Tail End Charlie

How to Choose a Gift for a Modeler

Text: Jan Bobek

The end of the year is approaching, and during its final days, many of our customers will celebrate Christmas, a holiday often associated with gift-giving tradition. Every year, families of modelers face the same challenge: What gift should we choose for the modeler in our lives?

For family members, a model kit might seem like just another colorful box filled with boring gray plastic parts. Yet, for reasons that often seem mysterious, the modeler greets its contents—and sometimes even the packaging—with an enthusiasm comparable to a fisherman who has just landed the catch of a lifetime.

I understand how difficult it can be to choose such a gift. Thirty years ago, I worked as a salesman in a model shop. Throughout most of the year, our customers were predominantly men. However, in the last few weeks leading up to Christmas, we noticed a significant increase in female customers. Mothers, wives, girlfriends, and daughters would visit, hoping to find something suitable, and we, as salesmen, did our best to advise them.

We would try to roughly determine which kit might make a good gift by asking questions. The women would tentatively answer, describing the size of the models in the modeler’s collection, whether they were airplanes, how many engines they had, and what national insignias they bore. Using these clues and working within the given price range, we would suggest a kit that we believed would delight the modeler.

It was much easier when my friend Pavel’s mother, whose son built 1/35 scale tank models, came to me for advice. I knew exactly what he was interested in and what kits he already had in his collection. I managed to surprise him with a brand-new kit—a Tamiya Tiger tank—as I didn’t tell him that such a kit had been released. He practically flipped under the Christmas tree! Back then, the internet was still in its infancy, and social networks didn’t exist.

Today, pulling off such a Christmas surprise would be far more difficult. We live in a completely different information age. On platforms like Scalemates, for instance, modelers can maintain detailed databases of their collections and whishes. While incredibly useful, this makes it harder to keep it a surprise. At the same time, the number of physical hobby shops where one can get expert advice is dwindling.

This has made me wonder how I would go about choosing a gift for a modeler if I knew nothing about the hobby. It’s certainly no easy task. Our readers and customers know how specialized their wishes can be. It’s not always about the latest releases; sometimes it’s the rare, discontinued kits that a modeler truly desires. Take me, for example. I’ve always dreamed of owning the 1/350 scale Akitsushima seaplane tender kit from Hasegawa. But I will probably never become one of the lucky owners of this unique kit—only 500 were ever made!

With only a few dozen kits in my collection—compared to a much larger number of books—I decided to try a simple experiment with ChatGPT. This chatbot uses "artificial intelligence", implementing a large language model (LLM) and artificial neural network technology. I provided it with a list of my kits, including the scale, manufacturer’s name, and catalog number, and tasked it with suggesting a new kit as a gift for the modeler who owns this collection.

I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The chatbot deduced that the owner of the collection prefers 1/48 scale kits, with a particular fondness for the Zero from various manufacturers. It also noted that, in addition to the dominant Eduard kits, the owner’s favorite companies include Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Nichimo. Since I hadn’t given specific preferences for the gift selection, the chatbot set its own criteria. It defined the ideal gift as a 1/48 scale kit, preferably a limited edition featuring iconic WWII aircraft, while avoiding kits already present in the collection.

Based on these criteria, ChatGPT recommended the Eduard Royal Class F6F Hellcat kit in 1/48 scale. It explained that the Hellcat is a key WWII-era aircraft missing from the modeler’s collection. The Royal Class edition aligned perfectly with the modeler’s interest in premium editions, and the chatbot added a logical argument: an American aircraft would nicely complement the Japanese and European types that dominate the collection.

The recommendation, however, had one flaw—the Royal Class edition of the Hellcat kit has long been out of stock, and the chatbot also provided an incorrect catalog number. After I pointed out both issues and requested an updated recommendation, my virtual mentor suggested two alternative kits: the F6F-5 in the ProfiPACK edition and another in the Weekend edition. It also mentioned that a night fighter version could be acquired as a specialty item. The chatbot even listed the sources it used for its recommendations, citing the Eduard e-shop as well as the Hyperscale and Scalemates websites.

I had no issues with this choice and its priorities and would have easily purchased one of the Hellcats. When analyzing data, the system clearly works with parameters that are statistically prevalent in the dataset. However, it was intriguing that the chatbot specifically identified a U.S. Navy aircraft. Interestingly, I don’t actually have any U.S. carrier-based aircraft in my modest collection, making the Hellcat a logical counterbalance to the avalanche of Zeros in my stash.

This small step of AI assistance led me to a more devilish question—I asked the chatbot how much the kits in my collection cost. Amazingly, ChatGPT produced a detailed list, item by item, along with the usual prices. While this system sometimes invents or omits information, in this case, it only left out kits from two companies. After adding the missing entries, I had a complete list. In the next step, following my instruction, the chatbot summed up the total cost of the kits.

I vividly remember my time working in a model shop and how some modelers grappled with the challenge of hiding a new kit purchase from their partners. Occasionally, they would even tear off part of the price tag to make the cost appear smaller, especially if they knew they wouldn’t be able to sneak the new addition home unnoticed.

I shudder to imagine the potential situations that might arise in some households if a modeler shared their complete kit list with both their partner and a chatbot. For the sake of a peaceful Christmas and maintaining healthy relationships, I’d probably recommend sticking with the tried-and-true method for selecting gifts. As always, the modeler should pick out the kit themselves, NOT LOOK INSIDE OF THE BOX IN DETAIL, and simply look forward to unwrapping the present under the tree. That’s exactly what I do with books.

Merry Christmas!