How would you promote the hobby?

[White Wolf]

Just interested in hearing everyone's views on this. Let's say you want to get more people (especially the young ones) interested in scale modelling, how would you go about it?

[falcon20driver]

To me it's about the subject matter. A kid who likes cars doesn't want to build a plane...etc. To that end, there needs to be kits that kids would find interesting, that are also relatively easy to build. This would promote a sense of accomplishment for building something themselves. From there they can grow into the hobby.

[thegoodsgt]

Here’s the thing about us modelers. For the most part, we’re modelers SECOND. We are FIRST, aviation enthusiasts, armchair military historians, car guys, naval enthusiasts.

Rather than trying to convince a bunch of tweens and teenagers to take up scale modeling, we might — might — have more success seeking out adults who share our interests. For example, last year I attended an open house of a massive truck collection, and I couldn’t help but think that that would’ve been a good place to promote the hobby. If a guy has a passion for trucks, he just might be interested in building models of them.

Now doing that is not easy. Local model clubs, or even individuals like us who wish to promote the hobby, need to seek out these opportunities and invite themselves to participate.

Steven Brown

Scale Model Soup

[nspreitler]

It has to be subject matter they are interested in. I build all the time with my 5 year old. I have a lot of planes, but he doesn't want to build those, but he loves tanks and Star Wars. I bought a Tie Fighter and an M-41 Walker Bulldog and we have built those. He also loves figures, we've built dozens of 1/35 figures, we don't even paint them and he plays with them when we are done. His models don't last long, but he likes building and playing with them.

I think it would help to have fairly inexpensive kits that fit well, ones like the Bandai Star Wars kits. Those can be built without paint and still look good.

[82Whitey51]

I really don't have an honest answer for this. If there was anyone, any dad, that could have passed the hobby on to a son (or daughter) it was THIS GUY.

My son grew up around both me (a model geek) and military aircraft. He's been a "Navy Brat" since day one and watched me build model aircraft, fly on real aircraft, and fart around the hangar since day one. He basically grew up in Pensacola FL (among other locations around the country), came to the model club meetings with me (willingly...lol) as a kid, but it never resonated with him. Growing up in the 90s, it was the dawn of the internet and video games coming into the future and plastic models were just not as cool or interesting. Even his interest in Japanese "tuner" cars and European sports car didn't cross over into building models of them. So, whenever anyone asks me about how to promote the hobby, I have no answer...someone either takes an interest or not.

On the plus side, my son did take an interest in aviation to some degree and is entering into his final year at UMaine's mechanical engineering program which has an aviation concentration that he plans to apply to either the aviation or automotive industry.

My daughter on the other hand...? She'll be 17 in a few weeks; if it's not cheer-leading related (competitive cheer mind you...), make-up, or "Hunger Games" related she doesn't have time for it.

[DDC]

Im a big fan of the ide of video game product tie ins.

Yes you can buy ready build statuettes and fugurines, but all a BIG $$$

Where are our Halo Warthog kits? Racing game tie ins, i just built a vitual car with a custom paint scheme in Need For Speed? Print the decals on my printer at home so i can can build a model of MY car.

Problem seems to me that us at the 'fanatical' end of the spectrum seem to forget that, young billy doesnt care if the kit molded the incorrect elevator mass ballance screws on his ME109E.

They want easy, simple with rapic vusual progress. Hobby Boss' easy kits are FANTASTIC and are exactly the sort of thing beginners are after. Now if only they could get some cross promotional tie ins, or other manufacturers could follow suit.

Seems to me, another big issue is the licencing fees associated with cross promotion.

Mst of us have been around long enough to remember when you didnt have to have Boeings blessing to sell a kit of the F-whatever. Moive and things are just as bad, look at the cost of starwars kits. Imagine how many kids walked down the model kit isle, checkng ot all the sweet starwars ships that they jut seen on thr big screen, only to leave it in the shop because of the huge price tag.

