Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Bob K on March 02, 2014, 04:08:15 pm
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An Observation
Whilst taking advantage of a window in the weather today I could not help notice a larger than usual number of young children fascinated by our R.C. boats at the lake. Viewed as objects of wonder.
So, if there is such interest by those with reins and wellie boots why does it often take six decades for their fascination to blossom into going out and building one?
Maybe "I was so much older then. I’m younger than that now."
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Life gets in the way
ken
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What a lovely observation and such a gentile reply!
I suspect the parents of these children just don't have
spare money to splash out on this type of interest unlike
us old boys.
I feel somewhat lucky.......
N
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With me it was the money too.
Jerry.
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With me it was the money too.
Jerry.
It still is O0 O0 O0 O0
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Life gets in the way
ken
Life?
You mean girls, Shirley.
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Life? You mean girls, Shirley.
On a purely philosophical level, I hope that building boats is not an early symptom of a lessening of interest in Ladies ? Do not be afraid, be VERY afraid !
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when I was young, we didn't have TV to fill our time up, so as kids we spent time on toys- with me it was meccano, when I was bigger we had a modeller at the youth club I went to (his wife taught badmington at the club) so I got more into model making. I have always pottered with bits and pieces, but now the internet gets in the way too. taking up time.
So recently- bored with whats on TV and the internet I have started modelling again, I still cant really afford to spend a fortune doing it, and I don't consider myself old just yet (at 54), the biggest stopper is lack of space and lack of time.
I pity poor modern kids who don't know how to enjoy themselves without all their electronics.
Grendel
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Good post Grendel!
Also I think it's alien to parents too, I mean, if you go to the park, see us 'old duffers' playing model boats, immediately parents think, "where do I buy a complete one ready to go?" Buy a crap one of ebay, immediately despondency sets in, wait 40 years and then think, 'Hmmm.... I'll have another look at those model boats!'
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Many towns when I was a child had parks or recreation grounds with small boating ponds and pools our town had two, we would spend hours at the pond in school holidays and weekends ,there were loads of boys with all manner of things which sailed, floated ,or sunk as the case may be, this I believe sowed the model boating seeds or at least it did with me ,but with the doing away with park keepers these ponds were filled in on the grounds of safety , so nowhere local for the kids to play with toy or model boats etc. that may just have planted that seed, even if it lays dormant for years as in my case.
Ray
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A local pond I used to sail on with my yacht was so busy with great models
including ic on weekends - that was back in the 50's.
Now, you take a boat anywhere near it and the old lady's tell
you off for scaring the ducks and Canada geese which they feed.
As if they were there first!
Blackheath pond.
N...
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Feeding difficult old ladies to Canada geese seems an excellent idea.....
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The solution: you take on the clear(net) a photo of a duck near a model and you put the photo in your box(cash register) of ground.
You show the photo to the old lady
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Gazou!! You have completely lost me -I'm just not tuned in to your plan??
Please explain !!
N....
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:-)) I had this guy come up to me to inform me that my model was bad for the environment, and that all that wood was helping to deforest the planet and other materals I was using did the same,after I told him to perform an impossible sexual act on himself,he got in a massive chelsea tractor and drove off,back to the topic I don't think people today have time to spend with their kids let alone build models for/with them that's where we granddads come into it build it for them and get them interested in the hobby,I all way's keep a bullet proof model for the kids to play with down at the lake,happy sailing,Ray :-)) :-))
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For me, its a combination of time, illness, money and space.
a wife, three kids - not enough time to get the necessities of the day done.
illness- crippling depression, anxiety etc. just got back to work and three months in ive gone pop again. hey ho more diazepam and i cant walk or see straight.
money. illness means no work means no money.
space - two up two down, cheap argos shed and 2 foot of snow means the flamin shed roof turned into a funnel.
please dont read this as a moan or a whine, merely a stating of situation. but also i grateful to all of you who've posted on here with inspirational models and to peeps like my uncle jem (jerry c) who show me what is possible.
