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[hover tim]

im 26  did you sort that pool out tim? when we been talking about it i presumed you were 40 yo or something

im only kidding dude but i did think you were older

How old did you think i was then?

not yet we have not had a club meeting yet as the MHA members are wide spread we meet at set points through the year but we dont have a cometie meeting during july/august as these the times when members tend to go on holliday

on the subject of getting kids interested the MHA are working on some models for kids to use or big kids 

[Bryan Young]

I thought that the original question was about scratch-building scale boats/ships. Perhaps I was wrong.
But if I was correct, then the questioer has a point (or two).
If (and it's a big "if") youngsters who enjoy building and sailing any of the variants of "kits" continue down that path then true scratch building is definetly on the wane.
As I get older I find that many of the scratch builders of a similar age to me, now admit that their enjoyment of the hobby comes/came from the building process and the sailing on the water bit was/is secondary.
I think the idea of "instant gratification" has its merits as youngsters these days have so many avenues to explore...and years of patience and learning tends not to be one of them.
Having said that....there are many people who come late to the hobby and do translate from kit to scratch building. Most of the people that I personally know come from a background of cabinet making, engineering and other walks of life where long training was involved. That just doesn't seem to happen these days. BY.

[JB]

I thought that the original question was about scratch-building scale boats/ships.

No the question was...is model boating a refuge for old men...and looking at the result of the poll so far the answer is going to be yes!

I'm not worried about it, I feel old anyway...! deadwood pointed us to the other thread...er...I can't remember which it was now...but the bottom line was all the old guard which supplied bits and pieces for your boat build are dissapearing fast and no one to replace them...at least it think that's the reason for the poll in the first place...I stand to be corrected!


JB.

PS...61.8% of the forum are over 50...so far!

[Marks Model Bits]

but the bottom line was all the old guard which supplied bits and pieces for your boat build are dissapearing fast and no one to replace them

Although the thought of retirement is quite appealing, I am not planning on it just yet!!!!!

Mark.

[JB]

Although the thought of retirement is quite appealing, I am not planning on it just yet!!!!!

Mark.

Well there you go!

How much would you want for the business then?

No..! I've go enough to do...

JB.

[gwa84]

ime 27 been building and messing with rc boats since i was 14 but ive always been the type of person to sit in my room painting a tabletop model then go out in gangs coursing trouble horses for courses 

[bobk]

I started at around 12, plastic kits, and loved fine detail painting. Progressed onto to scratch builds, ships & planes, mostly static display models but also scratch built slot racing cars.  There followed i guess a common interval in which life's priorities focused on home building, bringing up children, and struggling to pay all the bills (especially the 'hobby' of fast growing kids which becomes very expensive !).  Somehow building models slipped onto the back burner, although I still have some of my early work.

Having now been inflicted with the notorious status of Old Age Pensioner, and feeling the high mileage wear & tear, I find I now have more time on my hands and a little more more flexibility of income than in increasingly aching joints.  Time to rediscover a passtime I used to enjoy so much.

It's no so much the sailing, or even the building, but getting the 'little grey cells' into overdrive planning how to create the next item of detail or overcoming each technical challenge involved in the build.  I look foreward to a few hours working on the next steps. 

Not so much achieving a destination but enjoying the journey.

Bob

[Spook]

I'm almost 54 and have been building model boats for the last couple of years since my change of career gave me a lot of time on my hands when the family were at work/school.

I've just completed my third r/c (kit) boat (not including the r/c yacht I built about 6 years ago) and am looking for my next project. There are a couple of kits that I would like to have a go at but am also tempted to try a scratch build or at least build from scratch on a moulded hull.

[brianB6]

We are not allowed to be O A P's now Senior Citizens have arrived.  
My story is much the same as Bobk having been modelling from my early days, even in Primary school.   Scale models of planes and even a T class sub in High school.
Muched reduced in middle life, then back into modelling when the kids were older and my son started modelling. (the girls were ballet mad  )
Working out how to do something I have not tried before keeps the old grey cells ticking over.

[MikeA]

here my reasons why i think young ppl dont scratch build boats:
1, scratch building requires skills that can take years to aquire thats why massive model ships are built by the more advanced citizens.
2, young people cant afford the tools required for such complex builds unless their parents pay for them.
3, young people dont allways have the space to either build or store there boats unless dads got a garage or a workshop allready.
4, building models is expensive unless parents pay for it.
5, the stigma of the old mans passtime had given boating a "geeky" reputation.

the young people of my generation and younger are subjected to constant peer pressure, Unless you dont give a   ***** Moderated *****  like i dont or hover tim to name a few. in some people it takes time to mature beyond this sense of insecurity and just say s*d it and get on with it.
my dad is a engineer and his way of thinking past on to me. Now my dad is not a modeller but he was contructive and so was my grandad they allow me to use tools etc when i was a kid, my first tool kit was this:



albeit it was 20 years ago when i was 6 and mine was blue im amazed they still sell it. I can remeber using the tools i made allsorts i use to build something every week at least from 10 in the morning till 10 at night, stopping for dinner an tea of course. i remeber constantly twattin my thumb with the hammer trying to nail bits of wood togeather, we didnt have a computer either so this is what i did as hobby. But if it hadnt been for my grandad and dad to showing me how to do stuff anf lettin me help them with there projects then i wouldnt have learnt how use tools in the first place. Thing is though these days a lot of kids dont know how to use tools because its considered to dangerous according to child safety regulations, laws and social services. I was just old enough to miss that kids now dont no what its like to hit your thumb with a hammer because its locked away out of reach.
I know people who would like to build boats but come out with the excuse that if they got stuck they would end up smashing it.

