Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: deadwood on August 25, 2011, 12:17:07 am
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The bleak trace of this thread (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=31706.0) prompted this poll.
Is it really true that (scale) model boating is an old men's pastime?
Me approaching my 48th birthday in less than a fortnight may be eligible to consider myself an old man by now.
Few of our ancestors lived beyond this age.
And the beginning decay of my body painfully reminds me that the human design (without the support of modern medical science) wasn't really planned for greater longevity.
I hope you don't find this poll too personal.
Greetings
Ralph
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48? You are still young. %%
It' not one's age that matters but outlook.
Remember, growing old is compulsory, Growing up is optional. O0
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Jeez you bunch of old codgers! About time you stopped playing with toy boats isn't it! ;D %)
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Well we were all young once and I was into scale model boats from my mid 20's onwards...mind you that was 30years ago...
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Ralph what's the matter? been under the weather recently? !
I think you're looking at it the wrong way...although I know what you mean about being 'painfully reminded' {:-{ I'm 58 but feel about 88 sometimes!
We've got to the stage where after lots of 'practice' we can afford (usually) or scratch build - display - and sail model boats/ships with a reasonable amount of success, look at the build threads on the forum, many of the efforts only exist because the builder 'had the tools'...his hands and the 'practice', if you get my drift! not many young boys would/could do this these days, I started my first wood kit, an Aerokits, when I was 13, I completed it in a few months and with help from an older friend who fitted the diesel engine and running gear and ran it on the lake, we called it 'sailing' for some unknown reason in those days, I'll find a photo of the lake...I like a picture to go with the words...!!!
Cheer up!
JB.
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Were children ever really involved in building the kind of models we (perhaps i should say you, as I'm only 24) are interested in?
Yes, a lot of old club photos show youth participating but they aren't the ones with the eight-foot long superdetailed steam Bismark.
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Me approaching my 48th birthday in less than a fortnight may be eligible to consider myself an old man by now.
If you are Deadwood now, you will be Sawdust by 65!
And the beginning decay of my body painfully reminds me that the human design (without the support of modern medical science) wasn't really planned for greater longevity.
Yes. it's quite amazing how many things there are that can drop off or go wrong. You can see exactly the same effects on model boats.
Colin
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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 ;D
Modest too :-))
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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
Pre '62 for me, and I guess quite a few others here. ;)
Colin
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I distinctly remember building a sail boat at about age 5, the hull and keel were made of polystyrene, it had a dirty great stick of lead solder as used for stained glass windows and ripstop nylon for the sail. As our pool was surrounded by about 8 foot high block walls, it did not sail too well. Rather than being encouraged by my dad he admonished me for leaving a big polystyrene mess both in the garage and a large amount floating in the pool :embarrassed:
Just creped into the 36-50 bracket.
Cheers
Nick
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O.K you young lad's, started making models back in the dark ages for you, me that is the mid 1950's when I was about 10 years old the 10d kit's from Woolworth moved on to my first boat a Kiel-Krift MTB,never stopped making boats, in 1989 moved on to Sub's. and as has been said we may grow old but in our harts we are still young.
By the way I also ride a Ducati Super sport most day's :-))
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at 54 i must be waiting for the grim reaper {-), i blame my old man for this `modelling` lark, things have progressed so much over the time as well, i remember seeing an old guy when i was a nipper, he was winding up a clockwork cabin cruiser, however he also had a clockwork escape that was set to do basic manouvers, none of your new fangled radio control for that guy {-), my old man was an raf radar engineer, he built me a radio control system, was basic on off none of your progressive stuff, range varied depending on weather, batteries, what colour shirt you had on, hellish thing that took up most of the hull, lastest a few goes then did a viking funeral one day >>:-( park keeper banned me from the park lake for trying to set fire to the island {-), now i look at what we have available, how small it is and what its capable of, anyone remember making putput boats
heres a more advanced version of what i mean http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/boat/asembCartonl.html (http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/boat/asembCartonl.html)
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Although trains has always been my first love I have also been into model boats for many years. I did attempt to make a version of my current ferry model when I was 14 but I didn't have the the money, skills or the help to carry it off. It was always on the back burner though and 20 years later having gained some modelling experience and a bit of disposable income I have finally made it.
I just hope it doesn't take another 20 years to build another.
