I really enjoyed reading this thread, so I thought i'd post my two cents about it since i'm a relatively young modeler who is also a video game junkie ( i have EVERY system except for Sony's crap) and I will try to touch on some points that are brought up and hope i don't go off on a tangent too much.
BACKGROUND INFO
To me, modeling was about spending time with my dad, I'd come home from school (when i was 10ish) and we'd have dinner then dad and I would go into the basement and I'd sit there while he worked on the B-52 or the Saturn V and I got to paint the bombs or the engines. Then i'd have to go to bed and I'd wake up the next morning and go straight to the basement to see how far dad got the night before. It was ALWAYS exciting. Then I also had my video games, I was addicted to Super Mario 3, or Super Mario World, Tecmo Bowl, you name it. But I always had modeling with dad as a fun time for us. He has never been into modeling like me, when i was about 13 he stopped because he didn't enjoy it anymore and I started doing it myself because I enjoyed it. Then when I turned 16 i started to have more of a social life and modeling disappeared for a while, when I hit about 22 I looked at my wall of models and said "damn I never finished making all 6 blue angels". So I got back into it and now here i am today.
START DISCUSSION
PRICE
I never needed to spend a ton of money on extra resin pieces for any kits and I still don't feel that need. I build my kits out of box 99.9% of the time unless someone gives me something to put into a kit, I try to make it as accurate as possible but don't care if I don't have all the exact detail, which makes the hobby cheaper for me in the long haul. That being said i'm bug eyed on the 1/72 scale Anigrand C-5 that is a kit I MUST HAVE and I think that kit is around $400? But I'm also a collector, and I want to have one of each plane, but i'm not a collector that will let the kit sit, it has to be built. I also try to avoid gathering kits of multiple planes (minus the F-14). I don't have the need to get every single version of the F-16. I have the F-16C, i don't need the D, or G, or A, etc. Which I, personally, feel like a lot of people will spend their money on getting those variant kits. Which to me doesn't always seem worth it. I also buy kits I want to build that way I don't have all these extra kits sitting around that I think "eh I may want to do that some day"
I also rarely purchase a kit from a store (if i do it's Hobbyland (plug!) if you're in Columbus and don't know it check it out!!!)i will wait till a show and check them out there, although recently I've been addicted to eBay. These prices, $20 a kit Revell ~$50 a kit Tamiya, have always been the norm for me. Each time I start working on a kit i probably drop about $30 on supplies so when I build i'm typically spending $50-$80 a kit. Which can take me anywhere from a few weeks to 2 months to build. I have no issue with the prices the companies are putting kits out there for I think it really just depends on how you split your money up and being a young graduate, with a decent amount of student debt, modeling is something that keeps me from spending a ton of money going out or just wasting money. There are a lot of weekend nights that I just stay in and model rather than go out with friends. So really spending that initial $100 or so saves me another $200 if you think about it.Thankfully I have an incredible girlfriend who, i hope you're sitting down, ENJOYS IT WHEN I WORK ON MY MODELS!
JUGGLING GAMES AND MODELING
I typically go through spurts where i'll model for a few months straight then i'll play games for a few months straight, but video games are also a good break when you're waiting for something to dry. When I putty something I don't typically work on that kit for 24 hours ( and i only work on 1 kit at a time, working on multiple kits drives me insane, literally). So i get my break and can get my gaming fix in. GTA V anyone? So in my opinion there are plenty of reasons why these two hobbies can go hand in hand. Yeah sure, i binge video games, i also binge modeling, when i'm stuck in a game, or i feel like just watching TV i go model. When i'm letting something dry or getting frustrated I go play games. If anyone I think it's better to have someone who's interested in both. And games can be just as expensive as models ( at least for me). Games now-a-days come out with all this "you can add this better thing for your game for $XX!" I don't buy it because I don't need to. But roughly $60 a game, and roughly $50-80 a model seem to wash for me.
INTRODUCE THEM YOUNG
I'm split on this, as i said i started this to spend time with my dad, but i also LOVE legos. And i feel like this is a big kid "legos". While I think introducing it to them young can help it's not always necessary. They can get into it at any time, especially if they're into building things. Who didn't like building stuff when they were younger? I've tried to get some fellow engineers into this but it doesn't really stick to them because they enjoy the more active social life. While I've had one or two friends actually sit down and enjoy it but only feel like building one when they're given something to build and won't go out and buy it. So while introducing it young may have helped I don't necessarily think it's something you need to do.
IS MODELING DYING?
I know this wasn't the original posters intent, but I've had this conversation with my girlfriend and friends my age who don't model. Going to shows scares me, I see very few people who are my age in this hobby. I know they're out there but I do worry. I know there will always be kits but it does seem like a lot of younger kids are shying away from the hobby. I think it comes from the demand of wanting everything right away. No one has patience anymore to build a kit they want it done immediately. That's the way, again in my opinion, society has led us with all this technology right at our finger tips. And it will only get worse.
I hope i'm extremely wrong on the younger generation not getting into this hobby and it's only been my unfortunate or fortunate, depending on how you look at it, luck to see an older generation at the shows I attend.
I hope if I ever have children they'll want to sit with me and model but if they don't I will understand, but maybe some of them will get the lego bug and realize this is just big kid legos :-P
anyway just my thoughts
-Tom
Aim High
