Teach ‘em young, keep ‘em keen
Seeing the modelling work of children last weekend gave me pause for thought.
Last weekend I travelled to Bolton Wanderers football stadium to attend the first large modelling event of the year. It was a joy on many levels but my highlight was to meet and chat with two children who are modelling armour vehicles. Check the image at the top as an example.
The children’s father explained that he’d started teaching them to model at age six. The lad is now 10 and the girl is 16. The lad was recently introduced to airbrushing, a useful but often challenging skill. I was astonished at how well they’d progressed in applying camouflage using an airbrush in small scale. It takes a very steady hand and control over the use of the airbrush trigger and fine air pressure control to get a good result. To give you a clue about the challenges, every modeller I’ve spoken to, including some of the best in the world, talks about runs, streaks and sputtering at some point.
Challenges aside, I was struck by the whole family’s enthusiasm for the hobby. But above that it struck me that modelling is more than fun.
When I came back to the hobby after a very long hiatus it was about picking up a new set of skills that allow me to maintain mental health while also developing hand-eye coordination. Today, it is also about creativity. For example, I’m currently working on posing a WWI armoured car with several soldiers and a bicycle into an imaginary battlefield scene that reflects a period of rest between skirmishes. These children are already picking up those skills.
Another aspect of armour modelling is the need to discover the history of the time during which the vehicle operated. This is much more than understanding the technical details of a specific vehicle but also the context of the battles in which they fought. That in turn introduced me to the logistical complexities, politics, strategies and more that were employed.
I learned for instance that despite technical superiority, Germany lost WWII, largely due to logistical factors but also from blindingly appalling decisions taken by the country’s leader who routinely overruled military doctrine. Sound familiar in 2022-3?
The Soviets on the other hand built simple (largely disposable) armour in huge numbers and were right time to turn everything off just turn it down to very very loud led by military leaders who had Stalin’s ear. There’s a lot more but that’s the nub of Germany’s eventual defeat.
I mused on the general topic of what modelling teaches and the need to bring young people into the hobby. Pavel Rovensky picked up on the discussion:
You're absolutely correct - modelling (aeroplanes, cars, trains or whatever) is a great activity supporting many skills - the workshop skills are just part of it. Once a model is functional, you have many facets of possibility to compete with other similar models and their builders.
Why the UK is so behind in enabling young people to get into this activity is beyond my understanding.
I can only say that on many competitions in Free Flight - (OK it is a bit esoteric line of model flying...) but still, I'm usually the youngest attendee - luckily not always.
I do not hide that Free Flight concept is bit esoteric nowadays, but it still gives an option to build rubber powered model - say about 50 grams weight - relatively cheaply.
The model with weight under 200 grams does not need to be registered with the aircraft safety controlling authorities, so at least there is a glimpse of hope to see people flying such models on a football field legally here and there.
I went on to talk about the preponderance of top flight kit makers in Eastern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine, as well as some incredibly talented builders (see image below from my friend Martin Kovak)
Pavel responded, correctly observing that:
Here on the UK the industry supplying the kit is called cottage industry, however I would rather call it hi-tech industry. I've all kind of stuff including electronics with Android software, carbon parts, Kevlar parts...you name it. The R&D effort invested in these products is very high. A lot of to learn...
This is true. In my corner of the hobby there are a handful of talented designers working on resin figures that are super detailed, adding a fresh dimension that encourages thinking about composing scenes. This model (see below) of a WWI dispatch rider is going into my latest build.
3D printing opened up a new universe of possibility that encourages the imagination to run riot. There is a fast growing community of designers willing to open source their designs. Martin makes all his designs free to his Patreon supporters. This has to be a good thing. There is a catch.
Getting started in 3D printing is not cheap. A decent set up that produces consistently good results requires an investment of at least £250. My guess is the cost will be paid back quickly as ready made resin model items are relatively expensive. The resin soldier shown above for instance, cost £18. At a general level, 3D printing encourages learning computer based math and design. That too has to be good.
Elsewhere, one correspondent talked about his time volunteering as a village hall host for young modellers, successfully roping in local model shops to supply defective kits as teaching ‘mules.’ He said that the weekly sessions regularly attracted 20 kids forking over 50p for two hours of fun and learning. What a great example of community and learning.
Sadly, model shops in the U.K. are disappearing or shrinking. Only those that have a loyal, if largely ageing customer base are surviving. Online is where the action lays but I suspect this is a dead end for popularising the benefits of the hobby. There are plenty of YouTube resources but I learn way more by talking to other modellers at shows, meets or calls.
Don’t get me wrong. Modelling is still popular and has moved well beyond its past reputation of being about making toys fit for childhood. Last weekend’s event attracted long queues in freezing conditions. According to reports, more than 1,000 travelled to the show. But there’s no way to get past the fact the vast majority in attendance were older white guys with a smattering of youngsters and very few women.
See my bird’s eye view image of the main show floor below which was taken later in the day. Earlier in the day people were queuing for up to 40 minutes to get in and by lunchtime the place was packed out. The hall has a capacity of 4,000. My fag packet guess is that about 1,500 turned out.
What to do? Perhaps a return to the community approach is the way to go? Dads and granddads spending more time with family children is an obvious alternative to the easy get out of having kids glued to their phones watching TikTok or other crap. I’m sure there are many other ideas that have merit. But of one thing I’m certain, modelling in all its forms has much to offer. My only regret is that I didn’t set time aside earlier in life to pursue this fun, educational and, sometime competitive hobby.
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Do you think that in the UK maybe Warhammer is where the young modelers are at? There seems to be a Warhammer shop on every high street, which is more than making up for the loss of traditional model shops. I'm not saying Warhammer modeling is better in any way - certainly there is less of the historical side there - but it's a thriving scene based on both modelling and gaming.
I did model cars (the clicked ones, not glue) as a kid and really enjoyed it. But at the time, there were so many hobby stores and toy stores in Detroit that carried the materials and more. Thinking to the now, I can't place any stores in Phoenix or Los Angeles off-hand (I'm sure they are here).