To seperate sport from game I've always used the metric "Can you drink beer while playing?"  This puts golf firmly into the game category with darts and pool.  When I dabbled in golf years ago I was a big fan of the drink cart ladies.  ;)

Most my good friends are fellow modelers.  That came because Denver not my home town.  I moved from Iowa 46 years ago.  I grew up building kits over 60 years ago. My brother who was Dentist, still builds tank and aircraft models.  Heck he drove here from Spokane to visit few months ago, and we spent all the time building kits and painting them.  I joined a couple of IPMS clubs over 40 years ago,  I still have club meetings at my home.  My daughter loves my models, and my wife is very much into them.  We are very into history and Sci-fi, espcialy Star Trek.  My best freind who got me into models, way back when I was 7th grade, does not model any more,  but wishes he had interests now that he is retired.

I never liked sports, cars, drinking or anything like that.  Now, Geology and especially Dinosaurs fascinate us.  We have lots of that here in Colorado.

When I first read your response I said "Geneology" not Geology. That got me thinking about when I began tracing my family history just to find that I am German, Norwegean, Sweedish, English, and French ( I stopped after five generations). My mother was born in Essen, Germany, in 1930 and survived the Hitler thugs and Allied bombings of WW2. She has some real eye opening stories from her perspective of the war.  Anyway, sorry about drifting down a rabbit hole. 

Sci-fi, Star Trek, and Dinosaurs.......now that is a different mix indeed 

My father in law was full German, in the Hitler youth, his mother burned his uniform and buried his pistol before the allied forces came in.  He did not talk about it.

keavdog

To seperate sport from game I've always used the metric "Can you drink beer while playing?"  This puts golf firmly into the game category with darts and pool.  When I dabbled in golf years ago I was a big fan of the drink cart ladies.  ;)

 

Laughing. Now there are two good reasons for me take up the sport. Beer, and drink cart ladies.

tankboy51

Now, Geology and especially Dinosaurs fascinate us.  We have lots of that here in Colorado.

We have dinosaurs here in Colorado?  Where?  I want to see one!  Hehehe...just kidding...I know what you meant.  That reminds me of the other "hobby" (actually more of a passion) I had until just last year for reptiles...specifically, green iguanas.  I became known as "The Iguana King" among some of the volunteers I worked with at a local animal shelter because of my strange connection I had with those animals.  One of them said to me "Look at the way they all respond to you!  Its like you're their king!"...and so started the nickname.  Had two of them myself...one of which I raised from a baby.  He passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 26, just a week short of his 27th birthday.  My other one was a sweet female iguana who became paralyzed from the middle of her back down due to a fall from a perch.  That was 13 years ago that her injury occurred, and she lived happily until almost a year ago.  She was 21 years old.  Great animals...very intelligent.  Might take in another one if there are any that need a home.

Tanker-Builder

Ah So!-RealG San!

   This surprises me what with all the best Models coming out of your Home Country. The Countrymen in your part ofJapan enjoy Manga don't they, That's a hobby? Isn't it? Many Americans see that as just a form of Comics! So there you go.

 

TB, to clarify, I was made in the USA but with parts from Japan!  

My friend who attempted to teach me golf explained that adult model builders only built "big" models, like the ones we used to see on the top shelves in hobby shops.  He said only children buy the little stuff.  Needless to say he was not a model fan (he did confess to drift racing on the docks in Kobe).

I asked my non-modeling Japanese cousins what they thought about the hobby, and basically they told me it wasn't a good thing to mention to people I meet.  Especially the Gundam models.

Regarding manga, I never got into it, but my observation while riding the train was that a lot of guys read the stuff while commuting to and from work.  They just toss them into the trash when done, like a newspaper.  The manga content can be quite gratuitously violent or lewd, which turns me off.  I liken my reaction to watching a guy get his eye slowly dug out.    Japanese manga can get really over the top.

Aha!

