Aero modelling revisited...

[marknewton]

My son Harry and I went to our semi-local model shop this morning so I could by some Evergreen styrene sections. While we were there he saw a model aircraft kit that took his fancy, so I bought it for him. Much of what I know about modelling I learned by building kits with my dad, from about the same age that Harry is now. So I reckoned that's a family tradition worth continuing. Then I saw an aeroplane model that I fancied, so I bought that too. We were about to leave the shop when Harry saw a model of Thunderbird 1. We bought that as well. Considering I only went there for some Evergreen strip, we left with quite a large bag of goodies! :)

 

 

Harry's plane.

 

 

 

My plane.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[cteno4]

Excellent! Your son will love this! You are a great dad, showing him lots of hobbies at a young age is great and will be of great value to him as well later in life! While he may not pick them all up, I'm sure he will some and at least be willing and interested in trying others later in life. I feel so sorry for kids these days as I know few parents with much of anything you could call a hobby, so the kids don't get to see their roll models doing them. Also from the comments I can sometimes get from parents I see them actually looking at me as an adult with a hobby as being wasteful, which leads me to wonder what impression of having hobbies they are leaving on their kids.

 

I have many fond memories of all the model airplanes from childhood. While not built with my dad (I did woodworking with him), he always encouraged me and helped me stretch my budget now and then to get another cool model!

 

I had a very interesting conversation with a child psychologist at the grand central terminal show this spring (that show had a huge number of folks just walking up and starting the most interesting conversation and so many were folks saying that doing hobbies like this something missing these days and praising us for making the layout for the show). He talked about how lacking his worst patients were in any ability to do anything by themselves. Left alone they could not entertain themselves even with toys like blocks or simple craft stuff. He found that doing some simple craft things with them really brought them out and they quickly learned to do this by themselves and the more confident they got wih doing these things the more open they were in sessions then and a huge increase in self confidence. He chalked it up to the satisfaction of creating something and having an adult say that was good and doing it with them as a role model. He now has on going diorama projects with many of his patients that he thinks has really improved his results with sole really damaged kids. He was worried that the current culture's lack of interest in hobbies is effecting kids a lot in their development of self confidence and reliance.

 

Good on ya mate!

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[Densha]

Jeff,

 

I'm not sure how it is in the US, but there are tons of children (and adults) here only playing with their smartphone or other digital devices all day and night and not doing anything else. Now that's a waste of time! I regularly see toddlers addicted to their iPads and things like that, and crying if mommy or daddy doesn't give them everything they want after which the parents eventually give in. It makes me really think what will become of these kids... the problem is really getting worse.

[cteno4]

Densha,

 

Yes it's the same here and it worries me greatly. Part of my business has been educational software and it's gone way too far these days with kids totally on the iPad all the time. I actually have held off on doing iPad stuff because of this. While it can be a wonderful educational and entertainment tool, too much leads to myopia. Kids still need to write and draw and build by hand. There is a totally different brain feedback loop happening when you have a pencil or tool in hand than with a mouse or stylus that does not give much of any feedback. These physical feedback loops are much of how or brain learns fine motor control. You see very different expression done with hand down vs totally computer done work. Virtual Lego is such an oxymoron, one of the best things with Legos is the feel of the bricks going together and the little clicks, it's subtle, but our brains are built for this feedback and it's also part of the pleasure we get from the process and if the process is more pleasurable the results will be as well and better quality.

 

When I taught multimedia to high school students they use to get mad at me when I would have them sketch out on paper first their layout ideas (with labels, call outs and text) as that seemed so backwards to them (and this was in the late 90s!). But scribbling and sketching the ideas in the beginning came up with markedly better end results from the computer than doing it all in the computer and thus why I forced them to do it. Years later a friend in dc was teaching computer graphics for fine art majors at the Corcoran and she made them do the same thing of hand done layouts first. The students were so against doing this and many tried to outright refuse to do it saying they could not draw and their handwriting was unreadable -- THESE WERE FINE ART MAJORS IN COLLEGE!!!!

