Newbie

[vslg1]

Greetings...everyone...just when I think I belong to waayyyy too many forums...I find another that is chock full of info...

My name is Sean, I'm from Chicago...I haven't touched, or built a model car since my teenage years...but this Christmas...when trying to decide what to get 8, 10 and 12 year old relatives...I stumbled into Hobby Lobby...(I had to get some stuff for some girls too)...And my mouth dropped when I saw the model section...I think I may need to revisit an old hobby...though I must admit...I've got several boxes of model railroading stuff in my basement I've been dying to get back at too...

I own and operate a small party rental/entertainment business in Chicago...The difficult times are now...when its winter...noone really wants inflatables and dunk tanks...so we rely heavily on the entertainment aspect of things...We offer...stuff an animal parties, costumed characters, DJs, karaoke, face painting...temp. airbrush tattoos, balloon twisting...sand art, spin art, candy art, jewelry art and pretty soon we'll being doing pottery painting and create a t-shirt parties...

Often times, its a bit difficult to find things to engage the boys...esp...around the 8 - 13 year old ages...so I thought I'd look into some form of party option in which the guests could put together models (which would of course be their party favor as welll...

Does anyone know of places where things like this could be bought at wholesale prices...?

Any thoughts on how to pull something like this off...? They would at least have to be fast builds that maybe could be put together in 1 to 1.5 hours...or maybe get started and finish at home...We could offer options such as paint as addons...or would you recommend the already painted options and/or maybe the no cement options...

I also considered RC styles...where the guests could still put together cars...but making them remote controlled would be an add on option...perhaps adding a custom sound to the car...etc...etc...Any thoughts ? Or is there a separate forum for those ? I'm in the preliminary stages of this...so any help you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated...

[Scott H.]

Hi Sean and welcome to the forums.

First of all, I would like to recommend the K.I.S.S. principle here... The simpler you can make it, the more enjoyable it will be for the party goers since they will not be sitting in one spot for a long period of time at a "party" where they are already hyped up from all the sugar and adrenalin coursing through their veins. 30 - 45 minutes is the time frame I would realistically be shooting for as more than that and the children are going to be losing interest.

My honest recommendation is to contact Revell about their Make and Take kits. It's EXACTLY what you are wanting!!! The S.C.M.A. has used them in a couple of car shows that they have attended and the response to them was always favorable.

Here's a link: Revell Make and Take page

Here's an excerpt from their page describing the kits:

Each Make 'n Take event package shown below comes with: 1 Fully Packaged Model Kit, 24 Bagged Model Kits, Decal and Instruction Sheets, 12 Screwdrivers (included in auto kits only), 2 Pre-Event Posters and a Helpful Hints Manual

Make 'n Take model kits change throughout the year so check back frequently.

Make 'n Take kits are ideal for Birthday Parties, Church Events and Boys and Girls club events.

============================================================================

As far as your returning to modeling goes, I would honestly suggest giving it a try once more!

You can sharpen your skills back to what they once were before you start into those SMALL details of the model railroad! I have a bunch of old trains myself that I plan on restoring to their former glory also. I'm not EVEN going to try to fiddle with those tiny suckers until I get back building the bigger models with decent results.

I hope this has helped!

-Scott H.

Edited December 26, 2008 by Scott H. AKA Cpt. Bondo

[JamesW]

Scott, you beat me to it, I was going to suggest the very same thing!

[vslg1]

Thank you gentlemen...

When I mentioned 1.5 hours...its actually more like 2 hours...but the first hour would be play (assemble) followed by an hour of eat, cut cake, open gifts time...That's how most of our other parties are handled...

Do you think that would be a party that boys would be excited about coming to...?

What age group do you think would get the most out of it...

Those make and takes look like the "snap" ones at Hobby Lobby...Do you think the other boys would think they're too babyish..? Can these be snapped together in an hour...?

I'd need to figure out a way to get them wholesale...

Take a look at this website...I'd love to pull this off...but hey...babysteps...

Ridemarkerz

[vslg1]

I think I answered my own question...The make n takes are made up of the snap tites

Gonna look into these as well...

RC Models

[billd64]

dont use rc models, use snap kits from revell / mongram, they have a program called make it / take it. your also going to need sprue cuters and someone to work withthe kids, sprue cutters can be gotten fromXuron Cuttoes in Maine, they will work with you for maybe a dozen cutters.

you can also promote this program in schools up to 3rd grade, the skillls here are hand/eye coordination to give an end result

ive done the program for my cars club, xuron helped with cutters as we have helped with this program, though a little more involved to kids that were in 6th grae with using both snap / glue kits.

our local schools like it, and the texaco day school program likes our time with the kids as well

billd64

I think I answered my own question...The make n takes are made up of the snap tites

Gonna look into these as well...

RC Models