When did models cease to be toys for you?

[Neil.C]

15 hours ago, Tojo72 said:

Early on I built a lot of the Aurura Monsters to play with,along with a few military things,can't say which,probably was 9-10 years old.Didnt really build as a teenager,so when I started up again,I was probably 25,wasn't playing with them then,save for the occasional jet noise or gun sounds. 😄

 

Those Aurora monsters were great, I think I had them all.

 

Pretty pricey over here though at 8/- a time (i.e 4 Airfix base models)

[IanHx]

On 7/3/2022 at 9:33 PM, Tojo72 said:

Early on I built a lot of the Aurura Monsters to play with,along with a few military things,can't say which,probably was 9-10 years old.Didnt really build as a teenager,so when I started up again,I was probably 25,wasn't playing with them then,save for the occasional jet noise or gun sounds. 😄

 

I neither confirm nor deny the existance of any model A-10s in my house swooping over tanks and going brrrrrrrrrt  

[Cammer625]

When I paid $350ish for a Lancaster that’s nearly the size of a coffee table. The money invested - the size - the realisation that the 2A’s aren’t the same (Ambition v Ability) - all of a sudden, it wasn’t playing with toys anymore.  And, that is was meeting the other few hundred new friends scattered around my place, just didn’t help. Up til then, all g. Now, not so. Mind you, it’s only a tank of fuel.  So maybe it’s still considered a toy!!

[stevehnz]

Maybe I was a boring little sod but to me, they never were toys, other than a couple of busted ones that got repurposed. I think I always saw them as something to make as best I could & put up in a display setting of some sort, shelf, top of tall  boy, wires across room between window frames. (we had an older house with high stud & tall windows, ideal.) Never played with as such.

Steve.

[Bertie McBoatface]

They are still toys to me I'm pleased to say. Something that I spend harmless voluntary time playing with, having fun, learning stuff, and then throw away to make room for the next one. Not something to be taken seriously when someone knocks them off the shelf. An amusement. Something to be used for pleasure. Long may they remain so, lest I become bored with this brilliant hobby of ours.

 

 

[spruecutter96]

On 7/2/2022 at 7:28 PM, Mr T said:

Mrs T reckons all men's hobbies are grown up toys. She might be right. 

Of course, the endless pursuit of new shoes, handbags, dresses, etc, etc, is a serious and necessary past-time...? Or feeding fragile egos and a shaky sense of self-worth?

 

Everyone has to have some enthusiasm to keep them going in life. If yours is kits, I say "Good-on-ya!"

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris. 

[John Laidlaw]

An interesting question. For me, they were never toys - toys were the die-cast UFO and Captain Scarlet models, Dinky toys, Hot Wheels, etc., but plastic models were serious stuff 🙂. They became even more serious with the arrival of the Airfix 1/24th Spitfire, and got more and more so culminating in accurising the Airfix Lunar Module, working from a magazine article (long since lost, sadly).

 

I will still take the latest model for a spin round the living room, though. With noises made for the sake of accuracy, you understand 😆.

[Mr T]

10 hours ago, spruecutter96 said:

Of course, the endless pursuit of new shoes, handbags, dresses, etc, etc, is a serious and necessary past-time...? Or feeding fragile egos and a shaky sense of self-worth?

 

Everyone has to have some enthusiasm to keep them going in life. If yours is kits, I say "Good-on-ya!"

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris. 

Actually Mrs T is definitely not one one to feed her ego or sense of self worth, and is certainly not one to pursue any fashion objects. She has one handbag for everyday use and one for going out, and only goes clothes shopping when absolutely forced to do so. The only exception to her dislike of shopping is the occasional trip to plant nurseries as she loves the garden.

I think she has a point about what drives people though. My dad, my brother, my son and I all have a very strong urge to make things whether they be models, Lego, paintings or woodwork. 

[IanC]

12 hours ago, John Laidlaw said:

I will still take the latest model for a spin round the living room, though. With noises made for the sake of accuracy, you understand 😆.

 

Good man. But can you hum and whistle gently at the same time to recreate a supercharger whine?  I can.. 😗

[spruecutter96]

3 hours ago, Mr T said:

Actually Mrs T is definitely not one one to feed her ego or sense of self worth

No offence intended. I was making a very general statement, not a specific one. 

