Why is it so hard for young people to get into modelling?

[Venom]

5 minutes ago, Ceaser_Salad said:

Sorry, the old fart was just in response. No one here is an old fart unless they say so

No need to apologize to me. I’m simply noting parallels... The old fart comment was a response to Reegs.

[peteski]

I'm starting to smell a thread-lock (and I ain't talkin' Loctite).

[Straightliner59]

On 8/14/2021 at 5:50 PM, misterNNL said:

My real point here is that with that one exception no other of my contemporaries were interested in doing anything creative. All they cared about was drinking, smoking or getting laid. I was the oddball of the group. Now any of them that I do encounter (read that as still alive) pretty much say the same thing..either" I never had the patience for that",or " my hands shake too bad/ or my eyes are too bad".

I did all of that stuff, and still built models! I must be some really special kind of weirdo! 🤣 Although, to be honest, I've always preferred cannabis to alcohol. I had a CDL for 12 years, and, because I couldn't smoke, I drank. I didn't complete a single project, in that entire span. I dabbled, but, I just didn't have the creative fire. Four-and-a-half years ago, I decided that I no longer wanted to carry a CDL. I went to the dispensary, and my muse returned. In that span, I have put seven new completed projects in my display case! An added bonus (for me) has been that it's helped me to lose 65 pounds, because I'm not dwelling on whiskey and food, and often go sixteen hours, or more, between meals. I feel better, and I am much happier. Sorry, I am digressing from the topic at hand.

[Reegs]

11 hours ago, Ceaser_Salad said:

@Reegs

"How can you say that they don't know what being creative means? Just because they aren't building model cars doesn't mean they're all commie preverts quietly but determinedly undermining truth, justice, and the "Murican way."

Well... If it aint the xbox or their phones, what part of that is creative?

Why are you so sure that all they do is stare at their smart phones and play on their xboxes? How can you be so positive that they aren't doing anything creative? Does it need to be only your definition of creative?

Edited August 16, 2021 by Reegs

[Painted Black]

Whats that....? did I hear a lock clicking?

[Ctmodeler]

My kid has started building models with me. On his third . And guess what we took his cellphone from him and his attitude is much better and he will sit with me and build. I let him go through my atash and pick out whatever he wanted ( as long as it wasn't the beretta) lol. It's tough but from experience I have to say it's more about the parenting than the children themselves 

[bluenote]

there is just way too much other stuff right now that kids can do, and that's not a bad thing!  You can watch any movie or tv show at anytime you want.  You can listen to any song you can imagine.  Video games, smart phones, etc, etc.  

Previous generations had none of that.  No movies at home, nothing on tv except at very specific times on only 1 or 2 channels.  Video games didn't exist until the late 70s with Atari.  You were literally forced to find hobbies such as model building because there were so few options.  

But again, this isn't necessarily bad, it's just different.  If we had access to the technology that is available today when we were kids, we'd be doing the same thing as these kids!  

[Venom]

2 hours ago, Ctmodeler said:

My kid has started building models with me. On his third . And guess what we took his cellphone from him and his attitude is much better and he will sit with me and build. I let him go through my atash and pick out whatever he wanted ( as long as it wasn't the beretta) lol. It's tough but from experience I have to say it's more about the parenting than the children themselves 

Right on👍

[Roger U]

1 hour ago, bluenote said:

there is just way too much other stuff right now that kids can do, and that's not a bad thing!  You can watch any movie or tv show at anytime you want.  You can listen to any song you can imagine.  Video games, smart phones, etc, etc.  

Previous generations had none of that.  No movies at home, nothing on tv except at very specific times on only 1 or 2 channels.  Video games didn't exist until the late 70s with Atari.  You were literally forced to find hobbies such as model building because there were so few options.  

But again, this isn't necessarily bad, it's just different.  If we had access to the technology that is available today when we were kids, we'd be doing the same thing as these kids!  

I totally agree with this. 

