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I used to part-time (and still help out) at the local HobbyTown. And I can assure of this: For every "traditional" model (military, automotive, etc.), we would sell a dozen Gundams. And that's a good thing. Why? Because they are plastic models, same as those Sherman Tanks, P-51's, and iterations of the USS Arizona or KM Bismarck. It is getting kids into the hobby of plastic modeling. The shop has opened up to hosting "Model Building Day" every Saturday, and for every "traditional" modeler, there are three guys building Gundams, MaK, or other Sci-Fi kits. Our upcoming show in June has a category for these models, and we've been getting the word out to the community that not only are they welcomed, they're encouraged to bring their models. I also agree on the WoT and WoS interest--Italeri issued some kits in line with these games, and Dragon used to include coupons for game points in their kits. While some of the "Senior" members of the modeling community squawked that all they were were "old junk" in new boxes, the younger guys and girls who were playing the games snapped the kits up. I had to remind a few of them that regardless of what we thought, IPMS and AMPS represents a very small percentage of actual modelers, and what we found to be junk was perfect for beginning modelers. On another note, I'm dismayed at the comments directed at the youth of today. As a kid, I built a fair number of non-traditional models. I built Star Trek, Star Wars, Aurora and Monogram movie monsters, Aurora dinosaurs, and movie sci-fi stuff just as often as I did an airplane, car, tank, or ship. As I got older, my interests gelled around historic vehicles, but it wasn't the only thing I built back in the day. The point? That kid snapping a pre-painted Gundam kit together today may well wind up being tomorrow's Rusty White or Gil Hodges. We'd do well to welcome them, rather than turn a cold shoulder to them. Ralph

Thanks Gil, I will be using wire . Awhile back I bought some wire in different diameters. I will post pictures when the Walrus is done Wish me luck.

Video games like World of Tanks, Fighter Ace and other such games have actually gotten gamers to try model building. They want to build a kit of their online tank or plane. Italeri even included codes for exclusive (I think) tanks for World of Tanks. Academy once released Starcraft models and Revell has released Halo kits. I used to build versions of aircraft kits that I flew when I played Microsoft's Fighter Ace.