I’ll admit this is a bit grim, but we’ve been asked a number of times recently about how to handle model collections after death. Many of those who have asked are worried their loved ones will be overwhelmed and just throw the collections away and want to have a plan in place to help donate or otherwise preserve their finished models. We’ve come across at least one modeler who created a museum for his models, but that isn’t an option for most people.
Requests for an article about this have been piling up, so my plan is to work one up about options for curating and donating finished model collections and I’m looking for sources to talk to about it. If you have any sources you’d recommend, please drop them in this thread or you can email the contact info to me at editor@finescale.com. If you have advice or experience with this potentially difficult subject, please feel free to share here.
Trauma surrounding death and managing the estate of loved ones can be sensitive, so please treat this thread and those who post in it with care.
I know this isn’t 100% related to models but I just wanted to share because it is very similar to what this thread is asking.
My dad is getting on in years. It is hard for me to believe that sometimes because he is well - my dad. He is old enough to be a Vietnam veteran (he did Peace Corps instead of fighting in the war), and is also an avid collector. He is obsessed with India, and has been trained as an academic in Indian and agricultural history. There is a whole room in the house dedicated to his collections, which includes (but is not limited to): vintage chess sets, Hindi deity statues, hundreds of rare books, fountain pens, coins, and just a lot of stuff.
I am also a collector, and I understand valuing a collection and wanting to keep it preserved. There are some very rare pieces, and museums may definitely want some. I honestly do not want to part with his collection, given how he “weeded it down to only the good stuff” and how much history is preserved with it. I also do not want to think about this topic too much. My dad is healthy and happy, and he will probably live for a very long time.
Over the years, I’ve talked in FSM and Scale Auto about my personal experience with my dad’s death. He died in 2006, shortly after I started working for Kalmbach (the company that founded FineScale Modeler). He had just recently retired (he was 41 when I was born) and had a brain disorder that robbed him of his motor functions. A hard end for a man who had been athletic and an avid modeler.
My mother, on her own, without the internet (she refuses to use it, and good for her!) found people to sell his stash to fairly quickly. Of course, I took what I could. The model collection was another story. I couldn’t take it myself—my house doesn’t have the space to contain the models I build! Over the years, Ma sold Dad’s collection off, piecemeal, to various interested parties. Not everyone has the time, patience, or fortitude to do that.
Here’s to your dad’s many, many more years of collecting.
I agree that his isn’t a topic that most of us do not want to discuss but I feel that it needs to be addressed. MY local modeling club had a member pass away a few years ago and sadly he was all alone, his wife had passed away a few months earlier and he was estranged from his daughter. His finished models were "masterpieces"and the club members tried to reach out to help with the estate (tools,kits in his stash,and completed models)but we couldn’t get in contact with anyone. I hope and pray that his completed models were saved and are now residing in someone’s display cabinets instead of being thrown away in some dumpster. Another local club had a widow reach out with her deceased husband’s unbuilt kits and they offered her some tables at their next show so that she could sell them. Please sit down and have this discussion with your family members. I plan to inventory my kits this Summer and to have this discussion with my family and with the members of my local model club.
I am a member of my local IPMS club. I have some historical models I plan to give to a small local museum. When I go my wife and friends know the unbuilts are to go to the club.
Joe, thanks for commenting. What was the process for you to set this up with the museum, and do you think they would be willing to talk to me about it from their side of things?
Having helped dispose of several fellow modelers’ stashes, I know what a pain in the caboose it is. My sister told me if I left a huge stash behind when I go, she would find a way to kill me again! I told her to call my friends and let them take what they want. The built stuff and started kits should go straight into the roll-off bin. A sad end to my collection, but only I would care about it.
As far as unstarted kits go, I told her it would be easier to just have my friends take them to the local model club and just give them away. They seem to be unable to resist the price when it is free.
Personally, I think of my sister and how it would impact her more than what I feel about my model collection and stash.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot - And I should get off my bum and FINISH as many models as I can before I kick the bucket.
My finished models are out of the way,displayed in cases in my unfinished basement.My wife says they will just stay,its not like they’re taking up living space.
I tell her fine,thats good until her new husband wants them gone,she laughs.Let our heirs earn their inheritance by having to clean them out when were both gone.
My stash is relatively small in size,wouldnt bring in a lot of $$ I have a friend who models,he would take some,maybe try to sell some for my wife,whatever,its not a big windfall.
