33 here.
Same story as alot here. …Stopped the hobby for a while and got back into it here recently.
Lessons learned:
1: Sometimes walking away (from a frustrating incident) for a while makes things not look so bad when you come back.
2: Even though you strive to make the kit you’re working on the BEST EVERRR. Sometimes it doesn’t come out that way. Sometimes learning what works for you is best in the learning process.
[t$t]
40 in May as well…
I hope I don’t break a hip…[blndfld]
54 here [:D] I came back to modeling 2 years ago after a 36 year layoff. I do enjoy it much more now than I did as a kid.
Age 52 here and happily married. Modeled a lot in my teens, took a break until I hit about 30 when the bug bit me again. Been at it ever since.
If it’s taught me anything, it’s taught me patience.
Thanks again for the replys!
Total as of monday febuary 15, 2010
Group #1 - 832 combined years divided by 21 modelers=39.62 average age
Group #2 - 276 ‘’ ‘’ ‘’ by 9 modelers=30.67 average age
Group #3 - 188 " " " by 4 modelers=47.00 average age
Group #4=
Smeagol the vile 23
sk3tch 33
Hsteve 40 (predicted average)
vetteman42 54
ruddratt 52
Total age =202 combined years
Divided by # of modelers 5 = 40.40 average age
average of all 4 groups = total % 4
Overall average = 157.69 % 4
= 39.42! wow miliarejunkie you hit the # first thing! 5 short of my prediction.
Some of the replys are excellent with inspireing life lessons! Lets hear some more while adding to group #5
Just a knack, wish I could find a profitable use for it though!
**For further accuracy, pay no attention to the date…
#2: Life’s Tough- It’s tougher if you’re stupid…
#3: She’s gonna try to change you after you marry her, then when she does, she’ll cry, “YOU’RE NOT THE MAN I FELL IN LOVE WITH!!”
#4: The most important one of all-- A pop-fly over the third baseman’s head is the Short-stop’s play…
Hey there,
36 years old. Married. No kids. 2 wonderful cats.
Building since middle school. Transitioned to scratchbuilding/kitbashing exclusively in college.
What I’ve learned? That the world is just full of potential building materials if you keep your eyes open.
Total as of monday febuary 15, 2010
**For further accuracy, pay no attention to the date…
Ha ha ha can’t slip up aroung the Hammer! Nailed that one[;)][:D[
Ok monday Febuary 8
Doh![:$]
SuppressionFire: My life’s lesson: build 'em while you’re eyes are still good enough to see 'em or switch to 1:18th scale or larger.
Manstein’s Revenge: You “made me smile” but I must disagree. Wear Russian style sox when you invade the steppes. ref: film Le Chagrin et la Pitié (Sorrow and the Pity) 1969 & book “The Forgotten Soldier”.
SuppressionFire: Regarding your age survey: I neglected to mention the F-104 and I were “born” in the same year.
35, here and the best lesson - the difference between you and the “pro” builder is that the pro builder decided to try the technique you sit around saying “boy I wish I could do something like that”. Stop wishing and start doing. Thre is no magic in this hobby; it’s styrene and glue - if any other modeler can figure out how to make it work, so can you.
-Fred
36 here…same story…built as a kid an got back into it later in life then got really going when i decided to quit drinking… Wife #2 is supportive even if she does look at me funny when i am on the computer and asks “What are you buying now?”…We will be moving back east later this year and buying a house complete with basement that will be dude land…Cant wait to build a whole new work room the way i want it…
For some reason i started but large lots of kits and selling them on ebay…it has been a fun money maker and has filled my stash really cheap…if anybody wants my seller ID PM me…
Life lessons?..it has been repeated over and over… patience…
Ahmen Fred
I have found just diving in and going for it works very well. As my Dad used to say " God hates a coward"
I turned 48 in December. Mine is the same old story: started modeling in 1972, when I was 10. By 1979, I had gotten out of modeling thanks to other interests (in particular, collecting old insulators). In 1994, I found a RC fishing boat model at a garage sale that I was originally going to mail to a friend in Hawaii, but I ended up building it instead, and I’m still at it. I don’t complete very many models (I’ve been working on my latest project for more than seven years), but I’m still at it.
