are your models "off limits" to youngsters?

[62rebel]

i thought i'd ask this as a great many very detailed and unquestionably fragile models are produced by our members.... mine aren't finely detailed, sometimes i don't put mirrors or antennas or plates, etc etc on them.... but, when you guys are showing them to 6-8 year olds, are you panic stricken that something might get broken? i make it clear that they're not toys, they can't stand up to being played with, but i'm okay with them handling them, as long as i'm right there to help open hoods, etc.....

reason behind this is, that modern kids are starved for tactile sensation in their play. sure, they can sit and rack up over 9,000 points (if you catch that, shame on you) on a video game, but all they're getting is early onset carpal tunnel.... and brain damage. if i can risk letting a 7year old examine some of my favorite builds, and explain to him what i've done to them and how i did it, then i'm getting yet another kid interested in something other than planting his butt in front of a video game and hopefully creating another modeler....

(BTW.... some of my builds are old promos and up to being played with any time!)

[Austin T]

I like to share how I made my kits and how they look with kids younger than me,but you do have to be careful.At our local show there was a kid that looked about 5 or 6 CLIMBING ON THE INTEMEDIATE TABLE around my models and my friends models.I was able to explain politly to the kid that doing that is not a good idea.At the end off the day my and my friend walked away with medals and mint models, and that kid walked away ready to build his first kit.Back to the subject, I think the best way to show a model to a "Energetic" kid is to have it on a turnable display stand and explain the kit.

[Ben]

CH CH CH CHILDREN............N N N NN N NEAR M M M M MY M M M ODELS????????? :o :o

[Chuck Most]

In short- yes. They're all kept at an 'above toddler level' on the shelves. I don't care if they paw around in the unbuilt kits, but no touchie on the builts.

[Austin T]

Almost forgot,At the same show I held the make'n' take.It was a great time and I look forwordto doing it next year.Also the tips and trick about how to glue in clear parts and how to use Tamiya liquid cement without staining the body.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Austin T

[Ben]

Uh-oh! I think Ben just popped a vien!

I remember it very well!!!!!!! I was about 15 and came home from school to see that my mom had let my nieces go into my room and grab a few of my built models and they were playing with them on the kitchen floor. Now I get VERY nervous if a kid comes anywhere near my models. I am blessed with a son that has never even tried to touch one!

[martinfan5]

Every age is off limits to touching my builds , I can mess them up all on my own and do not need anyone helping me with that .

[scalenut]

I keep them out of reach, so they don't get mistaken for a toy..The grand kids are way too young to understand models.It's just shiny eye candy to them

Edited December 31, 2011 by scalenut

[martinfan5]

My four month old then is way to young, but she does like to look at them

[JustBill]

Depending on the age and maturity level we're dealing with. If I can see a child wants to check it out cause they might be interested in building, then I'm all for it. If a rambunctious Tasmanian devil wants to take it outside to watch it burn, then I prolly won't give them the time of day. I've been around kids for years. My wife has a daycare and we have three kids of our own. You can learn a lot about there personality just by spending a few minutes talking with them.

[2000-cvpi]

Absolutely, both my daughter and son can look, touch, help paint or break my built models. My six year old girl plays with some of them when I am building. How else am I going to get my kids into building models when they get a little older? I used to play with my father's models when I was her age. That worked for attracting me into this hobby. I still remember playing with a 1960 Buick promo and a lot of Johan kits of his when I was growing up.

[LAone]

not many people know that i build model cars. i dont have many kids coming by to place anyways. luckily i only had to say it once to my kids to not touch my model kit stuff. although they both sometimes sit and watch and show some interest in what i do, i am not sure if they will get into it. my son is only 4 and likes to look at them, but my daughter is 8 and seems to want to build one. but doesn't say that she does, even when i ask. she's a shy one, one day though.

tim/gray ghost: god bless you bro.

[diymirage]

on a side note, i actually have a "decoy" kit for my son who is almost 2

the decoy consists of a old model box with a ford mustang in it

the mustang was a completed model that fell at one point and then body came off the chassis, aswell as one wheel

there are also some old trees and just little tidbits in there

whenever i sit down and build a kit the decoy comes out for my boy to play with

this way he feels like hes building just like daddy and i dont have to worry about him tearing up a build i actually care about

[FASTBACK340]

I don't let my Wife in my hobby room...