i think it is imperitive that i demonstrate to my children a 'have a go' attitude and the need to occupy and stimulate your brain.
i recently became employed after a 7 year period of education followed by ill health, only to find i had to battle to get home in time to read my boy of 5 a bedtime story. forget that for a game of soldiers.
i have also recently been delighted to see said boy whacking the side of our van with a claw hammer. i couldnt tell him off because he was "fixing like daddy"
couldnt tell him off when he twoc'd his moms cordless hot glue pen. he wanted to make a boat out of lollipop sticks. i told him he'd burn his fingers a bit but he'd get over it. i was chuffed to bits.
hopefully ill have a cobbled up piece of junk that floats and preferably moves under it own power sometime this year, but if it takes me till im sixty then hey ho that will the way of it.
be blessed
ben
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NORDLYS,
You print these photos found on the Internet
You put photos in your pocket
When the old lady grumbles you take(bring) out photos
(http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/15/37/42/64/lux_311.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=3408&u=15374264)
(http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/15/37/42/64/lux111.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=3409&u=15374264)
(http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/15/37/42/64/lux211.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=3410&u=15374264)
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my hope too is to produce a working model to a decent standard, while I might be able to do a lot of it with minimal outlay, things like prop shafts, rudders and radio gear would, I think be the biggest expenses, this is why my test model is being made from cardboard, once I start to build for real the raw materials will be from what I have lying around, using tools I already have, much as I would love a bandsaw to cut planks, I can see they might well be cut using a circular saw converted to a table saw (somehow), motors and batteries I have, the rest, well, I'll start saving now.
Grendel
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I was first fascinated by RC in magazines, then during Summer science classes at
the local museum, I would spend lunch peering at a Tamiya Sherman tank that a
gentleman was displaying. At the end of the week, that man generously allowed
me to run his precious model. I was smitten and inspired.
It would be well after college that I would trend back into hobby modeling.
Architecture had honed my modeling fascination and skills.
A group of RC ship modelers taught me ship building.
Looking back to that first gentleman and his tank, I spent a week and built a Springer tug just
for the local children to run. If they are like me, they will remember that experience, and perhaps
work toward, or come into the hobby someday.
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is the trick to jump the tug from one pool to the other?
Grendel
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I think a lot of the youngsters do not have a wish to do things with their hands, they think they will come up with a programme, write an app or become a footballer to make lots of money. I also thing that their parents possibly because their fathers did not make anything, are not interested in this type of hobby.
Even as a kid I was interested in how things worked, I had to be I kept taking things apart. As an engineer in my 61st year I am still interested in how things work, and building models is very relaxing after work.
Where I work we have 6 apprentice, they are supposed to be multi-skilled, out of these I would say none of them would take up a hobby of any type unless it could be done on their phones.
I believe eventually hobbies like this will die out as people will be more interested in sitting in front of a screen of some sorts than using their hands and brains to produce something.
Brian
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I think a lot of the youngsters do not have a wish to do things with their hands, they think they will come up with a programme, write an app or become a footballer to make lots of money. I also thing that their parents possibly because their fathers did not make anything, are not interested in this type of hobby.
Even as a kid I was interested in how things worked, I had to be I kept taking things apart. As an engineer in my 61st year I am still interested in how things work, and building models is very relaxing after work.
Where I work we have 6 apprentice, they are supposed to be multi-skilled, out of these I would say none of them would take up a hobby of any type unless it could be done on their phones.
I believe eventually hobbies like this will die out as people will be more interested in sitting in front of a screen of some sorts than using their hands and brains to produce something.
Brian
Do 3D printers fall into this catergory O0 O0 O0
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Most younger than two score have been raised in a throw away society and the hiccup that spawned B@Q and suchlike as "Hobby" suppliers did nothing to help. Those of us at three score(and nearly ten) were brought up at dads elbows learning the intricacies of how to make it work again. By eleven, 240V mains and spark plug leads held no mystery's and helping to rebuild a Vespa at that time certainly helped in later life for virtually all car repairs. I also still go to the door when a strange overhead engine is heard and the odd Merlin or four still causes the hairs to tingle.
