How come scale modelling is not an Olympic sport? It’s not even considered a sport. Yet chess is a sport… Why does Rolex not want to support “scale-modeling athletes” like they do golfers? I’d even drink Red Bull if they were my sponsor… Should I stop wearing undies because Beckham gets paid to try them on, but not me? I used to get upset faced with sheer level of underappreciation for skill and passion in this hobby. Gamers, wloggers, adrenaline junkies, sommeliers, ravers, horologists, gangsta’-rappers and most everyone else seem to rank higher in popularity than scale-modelers. But before you cry “injustice!” and raise your scribers and micro-saws in anger, let me offer an alternative perspective on the game…
Take money and fame out of equation in any human activity and most people quickly migrate south. Those are left who love the craft more than money. Do we need the rest, really? In the world of consumers and tourists walking the road less traveled is the ultimate luxury. Took me a while to understand this, but it is so. True hobby is not meant to generate profit. As soon as it starts doing this, schedules, conflicts and external pressures overcome pure, unadulterated fun. Scale modeling is one of the last “sports” untouched by the long fingers of commercialism that I can think of. It makes me much richer inside and I enjoy it immensely – and it should stay that way!
Cheers,
Aleks