Ali.
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Gawd love 'im, poor ol' boy..........48 as well................can't remember that far back %% %% %% %%
I built my first model boat under the supervision of my grand dad at 8 years old......... so must be ancient and past it now at 60....................but don't let Peter Fitness read this....he's positively ancient {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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Fast approaching 50 and do not consider myself old.... No scale boats for me, just race boats.
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Seen my 3 score and 10 and spent 54 years at sea in the Navy, the fishing fleet (1st cod war) merchant navy,Big and small yachts, square riggers & sail training ships, My Grandfather started me building model boats in the early 40s as there not many toys in the shops(there was a war on) he gave me a clasp knife for my 5th birthday and told me to make my own model boats ...I've been doing it ever since... I don't consider my self old ...I think age is a state of mind ... I still like girls in mini skirts and Bikini's and I like to sail my model boats
Jimmy
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As my doc said to me, "age is only a number" it's the way you look at life what counts, now where is that arthritis?.
Still building boats but had to give up motorbikes; kept falling of them. :-)) %%. Howard.
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Not in that order though Jimmy {-) {-)
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I turned 40 in January and have been building models for as long as I can remember, don't consider myself old yet, grumpy at times-maybe. My grandad got me interested but always been keen on engineering and how things work. Done r/c cars, planes and helicopters but enjoy the detail you can put in a boat and the relaxing time spent sailing them with fellow enthusiasts. I don't think younger people today appreciate engineering and creating something with your own hands. Most just want everything now without having to put the time and effort in. There are exceptions though and are some very fine young modellers out there, I just wish there were more of them. Dave.
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same age as me number 6, i odnt feel old !!!
- always into models from a young age, got my first tamiya car aged 9 after that got into ic cars, then had a go at model flying aged 13 , - built my first billings boat at 16... moved away form good sailing waters so got into N scale model railways, got older moved back close to a good boat club and carried on with boats- been doing that for last 20 years...( still have the N scale too ...and now i have the excuse that my son wanted an RC eleccy helicopter and more tamiya buggies- and as a good dad i obliged !!! )
both my son and daughter love to make stuff, anything that involves them being busy and creative, -sadly i do think its on the decline though, - my sone built his first RC boat aged 6- its rough, but reliable and he's proud of his acheivement !!!- cant knock it, got to encourage it !
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as a 23 year old what I like is the building aspect but then seeing something you have made take to the water or hover in my case for the first time its a thrill
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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
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While it may take the maturity and income of the more "mature" modelers to build the beauties, it doesn't
hurt to seed the interest in model boating in the younger generation.
While you are waiting for the parts, or the glue or resin to cure, build up a simple "Springer" tug and keep it on
hand for the children to drive while you are at the pond, or at an event. I built up a springer in eight days, and
the children ran it all day, as did some adults, at our "Crawfish Festival Regatta" (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1488600)
The boat had a 400 geared motor, and two batteries lasted the entire day.
We also handed out little business cards that provided links to the plans and building information for Springers.
And each child that ran the boat got a pamphlet from Shaver Transportation that was full of pictures of tugs,... and
river transportation information should they need to ship grain... O0
Don't just model, Promote the hobby. ;)
Aimee
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Just playing with them is one thing - getting kids to make them themselves is even better....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAHJbJieV0o
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Im 26, seriously been interested in boats since 22. From the mental image people get about model boats, it does seem an oldie sort of thing but people dont appreciate the skill involved in such hobbies.
Ive always had RC models of one sort or another, mainly IC cars.
Dan
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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
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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.
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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! :embarrassed:
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!
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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.
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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.
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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 :-))
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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
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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.
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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.
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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:
(http://s4.postimage.org/2th83g97o/51u_Gb_H0_Vn7_L_SL500_AA300.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2th83g97o/)
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.
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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 ;D
Modest too :-))
And still working on the same boat %% %% %% %% :P :P :P :P :P :P
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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 :police: :police: :police:
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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 *%$*!!
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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...
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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.
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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....
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thats a great site ill probably have a go at some on those myself.
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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.
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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. {:-{
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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
(http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/Essex2Visuvesi/DSC00083.jpg)
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
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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 O0 {-)
Backing up the desktop pc before a reset to factory settings...could take hours!
JB.
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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.....
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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.
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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 :embarrassed: