Our Mission
To foster community, focus, and real-world creativity by preserving the craft of scale modeling—providing a dedicated sanctuary where builders of all generations can disconnect from the digital world and connect with their hands, and other fellow builders.
Our Story
In 2020, like so many families in New York City, our world became much smaller. Seeking a way to stay connected, my son and I picked up a simple model kit. What started as a casual way to pass the time quickly transformed into a powerful shared bond. We discovered that in the process of clipping, sanding, and painting, the outside noise fell away—we were building focus, patience, and confidence.
Today, Brooklyn Buildz provides a dedicated physical sanctuary where hobbyists, creators, and the next generation can step away from their digital screens, work with their hands, and experience the timeless artistry of scale modeling.
New makerspace opens for scale model building
The COVID-19 lockdown hit Kevin Matamoros hard. He was laid off from his business recruitment job in Midtown Manhattan, and his 11-year-old son’s main focus became a screen.
“We needed something to do that wasn’t iPad or wasn’t just involving ourselves with the phones,” Matamoros said.
He bought a Japanese Bandai model kit, an intricate snap-together science-fiction kit with hundreds of small pieces and a foldout paper diagram with step-by-step directions.
“When I introduced this to him, it was like a whole new world. It literally changed everything he did,” Matamoros said.
His son began sitting for hours at a time assembling model kits of fantasy and science-fiction characters. It took them a month to complete the first model. Matamoros posted photos of it on Fiverr, the online freelance marketplace, and says he began receiving requests for custom models within days.