Hi guys

I just need some help on my school briefing note project and my selected topic is pretty much about our clan. We are modelers, not everyone do what we like to do and still not everyone even appreciate our hobby that we enjoy so much. We come from all over the world so we pretty much have our own ethnography.

I guess some simple yet valid question I need to answer are:

1. Why do we build models?
2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
3. What do you do with your finished model?
4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?

I have my own answers about myself, now what about you

Alright, this sounds interesting so I'll play along...

1. Many reasons. I like art, which I consider this hobby to be. I like machines, particularly vehicles of all types. I like vehicles that are older than I am, and this is a good way to get in touch with them, and same for vehicles that I will never see. I learning about history. I like old and ancient arms and armor, and I like cool characters. It's a great way to get in touch with your dreams. Model kits are a hell of a lot better in quality than anything that you can purchase preassembled.

2. I don't know. I only really get weird looks from socialites. Everyone else seems to think that it's pretty cool, especially when they get to see it.

3. Display it or give it to someone that will really like it. I'd be hard pressed to part with something that I built and crafted with my own two hands otherwise.

4. Based on my answer to question 1, yes. I have considered scale modeling to be an art ever since I was a preteen. That's the whole reason I was inspired to get into the hobby in the first place.

Jeremy

Thankyou very much for your response.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head there. Your answers are pretty much almost the same reasons as mine, and Im pretty sure most of our kind will have a similar take on the hobby.

As for the first question for me though, Im not much for the art thing but more for the love and admiration of the vehicles and to what their purpose was in the real thing. I mean cmon now, a tank was designed for war, you dont normally see them everyday driving out in the streets, and they just look cool! So the desire to have a replica of that unique vehicle, built by my own hands with time and effort well spent on it and later on looking at a decently finished model is my ultimate satisfaction.

I still do have people around me that does the usual sigh or do head shake while looking at me like Im a total dweeb for "wasting" my time building these "kids toys". But these are the same people that goes and says "Wow!" after I show them my models - so whos the dweeb now ?

My finished models are displayed at my "man cave" basement and keep them as a trophy or prized possession. I do go back and give them the "stare" of admiration every now and then.

I have to admit when I first started building models when I was 8 years old I was building them as toys that I will be playing with later on But as I grew older I saw the works of Francois Verlinden and Shepperd Pane - two of the best model building pioneers during the time, and that is when I realized the hobby I so much love was art. I build a small scale replica that portrays a real vehicle - yes building models is an art.

Exactly, it's not likely we are ever going to get the chance to see a Panther or T-55 working in it's element. Shep Paine's and Verlinden's work are what drove me to pursue the hobby as well. I think what matters is that we enjoy it and are building useful skills and knowledge banks, and that anyone who mocks the hobby is missing out.

1. Why do we build models?
i believe its for the appreciation of the past that we were a part of, and for the past we wonder about and respect in our own digging for history way. and its a way to display something we like in an artistic way. and its fun to build an communicate with like minded people worldwide.
2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
i think we are. some see this as a hobby to waste time, or to build toys for kids, etc. they can't see the art and beauty in a machine as some of us do, albeit it was made for destruction of man and others. nor do they understand the mechanics of performance of something in an age that was ahead of its time, i believe you understand what i mean.
3. What do you do with your finished model?
i display mine in a curio case for people to see and admire or question me about.
4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?
yes i think so. let me tell you as far as amateur goes, we have some real pros around here that would put some so called avant garde artiste to shame. look at all the study that goes into our builds, the questions asked, thats a pro helping an amateur advance. and the painting knowledge alone is astounding here.


reb

Hope that helps!


1. Why do we build models?
For many reasons - fun, interest in history, interest in craftsmanship

2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
It depends on a non-modeller. Someone would say that this is a crazy and unserious for grownup man, others would appreciate and say smth "I've never heard and seen smth like that, this absolutely fantastic! How do you manage to glue all this?
3. What do you do with your finished model?
Put in a container and take it out sometimes to show others or my kids.
4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?
100% And some of modellers can even call themselves professional artists. Just see what Miguel Jimenes did!

1. Why do we build models?
Killing time, artistic, historical, educational. To leverage some control in an uncontrollable world (that's what all art is).

2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
I think artists get it. Be that people who do needle craft. What no-one gets is the obession with accuracy. Or the pile of unbuilt kits. But screw them whadda they know? lol.


3. What do you do with your finished model?
Hang it from the roof, give it away, once I've finished with it I've not interest in it.

4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?
Sure not just in method (airbrushing, sculpting whatever) but also in imagination.

