discussion "School boy hobby"?!

[BarryW]

This moved on from a child’s hobby many years ago.

It is very much an adult hobby and the evidence of this is the sophistication, complexity and cost of kits, aftermarket and materials.

In my case I first started building models when I was under 10 years old. When I got into my teens I started taking it a little more seriously having read Chris Ellis’ book and then Verlinden’s books. But then girls and beer became much more important, so while I did not give up all together models did take a back-seat. Then a career also took over, along with kids, so modelling stopped. After my first wife died, I then remarried too quickly after, then getting divorced I needed something else and that was a return to modelling. The big difference this time was that I had a large home and could establish a proper modelling area while also having the money to have a proper set-up!

It seems odd now, but when I got back into this I remember being shocked at how models often cost over £100 and could not imagine spending that much on a plastic kit. Now, having spent £620 on just one kit (the Border Lanc) spending over £100 on a kit seems the norm. That, of course, does not include the aftermarket!

How times change.

 

[Dave Ward]

My father was a prolific modelmaker - R/C Slope Soarers & Motor Yachts, so at an early age I was famiiar with the smell of glue & large plans! First model was the Airfix Renault Dauphin in 1962/3. I've been making models ever since - whether it be R/C Aircraft, Plank on Frame Ship Models, Steam Engines - I've gone though many genres, although through it all I've been putting together plastic as well. I really got into vac-form models, satisfying my interest in the weird & uncommon models. Since retirement I've continued - this year I've been introducing myself to 3D printing, for generally model making subjests. As long as my hands & eyes are able I'll have something on the bench...........
Dave

 

[Tworrs]

I only got back into modelling at the beginning of last year after many years of having to do all the things that get in the way of having fun.
Anyway I have really enjoyed getting back into it,
I am now 72.
Garry

 

[adt70hk]

I'm also 53.

Started with my dad... Aged 7 or so.....until my mid/late teens..... And not very good either.

Didn't make another one for 25 years or so.... Then started when Junior wanted a kit aged 6....

That was 9 years ago and the rest as they say is history.

Although he's not an official member Junior does occasionally build as you know..... So at 15 does that make him the youngest 'unofficial' member?

 

[Guest]

One of the older members on here. Did the usual thing of building planes , painted in a day and hanging from the ceiling. Woolies was the go to shop. Came back into modelling quite late as had own business until 69 at which point a detached retina caused retirement fully. Continued with the one good eye, some things hard to judge when doing assembly and painting. :crying: .Love the friendships i've made on here most of all .

 

[dave]

57 here and started with Airfix and Matchbox kits around 7. Had a thing for floaty things in my teens, the Tamiya Waterline 1/1200 kits when I could get them or the 1/600 Airfix. Went more into war gaming after that 25mm Napoleonics, 1/300 modern And Warhammer 40K when that started. Stopped with house move, carreer change and children. Started again when my lad was older and got into Warhammer 40K.

I think the children end of the hobby shrank with the influx of ready made film merchandising action figures and electronic/computer games, and the older end expanded as those of us who did it as a child got back into it and with more disposable income than our pocket money.

 

[colin m]

So there’s a big theme here, a lot of us returned to the hobby after a considerable break. So where will ‘tomorrow’s’ modeller come from ? If the youngsters of today aren’t building now, they won’t be returning in the future.

 

[Richard48]

Many good memories friends.I think my parents bought me an airfix Hurricane with rockets when i was 9 and cant remember what kit my brother had.We had a village shop that sold Sweets and ciggies and he was like Arkwright having allsorts of oddments.
He usually had some Brtifix glue so we could do our stuff.Then the newsagents used to have Airfix kits in bags stapled to the ceiling beams.Memories of Airfix schneider trophy seaplane,Stevensons rocket!!.Then wow Matchbox kits!!!.So i was well away.Birthdays usually were in Saffron Waldens Barretts toyshop goggling at the array of kits!!!!.Then Duxford museum opened when i was 9 or 10 and i remember the little shed model shop.was packed!!!!!!!.Think the 70s was a halycon time for modelling.And when i got into Tamiya aged 13 it was 1 35th afvs and seeing their catalogues with Verlindens stuff in was mind blowing.
I sincerly hope modelling does not go extinct like us dinosaurs.
Loved reading your stories my friends.
Richard

 

[langy71]

Started building..badly at around 10/12,
carried on for a few years, discovered the opposite sex, had fun.. got bored, Joined the British Army, had loads of fun, shot a few things, blew up a few others, got promoted ..twice....ran all over various training areas, wandered up and down pen y fan a few times....

