Scale modeling has not disappeared---completely

Moms have a sly way of making you feel guilty.

Anyway, said hobby room in my parents’ basement back home most definitely is full of dozens of airplanes, scores of cars and even a motorcycle. None of them is the real thing — they’re all tiny plastic scale models that I once intended to finish.

In the days of video games, computers and infinite other distractions, a hobby like scale modeling has seemingly disappeared. Not too long ago, megastores like Target and Wal-Mart would usually have part of a toy aisle reserved for models. Since scale modeling requires infinite patience, practice and persistence, however, the miniature machines no longer are sold in many stores, seeing as how most people have come to possess the attention span of a gnat. But I still believe the hobby has a place in modern recreation and can be an important teaching tool — as well as lifelong fun — for modelers of all ages.

My first model was an F-14 fighter jet that my dad bought me for my seventh birthday. I was obsessed with airplanes as a child (and still am), so I immediately opened my gift and begged my father to show me how to put together a model. Over the course of several months, dad and I slowly pieced together the Top Gun Tomcat (OK, so dad did most of the work), and by the time we were finished, we had a fairly realistic-looking plane to show for our effort. I couldn’t wait to build another model, this time all by myself. Little did he know it, but dad had unlocked a fertile part of my mind that more than 20 years later has yet to stop meandering.

Building a scale model is much more than just gluing a bunch of parts together. True model building requires attention to the most minute details — such as the correct engine wiring on an itsy-bitsy car’s distributor — and infinite creativity and problem-solving skills. And accumulating the various accessories — sandpaper, power tools, files, knives, an airbrush and a plethora of paints, just to name a few — certainly isn’t cheap.

Despite the expense, the frustration and the Zen-like concentration scale models seem to ask of me, I think the hobby helped mold my young mind and taught me how to learn from previous mistakes, showed me the importance of patience, placed an emphasis on creativity and encouraged me to (usually) finish something I started. When the paint and glue dry, I have a tiny gem to show for my effort, something a video game can never provide, and most important for me, I’ll always have the memory of sitting beside my dad, his birthday gift to me opening a whole new outlet for a 7-year-old boy’s already wild imagination.

If you or your child are interested in building a scale model, finding that first subject isn’t too difficult. Specialty stores like Hobby Lobby or Hobbyland USA carry several shelves of models, many of which you can buy for less than $10 or $20. With a little effort, modelers of any skill can create a finished product to be proud of. One of the best parts about the hobby is that the next model is always an improvement on the previous one.

And while you are out shopping for the perfect plastic miniature, I just might get around to cleaning the basement at my parents’ house and finally finishing what I started.