Full marks to Dodgy for trying to resurrect E-Z-B and his vintage site but the era of wonderment for kids has long passed unless it's associated with Txt or car crash and reset, there are a few exceptions but not like seventy years ago.
Regards Ian.
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As I started this thread some might wonder why it took this long for me to take up boat building.
I was brought up in the era of Meccano, rubber band powered Kiel Kraft balsa planes, and back when Airfix kits came in transparent plastic bags with instructions stapled to the top. Radio control was virtually unheard of, and hideously expensive. Small shallow boating ponds were very common, so you fitted a sail and launched from upwind. If you were lucky you recovered it from the other side.
The few kits available were beyond my means so I built a balsa escort carrier but lost it on its first outing to a frisky dog. Shipping mortality rate was high so no point adding detail.
Weeks of pocket money was invested in a Mamod Marine steam engine. “Suitable for ships up to 3 feet”, so I build a softwood HMS Cressey hull of that length which I hoped would go at a realistic speed. With fixed rudder it went off like a MTB. With a non removable prop there was no point in finishing it off.
After that I specialised in scratch built static models, then scratch slot cars.
From my late teens onwards life’s other priorities relegated model making to history, or so I thought.
However, with the kids now with their own homes and families, retirement, and the mortgage paid off, I am back into it. I am not sure what the answer is. Building boats is not cheap and requires skills that the pre-girlfriend generation seldom acquires in time.
Until a solution is found members of model boat clubs will perhaps remain predominantly retired folk like me.
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I think it's nurture rather than nature.
There were plenty of other distractions for young minds years ago prior to the advent of computers and associated technology- sports, cinema, cars/motorcycles etc.
Modelmaking and associated crafts were encouraged more, because we had an economy based on industry, and people had to be good with their hands, and that was one method of gaining valuable skills. From the 1970's onwards industry was gradually sold off, moved overseas and a move made towards a service based economy. Making things was no longer encouraged in the same way, and in many cases activities like modelmaking are lampooned in the media as immature pursuits.
Can't agree that modelmaking is expensive, it has to be about the cheapest pursuit you can engage in. It can be expensive if you purchase kits, but if you learn to scratchbuild, you can make models for next to nothing.
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i often feel that i have a natural desire to make, fix, devise all sorts of things. maybe it was role modelled, maybe theres something in way god made me but i hope my son has it too. im not too worried about hobbies like this dying out. modifying maybe but not dying out. those of you doing it regularly will be inspiring many who see you.
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My first two years back into modelling was as expensive as taking up golf. Building a workshop, re-equipping it with all the tools adhesives and paints thrown out decades ago. I am only just starting to build up a "stock" of materials, and do not yet have drawers full of spare props / shafts / RX's and other electronics from former builds.
Scratch building is not as easy or cheap as simply using bits you find around the home, unless you've been building boats for many a year and have a stock room like a model shop. Sorry.
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Very good point Bob, my 'bits box' goes back over 40 years!
Colin
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RAAArtyGunner with all due respect that is not really what we are talking about, we are talking about a hobby where if you get a problem you work around it or solve it. I would think most youngsters idea of solving a problem is what game to play tonight, or what app to download
Brian
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Too true html.
I can't imagine kit builders lying awake at night pondering some presently insoluble problem! But again, that's only one of the things that keep scratch builders brains alive.
It's always amazed me how easily a problem sort of solves itself after a long cogitation! Then the actual building seems to take care of itself (sometimes). BY.
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I can't imagine kit builders lying awake at night pondering some presently insoluble problem!
It depends more on which kits you have in mind - I've seen some absolute shockers - but why is it that you always seem to refer to those who build from kits with such undisguised contempt? It says more about you than it does about anyone else.
There may ultimately be no room in your own timetable for them, Bryan, but I sincerely hope that they are made welcome at your club or the club (and maybe the hobby) will surely disappear.
Well - are they?