Met another member of the opposite sex, got settled and then had kids, got bored with kids, so went back to modelling at the kitchen table, life moved on, got married, started again.. still doing it today now fast approaching 52 ...(note to self ..pull ya finger out and finish your Zero for the group build...)

I think one of the contributors to the 'break' we all seem to have had is the fact that whilst we are progressing through life spare modelling funds get a little hard to come by, then as we get older and change jobs / careers the disposable funds seem to be a little easier to come by, so we step back in to the one thing that helped mould our childhood and thus it begins again.. only this time we try to do better at it..

I also believe that a lot of us come from the generations that were into discovering how things were built..or came apart, so modelling would give us the 'skills' to be able to understand how these things were built.. however it would seem that 'instant gratification' is the order of the day nowadays, and as much as i've tried none of my kids have rarely ever shown anything more than a passing interest in grabbing a box of bits, grabbing some glue and paint and slowly working their way through it to produce something by their own hands....no wonder they can hardly do anything 'technical' on their own...

 

[Airborne01]

Started building..badly at around 10/12,
carried on for a few years, discovered the opposite sex, had fun.. got bored, Joined the British Army, had loads of fun, shot a few things, blew up a few others, got promoted ..twice....ran all over various training areas, wandered up and down pen y fan a few times....

Met another member of the opposite sex, got settled and then had kids, got bored with kids, so went back to modelling at the kitchen table, life moved on, got married, started again.. still doing it today now fast approaching 52 ...(note to self ..pull ya finger out and finish your Zero for the group build...)

I think one of the contributors to the 'break' we all seem to have had is the fact that whilst we are progressing through life spare modelling funds get a little hard to come by, then as we get older and change jobs / careers the disposable funds seem to be a little easier to come by, so we step back in to the one thing that helped mould our childhood and thus it begins again.. only this time we try to do better at it..

I also believe that a lot of us come from the generations that were into discovering how things were built..or came apart, so modelling would give us the 'skills' to be able to understand how these things were built.. however it would seem that 'instant gratification' is the order of the day nowadays, and as much as i've tried none of my kids have rarely ever shown anything more than a passing interest in grabbing a box of bits, grabbing some glue and paint and slowly working their way through it to produce something by their own hands....no wonder they can hardly do anything 'technical' on their own...

Pen y Fan! I love it and hate the memories of it in equal measure! I have to agree with your comments on generational discovery however! Nice one Centurion!
Steve

 

[Ian M]

63 returned and left it a few times for thing more fun. At the time. Girls, beer, motorcycles. The usual suspects. Had a few years crashing rc airplanes into trees, buildings, cars...sorry dad. Moved onto Rc boats for a while. Then cars . Then back to plastic .

 

[davecov]

My father introduced me to modelling when he gave me a poly-bagged Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf109G to make. It had been released the previous year (1965) and I was so excited to make it that I gave it a collapsible undercarriage thanks to an excess of glue! My father walked out on the family the following year but I had caught the modelling bug by then. In 1975, I told the schools careers officer that I wanted to make models for Airfix and I was told not to be silly! Little did I know then that I would achieve that ambition thirty years later!

In 1976, I joined the Royal Navy and was based in Portsmouth. By then, my modelling days were long past with interest in beer and girls dominating. However, I still popped into Modeltoys in Fratton Road regularly and maintained my interest in modelling by getting Airfix Magazine and Scale Models until 1978 when I joined my first ship, HMS Antrim. I was engaged a year later and I married in 1980, had two children, and eventually left the Navy in 1989.

In 2004, I was in Commercial Road, Portsmouth and saw a Beatties store which had Airfix models in the window. I was surprised that they were still running and I asked my son if he would like a model to make. He wasn't interested at all, so I bought a boxing of the Airfix Tiger and Sherman Tanks. I went online to check out Airfix and was pleased to learn that they had a forum.

