Millennials and Modeling

Another Aoshima kit:

The Kits in these boxes are the same Sprues as in the normal kit box. Additional game-related items are included however.

  Nino

Also, I was reading through some of the other posts, and I wanted to talk about clubs really quickly. I have been in a modelling club since I was eight or nine years old. I brough in my first model, and kept going back every month that I could for almost a decade. They were alway's nothing but encouraging, giving me tips, teaching me things, etc. No matter how terrible my elementary school models were, they always said that it looked good and then gave me a tip on how to make the next one better. Now that I'm at least competant, and my work has started to come to par with some of the other members, I'm now engaged with questions about MY techniques. 

Beyond being my only serious real-world social "thing", the club involvment helped keep me in the hobby and continue to get better. It is sad that so many others had such negative experience. I suppose that you can't control the people involved, and in the end, the members set the mood. I understand that some might not want younger people around, but I think that the club can be a very positive experience. 

I've also heard a lot of the 'club complaints' say that the club in question was an IPMS chapter. This club isn't- it is just a group of guys who got the LHS owner to agree to let them meet in his back room twice a month to show our models and to chat. Again, I don't know where I was going with that, but I wanted to share my experience with clubs as one of the youngest club-involved people that I know. 

-TheWaggishAmerican

Yo! I'm what's considered a 'late-stage' millenial. When people think of millenials, they think of those kids just gettting through-or already having left- university. Anyway, I am among the youngest possible millenials- the cutoff is usually late 2001, and I was born early 2001. Anyhow, I build models, paint figures (kinda), and work with and design RC airplanes. The hobby is certainly weak with people in my age group- However, I think it's actually growing. Many younger modellers you won't see at the LHS- instead, they buy online. They learn from things like Youtube, and socialize there as well. I don't know that you need the support of millenials- whatever generation comes after that, those are the people who are getting hooked. Just look at the comment sections of large Youtuber's such as QuickKits- they are LOADED with 10+ year olds who have been captured by the hobby, and quickly grow with the help of forums and the ease of the interconnected world. 

Anyway, I've no idea where I was going with that, or if that answered the 'prompt'. I'm technically a millenial, I know a couple others who are, and I've gotten one or two interested- a good way, I've found, is to start with something like Bandai's Gundam stuff! Things that build well, look impressive, and don't require advanced tools or experience to look 'cool'. From there, the rest of the hobby trickles in as they shop around and some other kind of kit catches their eye. 

What I think is in trouble are car models. Millenials are less interested in cars than just about any other generation since cars hit the market. I think this is shown in the remarkably low number's with driver's liscenses, along with the "plateau" in the car industry- car's are basically the same, with only the slightest cosmetic differences. It's not like the vehicle heyday in the 80's and 90's, with a new, badass looking car coming out seemingly every week. 

Plus, you've got to take into account the difference in location. In the US, younger modelers are definentely in the minority. However, look to places like Europe, where many of the manufacturers are. The model market is much better there. Or especially Japan, where the hobby has been on an incline pretty much since the late 70's. 

I don't think that the hobby will be lost by any means. 

One final thing, I think that as millenials age, they might pick it up. How many of you left the hobby around high school or college, only to get back into it 10 or 20 years later?

On reflection, its not really surpriseing that we don't see many millennials in the hobby. They are now in that age bracket that i am sure many here went through where model building had been put ashide for family, work and all the other things that come in your 20's and 30's. I think its fair to say that most members here went through that as well and came back into the hobby in their 40's. Of course there are always those who don't take that break, we have a couple of here now modelling in their 20's and i was in the same position in that i never really stopped.

So if any of the millenials did build models when they were younger, they are the ones we can hope will come back into the hobby over the next 10 to 20 years. As far as the hobby goes, the real concern would be the lack of those who came after the millennials. Our model club has no junior members and at shows you see very few children coming along.

I agree with Sketchy on his characterization of the millennials at the bottom of the post.  Most of the one I know are very impressive!

I haven’t seen many young people at the hobby shops I frequent, or the couple of shows I’ve been to, but all my millennial friends at work are always interested in what I’m building and want to see photos of everything.  But for younger people, the spare time needed must be an issue. I work in the bike industry and we all ride and race our bikes a lot, which leaves very little time for other hobbies.  Not to mention these kids have a very active social life! I’m 57 and don’t ride as much as my friends, and my girlfriend and I are semi antisocial, which gives me ample time to indulge.  