My 2p

1: I build models for therapudic reasons. I have a few mental conditions that benefit from using patience and precision.
2: With the birth of cgi in films, modelling has lost some of its most appealling marketing. As has been mentioned, we are a dying breed. This is also due to the here and now effect generated by video games, instant movie downloads, and the internet.
3: I display my finished models in my lhs and at my home. I am looking at putting 16' of more shelvinp up and purchasing a kurio cabinet.
4: As a modeller, you are a craftsman. You build to your level of acceptance. Modelling is a combination of craftsmanship and artistic skill.

Ok, I'll take a crack at this as I come to it from a different POV.


1. Why do we build models?
I started building as a kid to be like my older brother who built. Later it was something to do to pass the time and provided some artistic outlet. When I was a teenage I was very patient and nothing bothered me, as I had built up that skill modeling. I have always been a student of history but I build mostly modern stuff so that is not a factor anymore. Now I build because I enjoy it, and I remember that I used to enjoy it and had more patience long ago. After my father passed away last summer, I realized that life is short and we all spend so much time planning things that we never do. I have a huge stash of kits and I am determined to make a large portion of them before I die. So, I build for pleasure and for patience.

2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
Yes. Most of the people that I am social with think it is silly, but they think that about many of the things I do (I also build LEGO with and without my kids). Most of them have given up their childhood and moved on to being "adults". I have found that I was a very happy child, I had very little to no responsibility, I did not worry about money or where my next meal was coming from. Getting back that kind of freedom even for a few hours a week is priceless for your sanity.

3. What do you do with your finished model?
Haven't finished many but most of the ones I did, went on a shelf, then into a box and now sit broken in that box (too many moves).

4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?
I suppose that anything could be considered "art" it depends on who you are asking. I cook, I build and do many other things. I would not demean any of those who do these things really well by calling what I do art. Food to me is not art, its food. Modelling is a hobby. It might be artistic or artful, but I would not consider mine art. However, there are a few people out there that do this hobby so well that THEIRS could be considered art.
Hope you do well on this. Cheers.

1. Why do we build models?
I build models for a few different reasons. I'm a military history buff and so I enjoy anything I can do related to this topic (for instance, I'm always on the lookout for tours of military museums/ships/bases, I watch the History Channel constantly, I play military video games, I build military vehicles, etc.). It's very difficult to find a BM-13 multiple rocket launcher or an F-86D in Cleveland Ohio and just searching for pictures can get kind old quick, so building models allows me to take a tour of these historical masterpieces without having to leave my house. Also, I find that I can get a better understanding of the technical specifications and sheer power of these vehicles, their importance in history, and the fear they instilled in their enemies during combat. In short, it's a way that I can personally connect with the past. Aside from that, it's a stress reliever, it helps me center myself, and it's also a good way to keep my coordination abilities.

2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
I do think we're a bit misunderstood. From what I've experienced, a lot of people assume modelers are skinny little dweebs who have no friends and can't go out in the sun. Then I show them pictures of my work and they usually change their opinions after that. I don't know where this bias came from, but it's pretty easy to change people's minds when you show them what we can really do!

3. What do you do with your finished model?
I display them in my room. I'm in college now so I can't really do much else. When I finished my sixth (or so) model, I cleared all the books off of my bookshelves and that's where they rest now. However, these shelves aren't the best for display, as they are poorly lit, don't keep out the dust, and there isn't much room for many more models. When I'm a little less mobile, I hope to buy or build myself a large shelving complex with lighting and glass doors to do justice to my work.

4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?
Absolutely modeling is art! Many people consider it just a hobby, but isn't painting a hobby as well? The fact of the matter is that when one builds a model--even one from a kit--he or she puts an immeasurable amount of their own skills, creativity, knowledge, and imagination into the project. I dare someone to watch a modeler build their kit and then say that the modeler is not an artist.

1)
....Why not? ...
Joking aside During my time I have always loved arts and technology and I've been always interested in History. I do a creative job and I have to use artistic media to represent my ideas and my projects (such as drawings, architectural models, modelling softwares, photographs...)
The summation of all those actvities is also kit modelling...That's the reason why i love it

2)
I really don't care what the people think about my extra time activities. Is just a matter of social acceptance. For exemple I don't know why female hobbies such as flower arranging, candle-making, knitting or jewelry-making are usually well regarded activities, wheras a modeller is considered a sort of immature man. Actually during my life I have seen a very few people who didn't feel impressed and fashinated by a stunning model...so why they would have a bad opinion about the model makers?

