The future of the hobby ?

[Gern]

I certainly don't think that modelling as a hobby is dying out, but I do think the customer base is changing. Most kits produced today allow skilled builders to produce some amazing results, but that comes at a price. Firstly, it increases the cost of the kits which puts many of them out of the reach of young builders' pockets. Secondly the skill levels required for even OOB builds puts many kits beyond the abilities of many youngsters. The biggest market today is guys like us - returning to the hobby after 'building' their lives and careers and who now have some time, income and patience to invest.


Much of this has to be down to us with our constant demands on manufacturers to give us more accuracy and more detail - how many reviews/builds do you come across where there is endless criticism of the manufacturer? There are still kits available for youngsters of course, but there may be a market for less detailed 'mainstream' kits to give more youngsters a chance to get hold of affordable kits which don't require expert skills to build. That would depend on us trying to get more youngsters involved and not 'slamming' manufacturers because their latest Spitfire only has 60 parts instead of the 350 needed to include all the tiny details.

[Alan 45]

Dave I think what you have said is maybe the closest of all the responses ive read and heard on this subject


It not only highlights the reason so few younger people are starting up or should I say continuing in the hobby but also the faults of the manufacturers and we ourselves as model builders and our attitude to kits

[Guest]

Alan, no-one's doubting that there are more distractions for youngsters these days.


But that's life! I didn't continue to build models much after the age of 15-16 once I discovered girls, pubs & smoking! Then for years I didn't build a thing, until I had more time on my hands & wasn't distracted by being out most nights.


I think the same will happen in times to come - as people get older, they'll look for a hobby & model making will be the choice for some of them.


I agree with Dave to an extent in that adult hobbyists have wanted (and got) better quality kits, albeit at higher prices.


But there's still many kits out there of good quality at affordable prices. Some of the 1/72 Airfix starter kits have been my most enjoyable builds in recent months.

[Guest]

In 20 years I'll be 68 so I doubt I'll be doing it then. Probably just sitting in my armchair drooling ... hmm no change there!

Oh yes you will dear Patrick. I am 77 in a few months time. I am not sitting in "NO Armchair". Neither am I drooling. :P


I am just doing fine using "ACRYLICS". Since I gave up "ENAMELS" I have had a second childhood.


Also I can out run at 77 my eldest son who is 55.


In 20 years time at 97 I will still be model making. I may by that time have decided that I will, like many other vintage types (who are younger than me), have wilted and decided on scales of 1/24 shame on them. But that will not happen until I am turned 95 I do not want to given in to soon.


Laurie

[Guest]

Hmmm....


I'm 61 this year.....


I can out-run AND out-press-ups my 14 year old step son.


I'm still gigging as a guitarist, writing books, building my second garden railway - a small feat of civil engineering in itself.


I love and treat my cars like an 18 year old except I can now afford to do it.


Old??? - What does that mean???? I'll comment when I get there.


BUT - the topic here.


Model making dying out?


No new kits?


No real investment?


Try going to the Frankfurt model show each January.


There are literally THOUSANDS of brand new kits each year, and some - such as the Pocher revival - cost millions to develop.


Even if model making died altogether in the UK and France (our nearest neighbour) - there are still more model makers in the USA, Italy, Spain, Germany and Japan than we could ever imagine.


I doubt the manufacturers would hardly notice the drop in sales.


Computers etc won't die out, but their life as an attention-grabbing 'device' is very short lived.


Most 12 - 18 year olds' don't know how to MOVE without their gadget glued to their fingers.


Over the age of 20-ish, and the gadget reverts to being what it really is - a useful gadget.


Then they start looking at REAL hobbies and interests.


Roy.

[Alan 45]

Roy it's not that there are fewer new kits coming out and no real investment happening from where I sit. Those are two very healthy positions and I would say that this could be a boom time for the hobby


I'm referring to the lack of interest from children , apart from a few excptions the hobby as I see survives from people like me who returned to the hobby after a long time away from it .


The point I'm making that the fewer children that take up the hobby the fewer that return to it to carry it on


It is a golden time for the hobby with the new toolings and extras you can now get but without the youth it will eventually disappear I think anyway

[Ian M]

Is the hobby dwindling to oblivion...Nah.


There are new brands popping up all the time. The one producing better products that the other.


Look at good old Airfix, You cant say they are not doing there bit to lift the hobby into this century. Their new 3D laser scanning tool was not cheap and people are already raving about how good the results are. This high tech approach is of course dependant on there being a real subject to scan. Then it's back to the drawing board, all be it a digital one.


Then lest talk about 3D printing, many say it will be the end of models as we know them. I see them as a very useful tool for making things you might otherwise buy. That might take a bite out of the after-market pie, but still plenty left for them to live off.


I am a mere youth of 55 summers and have no planes on giving up just yet. When I get the urge I build (which is more often than not). When I don't, I do something else.


