When I grew up I would spend hours looking through all the plastic model kits at the local hobby store. I just loved building plastic models.
I never mastered painting them. The most advanced I got was rattle-can style spray paints — maybe masking a bit for a camouflage or what-have-you. Only when I got older and got back into plastic model building did I make the leap to air-brushing and really finishing models correctly.
So many YouTubers (Aztec Dummy comes to mind) have since showed me that assembling the model is more or less nothing. Painting, lighting the model is everything.
I can't complain though. There was a joy putting together the models when I was young. The smell of the glue of course — the spatial reasoning it fostered... It was like sculpture to my young mind — forms, shapes in three-dimensions. I grew to love the lines of certain cars, planes, spacecraft…
I think too it fueled a kind of designer mindset in me. I would soon draw cars, spaceships, etc. of my own design.
What a great hobby.
I'm saddened that it kind of seems like another hobby, like R/C planes or model rocketry, that has fallen by the wayside. I mean I feel like most boys when I was growing up had a model or two hanging from their bedroom ceiling. Right?
I think the kind of plastic model kits like building muscle cars and ships has died down, but Warhammer and Gundam are both extremely popular. Battletech and Star Wars are also popular in my area.
There are a lot of Warhammer models and the parent company "Games Workshop" is doing extremely well and expanding despite it all being built in Britain. One neat thing about Warhammer is that there are a LOT of books and video games as well, so the IP is very strong. There is always new lore coming out from the various factions too, so the models have special connections with the fans. I have 3 game stores in my medium-sized city that cater to Warhammer and there is always a game going on. Warning: it is a very expensive hobby.
There is also a lot of popularity with 3D printing. I'd check out thingaverse or other popular 3d model sites to see how many downloads are coming from WW2 and muscle car models to maybe get a feel why hobby shops are struggling.
Modeling never died. It just evolved a bit. If you were ever into the WW2 kits, I'd check out Bolt-Action if you're interested in wargaming with models. It's not as big as 40k, but people do play.
What is amazing is how much the modeling tech has improved. A modern warhammer model is much bigger and better not just than in the 80s or 90s, but even 110 years go. The painting experience is also much better. As for Gundam, the improvements in detail in assembly makes Games Workshop's models look bad and expensive. An amazing attention to the building experience. Even cheap HG model made this year would look like it was from Mars compared to the first few series, and it's still very cheap.
I know it's a mistype, but thinking of Warhammer and Gundam existing in the first world war is amazingly hilarious to me.
>Dear Mother,
I've grown a reputation among the men in my regiment as being both fearless and introspective. I never hesitate to go over the top, even when Jerry is close enough that we can smell him. But also the men are impressed with the play of light and shadows that I am able to accomplish on my Eldar Warlock using only mud and dog food.
This is hilarious. I'm glad they left the typo there.
That's a good point. I painted D&D miniatures in the day, but didn't think of it as "modeling". Perhaps because you are not assembling anything (or very little). I never got into Warhammer but have seen the displays, storefronts to know it's a big deal.
When I thought to design and 3D print a model, I was not sure people actually painted their prints — it seemed mostly about just the printing. I've seen enough 3D prints go full paint-job on YouTube by now though to know it's a thing.
I still feel like the 3D-print-plus-painting modeling is kind of a niche thing. At the very least it requires young people to have access to so me pretty expensive stuff.
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>At the very least it requires young people to have access to so me pretty expensive stuff.
For what it's worth, the cost to purchase an army's worth of models from GW is between $350 and $800. If you're painting any real volume of models print to paint is less expensive than buying GW models.
It's definitely not the hobby of choice for young boys any more, but it feels like it is having a golden age of kit quality aiming at an older audience with disposal income. Manufacturers like Tamiya, and also Eduard or Meng (those are my favs anyway) are producing extremely high quality kits.
There is always consternation amongst modelers about where the next generation will come from, but the Gundam/Gunpla scene is supposedly very large in Japan and growing in the West.
That's true — there are certainly a lot of variety now, especially with 3D printing and garage kits. The "long tail" has definitely been kind to the esoteric modeler.
Adult-me recently took to designing a kit for a NASA "Space Tug" that never existed (only proposed "artist's renderings" from the 1970;s) [1]. It is so esoteric that no one made a kit for it — I had to learn to use Blender, ha ha.
I just wish more kids were into modeling.