[bbowser]

I don't let my Wife in my hobby room...

LOL. My grandsons (5 & 2) are allowed to drool on the display case, but not get inside. When they're a little older and show some interest, I've got plenty enough in the stack to keep them busy.

[crazyjim]

There's only a couple of kids around here and they know they're not welcome at my house. Neither are their parents. Issue solved.

[FASTBACK340]

Actually, in all fairness, my Wife stays out just so "nothing bad" happens. She does the same thing with the garage. She just doesn't go out there. If I'm working in either, she'll come hang with me. But if I'm not there she'll respect the area and stay out. By choice.

Children aren't even allowed in the HOUSE, never mind the hobby room....

[FASTBACK340]

Actually, again in all fairness, children aren't allowed in my house because my dog will eat them.

[Greg Pugh]

Every age is off limits to touching my builds

NO DOUBT!! I was showing one of my builds to one of my grown-up friends and he just all of a sudden reaches down to pick it up and before I can say "oh no, no touchie", he pinches the front wheels and snaps them both off. I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe an adult would do what a 5 year old would do. He didn't even ask if he could touch it, he was just gonna grab it!!

On the original subject though. I have raised both of my boys (6 & 9) around models. They both build and love the hobby and have been bulding since they were 4 (actually, my youngest was 3). I started explaining from day one that these are not toys. They've never even attempted to play with them. They each have about 8 or so done builds each. I put up a shelf in each of their rooms and they even put them in display cases. They know that their models are their models and dad's models are dad's. They will come watch me build when they're not building and they will check out what I've done. But they both know my two big rules......1) Don't ever touch dad's models and 2) Don't ever bump dad when he's at the desk.

[disabled modeler]

I am ok with kids here...but the room is off limits to the young ones too young (to understand anyway). Our cats are defiantly not allowed they would pack off small parts to who knows where?

[kobuzz]

It's kinda like give a kid a fish and feed him for a day.

Teach a kid to fish and feed him a life time.

I let them look and handle them and some times i see that

spark in there eyes that i had when i first got into them.

To tell you the truth i love children and if they brake one

no big deal.Just a good excuse to build it again.

My wife and i can not have children so i guess i look

at things a little different.But i try to put children

and the love of them first.

Nice post!

[fumi]

I'm not too worried about youngsters messing with my models. The ones I really treasure stays out of reach in the cabinet, and if the rest got dropped accidentally I don't feel too bad about it.

I've had little kids and old people and anything in between push or drop my models off into oblivion. In general, the younger they are the more sorry they feel about it.

[ZombieHunter26]

I try explaining how models work to my stepson and even show him the instructions for the two I've gotten so far.... he doesn't seem to -quite- understand the concept...

However!

It is much easier to explain a kit to a him than try to explain geometry and measurements for scratchbuilding to a 7 year old.

Hopefully one day he will understand what I'm trying to teach him well enough for him to sit with me and build something.

As for touchy-touchy?

I'm with my Dad on that- certain ones can be handled... as long as I am RIGHT THERE.

I absolutely do not let any small hands near my work table though... too many small parts and sharp edges for them to be around.

[Guest Johnny]

I remember it very well!!!!!!! I was about 15 and came home from school to see that my mom had let my nieces go into my room and grab a few of my built models and they were playing with them on the kitchen floor. Now I get VERY nervous if a kid comes anywhere near my models. I am blessed with a son that has never even tried to touch one!

This is what I had when I was a kid at home! I even put them up on top of a metal wardrobe cabinet when I knew they were coming over to visit and the turds found a carnival cane (you old guys know what that is) and knocked them down!!!

All four of my kids grew up around me building models and they learned from a very young age that things not their's was not to be touched. They never broke a one!

My grand kids (have 12) were taught the same thing. Of course in the later years here the models are in cases. But there is a lot of stuff sitting out in the model room. But even the 21 month old will come in and point and say "Papa's not touch" or just say "truckie" or "car" but will not even start to reach.

She will point at the hobby knife and say "make owie Ella not touch"! Of course anything she could get hurt on is out of her reach and in a case when I'm not there using it!

The idea is to teach them, even other peoples kids! It will amaze you how good most are about things like this when they are explained to rather than yelling and running them off!

[walt francis]

Only if they can climb 6' and bust the combo on the case

I live by WC fields mono....they ask Mr fields how he liked kids and he replyed {WELL DONE !!! }