Modeling life lesson: You can never have too much storage space at your workbench!
25, 45 days short of 26
Begged for a 1/72 Monogram Snaptite of one of the F/A-18 Prototypes at Walmart (I think) when I was 7, my grandmother nudged Mom along, recieved strict orders not to open it until we got home, ignored orders, built it in the back seat of the '91 Ford Tempo Mom still owns. Mom helped tighten up the joints at the kitchen table when we got home. Picked up a paint set the next week. Added a B-26, Space Shuttle, and SR-71 along the way. Last time I truly finished anything was a police cruiser that I hated. Not a car person but I think I’ll have to make an exception or two. Built up an impressive collection of unbuilt and partially started kits over the years. Mom takes me to at least two shows a year and the college roommate figured out quickly when I got ticked off to confiscate the text book and sit me down in front of the desk with whatever I was messing with at the moment (I’m pretty sure she just didn’t like stuff flying against the wall and bouncing out the door).
I like video games. I take my temper out on Nazis, outlaws, barbarians, et c., instead of smashing whatever ticked me off. Screw up model. Kill cyber enemies. Repeat until calm. Fix model. Continue build.
They didn’t teach me patience but they helped get me to channel the temper.
Group #1 - 832 combined years divided by 21 modelers=39.62 average age
Group #2 - 276 ‘’ ‘’ ‘’ by 9 modelers=30.67 average age
Group #3 - 188 " " " by 4 modelers=47.00 average age
Group #4 - 202 " " " by 5 modelers=40.40 average age
Group #5
Kolschey 36
Gigatron 35
St plane nut 36
Jim Barton 48
cassibill 25
Total age =180 combined years
Divided by # of modelers 5 = 36 average age
average of all 5 groups = 1678 total age % 44 modelers
Overall average = 38.14 years old!
The average has dropped, Hmm maybe the older fella’s are to busy building for a reply.[^o)]
Just turned 48. Like most, it seems, I built into my late teens, chased girls for 15 years and am now back to modelling and have never enjoyed it more. Regarding wives, live-in lovers etc. Wife No. 1 reluctantly put up with it, but didn’t really understand what the attraction was (that was sort of my feeling toward her, too). No. 2 thought it was stupid and secretly thought I was being “a big kid, playing with toy soldiers.” No. 3 thinks it’s fantastic that I do it and takes a great interest in it. It blows her mind that you can turn a box of plastic bits into a work of art. She is enthralled by the tiny details, how I build them, and inspects closely, especially paint jobs, which also fascinate her. I have a job which could fairly be described as ‘high stress’ and she loves the way modelling mellows me out. She’s the keeper!
Life lessons: Don’t rush. Do a lot of research on the subject, plus research any new techniques you may wish to attempt. Do test-fit everything and then test fit it again! I scuba dive, and my favorite diving saying is “Plan your dive, and dive your plan.” I think the same goes for modelling. “Plan your model, and model your plan.” You can never plan enough. Life works like that sometimes, too.
Cheers guys.
Need to help drop the average. 26 n turning 27 in less than 30 days. Started building at 8 with a 1/72 matchbox avro lancaster. Lesson in modeling? If you think it’s dry, it’s NOT dry. Lesson in life? Don’t go with engineering if you plan to have time left for modeling after work, social life, and girlfriend. She wants to try a kit so I got two 1/24 Tamiya new beetle lined up for her with a can of electric pink spray paint. We have yet to get around to that.
Really enjoying the replys. It seems a few common threads keep us happy as modelers. A quick conclusion would be:
#1 Find a spouse thats supportive and interisted in your hobby. Not saying one that isn’t leeds to break-ups or divorce yet a few replys suggested it was a factor.
#2 The average age is late 30’s to early 40’s. Quite a few in their 20’s while no teenagers replied. We all built as kids and took our teen years away from the hobby for various reasons, girls and cars being the main two.
#3 Patience is something we all developed stronger at the hobby table or bench. Problem solveing and a constant evolution of aquired skills rounds up the top lessons.
Thanks for your comments and replys. Looking for 100 to really get a accurate average.
Jason[t$t]