A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area. A list of hobbies changes with renewed interests and developing fashions, making it diverse and lengthy. Hobbies tend to follow trends in society. For example, stamp collecting was popular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as postal systems were the main means of communication; as of 2023, video games became more popular following technological advances. The advancing production and technology of the nineteenth century provided workers with more leisure time to engage in hobbies. Because of this, the efforts of people investing in hobbies has increased with time.
Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people.
A model aircraft is a physical model of an existing or imagined aircraft, and is built typically for display, research, or amusement. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models.
A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aimed at children as playthings, there is no precise difference between a model car and a toy car, yet the word 'model' implies either assembly required or the accurate rendering of an actual vehicle at smaller scale. The kit building hobby became popular through the 1950s, while the collecting of miniatures by adults started to gain momentum around 1970. Precision-detailed miniatures made specifically for adults are a significant part of the market since the mid-1980s.
Radio-controlled cars, or RC cars for short, are miniature model cars, vans, buses and many more
A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object. Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes such as anatomical structures or subatomic particles. Models built to the same scale as the prototype are called mockups.
A plastic model kit,, is a consumer-grade plastic scale model manufactured as a kit, primarily assembled by hobbyists, and intended primarily for display. A plastic model kit depicts various subjects, ranging from real life military and civilian vehicles to characters and machinery from original kit lines and pop fiction, especially from eastern pop culture. A kit varies in difficulty, ranging from a "snap-together" model that assembles straight from the box, to a kit that requires special tools, paints, and plastic cements.
Testor Corporation is an American manufacturer of tools and accessories for scale model kits. The business is based in Rockford, Illinois, and is part of RPM International. It was founded in 1929 and its products are made in the US and marketed to customers worldwide.
Military miniaturism is a niche within the broader hobby of modeling focusing on military subjects. It is itself a rather broad subject, dealing with any scale model of military theme. It has an ever growing range of sub-hobbies, including scale figure modeling, armour modeling, model ship building, military aviation modeling, and historical wargaming.
Model military vehicles range in size and complexity; from simplified small-scale models for wargaming, to large, super-detailed renditions of specific real-life vehicles.
A model figure is a scale model representing a human, monster or other creature. Human figures may be either a generic figure of a type, a historical personage, or a fictional character.
Figure painting, or miniature painting, is the hobby of painting miniature figures and/or model figures, either as a standalone activity or as a part of another activity that uses models, such as role-playing games, wargames, or military modeling.
Model engineering is the pursuit of constructing proportionally-scaled miniature working representations of full-sized machines. It is a branch of metalworking with a strong emphasis on artisanry, as opposed to mass production. While now mainly a hobby, in the past it also had commercial and industrial purpose. The term 'model engineering' was in use by 1888. In the United States, the term 'home shop machinist' is often used instead, although arguably the scope of this term is broader.
Miniature conversion refers to the practice of altering the appearance of a miniature or model so as to deviate from the standard version purchased in a boxed set.
16 mm to 1 foot or 1:19.05 is a popular scale of model railway in the UK which represents narrow gauge prototypes. The most common gauge for such railways is 32 mm, representing 2 ft gauge prototypes. This scale/gauge combination is sometimes referred to as "SM32" and is often used for model railways that run in gardens, being large enough to easily accommodate live steam models. The next most common gauge is 45 mm, which represents the theoretical non-existent gauge 2 feet 9+3⁄4 inches (857 mm). This gauge is commonly used to portray prototypes between 2 ft 6 in and 3 ft gauge.
A custom built or home-built computer is a computer assembled by its user and made of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, rather than purchased as a complete and ready to use machine, also known as a "pre-built" or out-of-the-box system.
A garage kit (ガレージキット) or resin kit is an assembly scale model kit most commonly cast in polyurethane resin.
1:144 scale is a scale used for some scale models such as micro/mini armor. 1:144 means that the dimensions of the model are 1/144 (0.00694) the dimensions of the original life-sized object; this equates to a scale of 1/2 inch per 6 feet of original dimension. For instance, an airplane 30 feet (9.14 m) in length would be a mere 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) long as a 1:144 scale model.
Gundam Plastic models, Gundam Plamo, or Gunpla are model kits depicting the mecha machinery and characters of the fictional Gundam multiverse by Bandai.
