For those who are getting out of the hobby, or have done so but still visit the forums, what do you do in place of this hobby?

Most of the posters who got out of this hobby seem to have done so for financial reasons or to start a new family to devote more time to that.

However, I don't recall seeing such posters post saying that they went into canvas painting, photography, CGI, railroad, coin or rune collecting, or bought a Harley.

So I'd be interested to know if anyone really did find an adequate substitute for modeling as a hobby and discovered that their hobby money did go towards better uses. Comments?

This doesn't directly answer your question......But, I got out of the hobby twice....I keep coming right back and have the biggest stash now than I ever had.

Drink... and ride motorcycles

or ride bikes and drink.. i keep forgetting...

people who leave the hobby go straight to jail and dont collect $200

i could never imagine not modelling or playing guitar, there are stretches where i dont, but i just go back.!

We all get out of the hobby now and then. Each time I come back I build something new, like going from cars to tanks, then to dio's, than onto figures, and then some sculpting.
I used to sell it all and have to start over each time, now I just pack it in a corner and wait for the plastic bug to hit me again. As for what did I do in between, usually work was getting hecktic, or family life wanted more of me.

I grew up.....

I got out of the hobby in my mid teens when I discovered girls and such...came back 20 years later when I had a family and career (plus disposable income!) That was about 10 years ago. If I get in a rut I'll change genre. (modern armor, jets, helis, boats and sci-fi)

Cheers,
Sean

Haven't gotten totaly out of the hobby, still does a little work when I can find the time. But having a two year old isn't easy...

I've got a one month old and I'm relegated to reading fiction or references for a project when I get free time. Computer games have now been relegated below modelling.

It's short of getting out of the hobby but a couple of times I've refocused my interests a couple of times. Dumped all the WWII kits a few years back.

Paul

I know the feeling but imagine how it is, when you got three kids....
Then try to find time and peace for modeling, specially when you have a deadline for campaign.

Got out a few years ago to concentrate on other things which led straight back in again. Old modellers never die, they just come unglued

Andrew, well said!!!

very true

everyone dips in and out but comes back when they have the time


why wouldn't you its such a great hobby to have

simon

The first thing is never leave the hobby, just cut back for now and when the time is right get back to full steam. Here is a little advise for the younger modellers, as you get older your eyes start to give you problems, I always say to myself , I should have not wasted those years of good sight and built more models. Just my opinion.

The first step IMO for someone getting out of the hobby is to give all their unused kits to ME for no charge . Bad answer, I know.
Evan

A close friend of mine packed up a few years ago, well he keeps threatening to make a comeback, but he's very much into computer H/W and gaming. A member posted in the Aussie forum he's pulling out and returning to an earlier hobby of collecting 1/43 scale cars.

I have interests outside of modelling, such as photography, sport, avoiding DIY and house maintenance chores, so should I ever choose to make an exit from modelling I'll most likely continue to pursue those hobbies.

I am not out of the hobby at all but I have so many other interests. I think that if you have no other life outside of building plastic models then there may be a problem. Please do not get me wrong,I love this stuff, my girlfriend calls me "Panzermensch" because I am totally into WW2 modelling and history but I can get obsessed sometimes and it is good to keep a healthy balance and then it is more enjoyable for me that way. I now have yard work to do, I am into cooking, photography, and both kinds of music; Gothic and Industrial. We go to lots of concerts but I always try to squeeze some 'Panzer" time in after everyone is settled at night so it doesnt take away from family time

I got out of the hobby back in the late 70s-early 80s sometime...just didn't want to build anymore kits. Always kept an interest in military history, though. Got big into wargaming for a few years...mostly WWII-era stuff (PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader and Squad Leader). Got bored with that...still have the games packed away somewhere.

Got into competitive shooting for a few years, until my eyes started to let me down. Still shoot a lot...just don't see well enough to be competitive, so I shoot for fun with my teenage son.

Got back into modelling a few years ago...lots of stuff started, pretty good sized stash and a huge library of reference books. Not very good at finishing what I start, but I have a good time pretending to be an armor modeller. I usually get hung up just about the time I need to start putting some paint on a kit...its almost like I don't ever want them to be finished.

"I am not out of the hobby at all but I have so many other interests."

I can really relate to that. F1 and Indianapolis auto racing, Astronomy, WW2 history are a few of my other interests. I don't get out of the hobby - I just rotate to different interests on a periodic basis.

If I were to "get out' completely, I'd start selling on ebay till everything was gone. Shortly thereafter, I'd get the bug again and be right back to buying all new tools, paints & supplies, and, of course, rebuild my stash.

I think modeling is something like alcoholism - once you've been seriously hooked, you can never really get out. All it would take is a glance at a new kit in a shop window, or a picture of your favorite airplane, tank, ship in a magazine and your hooked again.

I got burnt out by contests, and it just wasn' t fun to build anymore. I went into scale R/C Aircraft and have been doing it for a while. I stay away from contests and just enjoy my self. I still by and build tanks but not like I used to.

Friend of mine went the same way - lived for contests, put himself under tremendous pressure to create brilliant models every time until he decided he'd had enough - AMS I guess you'd call it.
Gave up myself a while back as I spent more & more time doing 'research' - produced some articles and then worked on some books for various publishers. No time for modelling. Sense of achievement & satisfaction you get from finishing a model disappeared completely..it was all deadlines and pressure... Getting ripped off by a publisher was the last straw & that kinda pushed me back into modelling again - not only is it creative and absorbing but its something you do for yourself, not other people....

Hi all,
I'm not totally out yet, but I might as well be. What I do is write Fan Fiction, research Waffen-SS OOB's and read manga.

But I'm trying to get interested in building again.

Chris

I am stuck on modeling cause modelings stuck on me. someone pass the glue remover please.

I had my first kit when I was about nine and continued with scale models till I was sixteen. Then my interests switched to motorbikes (not the heavy ones, but the ones you can drive from the age of sixteen here in Belgium/Europe), going out,...
I kept my interest in war history though. I engaged in music journalism for many years until I got fed up with that. About four years ago I was in the Ardennes in la musée de la bataille des Ardennes (Museum of the battle for the Ardennes) and bought my first kit in 15 years. Later that day in Bastogne I bought another one in a small model shop where the owner was kind enough to explain the advancements the hobby had made in those 15 years. Since then I've mainly built up my stash and started working on a number of kits, but at a slow pace. Since last year I also have a daughter so I'm spending most of my time on being a good daddy. Even when I have the time I don't necessarily have the energy to work on models, but nonetheless the stash keeps growing.

J

Hi All
I got back into model building a few years back. had not built anything since the early eighties.
I had spent the last 25 years doing sport and outdoors things getting married and seeing the world (well some of it ). I now have a ongoing back injury from the sporty outdoorsy things I used to do and have a lot of inside time now, so I build models in my spare time(and I have a 009 railway layout in slooooow progress too) .
I too used to have isues with finishing kits, but for me the cure was to walk away from that kit/project and build a 1/72 scale cheap kit. I never paint these, nor spend a lot of time on clean up or doing any filler work, but give them to my nephews to paint when they come to visit. Sit 'em down with some paints (acrylics ) a brush and some water and watch 'em go at it, its a blast. Then I find that going back to the bigger project does not seem so bogged down in the minutiae and more fun.
regards David

Whoever started this thread is an absolute TOOL. What do you mean "get out of the hobby..."
It's like the mafia, you don't just say, "hey, I've got 29 hits under my belt and have been busting my balls all this time...maybe I should open a florists and go straight."

If you have to choose between family and modelling... the choice is pretty simple don't you think.