago...
But the effect has been tremendous.

I went from building 4 or 5 kits a year down to building ONE per year (if I'm lucky).

Granted, thanks in part to the internet, that one kit per year is of higher quality than previous efforts, but the computer has definitely eaten into what would have previously been solid modelling time!

A mixed blessing, indeed!

I started serious modeling in the mid 60's, well before the internet. The kits then were pretty crude compared to todays standards & there were only a very few magazines devoted to modeling. I learned mostly by trial & error, with help from a few guys at the LHS. Eventually, I joined IPMS & the local Chapter had some excellent modelers who were willing to give tips & other advice. Many of the techniques I learned in the early days are now obsolete due to better materials becoming available, but some still serve me well. The modeling scene today has changed drastically. Not just the information available at the click of a mouse, but the quality of the kits, the staggering amount of Aftermarket detail sets & decals, and building aids like sanding sticks, micro mesh pads, high quality paints in both enamel & acrylic, masking tape specifically designed for modelers, and special glues like Tenax & the Super Glues like Zap-A-Gap. With todays kits & Aftermarket PE/Resin detail sets, the average modeler can produce a build that would have been the envy of the Master Modelers from 30 years ago. I don't long for the good old days however, I enjoy the hobby even more now then I did back then.

Regards, Rick

Well-before the Internet, Macs and credit cards-I spent a whole lot less on modeling.

Crockett-you're making my eyes tear up.

Let me see, life before computers...

Ahh .......I remember now, the kid at McDonalds would actually make change without looking at an LED display. You called a business and actually talked to a human being! A cell phone was something you found in jail. Drafting was done with pencils, and if you needed to research something, you actually had to read a book. The video recorder was a technological wonder, and anything "digital" usually referred to fingers and toes. Calculators were used by accountants, and every office had something called a typewriter. Cars were made of steel, had an engine, a coil, distributor and battery, You could actually work on it yourself. Privacy was still a right, the only people that could find out your information were the Police. Someone would pump your gas, and you would actually pay that person with dollar bills, because you would only spend about ten dollars a month on gas. You actually spent most of your time outdoors, inventing your own games, TV was something you watched at night, with your family.

You could go to the corner drugstore with $5.00, have a malt , buy a tube of glue and a model airplane, take it home and build it. You could show it to your friends and hang it from the ceiling, or bomb the daylights out of your green plastic army men with it. When you picked up a copy of a model magazine, you would see full articles containing scale drawings, operational histories and wonderful illustrations (drawn by artists) of your favorite modeling subjects.

I'm so glad Bill Gates was born.............

QUOTE: Originally posted by rebelreenactor there was a time before the PC?

And Cable, and Cell Phones, and Air Bags, etc etc etc. LOL

there was a time before the PC?

QUOTE: Originally posted by DURR b4 pc's we joined clubs

exactly, back b4 the web, I did RC planes, and was a member of a club, we met once a month at the local masonic hall(can I say that) imagine, actually talking to people who were only a few feet from you! What a concept,lol
The shear amount of info on the net, is great, but it also means new people doing any hobby or activity, no longer need to learn the basics, they can dive right in and get the job done, with no prior skill almost.
I have many examples of this, and it is going to be a real problem in the next few years, we're going to have all these dumb smart people.
When I started in engineering, my first hand on tools was take a block of mild steel and file it into a 1" cube! boring as hell, took hours and hours(he wanted it square!)
CNC can do it in about 4 seconds, and the kid that programs it is clever, but he has no idea how metal "feels" when it's being worked, he has no idea how to handle a file.
You can argue that he does not need to anymore, well that's an opinion, but for me,the proliferation of fast easy info is not making us smarter.
Slightly off topic,lol
How did we model? well probably not as well as there was nothing to compare too! so the net has been of use after all

QUOTE: Originally posted by gringe88 i really wouldn't know anything about how you old guns built modles before the interent, but i have pondered on this question for a good deal of time (the past few moments after having read this post) and it has occurred to me that you probably built your models with a combination of spit, sticks, twine. am i right? BTW- the fact that you're now asking this question at this time only goes to show that you are indeed an "oooooooooold gun"

And keep in mind, Matt. It was "oooooooooold guns" like us that brought the likes of you into this world and we can take you out. And then some of us could even make another to replace you.
Good modeling to you, "Young Gun." Keep the hobby alive for the next generation.

b4 pc's we joined clubs

i really wouldn't know anything about how you old guns built modles before the interent, but i have pondered on this question for a good deal of time (the past few moments after having read this post) and it has occurred to me that you probably built your models with a combination of spit, sticks, twine. am i right?

BTW- the fact that you're now asking this question at this time only goes to show that you are indeed an "oooooooooold gun"

John... very poorly, compared to now... I thought I was nearing a pinnacle back in the late 80's when I started modeling seriously... I was getting better and better.

I have learned so much more here than I knew then, it is amazing! Now I am just working on getting back as good as I was in the 80's... that gap really did me in... when I catch up with what I know now I will be unstoppable!

There was no sharing of knowledge like here for me then, I just figured things out like washes on my own. Pastels and things like that were unknown.. even at the LHS. I think after 10 or more years if I had continued without this PC reference I would have gotten pretty good but this is a catalyst here.... and my knowledge has outstripped my skills for now!!!