Yes indeed . . there’s a Saturn 5 launch pad that is beyond my 1:1 Pipefitting skills, a museum quality USS Enterprise was recently finished with loads of minute PE that literally brought the model to life, and a ship board gun emplacement that rivals anything I’ve seen of a similar nature. Yes the detail is what makes the presentation sparkle!
Cajun 
Some more than others. You could be 51 and act like a 71 year old on here.
Or you could be like me, 61 acting 21. (but if you ask my wife my maturity level may be even less than that)
Absolutely !!
I can answer his questions easily! Model shows where rivet counters are judgeing your work. I build it to my likeing.Those I show my work to .
I am a boomer and my hobby is mine. I do not or can’t work in clubs.
I am also conflicted about this vid but it seems everyone here pretty much agrees. At first, I interpreted his video as hypocritical because he said that it’s fine to build whatever model you want however you like and as long as you enjoy it who cares But, then why make a whole video complaining about the modeling world changing?
But I thought about it more and realized that his point might have been more that there is more pressure now than ever to be really good or to buy expensive aftermarket just to compete with pros, which still doesn’t make sense as again, nobody is forcing you to do something you do not enjoy or want.
Agreed. I will admit to getting a bit obsessive with research and aftermarket detailing options and then be rather overwhelmed.
I suppose to rekindle some of the fun of my early teen years is why I picked up Panther F and Panther II kits.
I’m not a Panzer ‘46 guy; I intend to model these as they might or could have appeared. So, appropriate factory camo for instance.
But this also affords me the opportunity to not worry so much about pedantic criticism. If it’s plausible, it’s correct. There’s some room to maneuver.
All that said, maybe it was a year ago that I purchased on eBay the Frog 1/72 Dutch East Indies airplane kit with the orange triangles.
I wanted something simple to build out of the box, not worry about adding anything, just get the colors close and not worry, and my son and I could build it on a Saturday.
Unfortunately, the seller cancelled the purchase! 
Yep! Whatever pressure you feel while doing your hobby comes from within.
Nothing wrong with pushing yourself to do your best… or even try to do better than ever before.
But realize, nobody is forcing you.
I found it funny how ignored 75% of Tamiya’s offering and lumped everything they do against an admittedly older kit. Of course the brands he raves about rarely get a 2nd glance from me. I’m content to spend $20 more on a kit and get in return a project with 5 times as many parts/detail and accuracy.
That’s the thing that drew back into kits a few years ago, the very idea of losing myself in a rewarding project for hours on end to escape the daily grind. Through in I’m currently heading towards a somewhat friendly divorce, my workbench is my happy space. I’ll buy aftermarket if choose too, I’ll detail as best as I can here but not there. I don’t get jealous of better builds, instead I try to ask how they did it so I can aim higher because in the end, it’s fun.
Now old Harry is a character but he did trip himself up. But who here hasn’t stood in their yard yelling at clouds? We just don’t throw it on YouTube. I’ve noted it before, I grew up working in a LHS in the 80’s and I love where the industry has gone because in scale we get a lot of bang for our bucks and the satisfaction is just right below taking my daughter fishing.
Oh ffs…
Another reason to hate ourselves for screwing something up that we just thought we were enjoying.
The hobby is what you make it, You can carve your models from soap for all I care, this old clown probably speaks for an infinitely tiny minority of modelmakers, a minority of 1 I think.
So everything wrong with the modern hobby seems to be stuff Captain Birdseye here doesn’t like doing.
I think the one thing wrong with the current hobby is all the talking heads telling us whats wrong with the hobby.
I once saw a documentary hosted by a plummy American professor telling everyone that the Internet was going to empower people and give them a voice, this video demonstrates that some people don’t deserve much empowerment.
The is nothing but rambling foolishness that’s not worth wasting time on.
2/3rds of this video was about being an old man. 1/3rd of this video was about how he built models with parts and kits that he was complaining about.
His heart is in the right place but he’s preaching to the choir. Also a hater of styles that are not his own.
conclusion: Nothing is wrong with scale model building. It evolves in a progressive direction.
Exactly Ko. Around 120 years ago tin-plate toys of trains & early cars were all the rage for parents who could afford to buy what were pricey amusements for their kids. But no assembly required, handed to them on a (tin) plate. Fast forward to the 1920’s/30’s, Meccano came along and suddenly kids had to use their imaginations to build things for themselves. Then plastic kits came along in the 1950’s – no doubt the middle-aged Meccano kids thought that was the pits, imagination completely removed again. Fast forward another 70 years and the options have multiplied out of sight. We can buy ready-mades, or kits, or scratch-build something ourselves out of all the materials now available.
