Hello!
As you all know, November is Build a Model Month (BAMM), and this year we’ve decided that we want to tack a different approach to the celebration of the scale-modeling hobby. Rather than run a contest online, I want to get back to BAMM’s roots: focusing on young modelers and sharing the hobby with new modelers of all ages. And I thought a group build would be a great way to do this.
Here are the rules: If you are 17 or younger, you’re in! Choose a model–any model!–let me know what it is, your age, and I’ll add your Forum handle and the kit to the list of participants. Easy! And now you’re a rockstar. I mean, who does this at your age? You, that’s who! (Please if you’re 13 or younger, ask a parent’s permission before signing up for the group build. Parents and guardians, if you have any questions or concerns, please email me at tim.kidwell@firecrown.com.)
If you are 18 or older, there are a couple of ways you can participate. The first way is to team up with a junior modeler (17 or younger) and build a model together. As above, choose your model (any model, there’s going to be a theme here), let me know your age and the age of your teammate, and boom! You’re off and running. Remember, the goal here should be to help your younger teammate build the model and enjoy the process, not you build the model and they watch as you do it. No no no no. No. [Clears throat] No.
The other way, if you’re over 18, is that you are a novice yourself and you’re taking the courageous step to plunge into a group build and try this modeling thing yourself. You’re going to bare your soul and show what you can do and you are a hero. As above, choose your model (that’s right, whatever you fancy, but nothing too difficult), let me know what it is, your age, the number of models you got under your belt (I think 4 is fair as a cuttoff for still being considered a beginner), and you’re in.
There’s more! As we’ve done in the past with FSM-run group builds, we will run a gallery of the finished builds in a future issue of the magazine. Yes, it is possible that we will have so many finished models that we can’t possibly run a gallery that features them all. In that case, just like when we attend shows, FSM will choose the models to feature in the magazine, and we’ll feature the rest in an online gallery.
From when to when? The FSM Build a Model Month 2025 Group Build starts at 12 AM on Saturday, November 1, and ends at 11:59 PM on Sunday, November 30. Let BAMM begin!
Participants
Tim Kidwell/Shushu Kidwell (10) - Rolife Book Nook - Sunshine Town
@Gavinrolstad (16) - Magic Factory 1/35 scale Iron Dome
@Tactical_Tism (16) - MiniArt 1/35 scale D7 bulldozer (Maybe a second build - Tamiya 1/35 scale M26 Dragon Wagon)
@kombobulator (14) - Tamiya 1/35 scale M18 Hellcat tank destroyer, with Verliden stowage and bags
@Mrlion1026 and CJ (9) - MPC 1/25 scale 1981 Voodoo Vette
[Sighs and rubs temples] OK, one more thing. I can already hear someone asking, “How do we KNOW if a participant who claims they’re 17 or younger but really is 42 and has been building models for 33 years?” My answer is to shrug. If someone wants to lie, they lie. The accolades they would accrue in the course of the group build would ring hollow, and they would know it. If they happened to appear in the magazine, it would be worthless. What would they do, show friends and say, “Hey! I was in FSM by cheating the system! Tim Kidwell is such a fool for not knowing that I wasn’t actually 42 when I said I was 16!” That’s not what BAMM nor this group build is about, and that’s not what our Forum community is about either. Let’s have fun, trust our fellow participants, and concentrate on having a fun time supporting new modelers, cheering on the group build, and showing why scale modeling is such a great hobby.