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Originally Posted by MPWR
Not to be a jerk and not to take away from the warm fuzzies from the above pic, but I've always failed to understand the great importance of younger modelers. Really, how are more younger modelers better? What difference does it make? It seems to be a much cherished idea amongst many a club that starting kids building young will create a future for the hobby- but it doesn't seem to hold up to alot of consideration.
AF is a perfect example. What is the average age of modelers here? Granted there has never been a scientific survey to my knowledge- but if you take a read through the "post your name and age" threads, the community here seems to consist primarily of thirtysomething guys. There are people older and younger, but the VAST majority of builders have are between the ages of 20 and 40. Granted AF doesn't allow members younger than 13, but we're not exactly swimming in 13 year olds here, are we?
This is an adult hobby. Yes, it's an adult hobby that children are capable of participating in, but it certainly doesn't depend on children. 25+ USD kits are meant for adult levels of patince, manual dexterity, and income. Same with airbrushes and laquer paints. Sure a talented, dedicated child can certainly learn to use these things (and granted some do), but a talented dedicated child can also learn to fly an airplane- yet that doesn't mean that airplanes are meant to be flown by children. I think it could very safely be said that at least half of people here started modeling as adults, many with no exposure whatsoever to modeling when they were younger. And in groups of thirtysomething modelers I've seen (here and various clubs), it's really hard to tell a modeler whos been building since he was seven from one who has been building since he was twentyseven. Modelers who start young aren't really appreciably better than, more dedicated than, or having more fun than modelers who started as adults.
Really, when did you become a serious car enthusuast? Yeah, most of us when we were young had a car or two that we each thought was really cool- but before becoming fanatical about cars, most people learn to drive first. Most of us didn't aquire large stashes of kits (say, five or more) and finishing supplies until we had jobs and could afford it- and that's what really supports the hobby.
So what does it matter if kids these days are building models, or buying diecasts, or playing video games, or beating the snot out of each other? As long as some of them still survive to adulthood, some of them will become modelers- and our hobby will have the same future it always has.
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I totally agree with what you said. I appreciate the fact that younger modelers are coming into the hobby. After seeing that cute smile i feel inspired to tell my story. I fell in love with testors die casts when i was probably 8, continued building them till i was about 11-12, and i first started trying to detail the diecasts when i was about 10. At the time i was 13-14 i still hated plastic kits( thought they required too much work), until that is i started looking on internet about kits. The first website that inspired me was a mecca in modeling..italianhorses.net. The site really helped me take that chance with plastics. Ive always been picky about detail, and once i saw a well built plastic ferrari, i saw that metal kits just dont cut it as far as detail. Today i love plastic kits, and realize that they are the heart of modeling, and now i love to paint bodies, my favorite part.
However there needs to be concern for younger modelers. They most likley dont know the dangers of paint and fumes,blades and id hate for them to be misinformed.Quite frankly the hobby just isnt that safe to the seroius modeler, unless properly educated. This is one of the reasons i cosider this an adult hobby. I feel luckly that i didnt get sick from fumes years ago back when i didnt know as much, i airbrushed a metal hummer kit in my room with testors acrylics, and slept in that room that night with the fumes in there, granted it was acrylic, what if it was lacquer?