ceejaydee
Western Thunderer
So my first year of being a member of the G1MRA is coming to an end and I now have to ask myself if I should renew?
From a personal perspective so many things have changed or reappeared in my (modelling) life this year that at this particular moment I can't make an easy decision on this.
The newsletter is excellent if a little too biased towards grand running days and steam locomotive construction and operation.
I've been to a few meets, a local area group and a couple of garden open days and the seemingly constant bickering over scale and hostility I've experienced for my interests from some members is completely offset by the good reaction and openess that I've had from others especially being a relative youngster in their ranks at a mere 41 years of age.
I had almost written it off earlier in the year but a personal invite by telephone to a local meet by the host who had noticed that I was a new member showed that there are still some good guys in the crowd - the fact that this guy has a layout that would encircle the close of 15 houses in which I live complete with gardens and parking area is another thing!
If I stay I'll probably wonder why the next time someone turns their nose up at my electrically powered 1/32 scale models but if I leave then I'll not be able to be a part of what I hope will be some critical years within G1MRA and witness a shift in their perspective.
The latest newsletter shows page after page of the usual bunch of grey haired folks enjoying their expensive toys on extensive layouts yet there is also hope for the future within those pages in the form of a teenage year old lad who having inherited his late Grandfather's workshop has embarked on building a loco of his own at the age of 15.
This teenager may be an exception but maybe the increased interest in G1 can eliminate the elite attitude that some have and make the scale more accessible to modellers of all types rather than being the preserve of model engineer types and those that have the money to buy their wares?
I do understand that my views here are based on my own personal experience and may not represent that of the majority but I am increasingly worried that so many of our long established hobby organisations are running out of time but are equally unwilling to change the way they view things which prevents younger modellers from swelling the ranks.
I have very high hopes for the forthcoming Accucraft LSWR B4 loco and hope that this can be the success it should be and turns out to be an attractive introduction into the 1/32 scale live steam world getting a broader spectrum of people into G1.
So having 'sounded it all out' here I daresay that I will give it another year to see what happens and then make a decision from there but whatever happens I won't stop tinkering in 1/32 as it is such a pleasant scale to work in.
Speech over
From a personal perspective so many things have changed or reappeared in my (modelling) life this year that at this particular moment I can't make an easy decision on this.
The newsletter is excellent if a little too biased towards grand running days and steam locomotive construction and operation.
I've been to a few meets, a local area group and a couple of garden open days and the seemingly constant bickering over scale and hostility I've experienced for my interests from some members is completely offset by the good reaction and openess that I've had from others especially being a relative youngster in their ranks at a mere 41 years of age.
I had almost written it off earlier in the year but a personal invite by telephone to a local meet by the host who had noticed that I was a new member showed that there are still some good guys in the crowd - the fact that this guy has a layout that would encircle the close of 15 houses in which I live complete with gardens and parking area is another thing!
If I stay I'll probably wonder why the next time someone turns their nose up at my electrically powered 1/32 scale models but if I leave then I'll not be able to be a part of what I hope will be some critical years within G1MRA and witness a shift in their perspective.
The latest newsletter shows page after page of the usual bunch of grey haired folks enjoying their expensive toys on extensive layouts yet there is also hope for the future within those pages in the form of a teenage year old lad who having inherited his late Grandfather's workshop has embarked on building a loco of his own at the age of 15.
This teenager may be an exception but maybe the increased interest in G1 can eliminate the elite attitude that some have and make the scale more accessible to modellers of all types rather than being the preserve of model engineer types and those that have the money to buy their wares?
I do understand that my views here are based on my own personal experience and may not represent that of the majority but I am increasingly worried that so many of our long established hobby organisations are running out of time but are equally unwilling to change the way they view things which prevents younger modellers from swelling the ranks.
I have very high hopes for the forthcoming Accucraft LSWR B4 loco and hope that this can be the success it should be and turns out to be an attractive introduction into the 1/32 scale live steam world getting a broader spectrum of people into G1.
So having 'sounded it all out' here I daresay that I will give it another year to see what happens and then make a decision from there but whatever happens I won't stop tinkering in 1/32 as it is such a pleasant scale to work in.
Speech over