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Forums - News / General |
For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby. |
| Topics | 2988 |
| Messages | 22329 |
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| Subject: | Re: Modelling and obsession |  |
| Date: | Sep 27, 2002 |
| From: | Andy Herbert | |
Hi James,
I think just about anything can be addictive or lead to obsessive behaviour.
Many modellers tend to also be collectors of reference material, resin, and/or kits. But that doesn't mean one has to sacrifice other goals, social interactions, or other things.
I'll discuss two things, of many that are possible.
1) We live in this wierd world where our behaviors are pretty far from their biologically based origins. I think collecting is one way we express our old hunter/gatherer behaviors. It's just an hypothesis, but I've seen so many adult males (and some adult females) who collect stuff. Stamps, coins, cards, models, porn, whatever! And some see collecting as obsessive (i.e. significant others, spouses, family!), which it can be. I don't paint myself red/white/blue to watch Habs games, I don't wear camouflage to work or hobby shows, but I do have a lot of kits in a cupboard. Is it pathological? I don't think so. But there is that tendency in us, and I think that's what you are talking about. There are mental illnesses characterized by many behaviors similar to
those we exhibit with our big piles of kits and mastery of historical minutiae!!
2) It's interesting how many of us modelled as kids. Then puberty hits, and it stops for a while. I built models and painted figures until I was about 15. I started again at about 32. I went through all the same phases I went through as a kid. First planes and ships. I built a 3 master with rigging. I did a much better job than I did as a kid!! ;-) I tried a few planes, and then I bought and built Tamiya's old Tiger kit. A kit I had always wanted as a kid, but now I could afford!! Then I was hooked on armor again. Now I'm working on more figures than armor, just as I did as a teenager. I wonder if there's a bit of 'once a modeller, always a modeller' in us, or what? I know that not all of us have taken a break, and some of the readers of the forums here
may not be old enough for that break yet!! Again, we are engaging in one of those odd human behaviors, and I don't think attention to detail has to be obsessive. It just can be!
Well James, your questions are thought provoking, and I have to say I've thought about it before. I know some folks with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Bipolar Syndrome, and it is scary to see some of those same behaviors in me in the pursuit of a 'hobby'. I think those diseases are extensions/exagerrations of normal behavior, so I won't commit myself yet! It's up to you to decide how healthy or unhealthy the hobby is for you, and regulate your behavior accordingly. I don't think that means you have to give it all up, perhaps modelling in moderation is an option!
Cheers
Andy |
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 | Modelling and obsession - James Tainton - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Peter Ong - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Andy Herbert - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Tim Streeter - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Ed Kusiak - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . Modelling and obsession - My experience - Herve Charbonneau - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Mark Rethoret - Sep 28, 2002 |
| . . . . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Tim Streeter - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - MSW - Sep 27, 2002 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Perceptions of modelling - tim white - Sep 28, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - James Tainton - Sep 29, 2002 |
| . . . . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Tim Streeter - Sep 30, 2002 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Modelling and obsession - Julian Conde - Sep 30, 2002 |
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