3)
I collect them in boxes which I store in a closet. I have a small flat and so I can't put them in a showcase

4)
No I think we are not artist, I think we are craftsmen. Some of us (unfortunately I'm not one of them) are so skilled to be considered "almost" artist, but in my humble opinion in any case they are craftsmen. Maybe an artist is someone who do something deeper than model kits (what's art? Who's an artist?...an endless matter whit no answers...), but anyway I think it isn't important at all to be considered an artist . For exemple when I find an outstanding drawing in a book , I'm only very plesed to observe it...it really doesn't matter for me if the drawer is or isn't an "artist"

Interesting thread...

1. Been doing it since I was a kid and it is great for stress reduction, gets your mind off the daily stuff. Also, I want to do something in my free time that I can touch and see the progress as I have an office job and what I produce there is always something in a computer or on a print out...

2. Depends... Here in Switzerland most people think it's kind of strange, especially with military modeling. We still have mandatory military service and people think you're kind of a warmonger with this hobby. The standard hobbies in Switzerland are always sports and so yo're really an exception if you don't do 5 kinds of sports on a semi-pro level... But as has been said before, once people see my and other people's work (here on KMN usually) they are amazed at what this hobby really is.

3. They go in the glasse cabinet and now everytime a new one goes in, an old one goes out into a box of old kits as most of them are no longer up to the standard I would like.

4. Depends... If you just build and paint I would say it's a craft. If you do extensive figure conversions, dioramas etc., anything that has a story or needs your fantasy, imagination and artistic skills (also large figure painting) I would say it goes in the direction of art.

Good luck on your project, Rei!
Stefan

welll i hope this will help you a bit with your schoolproject

1. Why do we build models?
I built models to have a sort of relievevalve from my hectic day to day live. Being a designer by trade I make pretty long days which are mentally demanding. Being able to retreat to the workbench for an hour or two or three every week is really something I can look forward to and it helps me relax. And i like to make my models as hard and challenging as possible. That is what I enjoy. As for subject matter... I built German WW2 vehicles because I like the look of them. They simply look cooler then the rest. Are more versatile then the rest. you can vary more with them then the rest.. etc. etc.

2. Are we misunderstood to what level by non-modelers?
Well I never had problems with people thinking that modelling was childish. What I often have experienced is that with the subject I built, collect and read (mainly WW2 German) that people think I have political ideologies. For a large part this probably has to do with the occupation of Holland and the stuff that happened here during WW2. But The people who think I adore everything Nazi can't see the creative aspect in it. Nor the recreation of the technologies of yesteryear.

3. What do you do with your finished model?
I finish my stuff slowly and I enter some of them in contests. After that I used to take them to a modelshop to have them showcased there. But since all the Hobby shops closed down I have them at home and some of my figure projects I have them showcased at my bureau in the designstudio I work. My boss and colleagues think they are cool.

4. Can our building hobby be considered art, therefor entitling our breed as amateur artists?
Yes I think in a sense we can be entitled as artists. Everybody creates in their abilty vehicles or scenes the way they envision how it was or how they should be. Others might say it is a craft. Which is another way to look at it. But as the Judge asked to the man in front of him "what do you do for a living? in which the man anwers "I'm an artist". "What do you create?" asked the judge. "Umbrella's" said the man dryly. Umbrella's? that is not an art!.... Well says the man... Try to make one and then we'll talk further

I wrote this while being awefully extracted from the movie drive angry... My god what a horribly bad movie that is.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

interesting post
1I was born in London Just afterthe war dad flew in Lancasters so I got a Airfix k itand anyway thats what boys did in those days spitfires yaaay Stukas Boooo that was about it till the early seventies when i see some of Shep Paines work and Ive been hooked ever since.Tamiya also changed the game with their 1/35 armour i remember drooling over their Tiger1 I was twenty years old.
2) I think people humour me I dont know any modellers so i guess they listen out of politeness oh thats good,where do you get the patience, comments like that yet all the guys seem attracted to the Tiger1 and the MarkIv dont know why,I think its their brutal look.
3) In the garage im afraid where they get crewed by spiders and wood lice.sold one once (Tiger1)
4) yes I think so,If someone can call an unmade bed art Im sure a airbrushed model must be so as well.any how who says what is art.

1. Because we're goal oriented? I like to challege my skill, and sharpen them, It's good exercise and keeps Altzheimers away.
2.North America is very conservative when it comes to adult recreation, it's different elsewhere.
3. Show them and shelf them, sometimes I'll sell or get a commission to build.
4. From my own background in the plastic arts (that is painting, sculpture,drawing, printmaking,etc), modeling is like ceramics or architectural design, it's a craft that can be raised to the level of art if so desired. The people who sculpt figures are the artists, we who build them are craftsmen at best, and hobbyists most of the time. I'd consider someone able to build a master or otherwise scratchbuild sixty or more percent of a finished piece to be an artist.

Interesting questions. Here's my take.

