Bringing someone new into the hobby

Blackbeard

Glue sniffer
Staff member
Joined
May 10, 2019
Messages
138
How would you bring someone that is younger but eager to spend time with you on the first project? Obviously there is ton of pressure to do something awesome, but you don't want to do it for them.

Is there a model out there you would suggest to start with for a newbie?
 
You're building it with them or just pointers when they need it ?
Obviously it should be something they are wanting to build -- I'd stick with Tamiya for the first one .
Clear instructions , well engineered and good price .
Bandai too .
I don't think there's necessarily a ton of pressure to do something awesome . Just a solid build without undue frustration .
Probably avoid PE --- I'd def avoid Hobby Boss .
 
Pointers, you know how it goes, sometimes they ask you to help, but get frustrated.

I want to just offer a pointers when needed.
 
How young is the person? If it's a young kid, under 9, say, I might even just find a snap-together kit and let him work on it, and just answer questions as they are asked, as the others have suggested.

I have a nephew who is 6, and to give him a taste of building models, I got him a snap-together kit of that kiddie Transformer-I can't even remember the name, but when he was a car, he looked like a VW Beetle. He was thrilled with it, put it together with a little help from his dad, but he enjoyed it, and I think he'll want to continue.
 
That very much depends on who I'm bringing in and why. If a young family member showed interest or I was babysitting for a couple of hours then no problem with building a beginners kit. Something like a danball senki kit or one of the SD Gundams. Will only take an hour and if nothing else kids love stickers.

If it's the old "my girlfriend isn't an identical clone of me so how do I make her into one" topic being proposed then absolutely not. A lot of guys make the mistake of wanting to date a female version of themselves and lose their independence and space to be their own person which makes for unhealthy relationships. My hobby time is my hobby time, I will show what I've done but I don't want others to be a core part of it or for them to be my partner in my hobbies. You need the things which are yours alone where even if everything else falls apart you have an area to retreat into. Other wise it's 1 bad break up and you're left unable to do much of anything without it cutting too deep or finding all 'your' friends in your hobby were 'our' friends and they all took her side or distance themselves from both of you. Can create a very unhealthy codependent situation that makes your life worse for very little gain. Cross over interests matter, but not everything you do should involve the same person.
 
Nope, I've avoided them because of that. But I've seen a lot of friends have them because of those problems. Either they invest their girlfriend so hard into their hobby they warp the hobby and alienate their friends or when a break up turns bitter she runs off to "their" friends and says he said these awful things to her and they side with her and he's screwed. Doesn't matter that she broke his model display case and burned his favourite shirt, the ex got in first and battle lines were already drawn.

I do enjoy replying to threads that ask those type of questions and seeing how angry people get and how "special" THIS girlfriend is. Then a few months later you see the name pop up saying how it all ended in disaster. I get to have a smug day and go back to building my models in peace then spend some quality time with the other half when I'm done gluing my fingers to each other.
 
Well, the way you worded your question, it reads like the person wants to spend time with you and build something at the same time. So, as the others have pointed out, find out what they would like to build and provide some pointers along the way. You want to be careful to not build the whole thing for them and they just watch. On one of your unbuilt models, show them how you get started, then allow them to do the same thing to the model they will work on. Having a less complex kit like Tamiya or even an earlier Italeri would be a nice start, especially if they are looking to build armor. The key is to spend some quality time with them on the model bench and have small talk while building together. Have patience and enjoy the process. Cheers!
 
The Baron nailed it with the 'Snap-togethers'. There are armor, cars, aircraft, and sci-fi in the snap realm. Snap cars in 1/32 and 1/25-1/24. That way you get to the painting and/or weathering stage faster. Or putting on the stickers if younger. I bought my nephew a snap/screw together car that becomes a pull-back race car when completed. He played with it for hours.
 
Wow... looks like Robotism needs a new hobby. He's been pretty critical over in FSM as well. None of your responses have been productive nor helpful.

Dude... chill out.
 
But to answer the OP's original question. I would start off with something simple; as others mentioned Snap kits. There are numerous stuff out there. Star Wars, Gundam, aircrafts, armour, and whatnot. Find out what he likes.
 
Gundams are really popular with those that are young. They range from really easy, to difficult with hundreds of parts.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top