DM
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It depends more on which kits you have in mind - I've seen some absolute shockers - but why is it that you always seem to refer to those who build from kits with such undisguised contempt? It says more about you than it does about anyone else.
There may ultimately be no room in your own timetable for them, Bryan, but I sincerely hope that they are made welcome at your club or the club (and maybe the hobby) will surely disappear.
Well - are they?
DM
Well now, "Inertia".
What gives with this "always seem" business? Nothing I said can be construed as derogatory.....much less your use of the word "contempt".
You don't know me, so how can you judge and use such language?
For many years now I've encouraged and helped fellow club members with their problems...be they "kit" or "scratch". I also make no apologies for attempting to persuade people to build their own choice of model, rather than buy whatever is on offer. With some success. Building a hull is probably the main obstacle for many of those who have contemplated the "switch"......but many hulls are available that can be converted into something else.
No problem there.
I'd also agree with you that some kits are monumentally difficult.....and some are simply rubbish.
But the final result should at least bear some resemblance to the original, surely.
Many of the "semi-kit" models we have on our lake have been built to very high standards....built by those who quite often decide to climb upwards and actually spend some time reseaching the prototype. Others, of course, do not.
Any form of modelling, be it railways, dolls houses, aircraft and so on places an onus (or should) on the builder to "get it right". Not rivet counting. Not everyone wants, can or needs a "museum quality" model.
The essence of building any model is surely to build it to the best of ones ability with the tools one has available and a modicum of realisation of what they are attempting to achieve.
My misgivings all centre around those who only want to put something together quickly just so it can be "on the water". I can understand the desire.....but I can't understand the Who gives a hoot" attitude shown by some so-called modellers.
What camp are you in?
BY.
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:-)) Does it really matter I have built from kit and scratch built,I have got enjoyment from both over the years, my boats might not be the best built and are not perfect but they are my pride and joy,I have said on this forum before about the guy who pulled this young lads model to bits at the lake side OK it was not the best built boat but it was his first attempt at making a model and we all have to start somewhere,we never saw that young man again shame, encouragement was all he needed and he would have been there week after week with his models,so come on guys encourage them and get the young interested in our hobby we can all make a difference, get them down the lake and let them have a sail and we will have em hooked,happy sailing,Ray. :-)) :-)) :-)) :-))
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I agree, those that MODEL fall into a multitude of catagories, from those that have the skills and patience and produce museum quality, those that build semi kits and build to either museum quality of as intended, then there's those that buy the bits and build to the previous and there are those that buy a ready to run and do some cosmetic work that brings it up to what they are happy with, and then there is MEEEEEE, crap at everything, but love the challenge to convert what is not designed to be a working item - you have seen the choppers lately - right? :D.
I live in awe at those that are what you might call shipwrights - whose abilities produce the most exquistite vessels and detail to die for, then there is some that you look at and think - best viewed from afar, there not pretty and only represent what the vessel is - but the owner loves it and that should never be taken away from them, I've tried my hardest to get my two interested and failed, they have no interest, but I hope they look to the past when they get older that if I could get something that looked half decent, then maybe they may be able to as well.
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Well now, "Inertia".
What camp are you in?
BY.
We had this dispute some years ago on this very forum and we have met briefly - although you won't remember the occasion. Since then you've moderated your tone a little but it was apparent from what you wrote that you regard folk who build from kits as dull or lazy.
"I can't imagine kit builders lying awake at night pondering some presently insoluble problem!"
It's difficult to read this without hearing an emphasis on "kit builders" which borders on derogatory. I'm pleased that you subsequently took the opportunity to clarify your position and I hope that your willingness to share your knowledge and encourage all club members helps your club thrive.
'Camp'? A difficult one, that. I have scratch-built my own scale models; I have built from others' plans; I have had plans published for my own designs; I have designed kits for model boats (and model aircraft) and I have built from others' kits. I've worked in the model trade in manufacture and retail and I've run my own model electronics business. If you want to put me into a 'camp' then take your pick but, like Sparkey and Warspite, I don't think it really matters. Aren't we all just boat modellers?
