Modeling is a Great Way to Learn

I know its one of those activities that’s kind of gone out of style but an excellent way to learn about things is build models of them.

When I was in middle school, I built tons of models. So many I didn’t have enough room to store them all. The manufacturers, Revell, Monogram, Lindberg etc, produced model kits of aircraft, race cars, rockets and, ships. If vehicles weren’t your thing, they made kits of the human body, movie monsters, insects and animals.

I built planes, cars, rockets, spacecraft and of course, ships. I learned a lot about all these vehicles by learning how they were put together our of small assembled units. I learned what all these little pieces and parts did and how they worked together to create a working vehicle.

It didn’t hurt that I lived next to a Navy base that’s hobby shop had every single model kit known to mankind on it’s shelves - especially ships. I bought a new kit every week.

Since I built a lot (probably all) the ship models available, I leaned a lot about the story of each ship and it’s place in history. How it fit into the historical context of, for example, World War II. 

For example, note the differences in the four battleships in the photo. They are from bottom to top - USS Arizona, USS North Carolina, USS South Dakota, USS Missouri. They represent different eras and the evolution of naval engineering and manufacturing technologies. Building models is a lot more fun than reading about naval architecture, but the end result is about the same.

As an adult I was pleased to learn newer and higher quality model kits were being produced. They were more detailed and accurate. Extra detail parts were available and additional sources for researching paint schemes became accessible with the growth of the internet.

Sadly, it seems kids are no longer interested in building model kits and that’s unfortunate. It’s a great way to learn outside a classroom setting.