If you are a scale models enthusiasts, whatever your universe (aircrafts, cars, motorcycles, warhammer 40k, …) then there is probably a huge possibility that this started somewhere during your childhood.
You had the chance, perheaps, to have a family member help you discover the hobby and help you not glue your fingers on the first one ! Or you found out with some classmates that this kind of activity existed.
But for most of us, some parts of life led to a growing distance with those roots : no more time, no more space, no more money for it, or another good (or bad) reason. But most of the time I’m sure it was something you did not really choose directly.
Below are just a few examples of my childhood models ans especially the Games workshop Warhammer 40k figures I painted proudly. Never played a single party of those table games but oh man did I paint a huge number of those !
Coming back to the hobby to waste less hours on social media feeds !
One of the big reasons I came back to scale modelling is related to the huge amount of time you and I are wasting daily on social media feeds scrolling on sh**ty contents.
I was willing to improve my mental health at some point, trying to focus on an activity easy to deploy for 10 minutes as well as a full day sometime depending on my availability.
And I finally fell back on building plastic scale model kits for the following reasons :
- A big passion for aviation in general, fighter planes in particular
- A wish to “build things” and see the result
- Looking for an activity available for a few minutes (painting a small part quickly) as well as enjoying it during a full day for some of the biggest steps (filling gaps, airbrushing a camo, …)
- The crazy amount of kits, accessories and tools you can easily find on internet compared to going to your local shop 25 years ago
- The satisfaction to see your own finished project, for a model you like.
- Being able to “release mind pressure” by focusing on delicate small jobs to realize like gluing photoetched parts or painting tiny instruments panels inside a cockpit.
Globally, focusing on those little things with great concentration helps me manage my condition of overthinker and helps a lot reducing time in front of screens. And that’s the goal !
Why “Easy Scale Models” then ?
When you look at some built model kits over the internet – especially on instagram – some stuff are amazing but also seems, amazingly … expensive, long to realize, complex, not suited for everyone …
The title of this blog and for my Instagram account by the way (https://www.instagram.com/easy_scale_models/) is clearly related to my wish to have fun first. Rivet counting is not really the religion here and doing what I like is really the key … and should also be yours.
Not judging how everyone enjoys this hobby at all but the key I think is to just be happy to look at your finished model with your own eyes first, being proud of your progression and noticing some mistakes to improve and really be happy to look at your model on your own shelf before sharing it over the internet.
So what can I wish for you ? I think just enjoy your time with yourself, at your desk, building your dreams.