Dave Milbourn
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Perhaps Bryan didn't express himself quite the way he intended to but I do take his point that if you are building a kit which by definition means generally following predetermined instructions from the manufacturer then you are not in the position of a scratchbuilder who needs to think creatively in mentally visualising how a particular issue or construction sequence is to be resolved in order to get the required result as there is no specific guidance to draw upon, only experience plus a bit of imagination.
I have certainly lain awake in bed wrestling with the best means of finding a solution to a particular construction problem, often successfully. But I have found a drawback in that, having visualised in your mind exactly what needs to be done, it then becomes rather a tedious chore to actually do it!
I like to think of myself as a scratchbuilder but in truth, all my recent models have been kits which isn't to say that some of them have not needed some thinking outside the box to get things the way they ought to be.
Working out tricky model boating construction problems sure beats counting sheep as a cure for insomnia though!
Colin
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I like boats and kits and what people do to them - sad eh! :P
Lack of funds means I don't spend on the traditional kits, several hundred pounds, wasted due to my lack of - lets say - experience, is what puts me off. So I resort to the convert method to have that - 'ooo didn't know you could do that to that'. :o
Ideally, buying an already built, exhibition quality warship would be my preferred option, again funds are the problem. <:(
still have several vessels to build and are in the loft, sorry workshop, that need to be built, one of which is a vacu formed tug hull, again time and funds are stopping me from completing this, so as to the start of the thread - I agree as post 2 - life gets in the way - definitely agree with that. %)
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:} One thing this thread shows is that we are all different and have different idea's,there is no right or wrong, we are all there to get enjoyment from our hobby,I know a nice chap who goes to the lake with a wonderful model of a paddle steamer which never goes into the water,he sets up his table and chair puts boat on table then he eats his sandwiches and drinks his coffee,that's the way he spends his time at the lake chatting to the other boaters and sitting there, if it were me I could not wait to get that model on the water so we all do things different from one another,I myself build from kits these days as I am getting on a bit and want to get as much modelling and sailing in while I am still able to enjoy it so it is not only life getting in the way age does as well,Ray. O0 O0
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An Observation
Whilst taking advantage of a window in the weather today I could not help notice a larger than usual number of young children fascinated by our R.C. boats at the lake. Viewed as objects of wonder.
So, if there is such interest by those with reins and wellie boots why does it often take six decades for their fascination to blossom into going out and building one?
Maybe "I was so much older then. I’m younger than that now."
Excellent thought provoking topic and replies :-))
I am currently 49 years young. My first build of a model boat happened about 40 years ago when my dear dad bought me a simple electric powered balsa kit. Importantly he throughout my early years spent many hours teaching me about these things providing encouragement at all times. My fascination with making things started then (thanks to his support and encouragement) and has continued ever since.
These days it seems to me that families with young children seem to spend far too little quality time with them. Financial pressures with both parents having to work and reply upon third party child care perhaps has a hidden price to pay.
Perhaps the above might explain why in some cases it now takes many years before that fascination blossoms into a first build project.
Craig ;D
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Right it's npw mY 2 pennies worth
Everyone just think along these lines and lets beg not to DISSAGRE over it
ALL THEY ARE IS TOY BOATS
Oh sugar where did I put my hard hat ..............running now mopst definatly for COVER :} O0 {-) {-) {-)
Dave
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ALL THEY ARE IS TOY BOATS
WHAT! You mean they are not lovingly crafted, authentic scale replicas? :o :o :o
And my life's work has been wasted?
I shall not sleep tonight Dave, thinking about all those lost years - and it's all your fault! >:-o
Colin
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:} Don't worry Dave I have got an old tin hat from WW11 to help you take the flack, its got a few dents I use it when I have spent too much time in the shed just in case SWMBO starts to throws things,happy modelling,Ray {-) {-)
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When much younger, did you ever "play" with such things as "proper" Meccano? The metal ones..not the plastic stuff. Perhaps some of you might even recall the old "Brickplayer" offering. (Little real bricks that were "cemented" together with a flour and water paste). Both of these so-called "toys" bred into kids of my generation the will to create a model of "something" that was unique to you, the builder. Even though the results may well have been absolute garbage, it didn't stop us kids trying to build something better than the one you'd seen built by a schoolyard "enemy". And so a child progresses.
