49 replies to this topic

[Harry P.]

I actually wouldn't put the UK among the Phalanx of car modelling. When it comes to cars, this is traditionally Diecastland.

90% of the plastic modelling activity here is done by people who think the war was very nice and unfortunatley ended way too soon.

 

IMO, the traditional plastic car kit modelling countries are the USA and Japan.

 

Agreed. And Canada and Australia also seem to have a thriving car modeling culture. But while the plastic modeling crew in the UK may be small, there are some very good builders among them.

[Junkman]

 

But while the plastic modeling crew in the UK may be small, there are some very good builders among them.

 

I won't deny that for a second. The work I've seen at the Telford Scale Model World is outstanding.

[The Creative Explorer]

In contradiction of what Richard tends to believe, The Netherlands isn't a 'huge' modelling country. There is only one major club and there are barely any specialised stores for modelling. 

I wish it would've been different, but it isn't so.

The belgiums are more enthusastic about the hobby, basically every major city andlarger town has his own club and meets regular.

[Dr. Cranky]

Thanks, Erik.  I hope some of the folks from Belgium will chime in.

[1972coronet]

It is always intriguing to me to find that there are fellow enthusiasts in other countries ; and , especially when those enthusiasts are into North American vehicles (!!).

Brother Grzegorz ( let me apologise for misspelling his name here ) is a prime example ! Absolute talent ; beautiful workmanship .

W348 and W409 have consistantly turned out some gorgeous replicas as well ( love your race cars , guys !). Certainly , our brothers in Jolly Olde have also contributed some splendid works as well .

 

I would like to see ambassadors from the U.S. , England , France , etc. , etc. , as well as outreach-type organisations , promote the hobby ! It's a great escape for anyone , and may be of help to the citizens of  unstable countries / regions to keep their minds occupied , especially the children of those regions .

I know , totally unrealistic . A nice idea none-the-less ...

 

Keep those awesome builds coming , my fellow overseas plastic fanatics !

[carsntrucks4you]

What about Germany? There are a lot of excellent model car builders. I'm member of the Modelcarlist Germany, a similar email list like Model Car List or Model Cars Unlimited. 

 

Check out my posting from various modelcar shows in Germany

http://public.fotki....ou/model_shows/

 

There are a few Germans like Dominik, Whaid or Mad Mike and myself active in this forum

[Dr. Cranky]

Thank you all, this is the kind of networking and useful information as more people from different countries come forward.

[maltsr]

I'd like to add New Zealand to the list if I may.  Only a small population (4 million) but with a thriving full size hot rod scene. 

I belong to a model club here in Auckland with 12 - 15 hard core members that meet every month, some of whom are awesome builders and members of this fine forum. 

Brett Tynan is a prolific builder of mainly drag cars, Mike Pringle is another great builder who occasionally appears here (you may have seen the scratchbuilt replica 1/16 '27T Bonneville racer he built with Jack Martin). 

Our builds pretty much reflect the trends on here, plus we have resin casters and others who produce home made decals and rusting relics.

Please check out our website http://modelpetrolhead.proboards.com/ to see how things are done in 'Middle Earth' .  We also have several online members in the good ol' US

Edited by maltsr, 24 February 2013 - 10:13 PM.

[peekay]

Great to hear about car modelers in NZ and I've just signed up to modelpetrolhead.

 

And thanks for the German link - will try and make it to Frankfurt next time. Can someone supply a date already?

 

Car modeling seems to be pretty much a non-event here in Switzerland. The few specialist shops that there were are long gone and I've never heard of a model car club or show in 30 years. What models I have seen have been top notch but the emphasis seems to be on planes and military. But maybe my ear isn't close enough to the ground and I'd love to be proven wrong.

[simonr]

My name is Simón P. Rivera Torres and I'm part of the Club Viajero de Modelismo of Puerto Rico. Since year 2000, our club mainly has been touring around the top model car shows around the states like it has been the ACME show in Atlanta, the Birmingham, GSL(4 Times), LIARS, TAMS, Desert Scale, Circle City, Classic Plastic, Heartland Nationals, etc.

