A few years ago I came under the impression that Armor Modeling is the black sheep of modeling. It just seems that we do not get the same publicity as the other major genres of modeling. This is shown to me, for example, when i tell people i build models for the first time. They imediately assume aircraft!
Perhaps the reason for this is that Tanks just simply arent as glamorous as their winged cousins, and model ships have that “grandpa,” museum like feel. I am not complaining or anything, Im just curious to see if anyone else had the same sentiment.
Interesting topic…modeling armor is often referred to as the “dark side” for many reasons. If I had to say why aircraft seems to be the “default” assumption when people refer to model building, I would point to two main factors as the obvious reasons why that is.
Historically speaking aircraft modeling has always been dominant in the hobby, I myself got my start as a kid building aircraft models with my dad at the kitchen table. I remember very fondly the trips to the local Woolworth’s, Winn’s, WalMart, and later Toys R Us to spend my hard-earned allowance or lawn-mowing money to get kits and work on them. Aircraft models were relatively cheap, especially the 1/72 and 1/48, there were always lots to choose from (WW2 fighters and bombers, Cold War jets, modern), and they didn’t have a lot of parts and could be built in a day or weekend at the most depending on how impatient you were. Aircraft kits always dominated the store shelves, followed by cars, then armor, then ships (not wooden sailing ship, I mean things like the USS Arizona, USS Missouri, Bismarck/Tirpitz etc.), . Conversely, armor kits were almost always the most expensive options in terms of kits, they were big, and you couldn’t hang them from your cieling when it came to display/storage!
Culturally people tend to think of modeling in relation to aircraft or cars because that was what was available and what people built in large quantities for decades. So when people who aren’t modelers think of “scale models” they think of friends/relatives and what they probably saw them build or talk about and that’s what they equate in their minds with the hobby. Armor kits and subjects have only very recently started to rival aircraft in terms of diversity and subject availability so it’s going to take time before armor is on parity with aircraft from a cultural reference stand-point.
That’s my Sunday morning philosophizing take on it anyway. [;)]
But I think armor models nowadays are catching on, and I think they definitely deserve to. In my opinion, armor models are far more interesting than the alternatives, because there’s such an enormous variety of subjects to choose from. Also, the detail and number of pieces far exceeds that of practically any mainstream aircraft or car models (which I think is a very good thing). The construction process of armor varies more too.
For the uninitiated, it is. For everyone seriously in the hobby, it isn’t. Just go to a contest and look at the 10,000 German tanks around. There’s no shortage, believe me. But generally speaking, Aircraft get more attention. wbill hit the nail right o the head.
Hmmm, I don’t think so. Coming from my perspective, it seems like armor is well represented in the modeling circles that I frequent. As a matter of fact, most of my modeling buddies, both in person and on-line, I met through armor modeling. After attending my second AMPSEast a couple of weeks ago, I think armor is pretty popular. I understand what you’re saying as far as people automatically assuming you build aircraft when you tell them you build models. I think that may be so because aircraft, car and ship modeling goes waaaay back, whereas armor seems to be relatively new. Really, in the last 20 or so years, armor has taken off, what with Dragon, and Trumpeter coming on the scene in addition to Tamiya. Just my two cents on the subject.[:)]
Yeah, same here. I get it all the times when I tell my friends about my hobby and they usually ‘So you build cars?’ I would reply ‘No I am not that redneck!’. [;)] Unfortunately most of them are totally clueless about WW2 armors. That’s why I am so grateful for this forums! [Y] I love you guys! Oops, this sounds way too creepy…
I’m relatively new to modelling myself - I only started last year in May.
Before that, like many youngsters, I’d messed around with models when I was about ten but they were all Spitfires and ME-109’s ets. I think that’s why people just assume you are building aircraft as that is the only experience that they have had of models, like me when they were young.
A few shops, like my LHS and Gunze stockists who I place phone orders with have commented on the massive upsurge in interest in models recently. They say it’s gone through the roof!
My LHS is a big converted Victorian era house in town that covers two floors. They do pretty much everything from Lego to Scalectrix but they have said that the demand for model kits and associated bits ie brushes and paints etc means that they are going to make the downstairs area into the Lego/artists/RC cars part and upstairs is going to be 100% commited to models! They currently stock a very limited selection of mainly Dragon and Tamiya with paints being covered by Tamiya, Games Workshop & Humbrol. They are now going to have a huge stock of most manufacturers and they will stock a lot more paint and tools for the modeller. It’s their biggest selling line and currently cannot meet demand!
I think armor is well represented in the modeling community. Outside, people are more familiar with aircraft and cars, but for the serious modeler, armor is very possibly the most popular genre. I think armor is better because it gives the modeler more opportunity to personalize (in paint scheme additions/extras, variants, weathering and painting style, and level of detail) and to create a more unique piece that adequately represents their own personal style. I think people are realizing that more and more lately. Also, the larger scale of armor allows one to create a more realistic representation of a vehicle. I for one find cars and aircraft boring as hell, as they all have practically identical parts, and identical steps in construction, and I’ve never witnessed a model of wither that legitimately baffled or amazed me.
You have to build sci-fi to REALLY feel like the black sheep in this hobby. More like a two-headed sheep with a cyclops eye! I have gone several issues and not seen a single sci-fi kit in FSM, and can’t remember seeing a build article or painting article with sci-fi as a topic. Tell folks you build Star Trek kits, and watch the eyes roll! Tanks are perceived as downright cool by comparison!
My son, who will be twelve in a couple of months, was part of an exercise in school where they had to tell others something about themselves. He mentioned several things that had others attention but when he mentioned he likes to build models especially half tracks, talk about your vapid expressions. He even used the expression, “That does not make me a black sheep”. I reassured him and congratulated him for sticking by his guns. How many kids his age can tell the difference between an M2 and M3 half track? Yes, he also likes to build Sci-Fi.
All matters of opinion. I forgot his name, but the guy who built the large-scale, all aluminum aircraft? You may think Armor is more impressive, but it’s no mroe than opinion.
How the %^&* is building armor glorifying war more than aircraft? It’s a fact: Aircraft are capable of more damage than armor. B-2’s can carry nukes, armor might be able to carry very small tactical nukes at best. And I’d love to see a tank carry as much weight in ordinance as a plane. Makes no sense to me.
True, but I think that armor is more directly related (in the minds of many) to the brutality of war. But I definitely don’t see how the building of ANY miniatures glorifies war. That’s ridiculous.
This sentiment rings very true to me. That said, we sci-fi and figure guys get all the chicks.
Every year at Wonderfest, we get more and more cosplay girls, and the outfits get skimpier and skimpier. When was the last time you saw a bunch of half-naked fangirls show up at an Armor Modeling show?