I suspect that many on this forum, like me, dabbled with model ship making in their tender years and have resumed the hobby as a retirement activity. But I wonder where are they who will do the same when they retire 40-50 years from now?
Model ship building cultivates a useful range of skills in young people. For a modest outlay on basic tools it involves sawing, cutting, shaping, smoothing and drilling. Although on a small scale, these basic functions scale up later to be applied to general DIY activities when maturing to a home owner. There is no need for a dedicated workshop: a small table (protecterd by a cutting mat!) will suffice. Measuring, cutting, following a digram are additional skills applicable to later projects. On a less tangible note it teaches patience (tying ratlines!) and a realisation that a satisfying outcome does not come the next day but must be worked on over a period of time. For those with a practical, rather than academic bent it can earn admiration for something achieved when exam results disappoint. It could well develop into a general interest in ships and the famous voyages of Columbus, Drake, Magellan et al so a bit of geography and history beyond the (boring) scholol syllabus gets thrown in. The Ships of Scale forum would, of course, provide excellent help and support for a budding modeller.
How, then, do we get more young people involed in our hobby rather than zapping aliens, raiding virtual tombs or clicking coloured bricks together?
Model ship building cultivates a useful range of skills in young people. For a modest outlay on basic tools it involves sawing, cutting, shaping, smoothing and drilling. Although on a small scale, these basic functions scale up later to be applied to general DIY activities when maturing to a home owner. There is no need for a dedicated workshop: a small table (protecterd by a cutting mat!) will suffice. Measuring, cutting, following a digram are additional skills applicable to later projects. On a less tangible note it teaches patience (tying ratlines!) and a realisation that a satisfying outcome does not come the next day but must be worked on over a period of time. For those with a practical, rather than academic bent it can earn admiration for something achieved when exam results disappoint. It could well develop into a general interest in ships and the famous voyages of Columbus, Drake, Magellan et al so a bit of geography and history beyond the (boring) scholol syllabus gets thrown in. The Ships of Scale forum would, of course, provide excellent help and support for a budding modeller.
How, then, do we get more young people involed in our hobby rather than zapping aliens, raiding virtual tombs or clicking coloured bricks together?