Is model building a dying art?

I started building when I was...younger than 10.  Now I'm 28.

The local "dying" trend of the hobby was observed in the past 10 years at our IPMS Vancouver group (increasing average age, decreasing attendance in meetings and decreasing entries at shows) and they have been trying to bring kids into the hobby.

However, in our VanPla club (building mecha-related models) we have a regular attendance of about 15, with the average age being about 25 (15-40, didnt do the proper math) and we're seeing growth.  IPMS Vancouver has involved VanPla in the shows and the numbers have been increasing.  With a few of the VanPla members being in the IPMS group perhaps we can influence some of the kids to get into other subjects of modelling.

Interesting, FocusOne.

The real truth is that if anything, the hobby is making a big comeback!

I am born in 1980. As a kid in the 90's, I saw models disappear from the shelves of toy stores.  I lived in small town. At a certain point, there just wasn't anywhere I could get model stuff.  So I stopped, for 15 years.

Now...wow.  Anything I want or could imagine is a click away...and that is AWESOME

Blake

minimagneto

Interesting, FocusOne.

The real truth is that if anything, the hobby is making a big comeback!

I am born in 1980. As a kid in the 90's, I saw models disappear from the shelves of toy stores.  I lived in small town. At a certain point, there just wasn't anywhere I could get model stuff.  So I stopped, for 15 years.

Now...wow.  Anything I want or could imagine is a click away...and that is AWESOME

Blake

Exactly, Blake. Exactly.

IMO, us older guys (I'm 58 and started building on and off since around 11) were raised in different times without computers, video games and other electronic gadgets so model building was our escape. I do see an increase of the quality of the builds as I attend model shows and see that most of the great work is done by guys 30 and older. I have seen several younger modelers at these competitions and some of their work is impressive.

Im 55 my first was when i was about 8 or 9 was a tractor trailer i do believe. i dont remeber the size.

Interesting thought.  Dying?  No, just a different age group "dominating" the hobby.  Just like any hobby today, it's the cost of the hobby that seems to dictate who it caters to.  I used to be in to sports cards.  Got out of it a ways back.  Too expensive.  Kids can't afford $5 + for a pack of cards that most of the time are worthless in quality and character.  With the rise of AM stuff, the hobby is catering to the "older" ones of us who can afford it (well, so of us can! ).  Yes, some manufactures are doing the snap-tite, etc stuff to bring in the younger groups, which is great, but it is not like when most of us were growing up.  I'll be 47 in August and started modeling around 9-10.  My first was an old Cessna kit I did with my dad.  He grew up doing models and I latched on to the hobby fast.  It was great times with my dad.  I stopped building while in the Air Force, but kept on buying them.....for my retirement of course!    The model show I went to last year had one youth entry (now remember...I'm in no where Vermont, so factor that in to this equation!)!  I was shocked, since this was my first model show.  I remembered as a kid how big the hobby was.  TG&Y (a 5 and dime in the south) was the place to run up and grab some Testors paint or glue in a pinch and they always had plastic kits on the shelves!  Local Hobby Shops were plentiful and carried ANYTHING you needed. 

Is the hobby dying?  No, I don't think so, just changing with the times.  Are there less youth in the hobby.  Yes, that is obvious, but what if WE had had computers, iPads, video games, cell phones, and over 200 channels of HD television to watch?  Would we have run to the store to grab that Mono P-51?

Eagle90

I think, for the most part, it already died for the majority of folks. That's why I have been wanting to come up with ways to try resurrecting it with the kiddies.

I work for a major retailer (which will remain un-named for the moment) that does carry models but they're shelved in an out-of-the-way aisle and get very little notice. My idea, which is, of course, a little self-serving as well as good for the hobby and for mankind, is to have the models moved to a more in-your-face location in the stores and have samples built and displayed above and around the shelving with some clever signage touting the benifits of the hobby, the bonding of families, learning, discipline and blah blah blah.

Somebody would have to build these display models. Hmmmm now who might that be?     . We all have often wondered how we could make a living building models, right? Well maybe this is the way . . . . . . . . 

I think it is instructive to look at the situation in Model Railroading. It has never been a kid's hobby. I did try it for awhile when I was junior high age (though schools in that day did not have a junior high).  I had a number of friends who were model builders, but I was the only one building model railroad stuff.  All the other model railroaders I knew were adults.

It is the same today- it is mostly an adult hobby.  Yet the hobby is still doing very well.  On the other hand, flying model airplanes and static scale did have a large youth contingent when I was a kid, but is now primarily adults.  But it is NOT dying.  One reason for youth participation in my youth was government support, and support from the aviation industry.  This has long dried up.  We won WW2, and there is no longer a fear that we will suffer from a lack of aero engineers.