 

I have many friends that are managers in businesses and they are having big issues getting younger employees who can talk to others and understand simple tone of voice and body language feedback and write more than 140 characters. They find that instruction and feedback that use to be carried by the simple monkey language (tone of voice, facial expression, body language, etc) is generally lost on younger employees so everything must be literal and thus the employee feels they are constantly being told they are doing things wrong and feel dejected... To counter this many companies are requiring managers to make sure they praise employees every hour for even the smallest of things (no longer a thanks or good, but a few sentences explaining why the smallest thing) and even doing point systems redeemable for cash or gifts. Wow modern mentoring! I see this as kids do spend so much time vritually interacting now and not doing physically or even watching it physically on a tv show (poor to the real thing, but at least the watched human interaction carries a lot of the monkey language). Also funny how the most virtually emersive environments kids have are around killing things...

 

It's funny I have had so many friends over the years that were parents expressing their concern on computers in education (and thus the work I was dong usually, sometimes pretty brutally) only to watch them all succumb to letting their kids use computers and cell phones waaaaaay too much doing utterly useless and many times scary things on/with them! I always bit my tounge to not point out what they said they would never do and I was so evil for even dong the educational stuff, but I must say it always hurt.

 

Jeff

[JR 500系]

Indeed. I do agree children nowadays are getting out less. and toys are appealing to them even lesser. It's all about electronics and the latest new apps now.

 

I remembered I first came into contact with model kit building was Gundam. My very first Gundam building kit was the Shinning Gundam, in 1/144 scale, back in 1993. I was a real fan of that anime...

[marknewton]

Jeff, thanks for the compliment! I try to do the sort of things with Harry that my dad did with me. I had a good childhood and I want him to have the experiences and opportunities I had. In one respect I'm very lucky, he's an outdoors kid through and through, rather than one who wants to stay inside and watch TV or play computer/video games.

 

What you say about hobbies is very much like my own experience here. I'm amazed by the number of people I've met who have no apparent interest in anything other than TV, who look at people like me and think I'm the odd one for having a hobby. But I can't help noticing that they're the same people who have no manual skills, and quite often can't perform the simplest tasks around the house. And they often don't seem to know much about the world or what goes on it. Oh well, their loss I suppose.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[E6系]

People said pretty much the same thing about children when TV came out ..........

[marknewton]

Harry and I got up early this morning so we could do a bit of modelling before school. I quickly discovered that I'm well out of practice building aeroplane kits! Having said that, the quality of the modern kits is light years ahead of the stuff I used to build. The T-45 in particular is gorgeous. Only trouble was that he wanted to stay home with me and finish it! :)

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[JR 500系]

Nice bonding! Nothing much like a good Father and Son bonding time doing stuff together that they like! It's a snap together kit I presume? I remembered I used to buy plastic kits when I was young and I got my fingers glued by the super glue which I was trying to glue the parts together.....

[marknewton]

No, the T-45 is a fairly complex glue-the-bits-together kit. It probably wouldn't have been my first choice but Harry was smitten with the thing so that's what we got. More than anything else I think he liked the colour scheme!

 

As for superglue, I've done that too. About a week ago... :(

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Martijn Meerts]

Used to build a lot of planes as well, and trucks.. I loved the big Peterbilt and Kenworth kits.. Of course, I sucked at them, so they never turned out nice, never got painted, and generally fell apart after about 2 months of just sitting on a shelf ;)

[marknewton]

And now you're tackling etched brass loco kits in N scale - you're a braver man than I am, Martijn! :)

 

All,the best,

 

Mark.

