Hi everyone,

I'm hearing many contradictory messages these days. Some people herald this as modelling's Golden Age, since we have so many options of things to build, how many aftermarket parts are generated, decal options, etc.

On the other hand, many bemoan the decline in subject matter, about how the big producers are unwilling to take a chance in anything other than the latest FW-190 variant, about nit-pickers criticizing products to death, decline in volumes sold, lack of newbies, etc.

So - what's your take? Are we in boom or bust? Is this our Golden Age where we dwell upon the wonders of what's available, while unseen to us the hobby slowly dies? Somewhere in the middle of a cycle?

Mika

I doubt it's either boom or bust. If you look solely at plastic kits, yes there is definitely an overload of kraut stuff. If you take in the whole range of available kits and AM the sky is quite literaly the limit. So My answer to you its definitely growing ,Golden years I wouldn't go that far. Thats not to say if your preferences are for some Little used or seen you'll find it but then again you just might.

Josh
aKa shiryon

Hello Mika,

Well, your questions cover a lot of territory. Golden Age?...I don't know, but I have about 250 unbuilt kits in my stash, and not one of the is a FW-190 (never liked the plane, to tell you the truth.). I think there is a wealth of variety in kits these days, in armor, aircraft, and even warships. Could it be better?...maybe, but I have enough to keep me busy for quite a while, so you won't hear me complaining.

Nitpicker?...I buy kits because I like the subject, and I want to build it. To be honest, people who complain about a kit having 8 rivets instead of 10, well...lets just say I don't stand too close to them. You can't please everyone, and especially people like that. Personally, when reviews get that picky, I stop reading. It's more than I need or want to know.

Lack of newbies?...this may sound silly, but maybe our hobby lends itself to an introduction in youth, and then a serious affair later in life. I hear of many people, like myself, who built models as kids, and then gave it up. Many years later, something draws them back to it, and (if they are like me) they get hooked big-time. Instead of looking for kids in this hobby, maybe we should be looking for the "gray-hairs" getting back into it. Besides, lets face it, at $25-35 bucks a pop, we're the only ones who can afford it.

I don't know about declining volumes; I just haven' t heard any numbers on that. I can only say I am doing my part to keep up sales...just ask my wife.

I hope we continue to have a healthy hobby, and I think we will. I don't know if we are in a boom or a bust, but it seems to me we see enough new kits released, as well as old standards re-issued, to keep modelers busy for a long time. So, keep building, promote the hobby to both youngsters and "old-timers", have fun with it, and enjoy. If you look where the hobby was in the 60's, and where it is now, you can only wonder what it will be like 25 years from now. The only thing for sure is, the people then will have a wealth of classic FW-190's and Me-109's to chose from, the lucky devils. :-)

Mike

Being just shy of fifty by one week,this is the Golden age of modeling.If you are not around my age,just try to imagine just two kits of the Sherman tank to pick from.Or just three FW 190's and four P-51's.That's what it was like around 1965.I have around 3500 kits in my collection now and still keep buying.Much to my wife's amazment,that I can still find something new that I don't have yet.So if you don't think it is the Golden Age of Modeling now,Just think about the time when the total number of kits of one type was only one. :-)

Maybe there are too many options today. We spend so much time researching and talking about all these kits available, that we dont actually get down to what the hobby is about ... building them. I know I suffer a little from this. I spend 1,5 plus hours a day on the net, + reading magazines ... all this eating into productive time. This is one of the draw-backs IMO.

But on the plus side for this hobby must be communications. How many times have you needed a vital piece of info or some help and just ask on a page like this or flick through the net to find your answer.

I guess if I had to choose between now and the time wehn "Bear" started, Id go for now

well I agree with Josh to many Kraut stuff no Russian tractors or artillery pieces say the 203 MM one unless in $100.00 plus resin kit,to much related to using of PE which about rules out the younger crowd can't afford it and the resin stuff included. I bet without looking that the great Pershing kit by Tamiya has a couple of pe sets and barrel tracks addons . Can't seem to get a kit that you don't have to add another 50 bucks to get it a little more right.

