Average age of everyone and modeling's life lessons?

I'm 46 here, will be 47 on March 1st.. My mom got me started at age 6 and I never stopped at all, even through my teen and college years. I may have slowed down, but I never stopped. It shows in that I now have over 1,135+ models finished. I build almost exclusively 1/72 scale aircraft and armor. I also build ships, the occasional car, building/bunker, and Sci-Fi subject.

I'll have been married to my first wife for 20 years on July 14th this year. She hates my hobby; mostly for the money it costs, but once I made a few hundred bucks from an occasional commission build and started winning a few awards, she has slowed waaaaay down on her criticism of it. She now recognizes that it keeps me going, keeps me sane, and she begrudges me the time and supplies I need to keep building. She was understanding enough that when we went house shopping six months after we got married, she insisted we buy a two-bedroom condo so I could have one room all to myself. That way I can close the door and she never has to see it.

I also have a nephew age 18 who builds models. He's completed about 20 or so now and is working on one more.

Life Lesson: When life really starts stressing you out, there's no better remedy than to go into the hobby room, crank the tunes, and dive into your latest project so intently that all else falls away.

I'm 42.  I've been modeling off and on since I was about 10. 

My modeling life lesson?  Have fun!

 Thanks for the excellent thread. I'm 47, married once for 4 yrs and no children of my own. The wife is very supportive of my hobby yet I do get my share of raised eyebrow moments. I started modeling when I was 8 yrs old and was quite a prolific builder through my high school years. I had a subscription to "Scale Modeler Magazine and the old Squadron Shop supplement catalogues. In fact when I was 17 yrs old a group of my friends and I organized a local plastic model contest with the help of the LHS in Grand Junction, Co. a 100 miles away. They are still in business today and frequent them when possible. I took 2nd place with a 1/72 Mirage F1 (I still have the ribbon but not the model).

 Through my college years and my 25 yr career with the Forest Service I fell away from building much. In fact my one and only model I built for 20+ years was a Tamiya T-34/85. I did though maintain an interest and continued to buy kits and accessories with the thought that I would eventually be sedentary and get back to building. Just over a year ago I had to make some major lifestyle changes and this brought me back to modeling with a passion. I completed my first model in some 15 yrs this summer and am nearing completion on my second with many more to come. 

  My lessons learned are indeed patience and acceptance but also appreciating my connection with history and with those who sacraficed so much for us.

  I owe a large debt of gratitude to all of you here on this forum for the constant inspiration and enthusiasm you all provide.

                                        Thanks, Joe

Im 43.  Built as a kid and then left it for over 25 years.  Now Im back Muahahha!  Seriously though, I think this hobby teaches you patience, reverence for history and in particular the sacrifices made by man in the course of world history.  It also teaches you basic history of the genre you are modeling.  You learn whether you intend to or not!  My wife is very supportive of my hobby as its a stress buster for me.  She even comes into my room, asks questions about what Im doing and comments on various things Im doing.  She has a genuine interest and I think thats pretty cool.

Steve

33 about to turn 34 a week from today. Today the world seems to be wanting to remind me of that at every turn. Anyway......

Through modeling I have learned to be resourceful, patience -still have a little problem with that at times-, helps keep my research skills up, all the ways to thin puddy and paint, verious ways to get paint off your fingers, how to and how not to skin your self with a x-acto. A few more that I just can' t think of at this moment.

I'm 51, turn 52 in July. I've been getting my fingers stuck together along with plastic, metal, and wood since I was 7. The best lessons I've learned are to have fun with the little things that crop up and to keep the band-aids handy for the inevitable slip of the X Acto knife.

I'm 54 heading for the double nickle this year. As long as I can remember, I built models. Married twice, first wife was more supportive and also spent alot more of my money! Have two sons with the second wife (21 and 17), oldest serving in the Army. Both work on Warhammer 4000 kits,

Life lessons - building the kits has taught me alot about history and still learning.

Mike T.

65 here                       -  and just getting started as I found that building things was the part of model railroading that I liked the best.

I too break a lot of things, with clumsy hands and impatience. Thought I would have mastered that by now, but .......    

I'm 55, married 36 years, one son and two wonderful grandsons. My story is like most others here. Started modeling as a boy, discovered girls, blah blah blah. I started back into modeling about 5 years ago as a result of my interest in WWII history and firearms. The wife is fine with my hobby and doesn't hassle me about the stash or the bench time. I'm hoping to get the grandsons interested soon. Both love Legos and I think that may be a great way to get them into the hobby.

Mike-39. My story is just about like everyone else's; started young (thanks Grandpa!), then got involved in other pursuits (some healthy, others not ), next thing I know I'm back and loving every minute of it. Of the things I've learned from modeling...Patience isn't just a virtue, it's your best friend. Hollywood movies aren't reference material. Super glue sticks perfectly, to fingers. Keep your Magni-Visor close, keep your de-bonder even closer. Some of your best friends turn out to be building models and you probably don't even know it yet. Never store Future in an Aquafina bottle. They're called "razor saws" for a reason. Along with that, X-Acto shouldn't imply it's "exact." Paper towels and duct tape make great temporary band-aids. And lastly, a full stash is a happy stash, but a happy wife makes it all worthwhile!