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris. 

[franky boy]

Teenage years for me when I learned and gained the patience to follow instructions. 
 

James

[Ray_W]

15 hours ago, John Laidlaw said:

I will still take the latest model for a spin round the living room, though. With noises made for the sake of accuracy, you understand

I'm with you John. Never considered them toys. I also believe I do a great Merlin or J35 engine noise with years of practice. Still working on my big radial.

 

Wait! Hold on a minute. Now when did I stop making those gun noises? Maybe that identifies when I stopped really thinking of them as toys. Ok, so stopped considering them toys when I turned 54.

[John Laidlaw]

3 hours ago, IanC said:

 

Good man. But can you hum and whistle gently at the same time to recreate a supercharger whine?  I can.. 😗

I am out of practice, but I certainly used to be able to. I should build an Argosy...

[John Laidlaw]

5 minutes ago, John Laidlaw said:

I am out of practice, but I certainly used to be able to. I should build an Argosy...

And of course the Argosy was powered by turboprops, not supercharged IC engines - I should immediately purchase a Mach 2 Argosy as penance.

[Mr T]

6 hours ago, spruecutter96 said:

No offence intended. I was making a very general statement, not a specific one. 

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris. 

Absolutely none taken and I agree with your statement. That is one of the things that makes Mrs T very special to me. She is very sensible and level headed, useful I suppose in her job. 

[Mr T]

3 hours ago, John Laidlaw said:

And of course the Argosy was powered by turboprops, not supercharged IC engines - I should immediately purchase a Mach 2 Argosy as penance.

Having just finished one for the Big and British GB, that is some penance you gave set yourself. Having said that I quite enjoyed the build, but did have Tom Lehrer's 'Masochism Tango' on in  the background 

Not bad for a Harvard Math professor 

[Plastic Bonsai]

Not really ever considered them toys but I did enjoy the play value of the models that had moving parts, when the gear would fully fold in and out, the bomb doors work etc. The Airfix Buccaneer S1 did have a lot of play in it. The Revell F-111 had a particularly neat folding undercarriage. Don't get much of that now apart from props and turrets turning in the smaller scales.

[John Laidlaw]

24 minutes ago, Mr T said:

but did have Tom Lehrer's 'Masochism Tango' on in  the background

Tom Lehrer is appropriate for so many situations, but that's the perfect pairing.

[One 48]

Probably as a Kid and when Airfix's first few 1/24 kits/toys :) had retractable undercarriages  ... though Tamiya's 1/32 Zero does this quite well with working suspension too.

[Ray_W]

I suppose as kids, when we use to hang them off the iconic Hills Hoist Clothes Line (one in every Australian back yard in the 70's) and then fly them around through heavy flak, provided by us using the air rifle, we might have considered them toys.  

 

 

 

 

Then again, maybe not.

 

 

Ray

[Mr T]

Did you actually hit them, or were they stationary on the clothes line. I bet airgun pellets in the washing line made you popular. 

[Ray_W]

2 minutes ago, Mr T said:

Did you actually hit them, or were they stationary on the clothes line. I bet airgun pellets in the washing line made you popular. 

Lucky shot. We liked the challenge. However, once it slowed down and stopped no aircraft left the line in one piece.  

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Oddly enough Ive never seen them as toys. When I was a young lad I just built them carefully. Then at some point I saw them in my minds eye as a restoration of an historic aircraft. So I always tried to put the best work I could into them. 

[GRIM REAPER]

When my dad started making me pay for my kits instead of him buying them for me. Suddenly, they got expensive!😄 Even though I still had the tendency to destroy them or play with them until they fell apart, my dad actually wanted me to put them on display. I think he was just getting tired of seeing his money go to waste and I can't blame him for that. So, we sat at the table, started on a kit, and finished them. Didn't look the best, but it didn't take the fun away. The first one I completed by myself turned out pretty decent. After that, I put a lot more time into them. Payed attention to seam lines, paint finish, ect. Now, these days, my dad wonders why I focus so much on the small details and just not slap it together in a day. 

[Bullbasket]

Probably when I was told NOT to set fire to any more of my "crashed" aircraft in the garden. It did look good though when the capsule of lighter furl which was stuffed into the engine, went up with a mini "woomph".

 

John.