         Well, I have to agree. Manga does seem to go No Holds Barred! That is why I only get it from my Library. Family rated " G" for everyone. I am still puzzled though. Why do artists from The old country ( Japan) Always draw westerners with seemingly overlarge eyes? and lots of them Blue?

 I have drawings of Asians from four different countries, Japan included. and they are very subtle and artfully done. The Faces are capable of telling stories just looking at them. I was always fascinated with Sesue Hayakawa and the fellow that played the Samurai On television with Richard Chamberlain. You know " Shogun"!,Well more than one. Their faces told a lot of the story and were incredibly believable in the roles. Oh, And Kabuki Is awesome, My wife taught me that! 

I hope? I want to ask a question.

      I do hope this is not too personal. Did you get brought up Traditionally or Western? The reason I ask-I was brought up in the dual households of old country Sicilian -Americans and Old country Austrian-Americans! Definitely in the Old manner only!

Tanker-Builder

I hope? I want to ask a question.

      I do hope this is not too personal. Did you get brought up Traditionally or Western? The reason I ask-I was brought up in the dual households of old country Sicilian -Americans and Old country Austrian-Americans! Definitely in the Old manner only!

 

TB,

I don't mind at all.  I was raised entirely in the good old USA, with a couple of summers in Japan.  But here in Hawaii, it is very different from the mainland, with cultural influences from many places.  I am kind of a failure in both worlds though, as I am not into chain smoking, beer, pickled vegetables, and golf (Japan), nor baseball/fotball, John Wayne, and big cars (USA).  I love hot dogs and apple pie though!  Heh-heh, yeah strerotpyes, I know.

But back OT, modeling is still HUGE in Japan, although the demographic landscape has changed like everywhere else.  The Western scale-only guys either do not know of, or refuse to acknowlege, the Gundam kit market, which is overtaking planes/tanks/ships/cars.  I have asked several Japan modelers their opinion, and all agreed with this observation.

I consider myself lucky to be able to see from both sides of the modeling fence, as I get enjoyment from both sides with no conflict whatsoever.  And I don't care what either country says about the hobby.  

I get defensive when people call me a golfer. I play golf...I AM NOT A GOLFER! There is a difference.

I played golf from about 1993-2013 I really wanted to play,thought it would be great for retirement. My goal was simply to be a bad golfer,shoot around 100 or so,but I was so inconsistent I couldn't enjoy it.

But when you can play halfway decent,it's fantastic,the course,being with friends,laughing,having a good time.I really enjoyed it,but I could never get a good hold on it.

Now I'm too old to look foolish on the course.So now I just play a little Par 3 from time to time.

Left handed golf clubs free to a good home.........  

My son took my Royal St. Georges ball towel anready but the rest is in pristine condition.

(pick-up only).

Tanker-Builder

I hope? I want to ask a question.

      I do hope this is not too personal. Did you get brought up Traditionally or Western? The reason I ask-I was brought up in the dual households of old country Sicilian -Americans and Old country Austrian-Americans! Definitely in the Old manner only!

Half a dozen years later, they married and moved to the US. That's where my siblings and I were born.

My parents spoke Dutch in the household, but we answered in English. Eventually, Dutch vanished and only English was spoken.

Originally, everything we ate was served on a bed of rice. We had rice and meat everyday. The "meat" could be any variety of meat (beef, pork, chicken, hamburg, fish), cooked like traditional stir fry with peppers, onions, etc. My mom made my dad even spicier sauce called "heet" in Dutch (pronounced "hate" in English) and means a very spicy sauce.

My dad's head was a ball of sweat during dinner. I remember my mom used to eat with her right hand when we were kids. Everything we ate was spicy.

But our family eventually Americanized. Probably by the time my older sister got to junior high school, were were eating more traditional US meals. My mom worked in the school cafeteria and probably learned many American dishes there.

When I got to college on Long Island, a lot of New Yorkers used to comment that I didn't sound right. I spoke better English with my New England accent and they expected me to sound like I just came out of China Town in NYC.