The question that should be raised is how many of you that have rug rats, sorry, I mean kids, really tried to get them interested. Before it's to late that is. Try asking if there is a kit that they would really like you to build for them. Ask if they would like to help. Then try to capture their imagination.... get them to want something......


I know kids would much rather sit in front of the TV or Play station, but then again, some might actually be glad of some quality time with dad (or mum) and actually do something together them.. Optimistic I know.


Ian M

[Gern]

Patrick - You've mentioned the new Airfix starter kits which are, in theory at least, exactly the kind of kits which youngsters can afford and should have the necessary skills to produce something decent; and therefore exactly the type I think manufacturers should produce more of.


I'm only asking as I've never bought any, but how many of these are new mould and how many are simply old moulds re-packaged? New mould Airfix kits are generally proving to be really good value from what I read on here and other forums, but I'm concerned how many are the old moulds which should have been thrown away many years ago.


As a youngster, I'd be really disappointed to buy or get as a gift something like the old Victory. There were lots of threads about this last year, but my point is that those kind of starter kits will do more harm than good. OK, they're affordable, but how many new modellers will have the necessary patience and skills to turn these old moulds into something decent? You must have seen the efforts some of the guys here had to put in to get good results - I know I couldn't get anything decent out of it!


Maybe that kit's an exception and the rest of the starter sets are OK, but I have my doubts. For all the reasons already mentioned, it's difficult enough to get some youngsters interested in modelling, I don't like to think of them being put off from the hobby because their first experience is very poor.

[stona]

The question that should be raised is how many of you that have rug rats, sorry, I mean kids, really tried to get them interested. Before it's to late that is.


Ian M

No luck with my girls, though Nigel Julian (Lampie) and I did once get a quite well known musical act and a good chunk of their entourage building during one tour


Dave raises a very good point about starter kits above. Most members here can do a bit of research to discover which are decent kits, but someone's mum might well buy something like HMS Victory which will put a kid off for life. It nearly did that to me


Cheers


Steve

[Guest]

Dave, I've said many times on here that I believe Airfix's policy of are-boxing old kits is harmful & ultimately detrimental to the hobby for exactly the reasons you & Steve have said! A sticker or mention on the box of the kits original issue date would help!


We need supermarkets to stock a few of the new-tool kits - that's where they'll be bought with so few actual model shops in existence.


However, it's a simple fact that adults have the bulk of disposable income & that's where model companies want their money to come from.

[Guest]

I got my 4 grandsons on models about 2 each they completed. But I did not expect, after the initial excitement of plastering glue and spraying paint around the place, of staying the course. But the idea is firmly planted in their mind all their models are on show in their bedrooms.


I did not make any plastic models in my time as a child or youth either they were not around or to expensive not sure. But there were books which had thin card pages and these had printed and cut out lines to make cardboard models. Certainly liked that. There were also Spitfire balsa wood simple flat pieces which you plastered with balsa cement. So interest wore thin quickly.


But then I did not take up plastic model building until about 70. Mainly as I had other things to do renovating boats, making films, photography plus running a business so time was the essence. Then slowing down physically I looked around. Actually I get bored when away on holiday in the evening. So bought a model on holiday to build and that started the rot. By coincidence the model I bought was the Gladiator (did not start it on holiday) which I have just built.


But all the things that I did until model making were hands on stuff. My father was a carpenter and joiner and I was never out of his workshop always building something. I suspect that most in model making are that way inclined. I think that it will always mostly be a middle aged hobby. When the family have grown up and gone all of a sudden there is a hole to be filled.


Looking in places like W H Smith the shelves are filled with magazines so there certainly is no lack of interest. If you look at art many take it up later in life. Just that hole where suddenly a load of personal, your own, time is available.


Poll needed to see the average age of model makers here.


Laurie

[stona]

I think Alan has already remarked that the typical model builder, as evidenced at the various shows, is hardly in the first flush of youth !


I'd guesstimate that the average age would be around the 50 mark, maybe even a little more.


Cheers


Steve

[Guest]

I take it debate isn't a strong point of yours Edgar

If someone wants to discuss, I'm fine with that; if they want to be rude, that's a different matter entirely.

[Alan 45]

If someone wants to discuss, I'm fine with that; if they want to be rude, that's a different matter entirely.

No bodies been rude ! I think your referring to another thread which I answered you to explane why you got it wrong , I'm never rude to anyone on here , if you saw it that way it's your own understanding of the written word on the Internet when reading things that some people might have difficulty with

[Guest]

If someone wants to discuss, I'm fine with that; if they want to be rude, that's a different matter entirely.

Better Edgar that we retained the harmony of this forum. If you do not agree with something just let it pass rather than get personal. Accusing members of being rude is just not on it disturbs the harmony of this Forum. If you have an issue PC them please.


Laurie