Sharing our thoughts

When an editor needs a place to put his/her ideas; to express a commitment; or just to write something which is important at that moment, the Editorial section is the place we usually take to do it.
But my personal feeling about sharing our modeling knowledge, applies also to the "ideas"; so, we at Modeler Site will provide our "Editorial Section" to our collaborators, and readers, so they too will have a place to express their very interesting comments on our hobby.
This month we will present a very interesting note from Ken Fullalove, an Australian fellow modeler. We have been interchanging ideas with Ken about several modeling topics, and I was impressed at how clearly he expresses his personal thinking about "super detailing." I must admit that I agree with him 100%, so, here is his point of view, in his own words.

" Fear "

by Ken Fullalove (kenzo@bigpond.net.au ) 

As a fifty-one year old modeller with two of my three children capable modellers in the old sense, I fear for the future of our hobby - building scale replicas.

My personal interest is model cars, mainly Grand Prix as distinct from Formula 1. To me there is nothing more evocative of the racing car than the pre-plastic era. Bodies are OK, but there should be metal underneath. 

In 1:1 scale, plastic doesn't thrill me. Now you understand my allegiances, let's get down to business.

I am concerned that the masses of diecast available are slowly but surely killing our hobby. This marketing exercise, all in the name of market share for the big manufacturers, is proving to them that turnover can be achieved selling mass produced items out of Asia. Check underneath and  you'll invariably find " Made in China ". Even Franklin, Danbury Mint and the revered Matchbox are from China. The upside for the manufacturer is that warranty claims are handled at the trash bin due to the low manufacturing cost, and because these producers are "jobbers" there isn't a huge tooling investment. 

The downside for the modeller is that kits will continue to lose interest for the "biggies". Have you noticed how many re-issues are appearing ? How few real new kits ? These are mostly of models which were originally released in the swinging sixties / seventies but still command current price ! The Brabham BT 46 with a clear top took a lot of thought, didn't it? A new variation in the market for little or no investment. 

Make no mistake about who influences the manufacturers, either. We modellers are an annoyance to them. Critics of their so-called best efforts. The person / consumer / group with the greatest influence is the one who is paid weekly, goes to the department store, purchases a kit, builds it in the next 7 days and repeats the process approx 52 times a year. The resulting finished standard is of no interest to them. These are the people who keep the "biggies" producing. 

This self implosion of our hobby is being propagated by the purchaser, too. Why waste time building something when you can buy it finished. Buy it; unbox it, and gaze admiringly at it. Skill / satisfaction level - minus 0. 

I am personally also guilty of helping to kill our hobby. YES, I do buy some diecast (sob !), But only that which I usually can't get as a kit and if the diecast is available as a kit, I prefer to buy that and enhance it a little. The narcissism of seeing my own efforts is far greater than opening a box containing a shiny bauble. 

Our children live in a world of instant gratification. They mostly lack patience and expect everything to happen at warp speed. Out of the box, master it and discard it ! It is my belief that our childrens external influences/fashions are changing on almost a monthly basis. They tend to view the future in far shorter intervals of time than my generation did/do. This not a criticism of our young, merely an observation. 

Computer software is a good example - obsolete before we buy it and a visit to the discount rack at the local K Mart, etc will show just how fast things move. Even entry level hardware is measured in gigs. Great for our technological hunger but damning for the manual arts.

The explosion of specialist aftermarket parts for models also helps the slow demise of skills. When I started modelling back in the ... we had brushes and cans of Humbrol to work with. Any add-ons were cotton from Mum's sewing box, wire from Dad's garage, stretched sprue and a lot of imagination. I still collect "Bits and Pieces" from all sorts of sources. Did you know that if you go to the local Electronics hobby store they have small tools, wire etc, etc,? That the majority of braided line sold the modellers is
actually high temperature fiberglass electrical insulation and is available in sizes .5 mm +++++. A coat of silver or metallizer, a little buff et voila! Even a used shoe polish brush rubbed over a matt black
Chassis/ underframe does wonders. 

I have mental block about a lot of aftermarket parts. I fail to understand the sense of spending $100 - $200 on parts to detail a $20 - $100 kit. Good wheels I accept. I can afford to purchase other parts but prefer the pleasure of technique and overall fidelity without absolute perfection. 

I saw a Nascar from a US modeller sent specially for a competition some 6 -7 years ago, which was the best example of the add-on mentality. It had more aftermarket parts than I could count, mostly left untreated, unpainted so the scale fidelity was completely lost and it WON the class. Many modellers who use aftermarket parts do so for others to see them, not their true purpose of enhancement as averse from modifying the original kit component to reflect accuracy/ realism.

In reality it doesn't matter what you build. Cars, Planes, Trains. There is immense pleasure to be had helping others improve their skills. Let's not forget the basics and most importantly the fun of modelling.