<VV> Demise of the scale model?

[corvairs]

As a lifetime model builder this is nothing new. In the modeling I have 
done almost exclusively for the past 35 years (railroad/logging) there 
has been considerable hand-wringing over the increasing loss of those 
who want to build anything. We're a victim of our  own prosperity.

Back in the pre-70's most model collectors had to build what they wanted 
as very little was available "ready-to-run". And even when it was it was 
too expensive for the bulk of the consumer market (i.e. baby boomers who 
were pre-teens). In the late 60's inexpensive ready to run started 
coming out of Taiwan and Korea. Less expensive and more accessable 
plastic kits and die cut wooden kits started becoming popular around the 
same time. This was the beginning of a slow decline in the "craftsman 
modeler".

You have to also recognize that affordable quality plastic injection 
kits were new technology - which, as we know, captures the attention of 
the younger ones. I can remember that when we came up to work on my 
Grandfathers farm during the  summer (here in oregon) the big thing was 
to save up our money and go over to the "big" town, McMinnville (where 
our warehouses are now located) and buy plastic car model kits. It 
should be noted, before we lament the passing of a long and stable 
tradition, that back then, pretty much only hobby and toy stores carried 
plastic models.

Now, with cheap diecast ready-to-run-almost-everything there is only the 
'hobby" of collecting. Those of us who still build models do it because 
that's what we like to do. If you take a trip to your local hobby shop 
(quick, before the internet  shuts them all down ) you'll see a giant 
selection of car, plane, ship and railroad models. They exist (and 
really better than before) but the market is just smaller and more 
specialized.

The big retailers are only going to carry what zooms off the shelf and 
makes a big markup. For better or worse, that includes plastic car models.

Lon
www.corvairunderground.com

PS - As to the glue, you can still find plenty of it at the hobby shops. 
But now you have a chioce of a number of different types. I suggest a 
solvent type plastic glue, which serious plastic modelers use. Be 
careful what type you get as much of it is pretty potent chemically 
(fumes). I use a brand that Plastruct makes which is pretty fume-free.


Grant Young wrote:
> I was somewhat surprised today while hunting for some glue for my nephew to use to assemble his first Corvair model that all of the stores in town no longer carry model glue or even scale models...not even Walmart! Seems that youngsters are not willing to pay $12-$15 when they can sit around and play video games (for up to $100+) or watch porno on the Internet for free. What happened to mowing lawns all day to purchase a $1.49 AMT 3-in-1 Corvair to customize to the hilt? (I did see about 6-8 model cars in a Big Lots, but they were the pop together kind). So, if you had planned to purchase a scale model sometime in the future, you might want to start looking in case the same thing is happening in your neck of the woods. 'Course if you want a Corvair, just drop me a line, as I still have over 500 of them (some dealer case lots). Can't help you with the glue, however, but you can probably still get it off eBay or in a full blown hobby store, which might also become our last hope
>   for plastic models....if they can stay in business.
> Grant
>