Cheers, Y'all!

Six Shooter

Six Shooter, that's good.  You've said what most of us didn't.  At least it hasn't left any scars yet.  Rick

"The point is we need more youth to drop the Nintendo controller and try model building. I can think of several life lessons building models teaches people. So how about it? Share your age and lesson this hobby has brought to your life."

I am 72 I am not sure about a lesson but it has brought enjoyment.

Old Guy

"The point is we need more youth to drop the Nintendo controller and try model building. I can think of several life lessons building models teaches people. So how about it? Share your age and lesson this hobby has brought to your life."

 

I am 72 I am not sure about a lesson but it has brought enjoyment.

If you're 72, and have been modeling all your life, and it's brought enjoyment to you, then that's the lesson!

Six Shooter, that's good.  You've said what most of us didn't.  At least it hasn't left any scars yet.  Rick

Group #1 -  832 combined years divided by 21 modelers=39.62 average age

Group #2 - 276 ''                   ''        ''              by  9  modelers=30.67 average age

Group #3 - 188 "                   "        "              by  4  modelers=47.00 average age

Group #4 - 202 "                   "        "              by  5  modelers=40.40 average age

Group #5 - 180 "                   "        "              by  5  modelers=36.00 average age

Group #6

Charybdis                                48

archangel517                         26

Duke Maddog                         46

bob 357                                    42

JOE RIX                                    47

Dogwatch                                43

rrmmodeler                            33

warhorse 3                             51

telsono                                     54

pathvet 9                                  65

C walker 3                               55

Six Shooter                             39

Old Guy                                     72

Total age                                          = 621 combined years

Divided by # of modelers       13  = 47.77 average age

average of all 5  groups                =  2299 total age % 57 modelers

Overall average                              = 40.33  years old!

Well the average is creeping up towards my origional prediction of 45 years old average. milairjunkie is still the guru of predictions as his guess was 40 the first post!

Thanks for the excellent replies everyone! Keep your #11 blades sharp and may your current build be your best to date. Keeping the thread going untill it reaches 100 replies. 43 more needed!

I am 31 this year. Married but not yet have a kid. Modelling since age of 10 but really start seriously modelling at the age of 28.

Its good to have to have a family and have your own house. So that you can have a big glass cabinet and display many models you want. LOL!!

Sad to say , modelling has become a very professional and specialise hobby. Modelling becomes more appealing to adult than kid with rising cost like after market stuff(PE).

But I will regard modelling as an art piece rather than toy.

But I will regard modelling as an art piece rather than toy.

Harshman II Agreed. At a certain point a model is greater than the sum of its parts or value.

Found a Tamiya Panzer IV H version for the girlfriends 8 year old son yesterday. Its the origional military miniatures series from the early 80's. About 50 parts builds the tank without the skirt armour which is what he wanted. Actually a Panzer III w/ 50 mm gun was his request. For 27$ it wasn't shrink wrapped and when I got home found 3 bonuses inside! Turned alunimum barrel, cleaning rods and tow cable after market extras! Worth more than the kit! I will post some pictures of those finds tomorow as its a Czch company I never heard of before. Thinking they were vintage after market goodies they tucked inside the box and forgot about years ago.

I am 36 and have the same basic story as many. Modeled as a kid, did more cars and planes at around 9-12 then got in competitive R/C cars. Sold all that stuff to purchase my first real car, a $500 77 Olds Cutlass. Went to school and been in the same position for 7 years at an Internet website provider. Got married and purchased a new house and am finishing the basement. The main focus was a dedicated home theater and the other half was going unfinished. Since then the theater is half done and now I am back into modeling I am finishing the other half as a hobby room. We have no kids but 2 English Bulldogs that are just as bad as kids.

Since High School I have been into sportbikes, reptiles, fish (still have a cichlid tank), cars (have a 2010 Camaro SS), high end computers, dogs, home theaters, and now getting back into models and hoping to have some relaxing build time while trimming down some of my other hobbies. Anyone want to buy a 180 gallon fish tank??!!??  lol!!!

My Dad is into Garden Railroading so he inspired me to get back into it. I have been buying books and building my stash of models so I soon will be building!! 

40, but 41 in two weeks...  the same old story as well.  I got 'Builder's Bug' from my dad (who no longer builds?!) when I was a kid, then discovered girls and photography.  Spent more time and far too much $$$ on both of those side attractions than anything else for 20 years and several years ago decided to get back into the hobby.  Now, I spend too much $$$ on kits that may eventually get built.

No wife, no kids, no worries!

Lesson learned-  online shopping is addictive.

Hi All,

Excellent thread - thanks to Jason for initiating.  Age: 49.  Much of the same story... Got into as a kid, building both styrene models (mostly Revell) and model rockets (the old Estes kits).  My interest in the scale models at the time was driven from an interest in history.  Maintained the intense interest in history my whole life, reading widely and about almost anything I could get my hands on.  Like others, as I got into my mid-teens and with a driver's license in hand, I fell away from the hobby to pursue the other usual interests.  I got back into a few years back, but find my progress slow due to other demands (job, family). 

