Tail End Charlie
Post Scriptum to the World of Plastic Modeling
Text: Petr Vacek
While preparing an article about the exhibition at the Technical Museum in Brno for this issue, and especially during many conversations with visitors to the event, I came to think about the meaning of such exhibitions and the meaning of model competitions as a whole. The explanation requires me to go back a few years. The idea of holding a large exhibition based on plastic models and what this hobby needs and entails has a long history with me (the club KPM BRNO also organized two similar large exhibitions in the 1980s in cooperation with the Technical Museum) and I was indirectly connected by extension with MODELLBRNO, not being a traditional model exhibition. we always tried to relegate any competitive aspects to the background at MODELLBRNO to give as much space as possible to club tables and theme displays. We were among the first to public workshops called MODELLBRNO XXL in order to get new trends among as many modelers as possible going and spreading, thanks to the space available. This was also incorporated into the side lectures and demonstrations plugged into the event. And I am very pleased that today this trend is part of almost every event of this calibre. Thanks to conversations during weekend modeling with visitors to the current event in TM, both active and non-active moselers, we discovered that they don’t go because they feel they are not up to it and yet when they show me photos of their creations, it’s clear that they have nothing to keep them from attending. I see the whole problem in the naming of these events and I think it is time to open up this hobby to the wider public, to transform the competition system into a series if meetings and displays. It is great that, for example, E-DAY has the phrase INTERNATIONAL MODELING EXHIBITION in its name. The fact that modelers (a commission of modelers) will choose the so-called BEST OF in some categories at the exhibition is probably okay. And also that especially young people will receive some kind of recognition, but when I hear that someone refuses further attendance because they did not receive a prize for their efforts, I find that almost laughable. Let's stop racing, let's have fun. It’s modeling.
I have nothing against a championship competition, but that type of event is a different, somewhat restricted dynamic. Clearly defined rules, trained judges, models are limited to stringent specifics. OK, they can be. It can also be part of a larger exhibition….
It is first and foremost a hobby and every modeler makes creates as best they can, and through meetings and exhibitions that include workshops, all modelers can move forward and improve. Yes, some people are satisfied with how they build, but many modelers do not know what to do at all, they do not know new technologies and tecniques, and so have no opportunity to master them. Above all, the proverbial plunge needs to be taken, and I see that on weekends at our shows. The book PSPM 1, published by Kuba Vilingr, is perfect for this, and thanks to him and the connection to the publisher, we have a limited number of copies for sale - the publisher no longer has even a copy of No. 1. Maybe it would be worth considering updating the book over time and publishing an expanded edition. Time flies even in our hobby, and this juicy little cookbook has been on the shelves for a year. Similarly, a model school could be published in model periodicals, or try to rework this book into a how-to manual, for example on Youtube, to include up-to-date trends. Legislation and the approach of the spread of learning do not help our hobby much either, while every modeler is a bit of a historian, artist, builder and architect. It develops a lot of things – patience, diligence, skill, and all of that the new generation will need. We should, while there are still many of us, try to start new model-making blood. That is the main reason for the current exhibition at the Technical Museum - to show our hobby to the general public.