how far we've come

[randyc]

So I got a DVD of a certain magazine's back issues for my birthday.   I started reading that magazine in 1987 and have most every issue since then.   But I was excited to be able to go back and look at the ones before that.  I'm still reading the first B&W issues.   Some issues were nearly 100 pages.  

I'm probably in the middle of the modeling generations.  I started in 1974 with an MPC Corvette annual.  It's what boys did back then.   It was a GLUE BLOB for certain.  no paint either.   There was a break there in the 80s for girls, cars, and high school, but modeling came back for me in college as a way to deal with college.  And I've never really left it since.

Today, we take BMF for granted.   But it came along since 1979.  Reading about it and how to use it is fun.

Today we are over the excitement of Goodyear GT Radials that were in Monongram kits.   those were the rage in the early 80s.   And so many other things I'm reading about.   

The diecast cars were mostly HORRIBLE.   1/18 scale was a new and exciting scale.  BBuragos that we don't speak so highly of today were cutting edge back then.   

Franklin Mint's first car the MB 500K.   Exciting stuff in those days.  Pretty crude by the later year standards of the Mint cars.    We'll probably never have that level of detail again in 1/24 diecast.

Mark Gustavson was encouraging us all to move to the next level of building, whatever that was for each of us.   His early magazine builds...   

Tim Boyd, who is still so big a part of the modeling scene, was there, doing the same things he does for us all today.  Our own Gramps46 was a contributor in the early days.   He is becomng a fast friend of mine.   I'm sure there are many others here that were a big part of the modeling history that are still with us and some that are no longer with us.  I didn't realize how prolific some of those folks were.  From my experience, I do miss Harry P. For his insights and pushes to make us all better modelers.   Tom Gaffney's columns were probably my favorite part - I laways waited to read his reviews before buying a new kit.

I know this forum is for MCM, but a lot of the history and what SAE stood for originally is most alive here in this forum and magazine.  I hope that this magazine can celebrate its history in such a way someday.  

What other things have we seen come and go?  

[Bugatti Fan]

I started making model cars way back in the 1960's being inspired by Don Emmons and Dennis Doty's magazine articles in Model Car Science in what few copies I got hold of in the UK.

I have seen many model car magazines come and go over the years both Stateside and over here in the UK. Scale Auto (or Scale Auto Enthusiast as it was previously known) is the only one that has really stood the test of time as Kalmbach has been at the helm  publishing it for more than 30 years I guess, as well as Fine Scale Modeler.

With MCM's current problems appearing to be ongoing, it may well fall by the wayside as many others have before, and that would be a great pity, unless a well established publisher considers buying the title out and taking it on with a view to turning the magazine around and restoring subscriber and vendor confidence.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Bugatti Fan

[Jantrix]

3 hours ago, randyc said:

I know this forum is for MCM, but a lot of the history and what SAE stood for originally is most alive here in this forum and magazine.  I hope that this magazine can celebrate its history in such a way someday.  

I owe SAE quite lot. 

When I was about 19 (1987) I was still putzing around with models. When I brought one out to show my dad, my mom chimed in, "Aren't you a little old for toy cars?" I thought about that quite a lot, because it had already been bouncing around in my mind. When I spotted my first issue of SAE in the hobby store, and saw the level of work from ADULTS(!!!), I felt completely vindicated. I saw those little plastic kits, not as toys, but as the canvas for art. I bought that issue and many more in the years that followed. It is likely I would not be a modeler today if it were not for that magazine. 

As for the things that have changed, it's all been for the better. So it's all good.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

I started making model cars way back in the 1960's being inspired by Don Emmons and Dennis Doty's magazine articles...

Yup...

13 minutes ago, Jantrix said:

...When I... was still putzing around with models (as a teen)... my mom chimed in, "Aren't you a little old for toy cars?" I thought about that quite a lot, because it had already been bouncing around in my mind. When I... saw the level of work from ADULTS(!!!), I felt completely vindicated. I saw those little plastic kits, not as toys, but as the canvas for art...

Yup yup.

A lot has changed in the hobby, like the demise of the small hobby-shop (for the most part), and a few things I won't bother to criticize. Still, we're in a golden-age of modeling, ANY kind of modeling, with parts and technologies easily available that I could only dream of when I was a teen.

[Bucky]

As a lad...model kits were sold EVERYWHERE!!! And there were so many annual kits to choose from, it took me a while to pick which one to spend my 'ALLOWANCE' on! 

Now, finding model kits requires a drive in the car, or an internet connection! And, annual kits are unheard of. 

But, back then, there wasn't much in the way of aftermarket parts, be it resin, or photo etch, or turned metal parts from a mini lathe.

Today, I try to use a modest amount of aftermarket stuff to enhance what I build, even if I'm the only one that will ever see it! LOL

And, a lot of that is due to the consistent purchase of the modeling magazines down thru the years, and joining the many forums that have come and gone, too.

[randyc]

My parents/grandparents would take me into a store and drop me at the model section of whatever store - drug store, dept store, grocery, etc.  and leave me there.   They would do their shopping and come find me there when they finished.  Or somewhere in the toy section.  I would rarely ever have reason to leave those aisles.  I mean models, hot wheels, matchbox, SSPs (look them up if you don't know).  Evel Knievel motorcycle sets - I ran through several of those.  And the occasional GI Joe.  

I know you can't do that now, but that's how it worked when I was a kid.  I was appalled that others would actually open the shrink wrap and leave a model there.  Or even worse, STEAL parts out of it.!  

 

[Richard Bartrop]

IRemember the days when if you wanted to put a metallic finish on something, your options were a bottle of Testors silver, kit chrome, and that's it?  When they came out with Steel, I was so happy.  As far as tools and materials go, this is the golden age of modelling.

 

Calgary is still blessed with a number of hobby stores, but it there's anything I miss about the '70s is when every drugstore and knick knack shop had a stack of model kits, mostly because of the oddball stuff you could run across.  I discovered Jo-han classics, Pyro Vintage Brass, and even a Renwal Revival, just by keeping my eyes open.

[Classicgas]

I owe getting back into the hobby to SAE/SA. If it hadn't been there I wouldn't most likely have taken the interest.