That and overly cautious parents worried about all the delightfully carcinogenic chemicals we use to build the things, means little billy isnt gonna have much of a chance to get his hands on thr kit, let alone discover that despite the instructions calling out for the ship to be painted 'slightly off white', clearly the movie shows it as being 'pale white'.

Comments above about generatinf interest in subjects before trying to push the scale version is an intersting thoight.ain Australia, enthusiasm for our interests is a dying thing. Airshows are a rare and EXPENSIVE affair. Kids are brought up yo beleve that to modify cars and drive them with any form of enthusiasm is considered "hooning", a jailable offence. No wonder kids arent interested.

[fulcrum1]

My uncle built a model with me and that's how I got started. I'm going to do the same with my boys.

[Jinxter13]

Some years back, on a short stay in Austin, I became a member of the ASMS, and had the privilege of attending one of their annual model shows. One of the members (I can't remember if he was the Prez or not), took a kit of a Tomcat opened the box and displayed the sprues still in the plastic bags, along side a finished build of the same kit, with a small sign stating "from this came this" from a box of plastic parts came a beautifully done Tomcat build and a "you too can do this" I don't know how many kits he helped sell, or how many folks got into the hobby, but that display sure drew a lot of interest!.

Edited April 8, 2016 by #1 Greywolf

[john c]

Hi,

UK wide stores called HobbyCraft which have asked for IPMS to set up building kits and talking to customers (We already have 10%!). Our first will be at Aintree branch near Liverpool 28th May. All welcome.

johnc

[vh-bob]

This is the big question, I agree with 82Whitey51 and DDC, there is no easy answer. I too would have thought that something like the Hobby Boss line would have done the trick but I guess not. While I have bought many of them myself, they are not stocked by stores likely to be frequented by many kids and as many "rivet counters" think of them as toys, serious model shops don't stock them once initial supplies run out. In my 74 years I have had 3 enduring interests, anything aviation related, including plastic models, Free Flight scale models with rubber or diesel power and Oval Track Speedway racing, today all are struggling to attract new blood. The most common question asked by on lookers is "where did you buy that and how much did it cost ?" when told that I built it the reply is almost always the same, " Oh I wouldn't have the patience" so to encourage the young we will have to overcome their 30 second attention span. Just when I thought the hobby had no future. a member at our local club brought his daughter of perhaps 10 years with him and she was quietly working on a 1/48 Me-163, when I commented on what she was doing , she said "my real interest is WW1 aircraft and I am looking to build an Etritch Taube ". May be all is not totally lost.

[vince14]

I think the whole 'we must get kids interested in the hobby' is overstated. We're in a golden age of modelling right now, and what's been driving that isn't cheap, basic kits for kids like we had in the twentieth century - it's more complex builds for adults that are moving the hobby along. Most manufacturers realised this a while ago, especially in the core modelling world over in Japan. Don't get me wrong, there's still scope for getting the young involved and kudos to the likes of Airfix and Revell for catering to that market, but you're fighting a losing battle against their other hobby options.

The best way to promote it is by aiming at the 40-60 year old male, who has had the kids leave home and has a bit of spare time and cash on his hands. To do that, we firstly need to persuade the likes of Amazon and Ebay that kits shouldn't be listed as 'Toys & Games', so we can remove some of the stigma that models have. After that, start looking at promoting kits of (say) Star Wars craft to adult modellers. We should be looking at Lego as an example - they still sell cheap sets aimed at kids, but the larger Star Wars-type sets are aimed at adults.

I honestly think that producing a range of everyday cars would be a way into the wider adult market - sell them along the lines of 'you own the real thing, now build it in miniature'.

