Is it the end of Plastic Modelling ???

Yesterday, my son made a valid point on plastic modelling
- that within 25 years it will be near enough non existent.

On most forums, the builders are getting on in years - and we are reliving our youth building kits
we did when we were young, and of cars that bring a whiff of nostalgia.
We grew up sticking together cheap model aircraft, cars and tanks and living out our fantasies.
Today however, a generation of kids live these fantasies out on computers and on play-stations
and never created a plastic model in their lives.
Would most 15 year olds know or care what a 1934 Ford or 1950 Oldsmobile looked like?
The cost of models is souring beyond the reach of these kids with only adults able to afford the prices.
Modelling is buoyant at the moment but is it fuelled by us older folk ?

What do you think - is doomsday coming for plastic kits, or is it just me, having a melancholic moment ?

 

id say yes and no

i think it might die out to some degree in the west but its a different story in the far east, still big in the far east, especially japan, and especially when it comes to sci fi/manga/anime,...models are a part of the whole scene when it comes to that genre

I think the desire might die off for the individual at certain ages, but like with most of us - it came back. There's a constant influx of members into the OLDSTER brigade. LOL

If it does die off big time, it won't be long until a new generation begins finding the new "barn finds" of stashes of hundreds and thousands of these miniature kits. It won't take long before they realize what to do with them and the hobby will be 'born again'.

I agree with some of what you say. The automotive genre is the weakest, what kills it is the lack of new kits coming out. The Military genre seems to be doing just fine. The reason , or so I have been told, has to do with the licenses involved in production of new kits. Everybody wants their nickle. The Military stuff is public domain and no licensing fees have to be paid.

Today's generation of kids have things we never had. Computers, phones, TV. things like that. Most have no interest in even getting a drivers license. And rather than create something with their own two hands they have the microwave mentally. They would rather open a diecast and set it on the shelf than take the time to create and learn on a kit.

I am 65 years old, we grew up in different times. I saw on American Pickers the other day they found 100 model car kits in a barn. All safe and warm and still shrink wrapped. Frank gave the guy 20 bucks apiece for the kits. That should give us all something to think about.

This issue has been debated extensively at the GSL event in Salt Lake. The reduction in modelers greatly affects the sales of kits, and as a result, the model companies find it harder to justify the expense of new kits. New injection mold tooling is very, very expensive. There seems to be a general consensus that the instant gratification wanted by the younger generations hinders the model industry. Kids just don't want to spend all the time to develop the skills for great modeling.

I think this shows in the "re-issues" that Round 2 is doing. It is much cheaper to refresh old tooling, and then pop out the same, or slightly modified kits. I attended a presentation by a person from Round 2, where he showed photos of some of the old tooling they inherited from AMT/Ertl. A good portion of it is somewhat "modularized", so it can be modified to make a "new" kit from old tooling. We can see this happening now from that company.

I think we will see more of the specialty kit manufacturers for new subjects. Cast zinc, resin, things like that. More expensive kits ...yes, but the subject matter is more interesting. But the production runs will be small enough, that we should snap them up when we see them, because they may not be available too long. To be honest, that's is mostly what I purchase now for a kit that might be built OOB. The only regular kits that I buy are for parts for kit-bashed projects.

I know I won't be around in 10yrs, let alone 25yrs to see what becomes of the hobby, but, I think there are still enough people who are building models to pass on an interest to their children and grandchildren for it to just die off totally and now we are also in the early stages of 3D printing I think once it takes off and becomes cheaper, people will be making their own models...

I know building a model on some computer isn't the same as building it the way we do now, but they will still need painting and detailing etc, I think it will mainly be the model companies who will suffer in the long run, so I guess while they are still able to, they will keep pushing out the same models, but will also be upping the prices to make as much as they can before they finish...

That's my thoughts...

Andy...

As the roads become ever more crowded, parking non-existent, and air pollution worse, electric vehicles will be the future. Whether electric or fuel cell, they have become "just transportation." I suppose there will always be some who see vehicles as status and some who will be able to afford slipping Tesla power into a Camry, but many fewer builders. Add the technology now to 3-D "print" in plastic anything small, and the creativity is more computer created than hand made. There will always be art and the craft of scale modeling, just of fewer vehicles I believe.
Dwindling of the hobby has gone on a long time as seen in numbers of model conventions, attendance, and stores that sell the kits. At best we're a niche market, no longer a mass one.

My thoughts were not only spurred by my son's comments, but I was in discussion with a representative from Revell in Germany,
who said business was good (naturally) but were looking at using more pictures of the 'grey hair' generation (his words)
in promotion and less youngsters as they were thought to be the bigger spenders.

