Great (or other) Moments In Modeling History

[bbowser]

For me, it was the Monogram NASCAR kits in the 80s and 90s that brought me back to the fold. I'd built (glue-bombed) a ton of kits as a kid in the 60s but forgot all about it until after divorce left me with some free time, and my passion for Winston Cup racing brought it all back. Now it's mostly replica stock builds, and this and other boards on the 'net have brought me in contact with many others sharing this crazy hobby.

[421gto]

Looking back, seeing as I'm on the other side of the pond to most of you, it was Street Machine mag, who back in the early/mid ?? 80s added the small talk section to the mag. Opened up my eyes to what other people was building.

[rel14]

I. myself think everyday, since i started buying models with my lawn mowing money in the 60's is a great moment,, There

are to many moments in modeling, to pick out the great ones,,,, it just keeps getting better,,,

[hpiguy]

The Internet

Agreed. The plethora of information on building, videos, and sourcing supplies/kits from around the world with our fingertips has moved modelling from the limits of each of our towns to a worldwide community.

[Richard Bartrop]

Maybe not a great moment, but a significant one was when the car companies stopped wanting promotional models. I don't think enough attention has been given to the fact that the model companies could crank out so many different kits because the promo contracts subsidized the cost of a set of moulds. I've seen lots of theories tossed about why the model industry took a downturn in the 70's, but I think the real answer is that Detroit was no longer covering the costs.

[uncle potts]

When my Grandmother bought me my first model, then in the early 80's discovering Scale Auto, and realizing I wasn't the only kid that grew up and still kept building. And then a couple of years ago discovering this forum. Those are a few of the highlights for me.

Paul

[LDO]

Personal milestones:

Discovering SAE in 1988, along with the articles that really fascinated me, like Mark Gustavson's "Mercari", and later in Car Modeler, his "Custom Clinic" series. As a huge fan of lead sleds, that series of articles was just incredible. Chopping, channeling, sectioning, hammering brass...and above all, doing it with a sense of style and balance. Not building a car with mail-slot windows "so they'll know it's chopped". I was also inspired by the Hot Rod Magazine contest coverage. I had always lived in small towns, never being exposed to new ideas in modeling, and I remember being blown away when I read that one of those cars had a custom tail light carved from a toothbrush. Radical stuff for a high schooler before the internet age.

For the industry, I'd have to agree with the poster who mentioned AMT's '66 Nova. It set a new standard, and was followed by others like Revell/Monogram's '59 Cadillac and '69 Camaro.

Bummer milestone: Car Modeler going out of print.

Edited August 26, 2013 by LDO

[Tom Geiger]

Great moments?

1. The invention of the Internet! At first thought as something that would kill the hobby, it turned out to be the exact opposite, putting modelers from around the world in daily contact through message boards and email exchanges. Never before was so much collaboration and research material available. Have a question? Get almost instant response from knowledgable modelers. Need a rare and obscure part? Just ask.

2. The invention of digital photography. It gives everyone the ability to take good photos and share them with the world. Some of us never got the hang of old film photography, and those who would take pictures at shows could only take 24 or 48 due to the size of rolls and expense of processing it. Now we take literally 100s of pictures at shows! And that information is on the Internet that very evening! And we never had the ability to take in progress built photos. Now we can follow along and watch the masters build, step by step. Amazing.

3. eBay. A funny thing happens when you take all the collectibles in the world and put them in a single searchable database. What was once rare and obscure is now obtainable if you are patient and bid high enough. We all own kits we never saw before in person due to eBay.

[zenrat]

What Tom said.

Plus 4. Payment via the interweb. Remember sending cheques off in envelopes?

[blunc]

I consider THe GSL contest to be a milestone, a place where talented modelers get to meet, share techniques and...of course take measure of their skills against other modelers.

I may actually get to go someday.