I don’t see what anyone’s got to complain about, never has the hobby been better. The only problem (maybe) is that all of the above’s out of fashion for the vast majority of kids today, or so it seems. But even then, while we may remember all our contemporaries were also model-making…is that actually true? Of all the hundreds of guys I knew throughout school, maybe 5% were building kits - sometimes. I only remember one other mate who was doing it consistently i.e. until we were about 16…and then we chased skirts like everyone else. Well um er nearly everyone else 
Spot on, you get out what you put in and as long as you’re enjoying what you do and are happy with the results then theres no more to be said… 
For me, the model building hobby is better than ever. Exploring modern painting systems, stereo lithography, and especially super models is genuinely fun.
Photo etch parts do not bother me but I understand why so many people dislike them.
I call the Spanish School of model painting ‘Goblin Mode’ because it evolved out of fantasy figure painting. While I find Goblin Mode interesting, I would never use it to depict a realistic model.
In my opinion, there is a very large percentage of model builders who crave accurate, easy, fast, and inexpensive models. Military model manufacturers are not currently serving that group very well.
um-hmm
there are contradictory requirements in that list …
just saying …
Tamiya comes pretty close sometimes but a Ryefield Model’s kit on Lightning Sale at Sprue Brother’s is a rare example of when that occurs.
Fast, good, or cheap - pick any two!
For me, scale modelling went wrong when it sucked a very young me into its vortex five decades ago. Ever since, it’s been a race for more, better, and more obscure kits…
I used to buy a lot of kits. More than I could build in a lifetime. Sold them off. Now I buy as I build. No more stashing/collecting for me but to each his/her own. After I make a plan for a diorama I order only what I need. Better for my sanity. Better for my wallet.
I’m reminded of the Marx Brothers skit:
Patient - “Doctor! Doctor! It HURTS when I do this…”
Doctor - “Well, then… Don’t do that!”
Disgruntled modeler - “Fellow modelers, I hate doing all this stuff!”
Me - "Well, then… Don’t do that!
I am old enough to understand his point. I like drag racing and NASCAR from the 60’s and 70’s. They were innovative and exciting. They are much more refine today. Plenty of rules, lots of expensive teams. The same with Lemans and F1. I see them today but the excitement level is less. All 4 of these motorsport programs were in their younger years. Fewer rules, more danger, lots of innovation. As an example, here is a time progression of Don Prudhome and his cars.
The changes and innovations were amazing. NASCAR was wide open. You ran a stock bodied car and drafting in a pack was not a thing. It was the driver and the car. There were not mega millions spent. Many raced on a shoe string. Now days There is little noticeable change in drag racing, NASCAR runs in a pack or you can’t be competitive. Many people have stopped following either.
With modeling in times past we suffered from lack of detail but there was less pressure when building a 5 dollar kit. Fewer parts and you finished in a day and then went out playing with the kit. Kits were coming out so fast that there would be a new kit out next week anyway. Today when building a $100 or more investment in a kit, you better not F it up or you will be peeved. I use to think if I got glue on the wing, darn and then I went out and played with the kit and just bought another one next week. I can’t do that with todays kits( i don’t mean go out and play with them). If some how I muck something up then DANG. I can’t just build a nice kit this afternoon, it is a month or more now. So I understand what he was saying. It was sort of the point in the Summer Nostalgia campaign. Now that does not take away from detail builders who like longer builds. There have always been those who enjoyed taking a box of wood sticks and making the HMS Victory over a 3 year period. Simply amazing. I think we are being slowly pulled into the longer slog builds as the kits escalate in detail. How many times have you read where a poster is down playing Tamiya for their lack of detail (translates also to time to build). How many said they wouldn’t get a Tamiya kit for "soft or lack of detail? Quite a few. I can promice you Tamiya is a fun build without many hassles and you can get to painting and weathering if you choose in a few days.
He wasn’t saying complex kits are bad or something is wrong with the builders. He is simply saying modeling has changed.
Nah, shooting now is wayyyyyyy more expensive than it used to be. Surplus ammo supplies have dried up, and ammo shortages happen all too frequently. The powers that be in some locations have made it more and more difficult for the average law abiding citizen to execute their constitutional rights regarding firearms… yes even with a single shot muzzle loader… waiting periods, taxes, background checks.
But scale modeling has no such restrictions. Aside from those who want to ban some of our paints, glues, etc… perhaps we will have to go back to whittling a piece of wood…