Modelling has often appeared 'uncool' and thus many kids tend to be persuaded to follow more trendy pursuits by their peers,
but those creative kids who enjoy a quiet time assembling and painting models will, I guess, continue building.

Also model building is often 'like father, like son', and my son is the third generation,
largely because of my enjoyment of modelling, and his grandfathers too.
But will the manufacturers still be there for any of his offspring?

We can't predict the future - so who knows what will happen in 25 years.

 ...thanks for your thoughts guys.

I think ts hard to tell. I slowed before I got married. I maybe built 1, or not even 1 model a year. I took a break when I switched jobs in 1991, where I traveled a lot. Weekends were spent with my girlfriend now wife.

Once my kids were born and got to be 5 or 6, I started building again. That was probably 2001 or so. I know many other guys with the same story. Built as kids and young adults, then stopped for many years, then came back to it.

I think the difference is kids don't have the hobby to come back to, because they never did it to begin with. Though I hope when kids grow up and start having kids, that maybe they get into modeling to pass the small amount of free time with an inexpensive hobby that keeps them home.

In 25 year's I'll be 75. I hope there are a lot of 50 year olds building when I'm 75.... I assume the model subjects will change. I mean, I;m 50 and i could care less to build anything older than a 6os or 70s muscle car. So who knows what model companies will be cranking out then, or by what means. You'll probably download the disc and print it on your 3d printer..

A lot of us 'old' guys are fueled by nostalgia  as well as the desire to create.
Yeah, kids nowadays are totally immersed in electronics. If car modeling survives, the manufactures will have an easy time converting their dies from one variety of today's Zamboni cookie cutter styled vehicles to another.   

"A lot of us 'old' guys are fueled by nostalgia as well as the desire to create."

Well said, I am 65 and I can still remember the first two AMT model cars I built, every option and decal, I put them all on, WOW. In 1961 things changed, my father was in the Canadian Armed Forces and we got sent to Germany for three years. Took up HO trains as a hobby, built a few 1/12 Airfix figures, came back to Canada and never set up the trains. More interested in real cars, girls, sports, etc. sound familiar. Fast foreward to the 70s and needed something creative, found model soldiers, all scales and 30 mm flats. That hobby teaches you about trying to make a miniature figure look like a real soldier. Joined a hobby club and found that most guys all about same age, within 10 years. Everyone had their specialty, armor, planes, boats, cars, me and my figures. I found that cars had the most appeal but the chrome parts too 'toyish' at that time. Then along comes Alclad and scale chrome is do able. The soldiers now collect dust. I have collected a lot of cars now to build and finish. The cycle is complete..........but without every option and decal and what I have learned from my Military Modelling magazines works well on my automotive builds and dios. The figures I do now are HAWK reissues of the "SillySurfers' and such. Love the Roth monster cars.

I wish that some figure makers would see the drought in the 1/25 scale world of cars and go for it. Make miniatures appropriate for 40s, 50s, 60s, eras. Maybe that could be the renaissance for this hobby, IMHO.
Yes, I know there are a few, but.................Oil paint is fun, really!

This car model hobby is not expensive when you compare to the 1/35 $cale armor product$ at the hobby shops. Radio Control anything is pricey. Here in the Pacific Northwest I get to 4 to 5 model events per year and the vendors have good prices, also thrift stores can be lucky finds. I am not interested in 'Tuners' but will buy a started, glue bomb kit for $3.00 for the 'donor' parts. Ok, I have had my rant.............Plastic Modelling is not ending, evolving...yes.

Cheers Eh!

I think a lot of the comments echo many of our lives.
Modelling was the 'playstation' of our lives back in our childhood,
with life, family, work and full scale toys taking up our time in our mid years,
and now in our later years we can enjoy our modelling without pressures.

Looking at an old 1965 Car Craft magazine the other day, I found this add for AMT kits.
These models are being repopped all the time, and as long as the moulds stand up,
I think they could be reproduced for another fifty years - but I doubt if I 'll be there to see it !

These days I can get kits I could only dream of when I was a kid. We are now superannuated schoolboys with big pocket money. The manufacturers are churning out wonderful things. My kid isn't that interested in the hobby but his best friend is a keen modeller. He is 12 years old and has made some nice military models - planes, helicopters and a ship. I don't think he has had to buy his kits in the last few years because I give him kits from my stash. I get enormous satisfaction helping him with his builds and I know he will remember me when he is my age and working at his bench.

That, Chris, is what it's all about.