I never would have had time when I was younger, or the space, or the disposable income. Housing is incredibly expensive where I live. Actually everything is expensive. But now that I’m older I have a little more time and money.

As a side note, and I know this is merely anecdotal, but all the millennials I work with are smart, diligent, and conscientious. Okay maybe not all but most.  

JJFlyer

 

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

 

Along with being a member of this forum, joining a club was the best move i have made in this hobby. While its nice to talk to people here, as we all know its a solitary hobby. Its nice to be able to actually meet other model builders in the flesh, see their work, here about new products and pick up ideas.

Of course, as with any group of people, it is made up of people of different sorts. Somtimes you get on with them, sometimes you don't. Thats life. I don't think model builders are any different to any other group of people.

JJFlyer

 

 

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

 

Yes. I belong to the local IPMS & AMPS chapters in this area. The talent and skills of these guys is tremendous. And the vast majority of them are great guys who are more than happy to share their knowledge and techniques to help anybody and everybody to improve. Much better to see and ask these guys in person than to watch a video or the back and forth of these boards. Yes there are the grumpy old guys and cliques out there, but thankfully that has not been my experience.

JJFlyer

 

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

 

ygmodeler4

 

 

JJFlyer

 

 

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

 

 

 

 

Sure there are plenty of positives: Seeing other models in person is a big one. The programs are good sometimes. Good deals can be had as well.

 

John

JJFlyer

 

 

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

 

Sure there are plenty of positives: Seeing other models in person is a big one. The programs are good sometimes. Good deals can be had as well.

JJFlyer

 

 

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

 

I belong to a model club in the Cincinnati area, and all the members have been extremely positive. I have brought in finished kits and have recieved very good feedback. Although, I think my biggest problem with being in my club is not being able to go to many of the meetings.

ygmodeler4

 I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

 

This is a bit off topic, but all I've seen are negatives about the clubs. are there any notable positives?

Thanks,

JJFlyer

My 19 year old nephew got me back into model building! Seems like a lot of hobbies are more populated by older people. I'm guessing more disposable income, control over work space, time, appreciation for history..

This thread has come around multiple times over the years. The majority of comments in this thread and the past are the reasons I only go to the local model meetings every once in awhile. Online is different because you can't see a person and put an age to that person. That's why I've stuck around on the forums since I joined when I was 15 years old, these forums are generally friendly. But this is the honest truth, modelers are *in my experience* one of the least friendliest group of hobbyists out there. They're great at welcoming the younger age group, i.e. 13 and below, which is great! But howabout the college/recently graduated crowd? 

You wonder why an age group doesn't enjoy your hobby and in the same post disparage and insult them in the same post. All the other hobbies I've had experience with do not act that way. Hunters (another group that is worried about passing on their hobby/sport) are some of the nicest and welcoming folks regardless of age group that I've ever met, even the rough around the edges folks. When a millenial actually chooses to venture to the great outdoors, instead of bashing their age group they welcome them in and show why it's they love doing it and it's a great hobby. Maybe you should do the same. As for me, I'll still go to the meetings once in awhile. I build for my own reasons, probably the same reasons as the majority of you on here. It's certainly not because of the welcoming crowd at the model meetings/LHS/contests though.

Guess I would be in the Baby boomer group.  My father fought in World War 2 as an infantryman. Go figure that I build world war 2 planes.. As a kid I built some planes but mostly star trek and star wars.  Then life hit and 30 plus years later I decided to see what I could do actually painting a model.....besides using house paint and a large brush. I don't see much of the "your a nerd" attitude but I have noticed that most people that I see in the model shops are 30's on up.  I'm trying to get my grandson involved but he's a little too young yet but he has expressed interest in planes. 

SchattenSpartan

I do love this hobby however and I honestly don't really care how old my fellow modellers are as long as there are others out there I can share it with.

If that doesn't go down as the refreshing comment of the week, I don't know what will.

Bravo, my friend.

Zeon, that's a good point that I hadn't thought of, and Bluenote, I'm sure your correct about them being far removed from WW2. I build some WW1 stuff on occasion, but I don't have a lot of interest in it.

If I was young today my interests would be games and the subjects associated with them. They have not really gone through war to be interested in war material. The war we are in now is so far removed from the main stream that we hardly think about it until something happens.

Please no offence to the men and women serving now, they are putting their lives on the line every day.

Back in the 40's - 70's there were constant nightly reminders of our involvement overseas, now barley anything.

The outlet they choose is mostly fantasy (World or Tanks, World of Warships, World of Planes Etc. aside. Even those are somewhat fantasy) so it goes to figure that gundam, Sci-Fi Etc. strike their fancy.

