Interesting angle on it Ashley, I think you might be right.  Particularly when the parents realise that they are going to have to help the kids to put this model together and that will cost them time that they would rather spend on their own activities.   As a youngster I learned everything from my Dad before I was up and running on my own.  Nowadays the youngsters are put in front of a screen and left to entertain themselves.  What we need to do then is get the kids away from the parents!

I like a lot of the things Airfix do nowadays.  They dish out Spitfire kits at shows then teach a bunch of kids how to put them together.  Avoiding scalpels and strong solvents I guess!

It’s hardly surprising that fewer people (old or young) are modelling boats. There seems a very limited interest in encouraging them (us, because I’m an old one).

I’m an aging aeromodeller and I’m able to fly any day of the week weather permitting (which it hasn’t lately!).  I was always interested in sailing and used to race dinghies until a cycle accident put paid to it. I built a 1 metre yacht and raced that for 2 or 3 years at Loughborough as well as at open meetings. I decide a 60 mile round trip was daft so I started the aeroplanes.  10 years ago I started to build a Veronica barge. There were problems with the CNC parts, which I managed to overcome and I was given a full refund by Traplet  (Sarik now) and I completed the hull before putting it on one side in favour of the aeroplanes again 🙂

I’ve recently re-started the build but I’m somewhat discouraged by, first, the lack of anywhere to sail and, second, the unresponsive model boating community.  Let’s face it, there are cobwebs on most of this site!  I tried to register with modelboatmayhem by email (why? when every other forum I’ve joined it’s a simple on-line registration) there’s been no response. None of the fairly local model boat clubs have contactable web sites or people (I live about 10 miles north of Derby).  You have to be very, very determined to be a RC boat modeller – it’s a closed (or non-existent?) community.  I’d really like to complete the build of my barge but what’s the point?  I saw somewhere that Derby Model boat Club sail once/week for 2 hours on a Wednesday morning! Not much reward for 100s of building hours. I’ve not been able to contact anyone to confirm that

I raced dinghies at 4 local clubs (and there are 2 others easily accessible) there are several active aeromodelling clubs within reach which welcome (and teach) newcomers.  RC model boating seems to be dying on its feet.

On 21 June 2024 at 19:20 Colin Bishop Said:

 

………………….This site has suffered from a change of ownership of Model Boats magazine and the new software experienced initial problems which has lost us a lot of members…………………..

 

Colin

 

For some of us it still has problems which stops us from coming back. It is often effectively impossible for me to log in or even see what anyone else has posted in the last week or so. Today is a good day but tomorrow…………?

It isn’t just these two UK sites that have much reduced traffic. The big US RCGroups also has much lower posting rates.

What I find particularly interesting is that many members of craft based hobby forums nowadays seem to be saying the same thing, i.e. they notice a reduction in membership numbers and a dwindling of activity on various forums.

Yet frequently the members who post to bemoan this fact don’t seem to want to bother to post anything else.  They don’t get involved with chat or conversation, they don’t show their own builds and many don’t even post comments or encouragement on other people’s threads who have taken the time to post a build.  Inevitably those who do take the time to post their work become disillusioned that no-one cares and they start to question why they should bother.  So they stop as well.  If you look back at any build thread posted on here you will see the same few people take time to offer words of encouragement or guidance while the majority of the membership simply don’t bother.

To encourage anyone new into such an activity we all have to play a part in encouraging and supporting them.  This might be nothing more than a 30 second post to say that something is looking good.  There isn’t much point in complaining about lack of activity if we can’t even be bothered to do that.

I must admit one sentence that caught my attention from Geoff was :  “I’ve recently re-started the build but I’m somewhat discouraged by, first, the lack of anywhere to sail and, second, the unresponsive model boating community.  Let’s face it, there are cobwebs on most of this site!”