It would be interesting in addition to the compilation on average age to also cull frequency and how long people were away from the hobby before getting into.

Life lessons... I can't really add anything clever or interesting on this related to the hobby.  Just remember that it is hobby - Enjoy it!

Cheers, Rick

Ok, I'll help bump your average up (but just a little). I'm 42, started building when I was pretty young, maybe 6, we moved when I was 10 and I had definately been building at least 2 years by that point. I built pretty regularly until about 9th grade (14-15?), I didn't quit at that point but definately slowed down since most of my model building friends either moved away or quit building which took some of the fun out of it. I had a sharp decline in my late teens early 20s. My last serious effort was in 1991 / 92 when I did an Abrams and Bradley (inspired by Desert Storm). I had a few false starts between then and 2002, but they were largely buy a model and some paint, then put them in a box and forget about them. In 2002 I found out some co-workers were building models and discovered the internet revolution (modelling websites) and I've been going wild since then. Its sort of funny modeling is largely a solitary activity but it is more fun when there is a group of people to share the hobby with.

My dad has been a big supporter of the hobby teaching me techniques and getting me kits when I was a kid, and even going so far as paying me to build stuff for him when I was a teenager (keeping me involved in the hobby and giving him an excuse to give me some spending money). In a kind of neat turn around last year I taught him how to resin cast. He likes to scratchbuild 1/1200 scale ships, now he can cast hulls, and common parts giving him more time to build up his fleets, and modify the similar but different ships of a class. 

I have a 9 year old son, who dables in models. We've done a few of the Lindberg Dinosaurs, and some snap kit cars and airplanes.

Life lesson, I don't know how about don't dismiss all those old kits out there from Monogram, Airfix, Matchbox etc. In the past year I've rediscovered the simple fun of these kits, yeah they are not as detailed as newer kits but they are cheap and they actually get finished. When they are sitting on a shelf it is not that easy to tell them apart from a "better quality" modern kit that cost 3-10x as much. 

Don't worry, I'll lower the average. I'm 24. I have been building models for a long time, at a rate of one or two a year, sometimes more (such as 2009, when I was layed off. In University, now, though). I used to build aircraft (1/144 and 1/72 scale) and some cars when I was a kid. Build my first tank, an M-4 Early production (which I still have, and it is still one of my favorites) when I was 16 or 17. I have been building tanks ever since, although I have gotten back into 1/48 aircraft recently. WWII subjects.

The greatest lesson that I learned is patience. Also, do not be afraid to try someting new. I prefer building armour models because you can do so much more to an armour model than an aircraft model. I try at least one new technique on every armour model that I build, many of which come from reading FSM.

I am 45, I started modeling at a young age . My father got me started then he quit. I have tried to get him back into building but no luck so far. I have tried to get my son (18 yoa) to try modeling but he was not interested at all. All of our kids are out of the house now so I have time to build and maybe can finish the kits I've started.

 I am learning how to sit and just work, ADD makes it very tough when the work I am doing is not interesting. Over the years I have trashed a lot of good kits because the finishing is not fun any more.

40 yo. Same story as most. Got back to the hobby b/c a friend gave me a scratch built copy of the SURC I was a boat captain on in Iraq in 2004. His humble gift brought me back to the hobby. For this I can never thank him enough.

I have interested my youngest daughter in the hobby and she has completed two models on her own. Both Sci-Fi. She has even entered into a contest or two and brought home some hardware.

I think the future of this hobby is our youngest, and I actively promote it when I can.

My greatest life lesson from modeling. Slow down... notice the details... savor the hobby... life moves too fast.. enjoy the moment.

Sort of zen but still a great lesson.

I'll be 44 tomorrow (2/21)!  I started my first model when I was 8.  My brother and I went to spend the night at my Aunt's house and she had two new models waiting for us.  What fun!

I have a wife, married 16 years, and an 11 year old daughter.  Neither care for modeling :o(, but I've tried.

I stopped when I was in college but have gotten back into it 5 years ago.  I really feel today's kids have a hard time appreciating a hobby like this because, in today's world, things just happen too quickly.  They get bored too quickly with things.  Modeling takes time and patience.  That's what modeling has taught me, patience and a means to relax and escape the real world.

-Michael

. Hope you have a good one. If you're having a few, have one for me too (can't have the stuff any more).

Jim

imactexman

  Modeling takes time and patience.  That's what modeling has taught me, patience and a means to relax and escape the real world.

-Michael

what Michael said. Is excatly what modeling does for me, very well said Sir

Hoo Boy, I'm 56 and have been building models since balsa & tissue paper kits were popular and plastic kits had the price at the end of the box from the manufacturer.  Yup, that's right, 3 years before dirt and glad to be here.

Regards,

Michael B.

Those old balsa and paper models were the greatest, and sooooo much better than the rock and lizard skin ones my dad used to make!

LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL. Thanks Bgrigg, that made me feel a lot better. I've still got 1/2doz. of the stick and tissues in my stash. I don't feel so old now.

Jim