I like to think they are looking forward and not back. Life imitates art, right?

  Well put 5150. Good to hear a small business is adapting to the customer base.

In my local area, the Millenials who build and paint miniature subjects are no longer found in the local hobby shop, but they can be found in decent numbers in our local comic book store.

The owner stocks a lot of the popular tabletop war games, such as the Warhammer lines and the perennial Dungeons and Dragons franchise, which have abandoned the old white metal miniatures for plastic and resin. To supplement the figured and vehicles, he also stocks several lines of paints and supplies, including materials from Mig, AK, and Vallejo. Tools, glues, accelerators, sheet and formed styrene - he stocks a bit of everything.

Sci-fi, movie related, video game, or comic inspired model kits are sometimes on the shelves, but they tend to disappear quickly. Traditional subjects, such as tanks and armored vehicles produced by Italeri fill a wall devoted to "Bolt Action", which scales out to the ballpark of 1/56. Next to it are the 1/35 World of Tanks reboxes in 1/35, while Vietnam era and modern armor and aircraft hang in another display devoted to 1/100 scale. Resin accessories and PE sets are also available for that little extra touch of detail to your tabletop troops.

But, if it's model cars you're after, the owner will politely point out that Hobby Lobby is located across the street. But, he will be quick to invite you to events where you can play the games, learn to paint, sit in on an airbrush workshop, or build terrain layouts.

Sure, his target business demographic seems to consist of a lot of latte swilling cellphone slingers in man buns and skinny jeans, but he has a devoted customer base because he appeals to the Millennial generation. He has built a little community for them to get together to share their hobbies, which is essentially the same as ours, but with non-traditional subjects and scales.

Zeon Zum Deikun

Born in 1990, so I'm a Millennial.

I think the big hurdle of getting my generation into modeling is the sheer amount of pass times at our disposal. We can stream any tv show or movie instantaneously. You can create an avatar in a virtual world to live out your fantasies... or even create the virtual world itself. All of your friends are accessible at anytime from a computer you carry in your pocket everyday. I could go on, but don't want to make a giant list.

The thing is, building models is probably as popular with my generation as the one before it, but the subjects have changed and the places they share them aren't on dedicated forums, but social media platforms.

Sci-fi modeling will be more popular with my generation that historical/military. Gundam model kits (Gunpla) are gaining a lot of popularity in the west, mainly amongst millennials. If you were to go on Reddit right now, the Gunpla subreddit is easily the most active of all the modeling subreddits. A large amount of posts are from people just starting out. Star Wars kits are popular, especially Bandai kits. You'll see some Trek and Battlestar in the sci-fi modelers subreddits.

If you want to get a millennial interested in modeling, sci-fi/mecha is probably the way to introduce it. I also think the companies that produce model kits need to look that direction as well. Where are the kits based on popular video game series? Where are the Halo kits? Mass Effect? Fallout? What about the newer TV shows and movies? I still can't believe there aren't model kits for the ships from The Expanse. Give Millennials subjects they're interested in, and you'll get more participants. And once they're hooked on the plastic crack, they'll probably branch out into the glut of armor and aircraft that dominate the market. That's how it worked on me, anyhow.

sincerely, 

A lazy millennial who just got off a 12 hour factory shift.

 

Great reply!  I think military subjects aren't really popular with millenials simply because they are so far removed from World War II.  

And yes, there is so much more entertainment options competing for spare time nowadays.  

I think every generation says that the previous generation is "lazy, have it easy, etc".  Let's just accept that every generation is different because the world they live in is different.  You can't fault people for that.  Yes millenials really like their phones, video games, etc, but if you were raised in that same world and timeframe, wouldn't you do the same?

I'm 43, so I'm at the weird generation where me and a lot of my friends built models and went to hobby shops, but we also had Nintendo and Atari.  No internet yet.  Or smartphones.  

Born in 1990, so I'm a Millennial.

I think the big hurdle of getting my generation into modeling is the sheer amount of pass times at our disposal. We can stream any tv show or movie instantaneously. You can create an avatar in a virtual world to live out your fantasies... or even create the virtual world itself. All of your friends are accessible at anytime from a computer you carry in your pocket everyday. I could go on, but don't want to make a giant list.

The thing is, building models is probably as popular with my generation as the one before it, but the subjects have changed and the places they share them aren't on dedicated forums, but social media platforms.