Edited April 8, 2016 by vince14

[Scott Smith]

Good luck in today's society of instant gratification, over prescribed ADD and ADHD and helicopter parents that want to control the kids from womb to tomb. First the parents will want the kids involved in soccerbaseballballetfootballetc... not sitting around "wasting time" on something that won't give them a scholarship when Jr. gets to the 12th grade. Second, you're going to have to pry the game controller out of their hands since so many parents have used these evil devices as baby sitting methods for over 25 years now. I'm guilty of that myself with my first born. He's turned out good, but he could care less about the artistic skills some acquire. My oldest daughter on the other hand, has. I think she played maybe two video games growing up. But she was always into the painting, coloring books, etc. Today she's a teacher and has a paying hobby of doing vinyl cut graphics for clothes, cups and whatever she can put them on. And yes, I'm slowly inching her towards making painting stencils for our models. :rolleyes:/> She did make me some graphics for a decal I put on in the wrong place at one time. Worked out great.

Both my boys attempted building models as kids, but I could tell the interest just wasn't there for them.

[Don]

Simple answer is that I too have no idea. But when I honestly sit down and think how I got into this hobby I can't for the life of me remember anyone having introduced it to me on any major level. I mean sure my Dad used to sit down with me on the odd Friday or Saturday night and we would put together a model of whatever (car, plane, sci-fi etc). But he wasn't a model builder by any stretch. Yes the LHS guy was helpful but I was already interested in airplanes and models before I stepped through the door so his influence was minimal at best. I was the one who sought out a local club in my early teens and enjoyed going, was welcomed by its much older members, and was shown some tricks and techniques. But again, my interest was already there and well ingrained before I sat around the clubs table. I had a lot of friends who used to build models but their interest was fleeting and they gave it up after a few years. So where did my life long interest in models come from? I really don't know other then it more then likely grew from an interest in real airplanes, from watching old documentaries on TV, reading history books and such. In essence my real interest wasn't so much making models then it was learning more about airplanes through models. Its the same today. I read more then I build.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly think any attempt at getting more people of all ages into scale modeling is worth a try. I truly do. But there's that old saying about leading a horse to water. Today perhaps more then at any time there are so many avenues open to people to spend their leisure time on. Model building is but one tiny possibility in a sea of potential pursuits. I personally don't see cost as a barrier nor do I see access to models as hampering growth of the hobby. People of all ages...not just kids...spend mega bucks on interests/hobbies and many of these dollars are spent online and not at brick and mortar shops. So people today with an interest in whatever are finding ways to get what they need without access to a local store.

I don't know. It's an uphill battle though.

My two cents.

Cheers!

[Bigasshammm]

Part of the problem is the toys today. When I was a kid my favorite part of the toys was in boxing them and putting them together. Because you actually had to put them together. Things like Gi Joe, transformers, and the like all usually took some form of assembly. I used to even take the GI Joe vehicles especially apart and then put them back together. Also liked puzzles and other things. These are all hands on things you don't get in today's world. The toys are different and the technology has advanced.

Maybe in the future with 3d printing kids will be able to design planes, cars or whatever and instantly have them built so they can play with them. Otherwise it's a generational thing. If the parents do it there's a good chance the kids may eventually as well.

[Exhausted]

Incorporate more 3d modeling to physical modeling and it may survive for a little bit longer...

[Litvyak]

Incorporate more 3d modeling to physical modeling and it may survive for a little bit longer...

Hahaha.

Modelling will survive a *lot* longer. With all the improvements in 3D design/printing, CAD/CAM/CNC/allthatotherstuff, modelling is IMO in a better position than ever... and it's getting progressively easier for everyone to build the model that *they* want, down to details specific to a particular thing on a particular day.