 

At present time we're getting ready for our fifth GSL at Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

 

 

Simón P. Rivera Torre

[simonr]

Don't forget about Japan, were there's an awesome model building tradition and were you can see, at least for me, the most impressive hobby shops...

 

 

We know the United States, CANADA, AUSTRALIA and the UK are big model car building countries, but I am curious to know about other countries out there. And if so, what interesting trends and styles do you see.

 

If you are from countries other than the US, CAN, and the UK, can you please tell us about car model building activity in your country.  I am interested in hearing about model car specific clubs, and builders who have become nationally known in your country.

 

I am posting this because I think many of us are curious about car model builders in the rest of the world.

 

Please let us hear from you.

 

Thank you for your time and attention.

Puerto Rico

 

 

We have a site on FB that started out with six or seven from our model club in Winnipeg. On our FB club there are many from Peurto Rico and Austrailia. Some big hitters too...

[crazyrichard]

well i dont really understand the comment of the crazy explorer ...

holland always has been a country with a large amount of modelbuilders and i already stated the new generation is not really into it ..

but i actually see so much people build and hear of people who have build or picking up the hobby again

 

and like said the amount of shops are def. going down in the past years but i know of a lot of nice shops where you can get a lot of stuff and still walk in the door and look around ..

 

and like said a lot of ship builders , militairy builders , the thing is .. and thats the thing a lot of dutch people dont go online to share their hobby , still we have a nice online community , maybe not massive but then again our county is smaller then most states in the usa 

 

and our neighbours from belgium always have been people to start clubs / comunity's and do stuff every weekend i know because i always was part of the belgium carshow scene and went to belgium every weekend .

and believe me every weekend there are so much shows and markets in belgium on any level of stuff , so many different things to do there and

people there massivly go out to do stuff , no matter what hobby it is there is something to do there

 

the dutch tend to stay in build in silence and are not that active in online community's

so i still believe there are a whole lot of modelbuilding enthousiast here

 

like said from my younger years till now i have come across so much people who build its ....

 

and i myself only started building for real in 2008 .. sure i build a model or 2 when i was young (better said glued together) but really discovered the hobby at a late age myself

 

its like when i saw the question i thought yes holland is a modelbuild country because i'm turning 38 and as long as i can remember i have seen people build , found stuff online and went to shops every ounce in a while (back in the day with my dad) so that why i believe modelling is tied to the dutch

Edited by crazyrichard, 25 February 2013 - 09:55 AM.

[Helix]

Yep Aussies are here in numbers Doc

 

Here's a pic for you, even got your name on it mate

 

[carsntrucks4you]

Great to hear about car modelers in NZ and I've just signed up to modelpetrolhead.

 

And thanks for the German link - will try and make it to Frankfurt next time. Can someone supply a date already?

 

Car modeling seems to be pretty much a non-event here in Switzerland. The few specialist shops that there were are long gone and I've never heard of a model car club or show in 30 years. What models I have seen have been top notch but the emphasis seems to be on planes and military. But maybe my ear isn't close enough to the ground and I'd love to be proven wrong.

Hi Peter,

in  Germany most of the modeling shows are military or aircraft dominated. THere are only a few car or truck modelers at these shows. We have 22 big cmodel car shows in Germany  The Little Wheelies in Hannover or the The Frankfurt Model Car Show. Unfortunately the Hannover show will not take place this year but, Erich show in Frankfurt  will be at the first weekend in October. There are a also  few guys from Switzerland at this show.

 Another  show is the Model Car Exhibition at the   German Street Rod Association Nats in Weilburg (close to Frankfurt) on July 13/14, 2013.  Because the real cars are mostly Rods and Customs the model car show has the same theme. I organize this show the first time this year. I'll keep you informed.

