An Escape?

[FEENIX]

I don't know about you all but for me modeling 1:25 scale is really a sort of escape and sometimes I wonder if some people might do it for some other reason. Not to say that my life is extremely hectic but being in the Marines and have a wife and child with one on the way, life gets a little crazy and it just feels like when im building, painting, gluing, etc, I feel like I'm a 1:25 scale dude just working in my own 1:25 garage and its so peaceful just watching what my mind creates come to life and its like my escape. Sometimes though, I know some of you can relate, when in said escape you forget to eat and do things that you need to do and time just flies by and then I sorta snap back into reality. Just wondering what any thoughts on this were...

[Dr. Cranky]

Ozzy, welcome to the forum, and quite honestly this sounds like poetry in my ears. Many of us work, raised families AND built models in whatever little time we can scrounge up. I learned to build through the night when I could not sleep. A model at a time, a new styrene adventure. The opening of the box, the feel of the plastic. Ah, the possibilities. Yes, it's addictive, and there should never be any reason to stop.

It's an escape all right from an ever-demanding (and meaningless) world. When you create with your hands, you are setting the world in order. I'm a big believer in this.

[FEENIX]

Man, its just so magical because I feel that especially in today's age, no one can seem to relate to something like this due to what I feel is a dying hobby in mainstream media. No one appreciates the amount of detail that goes into something that we build because no one has that feeling of self gratitude and all they know now is gaming or virtual "whatevers". Thats why im so glad Charlie from Pro Tech told me about this website. It makes me feel at home knowing that there are so many more people like me out there and actually take time out of their busy lives to actually sit down and build something with their own two hands and when someone else who has no idea walks into their house and sees that sitting on the shelf they're like "where did you buy that?" all we can do is laugh because even if you begin to describe what you did in the least they're like "oh thats cool" but they have NO IDEA. The hours you burnt your brain trying to figure out how to mold something together and the amount of time that went into getting no glue spots anywhere or the hours it took for something to dry. I just hate where today's young generation today is going and its unfortunate that only a select few of us will be able to hopefully pass on to our youngsters what it really means to have a sense of self pride knowing that you are able to create and not just play on something virtual that was already created by a computer, a push of a button if you will.

[moparmagiclives]

Welcome, and you are very correct. It's an escape, as much as it is a journey. No matter what the destination.

[Miatatom]

It's definitely good therapy. Don't have the money and the old back won't let me work on real cars any longer. It's also neat to buy cars I could never afford and build them. I did have some fun times with a few full size projects.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v705/baddogracing/Cobra/?action=view&current=right082704.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v705/baddogracing/?action=view&current=Img_0379.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v705/baddogracing/?action=view&current=royalerf.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v705/baddogracing/?action=view&current=RoeblingintheVee_resized.jpg

[sleeper]

Ya I agree with you 100% of all of you on this thread everybody needs an escape I myself at work try to think complex items to use on to my builds and to see what my creations will be, some I just tried to imagine around my work what I can use for scratch build materials I have so many things to decide on and do this way I don't have to think about the quota i have to produce that i make but i usually make them anyway.

[Rob Hall]

It's definitely a great escape...though I never seem to finish anything, I spend my hobby time in the hunt and buying kits mostly. My work is very mental, fast-paced and at times exhausting w/ long hours.

[Guest]

It is definatly a great escape from the insanity of life. You have hit the nail on the head.

[Sixgunner68]

I think most hobbies are a form of escape. During your "real" life you have a set of expectations placed on you that you don't have when modeling. If I want to go from working on a hot rod, to working on a P-51 Mustang, to an X-wing, no one will come in and tell me that I'm "off task". I expect one day that a doctor will tell me "Sand two halves of an engine/transmission combo and call me in the morning".

Plus, I have never owned a new car in my life, so i always have some 1:1 car trouble to deal with (the wife's CRV is leaking coolant this morning ). It's kind of nice to know that i won't wake up in the morning and find a puddle of something under my model car . I dont worry about drivetrain geometry, I'll never have to worry if the mods I make will hurt my trade-in value, and if I want to put a blown 454 big block in a mini cooper, who cares?

And for Dr. Cranky, if I want to add a fully-automatic, belt-fed machine gun and an atomic-powered death-ray to my 1949 Mercury Custom, I'll never have to worry the the Dept. of Homeland Security will fire 125 warning shots in my back as I make a mad dash to the garage in a last ditch effort to make it to my end of the world "preppers" hideout .

[Foxer]

Welcome here, Ozzy. What you say about the kids now-a-days is kind of true, but there is hope. I'm retired and spend my time building, among many other things. I tried getting my son interested when young but he wasn't interested .. computer games had him hooked. Sounds familiar to many but now ... at 33 years old and a programmer he's starting to build little dio scenes. They are based on his games, but my builds are based on my auto addiction!

So, there IS hope!

[rmvw guy]

It used to be an escape for me, now there is no escape, I am retired from everything else. It's funny how hours can slip by unnoticed while I am building, then between builds I am bored to death till I start another. I can sit and watch my wife read a novel for about ten minutes. Then it's back to the bench. I simply love this hobby and it's nice to know I'm not alone. This is a great thread so far Ozzy, thanks for starting it!

[FEENIX]

Welcome here, Ozzy. What you say about the kids now-a-days is kind of true, but there is hope. I'm retired and spend my time building, among many other things. I tried getting my son interested when young but he wasn't interested .. computer games had him hooked. Sounds familiar to many but now ... at 33 years old and a programmer he's starting to build little dio scenes. They are based on his games, but my builds are based on my auto addiction!

So, there IS hope!

Thats awesome that he does that. I am glad there is some hope