Sci-fi modeling will be more popular with my generation that historical/military. Gundam model kits (Gunpla) are gaining a lot of popularity in the west, mainly amongst millennials. If you were to go on Reddit right now, the Gunpla subreddit is easily the most active of all the modeling subreddits. A large amount of posts are from people just starting out. Star Wars kits are popular, especially Bandai kits. You'll see some Trek and Battlestar in the sci-fi modelers subreddits.

If you want to get a millennial interested in modeling, sci-fi/mecha is probably the way to introduce it. I also think the companies that produce model kits need to look that direction as well. Where are the kits based on popular video game series? Where are the Halo kits? Mass Effect? Fallout? What about the newer TV shows and movies? I still can't believe there aren't model kits for the ships from The Expanse. Give Millennials subjects they're interested in, and you'll get more participants. And once they're hooked on the plastic crack, they'll probably branch out into the glut of armor and aircraft that dominate the market. That's how it worked on me, anyhow.

sincerely, 

A lazy millennial who just got off a 12 hour factory shift.

As Millennials age I think they are discovering they need time to decompress and are seeking ways to unplug from the daily grind - hence newfangled ideas like...  forest bathing anyone?  For me, the relaxation building provides, can be a big incentive for the hobby to grow.  A number of them see themselves as artistic and I think we can emphasize this in order to reach them.  I think there is too much negativeness about them and by being positive we may see them start to show interest.  I am not a marketing person, but there are probably a zillion studies on how to reach them.

Heck, I always thought a Millenial was a nasty rash that a doctor had to prescribe a heavy dose of antibiotics to cure...

I'm only 15 and have been modeling for 4-5 years. I started because I was into ww2 aircraft and now I do it because it's relaxing and the finished product is well worth the time (and $).

The club I belong to, although very small - about 20 members - is made up mostly of men 30 and older with most in their late 40's and 50's.  There is one chap who brings his 11 year old son and the little guy has a great time.  There is also one teenager and his gig is sci-fi and gundam.  We have a build night in Bill's store every other Thursday evening.  With the exception of these two 'youngsters' in our midst, it's the typical older white male modeler at build night.  We have no kids but I tried to get my nephews into building models and they looked at me like I had three heads and that was only after they could look away from the computer and game consoles. 

Nino, if you look on the Average Age of modellers thread, you will see a lot of us in the 40-50 bracket, the Gen X. From what i have seen on here and at shows, we seem to make up a big chunk of model builders. I would say we were the last of those who built models as kids before the age of video games and so on, 70's 80's. And we are now in the position that we arestill working but kids have grown up so we have the time and money to build models.

I think for many of us, our Grandparents fought in WW2 and our parents were children during it. And coming from east Anglia and with a dad interested in history, i grew up with stories of aircraft filling the skies going out to Europe. And we also had all those movies from the 60's and 70's. So we were still close enough to WW2 that it was not that long ago, but we didn't experiance the aftermath such as bombed out cities or rationing or family still being away from home and that may have made us more curious.

Mellenials

drumsfield

I wouldn't say Millenials are are lazy, just different. They're into computers, video games and social media. Making things with their hands isn't something the current generation is used to doing. Now a days they can find and do anything with a touch of a button. Need to buy something? Click... In an age of Youtube, Google, Amazon and drones and computer information systems, the most valuable skills now a days revolve around sitting in front of a screen not putting things together.

However, I think as society moves away from making things with their hands there will eventually come a revival from traditionalist. Much like how people are starting to bike more and enjoy more outdoor activities, we'll probably see a revival of hobbies that the older generation grew up with.

 

 

 

 

My kids were born in 92 and 94 and did a couple models, but it didnt' click with them.  My sons (the twins in 94) really got into RC stuff - much more interactive, more immediate.  My daughter was a dancer.  I exposed my kids to all sorts of stuff, what stuck was active out door activities.   They ski/snowboard, camp, fish - my sons were pretty good atheletes.  I don't think my daughter will build another model - though she did do a diorama of the battle of Islandwanda, mostly to spend time with dad I suppose.  My sons have an interest in robotics and engineering so there's hope.  They are big gamers though, but will head up to the mountains for days to camp and fish.  Good balance, we'll see if they come back to modeling.  One interesting thing was when they did build models, the got a bit discouraged when they compared what they built with my models despite my coaching and encouragement.  I know lots of these kids and you can't lump them into one big pit.  As an engineering manager I'm hiring them out of college and their problem solving skills are great.  I do fear that the hobby has a horizon, but perhaps I'm wrong.