[Jim N]

There are a couple of other considerations.  Starting any hobby is hard.  There are a lot of skills that have to be mastered and at each level frustration can set in that makes the person give up the hobby.  There is a reason we see a lot of lightly used sporting goods at garage or yard sales.  Model building is no exception.  It can take 5 to perhaps 10 models before the person sees real improvement.  There is the monetary cost, but there is also the fact that frustration may set in and the person does not want to stay with the hobby.

The other point that I think is important is that the time a lot of kids have is highly regulated.  They go to school and then are whisked away to an activity after school.  Then they go home to eat supper and then either have to do their homework or they may be whisked away to another activity.  My kids are in their 20's and we did this to a certain extent, but I hear some parents talk about how they run their kids around, and the kids don't have the time to start many other activities.  The Playstation or the Xbox are easy diversions.  The games cost about $60.00.  They could have hundreds of fails learning the game, but the cost is still $60.00. 

Bluenote made a brilliant point about the sheer number of other options there are available to kids, but they are also available to adults.  Times are vastly different now and there is so much more that can draw a person's interest. 

[Venom]

Interestingly, Legos are selling like hot cakes these days, and they’re not cheap!... And of course, many of them are based on movies and video games.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Venom

[Venom]

9 minutes ago, Venom said:

Interestingly, Legos are selling like hot cakes these days, and they’re not cheap!... And of course, most of them are based on movies and video games.

 

[peteski]

Ah, that now-hidden "edit post" button gets me too.  I end up replying to my own post.   Why do they have to muck around with stuff like that?  Just like Microsoft - they shuffle things, just for the sake of doing it.

[Tom Geiger]

8 hours ago, Venom said:

Interestingly, Legos are selling like hot cakes these days, and they’re not cheap!... And of course, many of them are based on movies and video games.

Lego was all but dead many years ago. A new CEO came in who restored the brand and made it exciting. There are books about it. Maybe something model companies can read and employ

[Venom]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

Ah, that now-hidden "edit post" button gets me too.  I end up replying to my own post.   Why do they have to muck around with stuff like that?  Just like Microsoft - they shuffle things, just for the sake of doing it.

Took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about... I have no idea how I double posted. That’s weird!

[peteski]

7 hours ago, Venom said:

Took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about... I have no idea how I double posted. That’s weird!

It is likely not very weird at all.  It is the new look of the forum software.  The "edit" button is now hidden, and I often end up clicking on "quote" button when I want to edit my own post. I usually catch myself and cancel the post, then find the real "edit" button.

When I looked yesterday, there were 2 posts from you. The initial post, and the 2nd post (with a later time stamp) which had the first post quoted, but one word was modified. IIRC, you replaced "many" with "most" (or something like that).  I suspect that after you posted the initial message, you re-read it some time later and decoded to make the change. But instead of "edit" you hit "quote" and made the change in your own quoted text.

Seems that the moderators fixed your original post and deleted duplicate (as it is now gone).

[Venom]

2 hours ago, peteski said:

It is likely not very weird at all.  It is the new look of the forum software.  The "edit" button is now hidden, and I often end up clicking on "quote" button when I want to edit my own post. I usually catch myself and cancel the post, then find the real "edit" button.

When I looked yesterday, there were 2 posts from you. The initial post, and the 2nd post (with a later time stamp) which had the first post quoted, but one word was modified. IIRC, you replaced "many" with "most" (or something like that).  I suspect that after you posted the initial message, you re-read it some time later and decoded to make the change. But instead of "edit" you hit "quote" and made the change in your own quoted text.

Seems that the moderators fixed your original post and deleted duplicate (as it is now gone).

Whoa, this is way too deep for me right now... it’s scrambling my brain!

[peteski]

42 minutes ago, Venom said:

Whoa, this is way too deep for me right now... it’s scrambling my brain!

Eh, don't worry about it - the "big hands" behind the curtain seem to have taken care of things. It is all good now.

[Ceaser_Salad]

On 8/20/2021 at 3:17 PM, Jim N said:

There are a couple of other considerations.  Starting any hobby is hard.  There are a lot of skills that have to be mastered and at each level frustration can set in that makes the person give up the hobby.  There is a reason we see a lot of lightly used sporting goods at garage or yard sales.  Model building is no exception.  It can take 5 to perhaps 10 models before the person sees real improvement.  There is the monetary cost, but there is also the fact that frustration may set in and the person does not want to stay with the hobby.