[1] free to download: https://github.com/EngineersNeedArt/Space-Tug_3DModel
FWIW, this kind of thing is a lot easier to model in a CAD package (e.g. FreeCAD or Fusion) than Blender. If you ever go again!
I have played with a couple of CAD packages (free ones like FreeCAD anyway). There is quite a learning curve to those as well.
I had hoped that learning Blender would pay dividends in other types of pursuits as well since it is a fairly broad tool. And as you probably now, there are "mathematical" ways to use Blender — parametrization though is a bit lacking (without going down the plug-in rabbit-hole).
It is funny, as the metal 3D printer I've been working on is designed to handle printing/repairing large girder structures. Making things work in vacuum is an interesting design challenge, but also opens a lot of design possibilities for arbitrary structures that can't launch on cargo rockets.
People are often too judgmental these days, and youth must make their own decisions about the world they want to live in.
If you know the history of how JPL started, than you can probably guess it is the "odd" ones that tend to change science for the better. =3
Really nice job !!!
I bought my first Gundam model the other day (never seen them before in shops, but they can be bought online) and I was really impressed. I've built two Revell models before and some Warhammer stuff in the past. This model was cheaper than all of those (about €19), bigger, multicolour plastic, different materials, the result is fully poseable, different weapons and hands, fiddly stickers and decals, the works. And it's very cleverly designed, no glue needed.
I'd argue that if someone wants to get started with building models, Gundam is the way to go. Painting optional, no glue needed, etc. Plus, giant robots are cool.
Also: Zoids... https://zoids.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Zoids
The wargaming hobby (yes, Warhammer but not limited to it, there are very brands nowadays) is going stronger than ever. Plastic, resin ans 3D printed kits galore, which require painting, converting, etc.
>I'm saddened that it kind of seems like another hobby, like R/C planes or model rocketry, that has fallen by the wayside.
I think physical hobbies like modelling find it hard to compete with the instant gratification of online dopamine fixes. However RC planes and model rocketry are still a thing. If you know any school age kids interested in engineering or rocketry and they are in the UK, point them at:
The US, France and Japan have equivalent competitions.
> I never mastered painting them.
It was really hard to paint with these old oil based paints if you are as old as me or older. I struggled with that too. The water based one sold by e.g. Games Workshop I bought years later was way easier to work with.
I used to make the ww2 models as a teenager and loved painting them with the oil paints (you need the right brand but I can’t remember the name).
I got really good at weathering them using the watered down paint cleaner/thinner that runs into the folds and produced tiny cracks in the paint and then drybrushing lighter colors over areas.
I know I got it right because a shop in England selling those Tamiya models would give me a few of the kits for one painted and showcased them. good times
> I used to make the ww2 models as a teenager and loved painting them with the oil paints (you need the right brand but I can’t remember the name).
I had a conversion chart for Revell, Humbrol, and Tamiya colors (which were the ones around when I was building models as a kid). It was good enough for me. Perhaps if you were really good or picky about the exact color it wouldn't do.
Ye I might also have been to young to use them properly. But I remember cleaning brushes was a big hassle. And the fumes ...
My theory is that we adults feel bad when we know we are going to feel bad soon. Be it cold or thinner fumes. But children don't feel cold before they are cold.
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Oh boy, yea.
I tried to put together a helicopter (probably an Apache) a few years ago, and got a couple of those classic Testor paint bottles to help finish it.
I had to put it all away. The fumes from the paint, my reaction to it was nothing like I remembered. I had no issues with them as a boy. But, today, yea they were making me loopy. I’m surprised the AQMD in California still allows these.
I’d like to try again with some modern acrylic, but the only place in my orbit is a Michaels, and they really don’t cater much to plastic kits. So opportunity has bumbled my way yet.
The other trick is to keep it me and not be intimidated by the YouTube experts. Easier said than done.
The michaels and hobby lobby near me both have a fair amount of acrylic paint for what it's worth, but have you looked for any gaming stores? Lots of them carry warhammer and thus carry model acrylic paints.
If you don't have anything near you, I would look for acrylics designed for models online. Games Workshop sells them, but there are other brands (Vallejo, Reaper, etc) which are also quite good and generally cheaper. And they will, as a rule, be more pleasant to work with than the acrylics you get at Michael's/Hobby Lobby.
Generally I would recommend Vallejo or Army Painter paints over GW ones. They are cheaper, better quality coming with a much better bottle.