I joined the forum and before I had finished a kit of my own, Airfix asked me to make a 1/400 Scharnhorst for SMW 2005. I didn't let on that I hadn't built a kit for 28 years or so but the kit turned out fine and Airfix asked me to make another four 1/400 kits for the London Toy Fair in February 2006. I made a few more models for them but when Humbrol went bust, the Airfix forum disappeared at the same time. Within 24 hours of that, I had created The Airfix Tribute Forum which I have now been running for 17 years.

I continued to make models for Airfix to show at Telford and other occasions. In 2014 when the Royal Navy commissioned Airfix to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Queen Elizabeth for her naming ceremony, the late Darrell Burge asked me to make it and which is now kept in the HMS Queen Elizabeth Wardroom. In 2019, I was asked to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Prince of Wales to be kept in the Hornby Visitor Centre. I don't build models for Airfix now and concentrate on adding models to my Shelf of Doom although I am managing to complete a respectable number as well.

BTW, I am average age - 64!

Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

As to where the next generation is coming from…..most of us don’t keep this going with the same intensity right from childhood through to old age. We tend to go off forming relationships and procreating. As the family gets older and time and money becomes more available, we tend to look for other things to fill our leisure time. This means most modellers get serious about the hobby around their forties, or perhaps when they retire, so that’s where the next “generation” will come from. There will therefore be a constant stream of old gits joining us even older gits…..

 

[minitnkr]

At 77 I've been modeling since I was old enough to see the top of the bench, about 70 years. My dad was a model railroader and an older brother did plastic models of all sorts since I can remember till his later teen years. There was a short break when in 10th grade as dad's business went bust & I had to get work and later when a new father at 19 working one full time & two part time jobs to make rent. Even when I had no bench time, I was a regular at the LHSs for model RR or ROCO items for the stash. Kept dabbling in both 1/87 RR & military modeling for the years before retirement. Once retired I attacked the accumulated stash in earnest with most of the result evident on here.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

As to where the next generation is coming from…..most of us don’t keep this going with the same intensity right from childhood through to old age. We tend to go off forming relationships and procreating. As the family gets older and time and money becomes more available, we tend to look for other things to fill our leisure time. This means most modellers get serious about the hobby around their forties, or perhaps when they retire, so that’s where the next “generation” will come from. There will therefore be a constant stream of old gits joining us even older gits…..

I kinda agree Tim,
However,to have the "returnees" back to the hobby in their later life,they'd have to have been hooked in their younger days.... which is exactly the problem.... not many are!! :flushed:

 

[Airborne01]

My father introduced me to modelling when he gave me a poly-bagged Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf109G to make. It had been released the previous year (1965) and I was so excited to make it that I gave it a collapsible undercarriage thanks to an excess of glue! My father walked out on the family the following year but I had caught the modelling bug by then. In 1975, I told the schools careers officer that I wanted to make models for Airfix and I was told not to be silly! Little did I know then that I would achieve that ambition thirty years later!

In 1976, I joined the Royal Navy and was based in Portsmouth. By then, my modelling days were long past with interest in beer and girls dominating. However, I still popped into Modeltoys in Fratton Road regularly and maintained my interest in modelling by getting Airfix Magazine and Scale Models until 1978 when I joined my first ship, HMS Antrim. I was engaged a year later and I married in 1980, had two children, and eventually left the Navy in 1989.

In 2004, I was in Commercial Road, Portsmouth and saw a Beatties store which had Airfix models in the window. I was surprised that they were still running and I asked my son if he would like a model to make. He wasn't interested at all, so I bought a boxing of the Airfix Tiger and Sherman Tanks. I went online to check out Airfix and was pleased to learn that they had a forum.

I joined the forum and before I had finished a kit of my own, Airfix asked me to make a 1/400 Scharnhorst for SMW 2005. I didn't let on that I hadn't built a kit for 28 years or so but the kit turned out fine and Airfix asked me to make another four 1/400 kits for the London Toy Fair in February 2006. I made a few more models for them but when Humbrol went bust, the Airfix forum disappeared at the same time. Within 24 hours of that, I had created The Airfix Tribute Forum which I have now been running for 17 years.