[stubbsy]

I have been building RC Boats since 1982 at the wee age of 15, which goes some way to accounting for my 'know all' attitute sometimes. Well earned I think


Modest too

And still working on the same boat 

[treeboa]

as has been said, the more upto date pc/we could get sued/ children with sharp tools brigade dont encourage thinking outside the box, a few years ago i asked my youngest to knock me something up on a school lathe - we dont have lathes dad, so later in the year i asked him as he was in design and tech to build me an overflow weir for my fishtank, gave him my design, cheeky sod claimed in school it was his design and used it as a project for his gcse`s, everything fine, untill it came time to glue the acrylic together, oh we cant supply that stuff its dangerous, so i got him some `acrylic ` glue/solvent, again it was classed as too dangerous to use by him, for his exam it had to be built using silicone sealer, it was proved to work although it sprang leaks, once home i gave him the solvent, told him about working with the stuff and left him too it, job done, again it was taken back to school to be shown working properly which because of the solvent used raised a few eyebrows, when we mentioned how i allow him to use my airbrush, solvents and thinners, craft knives i thought a few were going to have heart attacks

how different to when i was at school, we made pokers, catapults, i made a crossbow, i have a nice scar the length of my middle finger, went to grab the mates scribe and he snatched it - SLICE,  we were using acetone in science when one the other mates decided to see what it tasted like, i discovered how to make gunpowder from me grandad, got the saltpeter and sulfer from the local chemists, ` wot you doing with this son ?` making gunpowder` `  chemist told me to use another form of sulpher, now days the anti terrorist team would be holding me at gunpoint  , got some charcoal and made it up, tried it, big flash, happy, took some to school, told my science teacher, he wanted to see, now for some reason it was damp, so a match just fizzled it, teacher gets a bunsen burner and `WHOOSH`  the guys got no facial hair and a load from his heads missing, me and the rest the class are in uproar, end game from that - i got six of the best

now days they do nothing remotely dangerous 

[MikeA]

with kids these days not allowed to use tools i hope to heaven we dont need houses building in the future because were gonna be bit *%$*!!

[Dekan]

My experience with model boaters,that I have met, is... that most of the people who only sail model boats are a complete different breed, to the ones that also fly model aircraft..

The model aircraft/boaters seem to have a broader spread of ages...

[dodgy geezer]

here my reasons why i think young ppl dont scratch build boats:
1, scratch building requires skills that can take years to aquire thats why massive model ships are built by the more advanced citizens.
2, young people cant afford the tools required for such complex builds unless their parents pay for them.
3, young people dont allways have the space to either build or store there boats unless dads got a garage or a workshop allready.
4, building models is expensive unless parents pay for it.
5, the stigma of the old mans passtime had given boating a "geeky" reputation.

.....

Well, the EeZeBilt approach addresses items 1-4 inclusive above. And you can also convert them to an 'adult' size - I have just put up another 'double-sized' log at http://modelboats.hobby-site.com/stevecurlew1.html as an example....

[MikeA]

thats a great site ill probably have a go at some on those myself.

[JB]

I'm having computer trouble today my desktop pc is down, on the netbook for the moment so I'm restricted online with my usual programs for photo's etc...!

I will agree with dodgy geezer's post entirely, my first wooden boat was the Curlew, 2nd an Aerokits Sea Commander...its a good way to start.

Here's a photo....!   

JB.

[brodjack]

That old Keilkraft book brings back memories.
I had the thicker catalogue and used to scour through it every day  when i was about 14,sadly couldn't afford much then though.

[essex2visuvesi]

once home i gave him the solvent, told him about working with the stuff and left him too it, job done, again it was taken back to school to be shown working properly which because of the solvent used raised a few eyebrows, when we mentioned how i allow him to use my airbrush, solvents and thinners, craft knives i thought a few were going to have heart attacks

My boy is now 11 and 3 years ago he was soldering


He is now better at wiring than me!

When he used the picture in some homework (What I did on my holidays) the teacher was amazed that I let my son use such tools and what would I do if he burned himself?
my reply was "same as what I did when I burned myself with a soldering iron....... make a mental note not to do it again"

Hes currently working on a billings white star

[JB]

Actually the Keil book is in fact Model Boats magazine November 1968, rear cover, I did have the cats etc + several model boat books by Smeed and Connolly, all gone now, it was all paid for with my paper round money, no dad to help me along, he died when I was 10, it was tough but I'm 58 now and just about to start the Revell Corvette, I can't see any problems converting the plastic kit to R/C, an easy one really, just collecting the running gear and I may make some of that, can't find a rudder assy, we'll see how it goes.

Another 2 pics for the nostalgia, we'll all be in tears next 

Backing up the desktop pc before a reset to factory settings...could take hours!
JB.

[dodgy geezer]

That old Keilkraft book brings back memories.
I had the thicker catalogue and used to scour through it every day  when i was about 14,sadly couldn't afford much then though.

If you go to my Taycol site here: http://taycol.hobby-site.com/Documents.html

and click on the 'Electric Motor pages...'  you will be able to turn the pages of an original KK catalogue. Just the electric motor pages - for some reason I can't get the full thing working at the moment. But it will give you a feel for the old days.....

[john s 2]

Im glad to see a younger member soldering.But am concerned to see him near to the work without a pair of eyeshields.Its so easy to accidently flick solder.Batter safe than sorry.John.

[essex2visuvesi]

Im glad to see a younger member soldering.But am concerned to see him near to the work without a pair of eyeshields.Its so easy to accidently flick solder.Batter safe than sorry.John.

Never thought of that