[MikeDassele]

I think, no matter how you "promote" the hobby, you have to deal with the fact that a) kids may or may not get interested and participate when "dad" or "papa" do some building, B) kids will drop out when they discover boys/girls, finish high school, go to college, go in the military, get a job, have a family, struggle to make ends meet, c) when the "kids" are grown and leave or are about to leave "dad" and "papa" rediscover building models and go at it with a vengeance. SO there is an age window of opportunity from maybe 7 to 14, then from 40 or so to 100 to promote to a receptive audience. I think there are very few modelers in their 20's or 30's compared to 40's plus. It's just nature at work. I personally am not worried about the health of the hobby, even though we lament about where have all the young modelers gone. They will be there when their kids leave or when they retire-----they just won't be so young anymore :-)

[Hajo L.]

I´ve been a lot into Lego when I was a small kid, so constructing things came natural to me. Having older cousins and uncles do model-building then got me into the hobby. In fact, I never stopped doing it, even during my military service I continued building on the weekend when I was home. Kids, job,... you name it - I was always modelling.

I think it´s also depending on what you´re doing. Studying and writing papers was always somehow missing the "I´ve got something finished today"-feeling. You shut down your computer and all that changed is the file size of wour WORD.doc from 34kb to 39kb... Going home and finishing a part of your model kit was some more rewarding, and I think that´s something that made modelling very appealing for me for nearly 30 years now (and I´m 40 years old!).

HAJO

[vh-bob]

Although many don't see cost as a deterrent to the growth of the hobby, I am yet to be convinced. I know that it has been pointed out by some here that there are affordable kits out there to suit the less well heeled but it is human nature to want the better kits with all the bells and whistles as seen beautifully built in each successive issue of the modelling magazines. As regards affordability, I think I can speak with some authority on the subject as being an Old Age Pensioner, I am paid about the same as the average 10 year old receives in pocket money and although I don't NEED a 1/72 Beriev B-10, as soon as the A-Model kit is released I want one. So if I am going to have to sell a kidney to get one, there must be many other modellers out there in the same position.

Trev.

Edited April 9, 2016 by vh-bob

[Bigasshammm]

I think, no matter how you "promote" the hobby, you have to deal with the fact that a) kids may or may not get interested and participate when "dad" or "papa" do some building, B)/> kids will drop out when they discover boys/girls, finish high school, go to college, go in the military, get a job, have a family, struggle to make ends meet, c) when the "kids" are grown and leave or are about to leave "dad" and "papa" rediscover building models and go at it with a vengeance. SO there is an age window of opportunity from maybe 7 to 14, then from 40 or so to 100 to promote to a receptive audience. I think there are very few modelers in their 20's or 30's compared to 40's plus. It's just nature at work. I personally am not worried about the health of the hobby, even though we lament about where have all the young modelers gone. They will be there when their kids leave or when they retire-----they just won't be so young anymore :-)

I started back into modeling when I was 29-30. At that point I had maybe 3 random kits. Now I have 250ish.

[Jinxter13]

I probably won't see the day, but some of the more junior members of ARC will, when a dad and son walk into a store purchase an aircraft model and some one will say "in the old days they came in the box in plastic parts maybe 150 or so, and they used glues to assemble it, and then small jars of different colored paints to finish it, ahhh those were the days". Die-cast is taking away the romance and joy of plastic modeling IMHO, and 3-D printing will at some point be able to produce a complete model.

[Litvyak]

I dunno I doubt die-cast will ever replace modelling, because there will always be a desire for "I want this specific thing"...

[Bigasshammm]

I'm surprised they don't have more generic die casts. That you then would paint and decal like a model. That way you can make whatever version you'd like.

[Litvyak]

Not really what that customer base is looking for, though; the ones who buy a completed die-cast model aren't going to want to have to paint it. Also, for paintability's sake, it'll have to come not completely assembled, etc... and which point you may as well just buy an unassembled kit. Which isn't really what that customer base is looking for.

[82Whitey51]

I dunno I doubt die-cast will ever replace modelling, because there will always be a desire for "I want this specific thing"...

For most. We had a guy in our club in Pensacola who built fantastic 1/144 airliners but once all those new die cast started coming out in the late 90s that looked nice, he literally gave away all his kits and quit building altogether...odd.