My family does fall into a few Asian stereotypes; my brother and I got degrees in finance, my daughter got a degree in actuarial math, my son a masters in computer engineering and working on an MBA too. My sister was a microbiologist before married and stayed at home. Her oldest son is a neurosurgeon.

Since I also raised three rural Kentucky stepchildren, there was a definite distinction between my wife's first three children and her last three kids (my biological children) as far as school and grades go. My wife used to defend her older children by saying "Cs are good grades" when I tried to talk to them about their school work.

My three were/are 4.0 GPA students. When the youngest (soon to be a senior in high school) had a 92 in one class (B+), my wife said, "What's up with this?"

I automatically said, "Cs are good grades" and she promptly told me to shut up. He did get a 4.0 that year as well.

Real G

The Western scale-only guys either do not know of, or refuse to acknowlege, the Gundam kit market

There are grown men here in Australia who will buy the $500.00 Gundam kits and buy the $90.00 nippers with which to build them. 

I haven't gone that far yet. 

How is your wife, Rob?

Golf, no I struggle with self-esteem as it is. Strange too as I live in the golf capital of the USA.

Family-wise, not many left to make comments. My little sisters both grew up watching me model so they don't think about it much.

My friends are all people I've met in the last ten years or so, those who care about what I do ask me what I'm building now.

It's been a while since I've encountered any of the "toys for kids" set, and they can go play golf or whatever floats their boat and leave me alone.

My wife is a designer, as is my only child, so they like what I do.

My problem remains time. I'm somehow so busy that bench time is hard to come by.

My employees like to see what I build and what shows up in the mail at the office, but they are architects so it comes with the territory.

Bill

Modeling is my getaway from daily life. It is a hobby, but I have other hobbies as well (and a life). I see this as both a blessing and a curse. My attention gets pulled towards the other hobbies depending on the time of year. Fall & Winter is when modeling is done. Spring is when my RC hobby gets attention. And Summertime I get back into auto detailing. The interesting thing is, I don't just stop each hobby. They all kinda meld together as the year goes by. I might not touch a model for a year and the same goes for my RCs. I recently got into guns and exploring my 2nd Amendment right. So EVERYTHING has taken a backseat, LOL! 

I used to get a little self-conscious when I would talk about modeling. Until I start showing pictures of my work. People get amazed at the detail that gets put into them.  

GMorrison

How is your wife, Rob?

 

Bill

Ha-ha Rob, yeah strereotypes have a basis in fact most of the time.  A lot of funny Aisian trope videos on Youtube poke fun at grades.  "B+???!!!  FAILURE!!!"    In my house, a C was not acceptable.  But Bs were OK.  Faulty Asians.  

The upside is that we can enjoy the best of both worlds.  I do not consider myself a Japanese national (not by a looooooong shot), but I can understand, if not agree on, their ways.

I can't blend in though.  Once I was waiting for my family at a department store in Japan, when two high school kids sat near me.  One of them asked the other if he thought I was a foreigner.  The other said that it was obvious, as I was wearing such weird clothing.  I was wearing a buttoned collared shirt and jeans.  Still can't figure that one out.  A shop owner in Osaka told me he knew me and my friends were foreigners because it was already October, when no one in Japan wears half-sleeve shirts. We were all in tee shirts because Japan was experiencing a freak heat wave and it was in the mid-80s.  I got similar remarks from other shop owners. 

It would be interesting to hear from other forum members across the world on how their society views modeling.  How about it Europe?  Russia?  Africa?  There were a bunch of guys from Venezuela that went to a IPMS Nationals one year, and they were rowdy like soccer fans and brought amazing models - one guy took the George Lee Award for his motorcycle!  That was the most fun awards presentation.

Mom's parents were from Germany/Austria.  They came over well before WWI, (Mom born in 1912 in Duluth, MN).  Was absolute law in the home, only English, no German spoken.  He was steadfast, this is the United States, and English it will be.   None of the kids every learned German, or even another language as far as I know.