This seems to be a good time to be a model builder. I know the Automotive end of the hobby has taken a huge hit recently, and is reeling from the loss of one of its two major manufacturers. (AMT, They still exist, but aren't releasing any new plastic for the forseeable future.) The military hobby didn't rely so much on the U.S. made mass marketed kits. Most of the popular aircraft and armor kits were already made in Europe and Asia. The aftermarket is going as strong as it ever has, and supplies both alternative kits, and details for the existing ones.

As for variety in subject matter, I think we will see some interesting new releases in the next few years. Trumpeter is starting to make a name for itself, and they are starting to release some new communist bloc subjects. I think as the model building hobby takes root in parts of Asia other than Japan, and South Korea, we will see more kits designed for Chinese markets. Many of these will be Chinese subjects, which are still pretty rare. Also, with the demise of the Soviet Union, the military power and hardware is going to change over the next couple of decades. China is not a partner of the Soviet Union anymore, but a power in its own right. As the existing Migs, and other Soviet planes become obsolete, they will probably be replaced by Chinese designed and built aircraft. It will be interesting to see how these subjects will be treated by the Chinese manufacturers, and how they will be received by the modeling public in the U.S.

The hobby, and its suppliers will continue to have cycles and ups and downs. People have decried the death of the hobby many times before. Remember how computers and video games were going to wipe us all out? I see some good times ahead for modelers, and I still can find more kits to buy, than I can time to build them.

Dave

There is probably more out there to model than ever before. The problem lies with the cost. Today's kits are pricing out new comers and many of us oldsters who cannot come up with $40 to $$$ for a new kit. Lately I been buying models at my IPMS monthly meeting from guys trying to thin their collections.

The introduction of resin, is both a boon and a bane. Resin allows for subjects never before seen, yet most resin kits are SO expensive few can afford them. Photo-etch is another good/bad thing. After market parts, tracks, barrels, and stowage all start to break the wallet.

Take a look at MMIR. They break down the cost of their article projects.

Original Model Kit $40
After-market barrel $12
PE $23
Track $25
Figures $12

That's $112 for one kit. And that does not include the bits and pieces from the parts bin. It is hard to encourage newbies when there looking at a significant chunk of coin for one model.

I think GSPatton hit it right on the nose. These are great days for middle aged guys with alot of disposable income. Young kids will never get deeply involved in the hobby if the price of the initial models they build is so high. How many young kids will love building when the first kit they buy costs 25$ and it ends up being a disaster (as most first kits do) When I was 10 I bought relatively cheap models with money i got from making fence posts for our farm. It seemed like every store carried models, now (in canada) it is hard to find models/paints etc. And when u go into places like Wal-mart, they have scale diecast cars and aircraft cheaper than the model kits. So why would kids take the time to buy the paint and glue and build them?
I am not sure that you will get another generation of people coming into their 20's and 30's that fondly remember building cheap kits on saturday afternoon's and will end up becoming more serious adult builders. The big companies should remember the preteen kid out there with only a few bucks that they could be making a life long builder if they put some effort into making affordable interesting kits.

That's one reason my club does its out of box minicontest each November. No after market or scratbuilding allowed. No extra figures. No open panels and detailed interiors unless they came with the kit. You get to add paper or tape seat belts, delete figures, stores or stowage. We typically get a hundred or so kits in six categories.

I was at the "Hobbyland" in Indy last Saturday afternoon. An older gentleman came up to me while I was trying to decide how much money I could bang on the debit card without my wife killing me... He said, "I haven't done this for a while, I remember those Tayima kits being pretty good." I told him they were all almost equal now. He had the new DML Panther kit and asked me if it was good. I told him that I knew it was outstanding but the tracks had seperate links. He didn't know what I meant until I explained that he would have to glue every one of those links together. I tried to point him in the right direction. I think that if he had bought the DML Panther he would have quit again. As it stands, I hope he bought a model that he will finish and take his grandkids to the hobby shop next time.

Just my three cents....