When was the last time you saw an ad from an aero engineering school in a model mag?  Sixty years ago the mags were full of ads from the aero schools.

Heaven no.........While we older modelers, who frequent the model contest and model shops, often ignore, or because of self imposed blinders, do not see this younger group...Too, there is the new  modeler (regardless of age) just starting out  and needs to know the ropes (as it were)...........Just when we hear the brick and mortar model shop were just about kaput........A new Hobby Town has opened or is about to open in our town.............No it's not dead!!!

I'm 26 started when I was 7 and my dad got me a monogram B-17 for Christmas. We worked on it for weeks and when it was finally done I was hooked in fact its still hanging from the ceiling from my old bedroom. The one thing would have to be the price of kits I never got anything fancy most places sold monogram kits, there wasn't a hobby shop around and hobby lobby didn't open up until I turned 18 but. But now there is a nice hobby shop in town, I have a good job and the Internet where I can buy any kit I want and can afford it now unlike when I first started

Eagle90

I remembered as a kid how big the hobby was.  TG&Y (a 5 and dime in the south) was the place to run up and grab some Testors paint or glue in a pinch and they always had plastic kits on the shelves!  Local Hobby Shops were plentiful and carried ANYTHING you needed. 

TG&Y...... Until you mentioned that here, Eagle, I had forgotten all about those stores. I used to go to the one where I lived in Memphis, and bought many a model kit with my allowance. Ben Franklin 5 & 10 was another one that has long gone from the South. And Zayre Department Stores......bought many a kit there, too.

Hey Devil Dawg....nostalgia time!  I'd get dragged up to the TG&Y with my mom who would spend hours in the fabric section going over patterns!  So, I'd go and sit in front of all the models and read the boxes!  If I was a good kid, she would buy me one!  

Ben Franklin!  My wife (we were dating at the time) worked for a Ben Franklin in Tampa!  Not much in models there at the store she was at, but they had a section with 16x20 posters and I got a many aircraft one!  

Zayre's.....oh come on now!  FLASHBACK!  I had forgotten about those!  I can not remember what manufacture it was, but I remember getting a 1/350 (yes!  1/350) USS Enterprise (the carrier!) for $25!  Also got a 1/32 F-18 there for $10!  I think that was a Hasegawa.  And just across the street from the Zayre's was a strip mall with the Brandon Hobby Shop!  

Ahhh, trips down memory lane!  Did you watch Gerry Anderson's "Space 1999" and "UFO" on Saturdays too!?

Eagle90

I lived three blocks form my LHS, So i was doomed from the start.  I loved Space 1999 and UFO, so much so I have the complete sets on dvd by my work bench.  I also work one night a week at the same LHS I grew up next to.  luv the discount.  And the stash keeps growing and growing.

But I do see less young people buying kits,  usually it's dads and 6-9 yr olds then the late twenties and then of course my age.

John

Oh yeah.....Mrs. Gabrielle Drake!  My first love!  And let's not forget Catherine Schell from Space 1999!  

I have the UFO dvd set, but not the Space 1999.  Sure wish there were some affordable kits form those series.  That and Thunderbirds!

Three blocks from a LHS!  You lucky dog!  Man, I'd love to work weekends at a LHS!  And a discount to boot!  I bet you have a great stash!

Eagle90

And, don't forget this hottie, Doctor Venus from Fireball XL5:

http://memberfiles.freewebs.com/64/54/58255464/photos/fireball-xl5-and-supe/cap108553%20copy.bmp

Funny thing is, she doesn't look nearly as fine now as she did to a little kid, lol.

Texgunner

And, don't forget this hottie, Doctor Venus from Fireball XL5:

http://memberfiles.freewebs.com/64/54/58255464/photos/fireball-xl5-and-supe/cap108553%20copy.bmp

Funny thing is, she doesn't look nearly as fine now as she did to a little kid, lol.

LOL!  Too funny!  That's great gunner!

Eagle90

Eagle90

Oh yeah.....Mrs. Gabrielle Drake!  My first love!  And let's not forget Catherine Schell from Space 1999!  

I have the UFO dvd set, but not the Space 1999.  Sure wish there were some affordable kits form those series.  That and Thunderbirds!

Three blocks from a LHS!  You lucky dog!  Man, I'd love to work weekends at a LHS!  And a discount to boot!  I bet you have a great stash!

Eagle90

Ya the stash is at about 400 aircraft,  a dozen cars and armor,  a hand full of ships.  a couple of dozen space ships (star trek, star wars etc etc) I took a inventory last year but its changed some since then.

that is the problem working at a LHS  it's the see-it-buy-it syndrome.

John

I guess the answer to this question would be related to how well our model selling in the hobby stores and on Hobby sites.

