I have been quietly watching the comment on the many modeling sites I frequent for the past year or two, and I’ve found several themes that have started to really bother me. I know they shouldn’t, but they do. So, for my own personal sanity, I think I am going to voice my opinion about one of the issue that has been bothering me the most — probably because it is one of those that hits close to home. But I am going to keep it here, on my blog page. And I am not going to mention a single name, or even give any hints. I am just going to vent in the most general of terms and let the chips fall where they may.
As I read the comments on the many modeling pages out there, I find a growing number of modelers who are starting to make me wonder how they ever find any happiness in this hobby. I say this because I see the same guys posting over an over again, and they all seem to be caught between two sides of an issue. On one hand, they want detail and accuracy, and will tear a new kit apart if they do not think it is detailed or accurate enough. But then they will turn around and tear a new kit apart if they think it has too many parts and takes to much time and effort to build. I mean, seriously, how do these guys ever find a kit they can be happy with? Or, better yet, why worry about it? Either buy a kit or don’t, but why attack a kit over something that is actually just a matter of personal taste?
But this isn’t the worse part, at least not for me. These exact same guys will sometimes praise a kit to the highest mountain top, and the majority of us know bloody darn well the kit in question is not worthy of such high accolades. I mean, where does this come from? Hoe do they arrive at that point? Kit A is supper easy to build, but it sucks because it is inaccurate and lacks detail. But kit B is as accurate and detailed as it can be, but it sucks because it has too many parts and takes too long and is too hard to build. But hey! Kit C is inaccurate, has so-so detail and is hard to build, but it is perfect. I mean, are these guys only happy with kits that actually are mediocre , at best? Or do they just like to complain? Because, honestly, I think this has actually become their hobby: not modeling, but complaining.
I mean, seriously: we live in the golden age of scale modeling. If you think one kit is too difficult, the chances are there is another model of the same thing that is easier to build. Just buy that one. In some cases, there may be three or four or more kits of that subject. heck, build them all. Who cares? But why get so worked up or spend so much energy complaining about something that — in the end — is often just a matter of personal taste? I mean, for me, a kit can have 5,000 parts and be considered the hardest kit to assemble ever produced and i will love it! Especially if I can buy it for less than the cost of two other kits. the way I see it, I just got two to three times the building fun for half the cost. What’s not to love? But for some reason, the state of our hobby seems to be causing a lot of guys more anguish than joy. I honestly don’t get it.
But then I stepped back and thought about it and I started to wonder how this is any different from anything else in our society. When I really thought about this, I realized I was doing the same thing. Why should I care about what these guys say in their comments. It doesn’t pick my pocket nor break my leg, so it should be irrelevant in my daily life. Yet, for some reason, it bothers me. Just like the kits bother them, and everyone else in our society has something similar that bothers them. We have all become addicted to being bothered by stuff. It’s no wonder we all want to kill each other. No one is ever happy with anything anymore.
But you know what the saddest and most frustrating part of this whole thing is for me? Modeling is — or at least it was — supposed to be the thing we all did to get away from that sort of stress. So, seriously, folks, how did we get here in a hobby that is supposed to be relaxing, and how do we can back — or can we?
–Joe