we are killing our hobbie

[Guest]

Just made a calculation, between overs(first test match), of the number of models available to the plastic type model making community.

Stunned with the figure.

Over 5000.

So I do not think that model making is going down the shutes just yet.

It is where you buy them that will change. Seems to me that some companies in other avenues do this at the moment. You take the order on line at your usual internet outlet & then have a central depots in a country which holds the stock send the goods directly from the central depot. Why. There are so many models & it is impossible for even large internet companies to hold all the stock or even a portion of it. That unfortunately will entail an increase in (voice of doom & gloom) the cost as it will be big business who run the depot affairs.

Laurie

[PaulTRose]

i wish it was that easy to support the little shop................if you have got one!

i live on the edge of nottingham...not the smallest city by any means, yet i am really limited by outlets

Modelzone and GeeDees are both in the city which i try and avoid visiting unless i really have to..............but when i do i make a point of visiting both shops........MZ is going and Geedees always seems expensive or limited in what they have...........my other outlet is HobbyCraft......still a 20 minute drive and even more limited on stuff

yet if i go on ebay i have a big dealer only a mile away, reasonable prices (specially when i can walk round and collect to save on postage!) and a big selection of stuff

i do the majority of my kit buying by ebay..............its stuff like paint, etc that i try and buy in person

[stona]

As long as there are people with money to spend on kits and all the other paraphernalia which most of us have littering our hobby rooms then there will be people willing to produce and sell the stuff to turn a profit.

The real question is, given the age of the typical modeller, how long will those people be there?

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Yes an interesting point especially on the Sunday morning BBC slot they had a discussuion about angling. In the young the rivers association ? have indicated a 45% drop in interest by young people over the last few years.

A 25% drop over all ages.

A few boys fishing were asked for their views & said it was probably TV & playstaion etc. taking the numbers down. Suspect also football has also been a factor both in the cost of going to a match ie taking available finances, as a result & not allowing fathers the interest to take their kids fishing. Suspect similar things in model making. All a shame.

It would be interesting to have the average age of the model fraternity. Looking at the members on this forum who write here it looks like a very rough age of mid thirties to eighties. Noted that a good number when joining are coming back after 20 or 30 years absence which seems to indicate the young are not interested or not given the opportunity.

Not been to any of the big shows being in Jersey (shame on me). These shows must give an idea of the interest in the young.

Laurie

[AlanG]

My nearest shop in Elgin is ok. Got some good stuff in there, but at a price. I normally buy the odd bit of paint or brushes from there but for the most part I use evilbay or www.scalemodelshop.co.uk (shameless plug there lol)

I cannot justify buying things in the local shop when I can often save quite a lot of money on kits and buy them from elsewhere.

As for youngsters coming into the hobby. I know i'll try and get my two boys interested in it but I will not push them. I only went out of the hobby because I found traveling around in the RAF from one singlie room to another usually ended up with lost paints/glues and/or broken kits.

[Guest]

I have to say i will support the little guy on the high street. although i have bought kits on line it does not compare to the quality service i get at my local shop. Also if he does not have what i want, i will give him the kit number and type and 95% of the time he is able to get it for me.

Scott

[Guest]

Since I have been modelling I have seen in my home town of Nottingham several shops close down and disappear, these being Skills and Beatties.

It is sad to see, but unfortunately that seems to be a sign of the times, personally I only go to my lms for paints or glue.

I cannot remember the last time I bought a kit from either Model Zone or Geedees, as the majority of the time they either haven't got the kits I want, or they are just to expensive.

I buy all my kits from evil bay or from other modelling forums(for sale sections) because of the vast selections on offer and the price.

It is sad to see these shops disappear, but there are always going to be people selling kits etc.

[PaulTRose]

Since I have been modelling I have seen in my home town of Nottingham several shops close down and disappear, these being Skills and Beatties.

used to love going in Beatties opposite the old ABC Cinema,......great shop to lose a few hours in

[mossiepilot]

Don't know if it's just me but I love the thrill of finding an unexpected kit in a car boot sale over the looking for a kit in my LMS. I've bought kits at a bootie, I'm actually building one now, that I would never consider if I had seen it on a shelf at MZ.

Are we killing the hobby, no I don't think so, but the way we buy may be changing it for the better. I hope.

Tony.

[tanktrack]

in norn Ireland we are lucky to have about 6/7 model shops which includes a wholesaler in Larne in the whole country , I support my local shop the "modeller's nook " Joe the owner is a great chap and I buy bits and bobs and the odd model he must find it hard to compete with the internet ,you just cant beat face to face contact and a good talk with fellow modeller's. the truth is that you can make big savings on fleabay compared to a shop . I buy a lot from on here at scale models and hope to well into the future so keep going John.

[Guest]

used to love going in Beatties opposite the old ABC Cinema,......great shop to lose a few hours in

I miss those days, would spend hours looking around in Skills and Beatties, then over the road to the Co-op and upstairs to see what they had in then of to Geedees.

[stona]

I think that Steve (tanktrack) makes a very good point about the face to face service and just the chance to have a chat with a fellow modeller about a potential purchase or bit of advice. That aspect of the hobby is I think, sadly, going to die. The future will be online purchasing and that face to face contact will be replaced by forums like this. There are always the various model shows to attend too.

As for the demographic, I think Laurie hit the nail on the head. I'd be willing to bet that a large majority of the members here originally did a bit of plastic modelling in their younger days before life in general got in the way, the hobby falling by the way side. They will have returned to the hobby a little later in life. Of course there are some young modellers about, but a walk around any show will demonstrate an average age the wrong side of forty.

Cheers

Steve

[PaulTRose]

I miss those days, would spend hours looking around in Skills and Beatties, then over the road to the Co-op and upstairs to see what they had in then of to Geedees.

eeee...those were t'days :clap_1:

do you remember when GeeDees had a little second shop in the old market next to the bus station that is now Vicky Centre?.........can just remember peering in the window looking at the displays of painted airfix figures

[Guest]

In my early days there was just the balsa wood spitfire. About 8 inches long & all slotting together. Manipulated into the air first by hand & then along came the deluxe model launched with an elastic band. There would be an number of us who would play for hours until the balsa broke & out came the balsa cement. A number of us bought balsa & cut out our own-- larger of course.

We also made our own kites in those days. Thin bamboo strung together as a frame & then thin cooking paper glued on to the abmboo. The glue made from flour & water. The tail made from newspaper twisted into tails & tied to the string. They did not last long but then you made a bigger & better one. Fly yes they flew provided there was a good wind but not to strong as the glue did not make it. Mother thre tantrams as I used to raid her sewing box. But it was a great up bringing & a great young life partly in the war & then after. We had to make things rather than buy them.

Rather like model making which it was of course. Great memories.

Laurie

[Guest]

It's good to here everyone's views and points, reference age, I'm 26, and yes, before you all say it, I know I look old, I had a hard paper round haha..... I modelled when I was a kid after my dad bought me a 1/72 phantom and was hook, and only got back in to it 4 1/2 years ago when I got married and got my army quarter as one of my neighbours was a keen modeller... And I got my brother in to modelling and he is only 17 so there are some young'uns out and about.

some one should start a poll to see the average age.