 

One other excellent show (truck and car models) Europe is the On the Road Show in Jabeeke/Belgium. In my opinin the best show in Europe. Lots of people from France, Switzerland, Finland, UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland did I miss some other countries? This show is on Mar. 16/17, 2013

 

If your are interested in truck modeling you have to go to Gaydon/UK

Edited by carsntrucks4you, 25 February 2013 - 08:22 PM.

[Harry P.]

Great thread. I hope more non-US guys chime in. 

 

I know that Chris Roos (Chris R on the forum) from South Africa always plays "Real or Model" and "Auto ID"... Chris, how about posting some of your work? I don't think we've ever seen anyone from Africa posting photos of their work here... you could be the first!

[Drago]

Oh YES!!!

 

My name is Alexandre Taschner... despite the German lastname, I´m Brazilian and I´m pretty sure you guys are familiar with some great models and modelers that are used to show their works around here.

In Brazil, all subjects (military, aviation, ships, sci-fi, cars and figures) are very well covered.

 

But speaking specifically about cars, I have the pleasure (and is a great honor and pride) to announce that the Forum SMALL DREAMS is the first forum 100% dedicated to cars (like MCG) in Brazil (and perhaps in Latin America, as far as I am aware). It was founded in 2006 and since then we have provide help and fun time for hundreds of modelers around the country.

 

I am one of the founders and current administrator. But I must mention two other friends who help me to run the forum: Cesar Bossolani (which is also user here) and Kurt Schuman. 

 

This is our link:

www.small-dreams.com/forum

 

You all guys are invited and wellcome. As a matter of fact, some of the friends here already are posting over there... ;-)

We have a great number of foreign modelers showing their models too. The language it is not a problem. We have no issue on use english as second language... SO, COME ON!!!

Edited by Drago, 26 February 2013 - 05:33 PM.

[peekay]

Hi carsntrucks4you

 

Thanks so much for all that info, much appreciated.

 

BTW There's certainly no lack of interest in 1:1 US cars here and there are some great shows in summer. The biggest is put on by the Friday Night Cruisers in Oensingen, between Basel and Bern. On average there'll be 1500 to 2000 pre-1975 American cars there and I never miss it.

[matador88]

Czech Republic and Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia) are very strong modeling countries. it has roots in old times when it was very wideky supported and popular hobby. its more about airplanes, AFV lately, but also great car modelers are here. people here are known that thay wont give you appreciation or like of your model unless its really good. it pushes you to put more into a build if you want to present it. we also have a lot of contests considering number of inhabitants and countries sizes. i give you only small appetizer...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Tom Geiger]

Back when I was in Aruba in 1991, I found Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine on the rack in a drug store.  It got me wondering if there were modelers there or if the magazine was for tourists.

[heinz74]

In contradiction of what Richard tends to believe, The Netherlands isn't a 'huge' modelling country. There is only one major club and there are barely any specialised stores for modelling. 

I wish it would've been different, but it isn't so.

The belgiums are more enthusastic about the hobby, basically every major city andlarger town has his own club and meets regular.

 

And this is ever so true..

but not only that, but for the 'lower' part of Dutch society a fridge full of food has become more important since the switch to Euro's

(currency)

having a hobby or participating in sports has become more than a luxury..

this may sound crazy for a european country ,,but it is what it is

i too have seen a lot of hobbystores dissapear over the years..Kid's these day's like Ipods an X boxes a lot more

than a modelkit nowadays it seems

and the fact that you can change the looks ,wheels and colour of your car in a videogame in a matter of seconds seems more appealing..instead of the glue and rattlecan option in 1/24 scale...  

also most modelkitbrands more or less specialize in US cars ..be it muscle or rod...50's chrome etc...and we seldomely see those over here

perhaps at a show but not in daily traffic...

 

there is a lot of truck and plane building done here..that i know of...and 1/18 Diecast is sort of popular ..the rest is more or less subculture

 

(it's hard to find BMF..and you can forget about Modelcargarage etc stuff over here)