It’s an eternal war and I agree with your points. However, I found that for people without much experience with acrylics Citadel paints are much more consistent and forgiving, and are generally of very good quality (there are problematic colours, but then Vallejo or Army Painter are not immune either). They are also easy to source. And honestly if all you paint is a couple of models, the price difference is not that much (not all of us are painting several different armies).
I use personally a mix of Citadel, AK and Vallejo, but for newbies or light uses I still generally recommend GW, or Army Painter for the rattle cans.
Enamels vs acrylics. Brush vs airbrush vs air gun (not to mention sponge, cloth and even toothbrush). Your air brush can have one or two controls - one for the amount of compressed air and one for amount of paint. For models like airplanes and tanks, a single control is enough to get a flat smooth finish.
Then you discover washes and other techniques and it goes on 8)
I still have a scar in the side of my thumb where I stuck an Xacto blade into it, 45 years ago.
Enamel, Xacto,... Memories !!!
And there's been great improvements in usability in the last decade. You still want to use oils in models that try to look like cars, with semi transparent layers and clear coatings on top, but now you can get a coat of acrylic that will do reds or yellows well without being super transparent or covering details. Even paint from 2008 has much worse formulations than what we have now for painting by brush
I'd love to get involved in R/C planes but in the UK it seems there's nowhere to do it, and with the law due to drones, it feels impossible to get started even just with starter kit
There's a model aircraft club near to where I live (UK). They have a runway and people use it most days. In the summer they have a two day festival where people come and camp and do model plane stuff. Presumably it's the Glastonbury of model aircraft. It's quite fun to watch them fly around for a couple of hours.
Anyway, my point is that if I didn't live just around the corner, I would never have known it existed. I'd imagine there are similar setups around the country. You do need quite a big space and a runway is presumably helpful, so it probably makes sense for them to be collectively run.
Thanks. I'd love a runway to build & test experimental aircraft. This and the other comments below are great, and found an area I can fly near me (council controlled), just need paperwork first. A new project!
I remember in the 80's and 90's in the US, my dad and I launched Estes model rockets several hundred feet into the air from the field of a local middle school. R/C airplanes and helicopters were expensive but weren't very common and there weren't many legal regulations from flying them as there are now.
RC aircraft flying is very much alive and well in the UK:
There are also some model rocketry clubs. However model rocketry is a relatively small scene in the UK, compared to RC planes.
Thanks, seen a lot at airshows and it's great, but hoping to mix R/C aircraft with technology, and hoping I can find somewhere without too much pressure (old boys with old ways etc)
Found some local spots where the council have designated it for non-quad flying which is great!
Thank you
Have a look at the BMFA - http://https://bmfa.club. They have a directory of clubs and pointers for learning.
You will need insurance and CAA flyer/operator IDs. This can be arranged through club, or directly via the BMFA above.
Some of the clubs can be rather .... err ... clubby - older members whose hobby has become running the club the way see fit, vs. flying planes.
I've seen people flying RC plains at disused airfields in Suffolk. Even some RC jets.
I'd contact your local RC club and they'll help you get into it.
There’s a lot to modeling as well.
Getting the parts off the sprue, removing mold lines, getting the gap filler in the right places and sanding and sanding the filler down until you wouldn’t ever think that the part was anything but smooth.
I think the modeling is a much fun as painting for me.
I built 3 1/18 scale models (2 of them being Tamiya one) in my teenage years but objectively:
- unless you go 1/45 which is less enjoyable to build, it doesn't scale well (pun intented) given the room needed to store your finished models.
- it is quite an expensive hobby
As an adult living in couple, you need either to have your "hobby cave" or a comprehensive partner. Scale models are nice for nerds who like them, but it makes your living room look like a toy store.
The kits with decals only required a primer and a gloss base coat.
I often ponder if it was the main reason the 3D printing hobby gained popularity.
People that add more fun to the world are always needed in manufacturing. =3
I'm kinda in the same boat. Built quite a few kits back in the day but never painted them (at least to a quality I would admit to). I picked up a ww1 British tank some time ago and hope to finally get it right. When I was in the store, however, I'd say the majority of customers in the model kit section were teenagers.
Maybe there's just more hobbies available these days so fewer folks end up building the models.
In San Jose, the place was D&J Hobby.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/12/04/san-jose-hobby-store-...
There's something almost meditative about the process
Yes, a 1970's child, I built quite a few airplane and helicopter models during my teenage years, painting skills were lousy though. :)
Similar experience; building model planes was one of my favorite activities for several preadolescent years.