I know a lot of hobby shops have suffered over the last few years but for the ones that have survived I still see a lot of models on the shelves.   Those shops that have survived usually don't stock but doesn't sell.  

Eagle90

  

Ben Franklin!  My wife (we were dating at the time) worked for a Ben Franklin in Tampa!  Not much in models there at the store she was at, but they had a section with 16x20 posters and I got a many aircraft one!  

Zayre's.....oh come on now!  FLASHBACK!  I had forgotten about those!  I can not remember what manufacture it was, but I remember getting a 1/350 (yes!  1/350) USS Enterprise (the carrier!) for $25!  Also got a 1/32 F-18 there for $10!  I think that was a Hasegawa.  And just across the street from the Zayre's was a strip mall with the Brandon Hobby Shop!  

Ahhh, trips down memory lane!  Did you watch Gerry Anderson's "Space 1999" and "UFO" on Saturdays too!?

Eagle90

I was allowed to visit the Zayre's in the strip mall with the grocery store. I bought a ton of those MPC kits in the early '80s that Zayre's carried.

I didn't watch UFO or that much of Space 1999, but the Eagle 1 transport is one of my favorite sci-fi ships.

Dave 

Stage_Left

Eagle90

  

Ben Franklin!  My wife (we were dating at the time) worked for a Ben Franklin in Tampa!  Not much in models there at the store she was at, but they had a section with 16x20 posters and I got a many aircraft one!  

Zayre's.....oh come on now!  FLASHBACK!  I had forgotten about those!  I can not remember what manufacture it was, but I remember getting a 1/350 (yes!  1/350) USS Enterprise (the carrier!) for $25!  Also got a 1/32 F-18 there for $10!  I think that was a Hasegawa.  And just across the street from the Zayre's was a strip mall with the Brandon Hobby Shop!  

Ahhh, trips down memory lane!  Did you watch Gerry Anderson's "Space 1999" and "UFO" on Saturdays too!?

Eagle90

Ah yes, Ben Franklin- that's where my first kit came from. I lived in Elkhart, IN at that time and my parents would visit that store regularly. But then, to take care of his ailing mother, my father moved us all out to Maine and when mom would go grocery shopping.....

I was allowed to visit the Zayre's in the strip mall with the grocery store. I bought a ton of those MPC kits in the early '80s that Zayre's carried.

I didn't watch UFO or that much of Space 1999, but the Eagle 1 transport is one of my favorite sci-fi ships.

Dave 

Looks like BF and Zayre's was the place to get our first kits!  Pretty cool.  Cool your mom let you head over to Zayre's.  Beats shopping for food!

I spent hours watching UFO and Space 1999.  I have to agree with you that the Eagle transport was the coolest Sci-Fi vehicle.  I had the Mattel (I think it was Mattel) Eagle Transport toy.  The thing was like 2.5 feet long, came with 3 figures, and a little crane (which I don't remember seeing on t.v.), but it was cool!  Wish I still had it. 

Hey, I hear you're a musician...what do you play?  I play guitar and swear by Carvin's (they are out of San Diego and do custom stuff).

Eagle90

Eagle- I'll send you a PM about the musician stuff so as not to hijack the thread.

Dave 

Hi BILL :

      Back in the 80s I worked for a WAL-MART store in Little Rock .Yes , I'm from just outside that city.Or was .Now live in TEXAS .Anyway when I went to work there , my dept. was toys .Gee ! they had a whole pile of models in the back .When I asked the manager why they weren't out for sale , he told me nobody knew anything about them .Bentonville just sent them !

       Well , I made a nice display with each type in it's own little spot .( turns out overall I had 400 models ! And the TESTORS and PACTRA ,( before they disappeared ) paint displays .I talked the manager into a lockable cabinet for the paint ( no mess that way . ) I got his permission to ask customers to build for me and if it was nice, then they would get a bonus kit .If it was really nice ,well , the planes got hung overhead .Cars and armor went in another cabinet and boy did we sell models and supplies!

       Now , an older man , wearing overalls and toting a  dog ( well the dog walked ,unleashed at his side ) came by .He asked all kinds of questions and seemed satisfied with my answer .Turns out it was the great man himself .YUP , MR.  SAM WALTON ! !  Ah those were the days .! He was so impressed in the enlarged profit in toys he gave me sporting goods too ! ( This was way before the MEGA stores ) Now getting some friends to help we had bass fishing tutorials and boats on display ( outfitted with stuff found in the store !) We had model MAKE-N-TAKE and a contest too( the winner got a model of his or her choice and a paint set and trophy ! ) I still miss those days .The people in charge of marketing At that company ,when it comes to toys and models today , couldn't find their behind without an instruction  sheet ! Sad too !