The other point that I think is important is that the time a lot of kids have is highly regulated.  They go to school and then are whisked away to an activity after school.  Then they go home to eat supper and then either have to do their homework or they may be whisked away to another activity.  My kids are in their 20's and we did this to a certain extent, but I hear some parents talk about how they run their kids around, and the kids don't have the time to start many other activities.  The Playstation or the Xbox are easy diversions.  The games cost about $60.00.  They could have hundreds of fails learning the game, but the cost is still $60.00. 

Bluenote made a brilliant point about the sheer number of other options there are available to kids, but they are also available to adults.  Times are vastly different now and there is so much more that can draw a person's interest. 

Yeah I get that a lot of kids have things to do. And it really is a problem (I feel like it has increased) of kids having no time of their own. My busiest year of high school was grade 10. I was a senior position in Air Cadets (I miss cadets), had two jobs at one point, went to school on the mainland when I lived on an island (which of itself took and hour and a half to get to) add on school work and I was also helping raise the chickens then general medical appointments and therapies. But for normal kids who were allowed to do sports, they would have even MORE on their hands. I get that kids are busy, and I hate that they are so filled with other things that they don't get to live a life. I see so many people my age so devoid of character because they ARE their activities (most of which are not by choice).

But yes, your point of the cost being static is correct. I just majorly fluffed up a kit. Melted the entire front end, stupid mistake with a heater. Anyway, I have to now pay for a new kit to get the body to do it again. That (including a paint I bought just for this kit) is 50Cad for original kit, 18 for the paint (automotive paint yay) now a new kit for about 30cad. 98 cad for 1 kit, versus $60 for endless fun is a really REALLY easy choice. I had a friend tell me to open my eyes a bit, I was complaining about my generations addiction to the internet. She said that there is far more cheaper things to do on the internet. Video games, 3d rendering, photoshop art, video making, all sorts of things that are way cheaper, AND are creative that you can do while not going anywhere.

I do apologize to @Reegs . I wanted to snap at you for being ignorant, but I am the ignorant one here. I have no right to be talking about a subject I really don't know anything about. You are correct. Truce? haha

But returning to the topic at hand. I guess the only reason I got into modelling is that I am not like my compatriots of age. I can't do sports, my family only had 1 computer among us when I was growing up so video games were not a thing. I don't have a fancy smart phone.

Maybe my generation just doesn't need modelling. They get the experience of cars more visually in games. Sad to say, but if the generation above mine is the last to appreciate models, I think we can see where this community is heading.

Sorry for the rant. Modelling is burning me out right now, I am seeing a bit of a different side. I am also going to be a real adult soon so I really ought to stop referring to myself as a kid and see some form of reality.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Ceaser_Salad

[Rick L]

Well... After all of this discussion, I’ve determined that you’ve come to the wrong forum to ask this question. All of us can understand why WE build but we have no definitive answer why today’s kids don’t. 🙃🤣

[Venom]

The end.

[Reegs]

No prob, Ceasar.

BTW, a similar question , only about slot cars, every once in a while gets kicked around in the slot car forums, too.

Edited August 23, 2021 by Reegs

[Ceaser_Salad]

59 minutes ago, Reegs said:

No prob, Ceasar.

BTW, a similar question , only about slot cars, every once in a while gets kicked around in the slot car forums, too.

I do wish slot cars were more of a thing. I have wanted to try them out at some point in my life.

[Reegs]

18 hours ago, Ceaser_Salad said:

I do wish slot cars were more of a thing. I have wanted to try them out at some point in my life.

That about sums up what the discussions are all about!😄

[89AKurt]

The model railroad club in my town, had a swap meet / show last week.  One of the guys came on the local radio talk show to promote and talk about it.  Of course this subject came up.  This is not unique to our hobby.  Anything that counts on memories, mechanical things, and living in want but not abundance and finally being able to get stuff you couldn't when growing up, is not interesting.  I could elaborate, but certain issues are not allowed on this forum.