Tojo, you make a good point: Not everyone’s stash is so large to require outside help to liquidate. Mine is modest snd kept that way purposefully. The same goes for collections. My parents owned a very large house, I do not. I often gift my models to those whom I think will enjoy them once I’m finished. I keep them just long enough and then bid them adieu.
I think you and RealG make another good point, though not explicitly. Even if there isn’t a bigger plan for removing a model collection and stash, just the simple act of talking about it with loved ones is a valid and possibly overlooked step. Sort of like how people avoid making wills. When mourning, it’s better to know what the deceased wanted rather than facing it all of a sudden. For the less sentimental, it may not be a big deal. For others, it could add trauma to an already difficult situation.
This is an interesting topic, one which all of us should really have a plan for. I say this as earlier this year a member of the IPMS club I am in passed suddenly and without a will. To say the added headache of dealing with probate on top of morning is not great. So having a will is an absolute must, not just for our stashes and collections but for everything in general. Speaking of IPMS clubs, they are one potential source of assistance on dealing with stashes after we are gone. Its been my experience at least, that they have the means of selling of the stashes without a lot of issues.
As for completed kits, that is something I am interested in hearing potential solutions for and look forward to what is presented in the future article.
My wife has told me that she will sell all of my unbuilt models. To that end, I’ve tried to make it easy for her. I have a spreadsheet of each kit I’ve bought with a $ value. Now whether she can get that is unlikely, but she’ll certainly try.
For the built kits, I am less confident that those won’t end up in a landfill. None of my kids are going to want them. My wife has said she would try to find a museum to which to donate them, but that’s going to be a tough task as far as I can tell. But I have again taken some steps to help her with that, in that I create a small sign (it’s made out of business card stock, cut in half length-wise and printed with the name of the build, the manufacturer, the country that operated said vehicle/aircraft or the movie in which the starfighter appeared, and the year that I built it).
Whenever my mother would visit me in the past, she’d always say What am I supposed to do with all your model stuff when you’re gone? To which I’d shrug and say I don’t know yet.
I have very few options on what to do with all my model stuff.
My mother lives far away, but can’t drive anymore as her car bit the dust permanently and she can’t afford to get another car. So she can’t travel to my place to take care of anything.
I can’t own or drive a vehicle due to bad eyesight. So traveling someplace to get rid of model stuff is out of the question for me.
The bad part about most of my unbuilt model kits is that I tend to rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak. I tend to kitbash models together by robbing parts from one kit to put on another. So no kit is ever “complete” with all original sprues, decals, etc. This would make trying to sell and get rid of the kits very difficult. I expect most would have to go into the garbage.
For the unbuilt complete kits that haven’t had parts stolen from them as well as all my finished built models, the only option is if members of my local model club might take them.
My “prized” built models are all my ships. I have no idea who to give those to.
And I know two friends who would probably beg me to have some of my models. But I’d have to decline on both of them as their dwellings are not in the best of shape as far as “cleanliness” shall we say?
For the following two models below, those need special homes. I shudder to think if those ever got “thrown away”. I’d be pissed if they did.
This is a good idea recording this information ahead of time. Our friend died several years ago that had a larger unbuilt stash than me. Our network of model builder friends created a spread sheet by going through his stash one by one. Then we took the stash to a local show to try and sell them and give the money to his family. A buyer settled on a couple Grand for the whole collection.
If there are no shows in your area then share your eBay PW with your significant other so they can sell your stuff to help pay for any expenses they now have incurred from your passing.
I continue to work on both options for the Mrs. And like @RealG said above, the built kits don’t matter. They were only neet-o to me anyway.
Thank you @Tim_Kidwell1 for creating this very important topic thread.
Hopefully I have a long time to figure this out. However, I have a small stash and will likely leave details with the missus to reach out to a LHS or IPMS to see about consignment/sale.
Regarding completed projects, one place people don’t usually think of is a local FBO. Fixed Base Operators are the lifeblood of small airports, offering fuel and other pilot services. If there is a small “executive” airport near you, consider talking to the folks that own the building to see if they’d like a donation of aircraft models for display. Other types of models might be welcome, too.
Another possibility is local libraries or community centers, both of which may often have small displays out for various reasons, be it holidays, events, or continuing education. Local JROTC program or CAP squadrons may have kids that would be eager to save a display model from the round file.
Finally, one I mentioned in a different thread: Unopened/unstarted kits can be donated to organizations like healvets.org or Models for Troops.
Sell or give away all unstarted kits and tools. Give away or trash any finished kits or dioramas that are unwanted. Pretty simple. Not like it will matter to me any longer.
And I eagerly look forward to reading that FSM article whenever it comes out in the future.