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, lots of years of experience since then.. I've built quite a few Gundam kits by now as well, and have several kits of war ships and the like which need to get started on at some point as well. Of course, none of the Gundam kits have been painted or anything, they're in their first phase of construction, which is basically just follow the instructions and snap everything together. Next step is to actually disassemble them again, and paint the frames, then glue on all the armour plating, making sure to get rid of any seams where there shouldn't be any. Then paint the armour plating, then add stickers/waterslide decals, and then clear coat them... In some cases I'm trying to also add some LEDs for added effect. Of course, it's all long term stuff, still need to get used to the airbrush and all that.

 

As for the brass kits, they're going together quite well now that I've had some practice. It's not really that hard building them, just requires some practice and lots of patience. And then there's the painting but again of course, which I'm not looking forward to all that much ;)

[JR 500系]

Ahah!

 

Gundam building! I remember the days... It's kinda fun actually. Had to cut the lines on the pieces following the profile and black marker the groves to make them stand out like parts. Then sanding off the small cut bits that are always around on the pieces when you bend/ cut them off the main frame. Then there is the clear laquer to make them shine, or if you're brave enough, cut out and burn them to get 'battle-damaged' scars which really stand out! I tried that on one of my generic Zaku and they turn out pretty nice I must say!

 

Then of course there's the missle launching technic, whereby you actually attempt to 'launch' the missiles from the launcher, like connecting small toothpicks to the missiles themselves and connect to the launcher, and then place cotton wool to signify the 'blast' from the launcher....

 

Those were the days...

[HantuBlauLOL]

I agreed that gadgets should be taken away from kids.

 

Personally I have experienced a full day of playing online games without doing anything else. I regret it, I swear.

 

Then I saw an fb group about train modeling and suddenly I remembered my trains I had from some years ago when I was still a kid. That's how I started this hobby again.

 

So now I decided to trade my gaming time and stuffs for miniature modeling and I still love it until now.

[cteno4]

Good path dude, good path!

 

Jeff

[JR 500系]

Yap. The feeling of satisfaction is great when you finished modelling something and it appeals greatly to your eyes (and others)....

 

However, there is a good thing to gaming though... It tends to cost lesser than hobbies, since you only buy the game, and perhaps the game set initial investment, and then you can be occupied for days, months even years...

[HantuBlauLOL]

Yeah, but IMHO gaming gives me way less life lessons than modeling. Also I can't personalize my character much, not like in modeling (unlimited customization probability ftw!).

 

Sure it's cheaper, but it's satisfaction lasts shorter. Usually only Last 3-6 months while modeling could Last for years..

[Martijn Meerts]

I just combine them.. When I don't feel like doing train stuff, I play an MMO. When I do feel like doing train stuff (or building kits, or whatever), I do train stuff. It's been a long time since I spent an entire day in an MMO though, and back when I did, I didn't have any room for any serious modelling anyway :)

[HantuBlauLOL]

Well, I'm still a student.. My hobby time per day is very little.

[kvp]

I actually started modelling again when i realised that i play a certain mmo too much, so since then i only play games that can be put away for any amount of time, very much like models (so no online games). My longest pause in a game was an old rpg that i forgot on a laptop and finished 6 years later when i checked if the machine is still working. Otherwise i prefer free to roam fps rpgs like the elder scrolls series and in the past played a lot of real time strategy during lan parties. (this was in the days of warcraft, starcraft and c&c) A good idea is not to play any game (or do any hobby) that requires a certain daily time even when you are not really in the mood to do it. (this includes most online games and hobbies like gardening)

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I'm still a student.. My hobby time per day is very little.