Tastes and so on change. I guess we all had a go at building a Keil Craft aeroplane of one sort or another. Usually they crashed...but no tears ensued. Par for the course. Save up more pocket money and start again. It taught us the meaning of "fortitude". A determination to persevere and get it right "next time". No instant gratification.
Many of you will disagree with me, I'm sure. But that's basically a generational thing.
As kids we learned an awful lot from our "elders", listened and learned...and developed. No notion of poo-pooing what had gone before. we built on it. Try it sometime. Us old fogeys may yet teach you youngsters a thing or two...if you will only listen. BY.
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I shall not sleep tonight Dave, thinking about all those lost years - and it's all your fault! >:-o
HA HA HA HA HA Ill be thinking of you NOT Colin {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
Dave
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They don't cost toy money. {:-{
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:-)) I had that brickplayer thingy as I recall you laid the bricks like real ones,it had white plastic doors and windows but can't remember what the roofs were (I think card) when the model was finished you just soaked the bricks and they fell apart ready to make a new house,great fun,the Meccano was very expensive and I used to save my pocket money to get extra bits,the brass gears were my favourite,ended up making a four speed gear box all this driven by a Mamod steam plant,great toys great days,Ray. {-) {-) {-)
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ALL THEY ARE IS TOY BOATS
I'm crying into my beer here <:( <:( <:( <:( <:( <:( <:( <:( <:( {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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When much younger, did you ever "play" with such things as "proper" Meccano? The metal ones..
nope......sorry............. I hated the stuff...........absolutely 100% hatred for it.......that's why my granddad helped me with my first boat at 8 years old.........never looked back, and never ever wanted a meccano set
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HA HA HA HA HA Ill be thinking of you NOT Colin {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
It's worse than that Dave, you have totally ruined my plans for retirement. All I have to look forward to now is more toys and not the miniaturised masterpieces I had promised myself. {:-{
Colin
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When much younger, did you ever "play" with such things as "proper" Meccano? The metal ones..not the plastic stuff. Perhaps some of you might even recall the old "Brickplayer" offering. (Little real bricks that were "cemented" together with a flour and water paste). Both of these so-called "toys" bred into kids of my generation the will to create a model of "something" that was unique to you, the builder. Even though the results may well have been absolute garbage, it didn't stop us kids trying to build something better than the one you'd seen built by a schoolyard "enemy". And so a child progresses.
Tastes and so on change. I guess we all had a go at building a Keil Craft aeroplane of one sort or another. Usually they crashed...but no tears ensued. Par for the course. Save up more pocket money and start again. It taught us the meaning of "fortitude". A determination to persevere and get it right "next time". No instant gratification.
Many of you will disagree with me, I'm sure. But that's basically a generational thing.
As kids we learned an awful lot from our "elders", listened and learned...and developed. No notion of poo-pooing what had gone before. we built on it. Try it sometime. Us old fogeys may yet teach you youngsters a thing or two...if you will only listen. BY.
Bryan, I had huge amounts of meccano, didn't have the cement together bricks, but had a forerunner of lego, it was small rubber bricks with holes in the tops and lugs on the bottom, they built onto base pieces (called minibrix), yes I made the rubber band planes too.
Grendel
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When I look at someone else's model boat or plane it never occurs to me whether or not it was built from a kit. Nor, in fact, does the quality matter much to me. I just think of the effort that went into it, and how much enjoyment it must give the builder.
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:-)) It was my godfather that got me started in modelling, he was into model planes and his home had aircraft hanging from the ceiling everywhere,his kids took after him but after I crashed a few I decided they where not for me, so there started my love of model boats but it was his help and encouragement that I am so grateful for,we all need a little help in the beginning so if you see that young person struggling with a problem lend a hand you don't know where it will lead them,Ray. %% %%