My first model was when I was 4 years old... it was a fairly large space shuttle that my dad helped me slap together. From maybe age 10-18 I was a gung-ho builder and always had something being made.

After about a 10 year hiatus I came back with a vengence;  I'm 36 now.

I've gotta agree that today is a golden age for plastic model kits. I could never have imagined all the great kits available now back when I was a teenager and the current aftermarket offerings are absolutely amazing.

I'm building a 1/200 Missouri now... almost my ultimate "dream boat in a box". (I say almost because if I had a choice, I would rather have  it in 1/144 )

I'm actually glad the hobby has "grown up"; now that the majority of builders are older, experienced builders who demand high accuracy and detail (and are willing to pay for it!), the manufacturers deliver.

The hobby may not be as popular in the USA, but worldwide it's gaining ground and thanks to the internet we can all get together and collaborate on our projects even if we don't know any other builders close to home.

I just hope it lasts!

I'm twenty five and sarted around 10 7-10 years old, when my dad trusted me with a hobby knife! I think that hobby is doing ok, not great but ok. I am the only person I've ever met that built models of any kind, a few people have dabbled, building the occasional model, but nothing long term. It's a shame becuase this is a great hobby!

Well, I'm 58 and have been modeling on and off since I was about 8. I have an 18 year old son and 33 year old stepson. Both have dabbled in modeling with my encouragement, but neither has been 'hooked." However, based on the time I spend building vs reading, I am probably best described as a dabbler. Yet, I'm sure I will always consider myself a modeler.

There is perhaps a more general issue here. What is happening to the ability of people to do things with their hands, be it modeling, auto maintenance, woodworking, etc. I am also an R/C modeler, and that hobby, over the last 25 years, has transformed from one where you had to build your own model from balsa wood, to one where you buy an "Almost-Ready-To-Fly"  kit at the LHS and fly it the next day.

Finally, I recall visiting the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum as a young boy, long before the current building existed. The building was actually referred to as the "Quonset hut." I remember Yeager's X-1 and a Mercury capsule, but I was as much mesmerized by the models as I was by the real thing. Back then, due to the size of the museum, models were a more important element. Whatever "it" was that transfixed me then, is what keeps me modeling now.

Cheers

I'll be 43 next month and I guess I was around 7 when I started.  I built them for toys though. Toys back then seemed lame to me so I just built models and played with them 'til they broke.  At which point you could find me running around the back yard with  a burning model dripping flaming styrene yelling "WE'RE HIT! WE'RE GOING DOWN!!  AAAAAAA!"

Is modeling building dying?  No.   It just evolved and found a new medium.

The younger generations aren't limited to plastic models anymore.  They build 3D models on the computer.  Good ones. Like working gauges and pilots with eyelashes good.

A while back I stumbled onto a military 3d modeling site called  military-meshes. http://www.military-meshes.com   The talent there is remarkable.  It was interesting to watch their build process and how it compared to traditional plastic model building.  It's worth creating an account just to browse the gallery.

I don't think plastic models are going anywhere either.  My two youngest girls were crawling all over me "helping me" the past few weeks while I was working on a kit.  I ordered a couple of easy build WWII fighters for them and they can't wait until they get here!   We'll see how it goes ; )

Maybe we'll do a WIP. lol

It will never die in this house!!!!

Actually, in my LHS it going like gang busters. Are there many hobby shops where you can go in and dig through big plastic (Tupperware?) containers looking for the mirror (or what ever peice you need) that broke off because you weren't being carfeful? I still have yet to find a side mirror that I lost when i was building my daughter's "Christine" car.

The only problem with my LHS is that he deals mostly in civilain cars/trucks etc. Whicjh is why I haven't gone to look for the landing gear I broke on the P-38 I'm building.

Onwards and upwards and no looking back I say

I agree that the entry points for new modelers is changing, but I don't think the art is dying off. It will take some time for today's young people to get into it, though. I think many will transition to it as they play the various tank-related games around today. For example, World of Tanks on the Internet seems to have a pretty good participation. No doubt, some of these young people will start building models of their favorite tanks. There is also a fairly new tabletop wargame called Flames of War, www.flamesofwar.com, using miniature tanks and other WW II related items. I have noticed that some hobby stores are stocking for the demand. You can be sure many of those playing this game will also want to move into larger scale versions of their favorite tanks. So, take heart, modeling isn't dead yet. My biggest concern is whether there will be any local hobby stores around to help new modelers get into the art.

Silver

Picky Judges make it a dying art.

I disagree. No one is forcing anyone to compete in a contest, much less go to one. Even at contests you can bring something in for a display to get comments, suggestions or "atta-boys" to your heart's desires without even talking to a judge. I would wager that far more modelers show their models on the 'net than go to contests, so judges are a non-issue.