 

It doesn't get much better when you get a full time job. In fact, it'll probably get even worse :)

 

 

I actually started modelling again when i realised that i play a certain mmo too much, so since then i only play games that can be put away for any amount of time, very much like models (so no online games). My longest pause in a game was an old rpg that i forgot on a laptop and finished 6 years later when i checked if the machine is still working. Otherwise i prefer free to roam fps rpgs like the elder scrolls series and in the past played a lot of real time strategy during lan parties. (this was in the days of warcraft, starcraft and c&c) A good idea is not to play any game (or do any hobby) that requires a certain daily time even when you are not really in the mood to do it. (this includes most online games and hobbies like gardening)

 

If you can't put away a game away (be it an online one or not), it's really not the game that's the problem to be honest. I've played MMOs for 15 years now, and games in general since as long as I can remember, and if I don't feel like playing, I don't play. It's really that simple :)

[kvp]

 

and if I don't feel like playing, I don't play. It's really that simple

The problem with MMOs is that once you join a clan (team) you have to be online for raids and other activities. The same is true for many model railroad clubs. Actually i've quit one irl model railroad club once the majority voted for mandatory participation in every exhibiton. (actually first i suggested to start paying me if they want me to work for them, but they refused) The current clubs i'm a member of doesn't have any requirements.

 

Also for online games, you have to pay a monthly subscription fee or for free to pay games you have to be online for your account to remain. Just try to archive an mmo character with the server state so you can play years later. (it could be done, but the operators will consider it a break in and theft of the source code and/or server binaries and main database, even if the gamer only copies his own character data and the game engine to run it later) Playing an MMO is like playing on a rental layout with rental trains. It's great fun, but you can't take anything home with you. Also, most server/rental layout operators will kick you out if you try to modify their game/track layout.

[Martijn Meerts]

All depends on the guild you join.. I've been in hardcore raiding guilds that didn't require you to be online. i've never given out contact details to the leaders of a raid guild either, so they couldn't contact me outside of the game. Granted, that was a long time ago, and those days, raiding guilds in general are a less flexible. Still though, it's the player's choice to join such a guild, there are plenty things in MMOs besides raiding. But, I have known people who basically lived for MMOs, calling it sick when there was a new patch, or taking a couple of weeks after when a new expansion was released so they could play 24/7.

 

I don't know much about free to play games, I don't play them. But the subscription based games I've played have never deleted any of my characters. Usually they don't delete characters, and if they do, they generally send you an email before hand saying your character will be deleted in x amount of time. Even without having an active subscription, your characters are generally not deleted.

 

 

Anyway.... Most hobbies require a sizeable time investment, regardless of what the hobby is. It usually also depends on how you approach the hobby though. For example, some people might want to collect all HG 1/144 Gundam models of a certain series. They snap them together, and display them somewhere. They're not too bothered about painting and applying decals, they just want the complete set. Others want to take it a step further, and do decals. Yet others paint them and get rid of unwanted seams, etc. etc. .. Obviously, the more detailed you get, the more time it costs. Those going all out on Gundam models will likely be spending time on them almost daily, and usually work on multiple models at a time.

[cteno4]

Mandatory attendance in a club is a sure way to kill the fun for most folks eventually. At JRM have always maintained an attend what you are interested in membership. We want folks to come because they want to, not that they have to. We jut ask members that they try to show up at some event maybe once a year, even so we have a couple of members that only show up every other year but still want to be part of the group and that's fine.

 

Don't have to be a member of a club though to get the great bennies of having a fun hobby. Many times folks just want to do their own things or are not "group" folks or no local clubs with their interests. A little effort and you can usually find some kindred souls nearby to at least maybe go to a hobby show, hobby shop or just have coffee now and then. That's essentialy how JRM formed. Online groups like JNS are also a great place to get some hobby support!

 

I think games are fine, just in moderation as many have issues putting them aside, and IMHO, they have diminishing returns, so getting sucked in is not good. With kids I also really worry that it is hard for them to properly deal with the violence and ethical issues when they are still very early in their psychological development when done to excess where the game becomes more of their reality than the real world. Also to sell well most games go for the most shocking things and little put into positive interactions (granted many mmos do focus on positive interactions)

 

Hobbies are what you make of them, and that's cool to find your own bliss. It's taking the time and effort to do it that the key. Does not have to be about the money or time spent.

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff