Snap together kits and beginners

[dragstk]

While talking to a friend of mine, she said she loved the PT Cuiser she used to own (please dont judge 😁). Well, I happen to have the Revell snap tite kit in my stash (please dont judge..😆) So I thought Id build it and give it to her.

Ive been building models for 50 years. And the entire time Im building it, Im thinking of what the experience would be like for a beginner or someone new to the hobby. Without some serious modifications, this kit could not be finished. The headlights had to be cut into 3 parts to fit. The windshield/side glass,back light fit so bad that the interior wouldnt fit and so the chassis could not be in even close. It had to be cut up also to use it.

 

I realize this is a sample of 1. But if someone new to the hobby started with his kit, its going to leave a "bad taste" for the hobby. And then we lose another person from joining the hobby. And from I stand and what I see at local shows, there seems to be fewer and fewer new builders, especially young ones. Its seems the median age of builders is getting up in the 50's and 60's. Whats going to happen to this hobby if we dont get new blood coming in?

I wrote to Revell, basically saying the same thing as here. Hopefully they will take this as helpful and not as an attack on their kits.

This kind of a rant and I dont want to seem overly negative. I'd just like to see steps taken to ensure that this hobby endures.

Any thoughts, comments, please feel free to chime in

[stitchdup]

I kept enough of that kit to build a pick up from it (the roof went elsewhere) I might have to check the lights now. The tractor snap kits  i've found to be very good and easy to assemble, though an overpaid engineer (and gundam builder) i met completely failed when he tried to build one for his son but i think thats more down to him being clueless than the kits as my neices 10 and 14 managed with no modelling experience. I'm hoping to build another couple with them over christmas. I found the polar lights snap beetle went together well and once together they can be detailed like any other kit. theres even an engine to wire if they want to try that. the only parts that really give away it being a snap kit are the lights but a bit of foil over the hole in the bucket and trimming the nub from the clear part hides that, but the clear needs glued then. I had a revell snap camaro too that was nice enough. simplified but it looked good. I dont know how it built though cos it got given a new home. I also have an airfix porsche snap kit, 32 parts and 24 of them were the wheels. it is an awful kit, and a slot car probably has more detail. i think it had its roots at heller though as it was part of an airfix/heller series possibly called bobcat. the others in the series were a dump truck, a digger and maybe a tractor but after the porsche i'll never buy from that series. I guess snap kits are like detail kits, some are just trash but some can be great

[casassa]

I watched several of my grandsons build those PT Cruiser kits when they first came out and they didn't experience any of the problems you mentioned. The only problem encountered was having to enlarge the holes in the wheels to insert the metal axles. 

[OldNYJim]

7 hours ago, dragstk said:

she said she loved the PT Cuiser she used to own (please dont judge 😁)

I think PT Cruisers are cool!  I’d drive one.  Definitely if it was lowered and had the cool woody kit people used to put on them

[dragstk]

As I said, this was a sample of 1. And Im glad/hope that my experience is not the norm. Maybe my kit was made on a Monday or a Friday. 😆

[mcs1056]

Coincidentally, I was helping my neighbor's kid with the Herbie the Love Bug snap kit (Polar Lights). What a pain!

Hinge screws that, when tightened, go in too far and make protrusion stress marks on the body exterior. "Glass" panels with poor fit. Several other issues, including unclear instructions. 

It was all I could do to not teach the kid some new words. I kept quiet, though, and after he left, fixed the problems with standard modeling techniques (cutting, drilling, filling, and painting). When they showed up the next weekend, the kit looked pretty OK, and he and his dad were  happy. They want to try a glue kit next.   

[Lunajammer]

Many parts of snap kits don't really "snap" to a tidy fit. Many parts are just friction held, meaning you press the parts firmly and they sort of stay there. I don't think many kids being introduced to snappers have such high expectations that they are turned away from the hobby if they don't experience perfection.

I don't recall much angst when building mine. I'm sure there were imperfections but nothing I recall being deal breakers. Of course, this one didn't sit on the kit chassis either, it's rolling on Revell Audi R8 running gear with its V-10 in the back as an ultimate sleeper.

Edited Thursday at 07:34 PM by Lunajammer

[Deathgoblin]

Got one of these in the stash.  I always kinda liked the PT Cruiser.    I'll have to dig it out before long.

[Bugatti Fan]

My son used to own a PT Cruiser and I drove it a few times. The retro rod styling is not to everyone's taste but I quite liked it.  They become a bit of a cult car here in the UK but don't see so many of them about on the roads now. My son's car was a gold factory colour but I have seen some with nice custom paintwork.

I have never seen a full sized one with fake exterior wood panelling like Mike's lovely model. Is the wood a figment of Mike's imagination for this model or based on real car ?

Edited Saturday at 06:54 PM by Bugatti Fan

[Can-Con]

2 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

My son used to own a PT Cruiser and I drove it a few times. The retro rod styling is not to everyone's taste but I quite liked it.  They become a bit of a cult car here in the UK but don't see so many of them about on the roads now. My son's car was a gold factory colour but I have seen some with nice custom paintwork.

I have never seen a full sized one with fake exterior wood panelling like Mike's lovely model. Is the wood a figment of Mike's imagination for this model or based on real car ?

The "woodie" package was available for a few years and Mike's model looks pretty accurate to that. Pretty sure there were a few aftermarket companies offering something similar too.

[Bugatti Fan]

Thanks for that information Steve, and a picture of a real car with the fake wood panels.