GMorrison

My employees like to see what I build and what shows up in the mail at the office, but they are architects so it comes with the territory.

That is cool, Bill!  

Real G

Ha-ha Rob, yeah strereotypes have a basis in fact most of the time.  A lot of funny Aisian trope videos on Youtube poke fun at grades.  "B+???!!!  FAILURE!!!"    In my house, a C was not acceptable.  But Bs were OK.  Faulty Asians.  

Of her first three kids, only her daughter had decent grades. The boys barely made it through high school.

Enter my upbringing and influx of Asian genes. After getting used to my son and daughter with their 4.0 GPAs, seeing our youngest getting a B+ on a progress report caught her attention. He did get an A in that course for the year.

My children have changed her perspective on what to expect from her own children.

But even today, there is a definite distinction between the success of her first three kids and her last three. The older three bouncing between retail jobs and finding some success here and there.

Our first child together has a degree in math and now works in the insurance/financial industry with my brother. She probably makes more money than any two of her older siblings combined. Our second child is working on his second master's degree.

Like I said to my kids, study hard and get good grades.  

My wife thinks the hobby is cool and very supportive.  She and I hate golf.  She figures it's better to have me in the basement every weekend working on models instead out chasing a tiny white ball around.  I've had friends give me light hearted jokes about the hobby.  They laugh about it being a child's hobby.  Those same friends are now visiting the house with COVID (hopefully) ending.  Once they see the display case the jokes end and the reaction is "how cool!  Can you build me one?" 

    I did Ancestory.com and found out that I am Scandinavian/ German, and a mix from the British Isle. Look kinda like a Viking and the blood trends to agree. Not sure really when my heritage came to the US but I think most were here before the mass migration of WWII. Not enough living relatives left to bounce found info off off.

     All my friends build models, with out models I truly would have no friends.....my personality precludes me from holding onto ties. I get the occasional ribbing about my subjevt/ scale preference but it is all in fun.

      My beautiful wife of 21yrs encourages me to tinker....even sneaked a picture of me hunched over my desk, tounge out and everything. She made an attemp to build stuff but it isn't her thing. She is very supportive so I'm gonna keep her around for awhile.

Golf? I always think of Jeff Foxworthy's comment about prefering bowling since he never had to spend hours looking around for a lost ball.

I always liked George Carlin's take on golf.  "Think of the intelligence that it takes to play golf.  Hitting a ball with a crooked stick, and then walking after it.  And then, when you finally find it, what do you do?  You hit it again!"

Eaglecash867

I always liked George Carlin's take on golf.  "Think of the intelligence that it takes to play golf.  Hitting a ball with a crooked stick, and then walking after it.  And then, when you finally find it, what do you do?  You hit it again!"

 

Lol!

I dunno what people around me think of the hobby. They tolerate it more or less as me being eccentric- maybe just plain out cray-cray...

One of my nephews does build cars every once in a while. I've been getting him a kit every Christmas.

I have a young nephew, around 11-12 yrs old. I give him those Star Wars Revell snap together kits that do lights and sound. My hope is someday he wants to build them semi-seriously. He is big into Lego like my sons used to be.

Rob Gronovius

I have a young nephew, around 11-12 yrs old. I give him those Star Wars Revell snap together kits that do lights and sound. My hope is someday he wants to build them semi-seriously.

I hope so too, Rob.  I have a relative, a couple of years older than me, and we spent a lot of time together as kids.  He's my mum's youngest brother - so he's my uncle - but we were always more like cousins.  Anyway, as kids, we both built models together, but he lost interest as he got older.  Last year, during the first big lockdown (nobody went anywhere unless they absolutely had to) he built an Airfix 1/24 Spitfire, and e-mailed pics to my Dad.  It looked pretty good from what I could see.  I haven't seen him for a few years, maybe I'll drop him a line & see if he's built anything else.