Plastic Model - Issues

Issues

The demographics of plastic modeling have changed in its half-century of existence, from young boys buying them as toys to older adults building them to assemble large collections. In the United States, as well as some other countries, many modelers are former members of the military who like to recreate the actual equipment they used in service.

Technological advances have made model-building more and more sophisticated, and the proliferation of expensive detailing add-ons have raised the bar for competition within modeling clubs. As a result, a kit built "out of the box" on a weekend cannot compare with a kit built over months where a tiny add-on part such as an aircraft seat can cost more than the entire kit itself.

Though plastic modeling is generally an uncontroversial hobby, it's not immune to social pressures:

• In the 1990s, various countries banned Formula One racecars from carrying advertising for tobacco sponsors. In response, manufacturers such as Tamiya removed tobacco logo decals from their race car kits, even those of cars which appeared before the tobacco ban.
• The Nazi swastika, which appears on World War 2 Luftwaffe aircraft, is illegal to display in Germany, and disappeared from almost all manufacturers' box illustrations in the 1990s. Some makers still include the emblem on the decal sheet, others have "broken" it into two elements which must be reassembled by the builder, while others have omitted it altogether. Aftermarket decal sheets exist that consist entirely of Luftwaffe swastikas.
• A long lasting legal conflict exists between aerospace corporations and the manufacturers of plastic models. Manufacturers of aircraft have sought royalties from model makers for using their designs and intellectual property in their kits. Hobbyists argue that model kits provide free advertising for the makers of the real vehicles and that any royalties collected would be insignificant compared to the profits made from aircraft construction contracts. They also argue that forcing manufacturers to pay royalties and licensing fees would financially ruin all but the largest model kit makers. Some proponents of the aerospace industry contest that the issue is not of financial damages, but of intellectual property and brand image. In contrast, most of the world's commercial airlines allow their fleet to be modeled, as a form of publicity. Many cottage industry manufacturers, particularly of sci-fi subjects, avoid the issue by selling their products under generic untrademarked names (e.g. selling a figure that clearly depicts Batman as "Bat Hero Figure"). Similarly, automobile manufacturers occasionally make an effort to collect royalties from companies modeling their products.

Recently, the UK's Ministry of Defence has required model and decal manufacturers to pay licencing fees in order to use Royal Air Force insignia.