I came back to the hobby after a 40 year hiatus myself.  As an adult model builder I felt like a pork chop at a Jewish pic-nic, all alone hiding in my little corner of the table.  I assumed no one else over 20 was doing this and I hesitated to even tell anyone i was "playing with kids toys "  Until of course i discoverd Fine Scale Modeler on the internet.  Hey there's other people like me...LOTS OF THEM!  and boy are they good at this.

So like others, my game changer is

                      #1 Fine Scale Modeler

                      #2  The Internet

I am still amazed that building static (non RC models ) is such a wide spread,world wide hobby and the skills involved are just incredible. I'm so thankful for the willingness of these expert modelers to share their techniques to make us all better modelers as well ,which further enhances the joy of model building.

Thank you FSM for hanging in there all these years.

Probably nothing that hasn't already been mentioned, in no particular order...

1. The internet. So many reference pictures and information!

2. Forums such as FineScale. The inspriation and help is incredible.

3. Amazon. I look forward to the Amazon Points every month - "Free" models!!!!

4. Patience. As a kid,  I remember just slapping the kit together to get it done. Today, I'll spend more time and effort on one cockpit than I used to spend on four kits back then!

For me, it would be the overall quality of model kits. Back in the day, a tank or plane would be released and just offer different paint schemes and maybe an optional part or two to replicate different versions.

Today, companies relelase different boxings of minor variations of kits that are higher in quality with huge parts counts. The pricing has also killed the casual modeler population.

Well, I think everyone already hit on my biggest game changers. One I didn't see though is paint shades pre-mixed for whatever you're using it for. I remember back in the '80s as a teen mixing those little square bottles of Testors paint for everything I painted till I found the Tamiya line. You mean I can just buy a bottle of German mustard yellow instead of trying to mix yellow and tan together!?!?! You could have knocked me over with a feather... 

And it being acrylic paint too. You mean it cleans up with soap and water!?!?! 

Gamera

Well, I think everyone already hit on my biggest game changers. One I didn't see though is paint shades pre-mixed for whatever you're using it for. I remember back in the '80s as a teen mixing those little square bottles of Testors paint for everything I painted till I found the Tamiya line. You mean I can just buy a bottle of German mustard yellow instead of trying to mix yellow and tan together!?!?! You could have knocked me over with a feather... 

And it being acrylic paint too. You mean it cleans up with soap and water!?!?! 

 

Murphy's Law

 

 

Gamera

Well, I think everyone already hit on my biggest game changers. One I didn't see though is paint shades pre-mixed for whatever you're using it for. I remember back in the '80s as a teen mixing those little square bottles of Testors paint for everything I painted till I found the Tamiya line. You mean I can just buy a bottle of German mustard yellow instead of trying to mix yellow and tan together!?!?! You could have knocked me over with a feather... 

And it being acrylic paint too. You mean it cleans up with soap and water!?!?! 

 

 

 

 

I know what you mean.. there is a specialty paint for everything now.. just look at what AK and Ammo offer as far as weathering paints, oils and pigments. I mean now they have sets for certain models.

 

 

Lol, it's all pre-packaged and ready to use and I still can't seem to get anything built!

The biggest game changer for me was a good airbrush.

Second would be my optivisor.

Cdn Colin

Second would be my optivisor.

Yes. It is nice to see what I'm doing, and where.

What got me back into modeling again ( 2 months ago after a hiatius of many many years ) was 1/ 35 scale leaf punches.

And sea foam...can't forget sea foam.

Nothing destroyed the illusion faster on a diorama then using moss/ foam/ herbs/dried leaves for foilage. Bush, ground clutter ? Sure. Trees ?....I guess if you like Dr Suess trees.

I did get decent pine trees using static grass. But still.

Now I punch leaves by the hundreds from real leaves. It's a pain to apply...but man they look good. Hit them a few times here and there with an ultra pen ( brown and black ) for viens. Yeah buddy.

No more just doing winter or city scenes...

Doing a hedge row scene now and have used almost 500 leaves and not even close to done...looks awesome.

Also can't forget the ultra realism they bring to German armor.

Without a doubt, an airbrush with a compressor w/regulator. Huge difference in my finished builds. Strong second has to be weathering with oils and pigments.