1) I build models because it's relaxing even when I Get so frustrated I what to take a hammer to the build. I am also a huge WW II buff, so the research piece is also very enjoyable. I started building models as a kid when there was no such thing as video games and only 3 channels on television, so in a way it kind of takes me back a little and I get to be a kid again in a small way. Lastly, I just think the equipment is cool!

2) I think on the surface some people think it is childish. And then they see the finished product and say " Wow! that's pretty cool" followed by " I would never have the patience for that". But I also think alot of folks not in the hobby think we may all be nerds.

3) I like to enter my models in local competitions. I have given a few away, but the vast majority go on the shelf in a display cabinet down in the basement.

4) I don't consider this an art. It's just a hobby. Kind of like building or restoring an old muscle car or something along those lines. Having said that, I can see how others would consider it an art form and indeed some of these cats produce some displays that are so good they could be considered a work of art.

1. I am interested in the history and technology and build models to make
little replikas of the real thing. More manageable than 1:1 scale ....
Couldn't buy Corgi Toys military vehicles when I was a kid.

2. Oh yes. I don't expect anyone to understand my fascination with modelling,
just the same way as I don't understand why people are fascinated with guys
in bulky protective clothing fighting over a "ball" which isn't a sphere, or baseball, or cricket, or hockey, or golf, or lots of other hobbies ;-)

3. Store them in display cabinets and fear the day when I will have to clean them all ....

4. Nope. I don't think so. Not as a whole. Some parts of it could be considered almost art, like dioramas where it isn't just one model on its own, where someone makes a statement about war (as in the stupidity of).
Very good weahtering and painting is almost art. On the other hand I think that
many objects of art are not art either. Very good handicraft does not make it art,
the human message has to be there as well, something that touches your soul somehow and lots of art does not have that quality. Good grief, that sounds pretentious but I hope you get the meaning

1) I build because I like to! It's just one of many things I like to do (along with brewing, microscopy, reading, travel, photography, field biology, cooking, teaching and doing science, building stuff, drinking fine beer, shooting, arguing, blah blah blah) when I have some time - sure beats just sitting around and watching the teli. It uses the mind, the hands, tools, learning, it involves growing knowledge and skills, it's something one can share (or not, as you choose or wish at the moment) with different people at different levels. It connects with history (I build WWII stuff) and technology.

2) Yes. Folks generally have little appreciation or understanding for about anything which they have not spent a little time actually looking at and into. Like understanding anything "complex", understanding why "adults build little toy(like) plastic tanks" requires folks to open their eyes and ears and put aside their preconceptions. Hard for many to do. That said, I've found many who once they look come to see that the products required developed skill and considerable talented effort and many are fascinated by the products. But the Q was about understanding the modeler - not about whether folks find builds somehow interesting to look at...!

3) The finished go onto shelves and into cabinets at home and my office and some to shows. Eventually I guess they'll go to the rubbish - hope I'm gone before they do!

4) What's "art"? If "art" is some applied combination of skill, knowledge, techniques, imagination, passion, and materials, then modeling is art! And therefore we are artists! (Note that I do not claim to be any sort of "fine" or quality artist"). Modeling certainly is NOT science!

Cheers!

Bob

To tell you the truth I started out with video games and 3D modeling, but it wasn't satisfying enough for me so I largely gave that up in favor of old school modeling and having something real in my hands. It's still a blast to listen to things start up and make noises and shoot stuff which is usually only practical in video games, but I like plastic and resin much much more...

I build because I like it. It's an interest and a challenge, and it keeps me out of trouble.

I have had people who think the hobby is dumb, or geeky, but I am surprised (should I be) at how many people think the hobby is acceptable, even cool.

I set my models around my hobby desk. Those I have actually finished go on a shelf. Then the kids get them down and play with them and break them. I do use them as a reference to determine improvement, see what worked, and remind myself that I can finish a kit.

My son asked if he could buy another kit with me, but added that this time we should take longer to build it. I laughed because he won't even wait for me before he tears into the kit. He has to complete the task and will work on it non stop until he is done. I told my wife about this and she compared it to my builds (just finishing a P-47 after only 18 months) and she said "you are an artist, and art takes longer". There are many people in our hobby who are exceptionally talented. Our canvas is three dimensional. There are people at this site as good as Rembrandt, Michaelangelo and Norman Rockwell (I consider him one of the greatest as well).

I hope modeling is not dying out. It is a source of creativity, invention, developing mental and physical coordination, something tangible and real. Too many people kill their creativity with their remote, watching someone else's films or videos or pictures. I can make a model kit my own, away from all the other distractions, and it doesn't bring anything unwelcome into my home. In that last sense, it adds a new dimension as a safety net for my kids, an activity I feel they are secure in doing.