It's definitely not the hobby of choice for young boys any more, but it feels like it is having a golden age of kit quality aiming at an older audience with disposal income. Manufacturers like Tamiya, and also Eduard or Meng (those are my favs anyway) are producing extremely high quality kits.
There is always consternation amongst modelers about where the next generation will come from, but the Gundam/Gunpla scene is supposedly very large in Japan and growing in the West.
That's true — there are certainly a lot of variety now, especially with 3D printing and garage kits. The "long tail" has definitely been kind to the esoteric modeler.
Adult-me recently took to designing a kit for a NASA "Space Tug" that never existed (only proposed "artist's renderings" from the 1970;s) [1]. It is so esoteric that no one made a kit for it — I had to learn to use Blender, ha ha.
I have played with a couple of CAD packages (free ones like FreeCAD anyway). There is quite a learning curve to those as well.
I had hoped that learning Blender would pay dividends in other types of pursuits as well since it is a fairly broad tool. And as you probably now, there are "mathematical" ways to use Blender — parametrization though is a bit lacking (without going down the plug-in rabbit-hole).
It is funny, as the metal 3D printer I've been working on is designed to handle printing/repairing large girder structures. Making things work in vacuum is an interesting design challenge, but also opens a lot of design possibilities for arbitrary structures that can't launch on cargo rockets.
People are often too judgmental these days, and youth must make their own decisions about the world they want to live in.
If you know the history of how JPL started, than you can probably guess it is the "odd" ones that tend to change science for the better. =3
I bought my first Gundam model the other day (never seen them before in shops, but they can be bought online) and I was really impressed. I've built two Revell models before and some Warhammer stuff in the past. This model was cheaper than all of those (about €19), bigger, multicolour plastic, different materials, the result is fully poseable, different weapons and hands, fiddly stickers and decals, the works. And it's very cleverly designed, no glue needed.
I'd argue that if someone wants to get started with building models, Gundam is the way to go. Painting optional, no glue needed, etc. Plus, giant robots are cool.
The wargaming hobby (yes, Warhammer but not limited to it, there are very brands nowadays) is going stronger than ever. Plastic, resin ans 3D printed kits galore, which require painting, converting, etc.
I’ve found scale modeling to be a very rewarding (and screen-free) hobby since Covid times, and I’ve built more Tamiya kits than any other manufacturer.
I’ve heard that Mr Tamiya was very hands-on in choosing their topics for kits so it will be interesting to see how things change. But what a company he built!
I have also found scale model building to be a deeply relaxing hobby, and Tamiya kits are definitely some of the most rewarding and pleasant to build. They also make superb tools and paints which I would hate to be without.
I've been a modeler since very very young. I took a break during college while getting my CS degree, but was drawn back into it when I learned that there were local clubs (IPMS/USA chapters) where I could meet other like-minded people and learn how to up my game. I've been balancing this non-screen hobby with being a professional dev for about 35 years, now. It's a fantastic way to relax and take my mind off of code.
If I'm feeling grumpy I don't respond, but if I have some patience left in the tank I'll use, "Hi, what's up?" which usually short-circuits the salutations.
I'd start with gastroenterologists. I've started having some GI issues recently so I've been seeing one, but there was a 4+ week wait time to see anyone in my area.
I grew up in the UK so never had anything other than fire drills, but I’m in the US now it’s pretty sad when your kindergartner tells you they had to pretend there was a lion in the corridor and the teacher locked the door and asked them to hide in the corner of the classroom.
I searched for “SIP” as RFC3261 is my favorite, but there were hundreds of results in reverse numerical order, so RFC3261 which defines SIP was right at the bottom.
Maybe just reversing the result order would give more useful results?
