guys i like to think of myself as someone who is in the know…sometimes…maybe…if led by someone.
i have recently started to dip into the youtube model builders community. enough so that i have even posted up some videos myself.
my observation.
this is a decent medium for promoting this hobby. it offers the visual stimulation that could lead youngsters to pick up a kit and build. it also offers the visual evidence that building can be rewarding and satisfying.
my question.
is this a passing fad or is this the wave of what the modeling community is going towards?
comments.
my personal opinion is this is the next phase of social model building. it seems logical that at some point in the future we will see forums that encompass both the current “forum” format but incorporate the video blogs of builds as well as live events. i really believe that this part of the whole could be a big bonus to the hobby. i mean lets take someone who does fantastic scratchbuilding. if they were to video blog their work, yes some might think them boring but think of the techniques that could be shared. same with so many aspects that could come to life. think of the idea of a group build where all the participants were actually building live in a video blog.
i really dont think it will ever replace the traditional forums. i am now and will always be a forum guy. but i think it would be one heck of an addition to the traditional style. i have been looking around and i am stunned by the number of kids that are building this way. it is amazing. it takes in all the “i want it now” attitude stuff. the hobby is alive and well. it just seems that the younger crowd has taken a different direction.
It’s a small hobby these days compared to many others but the internet has given us the ability to be a member of one giant club, no matter where we are. I grew up in the country in the '70s and I thought I was the only kid in the world that was building models. My closest friend lived half a mile away and he had little interest in them. I had no tutors, no reading material, nothing to compare my work to except the images on the box. I thought, at the time, that slopping on that orange smelling glue and blasting it with a can of Krylon made them a museum piece. Little did I know.
When a new mall opened up in Memphis with a genuine hobby shop inside I was blown away at what I was missing… and severely humbled. To see the work of an experienced modeler for the first time had a remarkable impact on me and the way I looked at model building.
I hope exposure to this hobby on the internet (in whatever form) has had the same effect on younger modelers as that first trip to a hobby store had on me. It’s one thing to see the box in the store and maybe a built kit in a case. That can be pretty inspiring. But a free video showing you how to build, paint, apply weathering & decals to an aircraft by a guy with 30+ years of experience?? That’s awesome. I love forums too but sometime a video can demonstrate techniques that pictures just can’t convey and might just convince a novice to try something challenging that they would never have attempted without it.
I was starved for information as a kid. Now I’ll take it in whatever form I can get it in! Videos included. ; )
similar background for sure here. this whole thought for me came about when i started taking a good look at some of the youtube pages and started seeing and hearing kids talk about what they had done and how. some are taking the time to do step by step and instructional videos. all the comments over the last few years on where the hobby is going and the lack of youth activity had me wondering also. then to actually see this, i think the hobby is in good hands and to be honest they are a lifetime ahead of me at that age.
as for mine well it aint much. not nearly as polished as some. the building is not real good. and the main character is not camera friendly.
I am bothered by the potential exposures to hackers on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and all. I just don’t go there. Maybe I am paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Has anyone here had problems of a result of hanging out on those sites?
I don’t think the desire to create accurate scale models of historical items will ever wane. The preferred medium of each next generation however will probably always change with advancements in technology just like the means in which to acquire information. The way in which we show off our models have evolved as well. They used to be displayed on our shelves/ceiling for our friends/family to see. Now, they’re on display to the world.
Here’s a good example… I was doing a search on google for a possible night fighter variant for an upcoming GB and came across this “model” of an Me 262B-1a/U1:
You are completely wrong . I mean raccoon dead , road kill wrong ! Since when is your work in question ? My gosh fella .There’s nothing wrong with your skills !
Jus’ cause you are a country boy like I was don’t mean a hill of beans ! I like what you do so keep it coming , Hear ? Besides Us Southerners need to show the world we can model durned good too .
Nah , Just kidding ! Joe ; There’s not a thing wrong with what you build .I enjoyed the video , by the way.
It’s coincidental you posted this thread. I’ve only recently discovered the amount of airbrushing and modelling videos on youtube (to be honest though, i’m not much of a youtube person).
I was actually wondering how many other modelers out there check stuff out on youtube. I certainly found a lot of benefit from watching those videos people upload where they show your their techniques and how they do something.
For example, i’ve always had trouble doing paint chipping, however, watching videos, it’s given me a much better understanding of the technique, something I just couldn’t seem to pick up from reading articles (and i’ve read many many articles to try and learn it).
I’ve also found that videos on painting people to be very useful too.
I’m hoping it helps to expand and increase the interest in model building, whether it’s traditional models or the Gaming models (which a lot of the videos appear to be focused upon).
Anything that helps to spread this hobby is a bonus.
got to say that i was more of a skeptic of youtube. my thought was that it was purely an ego boost to post videos. i am learning the opposite. it takes guts to throw out a video. on a forum you are putting up pictures for sure but on a video you not only show the build but you show you. i am also learning that the community of scale model builders is a friendly community that warms pretty quick to the new ones. it has a feel of a club. it doesnt take much to join and you are welcomed in and encouraged to succeed.
You know , don’t you that the camera is a harsher critic of our work than we are .Don’t deny it ! Besides You are right about one thing .We do hold ourselves to a higher standard than I sometimes think we should . Tanker - Builder
i believe that the only reason i post on forums is to boost my ego some.
i was pretty nervous to post on youtube. didnt think anyone would view my work, let alone actually subscribe. the comments there have been as kind as on the forums.
YouTube is the first place I turn these days to investigate a new technique. In fact, I tun to it for almost anything - when my power antenna on the car broke the other day, less than a minute of searching revealed how to replace the $12 antenna mast rather than the $90 complete unit. Great resource.