If you are discouraged by these things then your enthusiasm will start to dwindle and you will find you are not enjoying the modelling any more.  But why should those things discourage you?  I live two and a quarter hours away from my club, that’s 80 miles each way.  It doesn’t stop me going for a sail approximately once a month through the Summer.  Too many seem to expect a pond on their doorstep and a crowd cheering their arrival every time they go.  And, no, I’m not advocating everyone else is daft enough to do the same as I do, but you might have to put a little bit of effort into getting to the water and not expect it to be at the end of your street.

What makes me smile as I get older is that we have more and more means of communicating faster and easier than we have ever had before.  Yet the net result of this seems to be making people more insular than we have ever seen before.

Finally, to get back to Ashley’s original comment, he observed the challenges with parents nowadays and asked for our thoughts.  All we seem to have done is complain about the slow decline of the hobby.  If we all put the same amount of effort that Ashley puts into attracting newcomers into the hobby I’m sure it would be in a far healthier state.  A good easy move in that direction would be to simply post a little more on here.  Add a comment to build threads, take a second to encourage and to help.  It only takes a few seconds and it boosts the original posters enthusiasm hugely.

On the original topic of attracting young newcomers into modelling (boats/aeroplanes or whatever) one of the new drawbacks is child safety and needing a responsible adult in charge.  I was working and living over 100 miles from home when I was barely 17 (in 1957) so I had zero adult supervision despite the fact I was, technically, a child, and I was responsible for my own care.

I had a motorcycle and visited motorcycle events of all types on my own or with similarly aged friends.  My father used to go to business meetings in London to do with our radio/TV shop and several times I went with him when I was still at school. He gave some money and I caught the Tube to S Kensington and spent the day in the Science Museum – a 14/15 year old wouldn’t be allowed to do that now and his parent admonished for permitting it.

It’s a different world now in so many ways – often better but not always.  I don’t think I was taken to any activity of my own; if I wanted to go somewhere I got there under my own steam.  Though I did get taken places that interest my father – fortunately they often interested me, too 🙂

We’ve had youngsters come up to the airfield with parents but there’s a locked gate so they have to get in touch first, probably via our website.  Of course with flying a lot of instruction is needed which makes a difference.

Tim:  Yes I’ll keep updating at RCME.  I built a 1/24 scale dummy leeboard winch but which I was going to post but it wasn’t right so, as usual, I’ll have another go 🙂

Model Boat Mayhem is still a very active site. The requirement for email registration simply reflects that they have been consistently targeted by spammers and the software used is rather outdated. Ownership is a one man band and

 

Model Boat Mayhem is still a very active site. The requirement for email registration simply reflects that they have been consistently targeted by spammers and the software used is rather outdated. Ownership is a one man band and he has health issues but you should have been accepted as a member.

This site has suffered from a change of ownership of Model Boats magazine and the new software experienced initial problems which has lost us a lot of members.

I’ve just had an undeliverable message re my attempt to register via email to the lBoatMayhem site so it’s effectively closed to new members.  Is there any other method of getting on to the site?

Hi All,

Model making is in the blood I find, lets face it back in the 1950’s and 60’s if you wanted to play boats, aeroplanes or trains you had to make it or wait for a kit as a Christmas present, Also my Dad was in the RAF , built sailing dingies in the lounge and had a shed full of tools and a bench with wood and metal, this is not the case these days, at the tender age of 68 model making takes up most of my thinking time since I retired.

Like most things you only get out of the hobby what your prepared to put in ?

So come on guys write some articles for the magazine 🙂 this excludes all the usual suspects who are doing a grand job ie Richard and Colin 🙂

Regards

Ray

Thanks, Richard. I’ve emailed Martin.  Sorry for the delay, I haven’t visited for a couple of days and now it’s the Tour de France (another of my interests!).  Unfortunately the weather has deteriorated so spraying my barge hull has had to pause (it needs a few more coats) and my wife threatens divorce if I do it in my workshop, which is in an extension attached to the lounge 🙂