I continued to make models for Airfix to show at Telford and other occasions. In 2014 when the Royal Navy commissioned Airfix to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Queen Elizabeth for her naming ceremony, the late Darrell Burge asked me to make it and which is now kept in the HMS Queen Elizabeth Wardroom. In 2019, I was asked to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Prince of Wales to be kept in the Hornby Visitor Centre. I don't build models for Airfix now and concentrate on adding models to my Shelf of Doom although I am managing to complete a respectable number as well.

BTW, I am average age - 64!

Dave

I lived in Havant, did a couple of courses in Dolphin and my elder brother still lives in Gosport - memory jogs 'r' us!

 

[davecov]

Steve, I was on SM1 staff at HMS Dolphin in 1985/6 when I was a PO Writer. I used to get the PAS boat from HMS Vernon each morning and return in the evening. Unfortunately, if I had to work late I missed the PAS boat and had to take the long walk around to the Gosport Ferry.

Dave

 

[Waspie]

I'm an oldie. 71, only returned to modelling this year after No1 son bought me a Airfix kit at Crimbo!! Since then I have recaptured the bug but not as much as I would like. (SWIMBO has too many 'Oh you can do that' jobs on her unwritten list!!!!:rolling:
Started modelling when I was a teenager but joining the RN at 15 focused my attention elsewhere. Wine, women and song. After that, Wife, kids and dogs took over until I finally retired at 68. Got bored working!!!!
Oh! Thanks Jim R for mentioning Stornaway! I have been trying to forget the place!! Spent many cr@ppy weeks up there flying out of the airport looking for sneaky submarines, (not necessarily ours). Pubs shut on Sundays!!! Unforgivable!!!

 

[simontie]

57, child modeller badly lots of glue and never a clear canopy returned briefly in the 80’s after spotting a couple of Tamiya bikes i was laid up after a bad bike accident and this seemed like an ideal time filler although only slightly better at it than in earlier years, work wife family, all took over diy and garden duties long shifts no time, after reading all the other comments this seems to be a running theme ..2010 i had heart surgery and was give a minimum of 4 months recover wow, i needed something so back i came built up my stash as its easier to buy than build but like most as the family has grown and moved on i have more time and funds so i do enjoy it more and dare i say i think I'm getting better at it, not great but better, i don't need to justify the costs i don't drink or smoke anymore and i don't play golf, But i do get great satisfaction from completing a build and my goal since the early Tamiya bike kits has been to complete the full Tamiya listings i‘m A bit short but not by much
i do like the other kits and have always been interested in modelling Loved going to shows and dreaming of having the skills to do those build,
Stornaway 4 months least said the better,
simon

 

[Mini Me]

Must have been in 3rd or 4th grade (8 or 9 yrs old) when I built my first 32 Ford roadster. I had an older brother in high school that showed me how to channel the body over the frame rails and chopped the radiator to get it into the weeds. The bug had bit and I was hooked....all lawn mowing money was dedicated to the acquisition of my next victim. As a young teen I had a friend that was into HO scale railroading and we made frequent visits to the local Hobby Shop where I discovered ROCO Minitanks........by the hundreds! I was instantly taken by their small size and acute attention to detail. Yep, I started collecting then and there. By the time I graduated Highschool I had amassed a fair sized collection. They were stored away while I was in the Service and then came home did college, girls, cars, all that stuff and finally settled down.....found the collection while rooting around in the attic for some other hobby stuff (HO Railroad stuff) The kids were quite young and liked their Christmas tree trains. Still intrigued by these little guys, I set them aside and determined to haunt a few Hobby Shops and see if they were still available.....Surprise Surprise! ROCO had indeed expanded their line and other makers had joined in as well. I have been collecting ever since and set up a small space in the garage for my modeling efforts, deciding then and there I was going to try and make the most realistic and accurate models I could. Well the collecting has outstripped the modeling on a scale of about 10 to 1.....I admit I'll never get tham all built but it sure is fun trying! Thanks to Paul and a few others on the Forum I'm happy to say I'm ONLY 73 :tongue-out3: :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy::thumb2: