A mention in another thread sounds like "NEAD" is a model tank organization? is it?

North East Armor Division I think

Yes, North East Armor Division. They used to have battledays in Northern N.J. but have been quiet the last couple years.

Yep used to have big outdoor battles that where fun I used to attend and was a member then things changed and slowed down and all.

So I'm getting into a dying hobby? Is that what's happening?

I met up with an old member of NEAD over the weekend. Seems that the club is for all purposes dead. Founder/Owner of the club has disappeared and with some people's stuff/money apparently. Biggest meets seem to be held down at the Tank Museum in Danville, Va . I'm above Philly myself, so I am a bit out of luck.

I recently got into the tank hobby again after being away for a few years. Things seem much more quiet around here now a-days. In terms of my plans, I am glad I got the airsoft tank for just messing around especially with not much opportunity for battling in my area. I will focus on the scale and molding aspect of the hobby. This might not suit you though.

At the same time I have seen a bunch of small clubs in Facebook around the country with weekly battles, might have more luck on there for clubs.

Regards,
Cat

Nope, hobby has never been so accessible and options available. Just the NEAD club has slowed down. For the most part their are only a couple clubs in the entire U.S. that are active. Locally you'll just want to look for operators meeting in someones backyard to do fun runs. The HEAT club has slowed down a bit too, but they are in your neck of the woods in N.C. Slow time of the year as well since the cold weather is coming in.

This was NEAD.

I myself still have an active interest in the hobby but just have not been that active in the last couple of years. Had a sickly parent to take care of and a son to get through college but all that is done now. certainly still love the hobby and plan on becoming more active again. Benny knows me and we have had many fine battles in our area.
I would prefer to do things closer to the central/ Trenton area of NJ as that seems to be a more centralized area for most of the guys that we used to get together with.
Some guys have even gone too Bennys place for weekends. i have never been able to make those.
My work schedule usually allows for Sunday meets but really only if they are close enough to me. 20 to 50 miles is a good area. i dont know who is left in our original group but it would be nice to get things going again. there are some very exciting new modern vehicles out and i have a couple myself.
As i said i would be happy to get some guys together and organize an event. there are plenty of good locations in this area to do it.

Between '13-15 I participated in a few of the northeastern NEAD events in addition to the usual ones at the Museum and it was pretty much down to the efforts of one guy Bob. One was an outdoor fun-run that about 8 guys attended, another was an exhibition space at a model exhibition in New Jersey, and there was also a demo session at the now-disbanded New England military museum.

Running and hosting events, especially an interactive hobby such as this, can never solely be the effort of one or two individuals as it is very tiring and is never sustainable for long. One can only hope other guys step forward to help out, or take over the initiative at times. As other guys have said - life can get in the way: personal health, parents, kids going to college, etc.

While I know Bob personally, I cannot speak for his current situation and the stuff he's owed to people. I knew him as a standup guy who believed in doing the right thing. He was never great with the internet, didn't have Facebook and hated RCU's improved interfaces. Perhaps calling his cell or texting him may yield some headway?

I journeyed 3-4 times every year from New England to Danville because that's where the action is, and the committed people are, you lucky SOBs down at the Mid-Atlantic. Even then, the 3-4 resident clubs need to work to bring in the numbers, ACE, HEAT, and SEAD.

As a newcomer, or potential newcomer, ask not what the hobby can do for you, but you can do for the hobby. The veterans can help with advice and support, but when you're waiting around for someone else to host an event and getting disappointed and ultimately leaving because "this is a dying hobby". Do your own reaching out to draw in newcomers. We all have to be ambassadors to try to attract more people.

You could have dozens of tanks and no one to battle with - me, I'd rather have just one tank and 20 other guys to have a great weekend.

Desert Armor Korps in Phoenix has 6-8 battles per year. San Diego has a tank club that has 6-8 battles per year. LA Tanks in Los Angeles has 11-12 battles per year. Left coast tankers are pretty active...year round. A few of us go all battles at all three clubs.

FRAG is still going strong ..... over 18 years. 8-10 battledays a yr based on warm enough weather here in Denver. Come join us on the last Sat of the month. Check our Facebook Page .... FRAGRCTankClub.. for battleday status. PP

Sorry about not mentioning FRAG...negligence...not ignorance. I've met a few members, and they're great folks. TX has a club too. Looks like the Western 1/2 of the US has about 40 tank battle events per year. That's more than any other region in the world. Not to mention the fact that Bay Area of California is where battling tanks was started by an intrepid group of builder/battlers folks who liked playing as much as building.

There seem to be hand fulls of people in most large cities that have tanks, i advertise our San Diego club at the local hobby shop which also sells taigen tanks. Ive found a few guys that have gotten in further going IR conversion. They tend to casuallly show up to a battle or two a year.
this last weekend we had a battle that lasted about an hour with just 4 people screwing around for fun as the rest of the groupies seemed to be otherwise engaged in activities.