Just some Thoughts

[skeeterbuck]

I guess that I must be too trustworthy to think that any member would harmfully criticize another member over a scale model. 

Chuck

[WarrenD]

If this has been mentioned before, then I missed it, and I offer apologies.

As to folks belonging and not posting: not all of us have a nice digital camera that can take good, tight, close up shots. I'd love to have the ready cash to spring for one, but don't, and I'm sure there are others here in the same boat.

Aside from the many great models being posted, obviously built by folks with tremendous talent, there are also some really great photographers as well. Some of us are neither great modelers or photographers.

Just my two kopecks,

Warren

[ALBATROS1234]

personally i agree with your views on more beginners posting. i do not agree that there is only perfect work presented here.yes there are a handful of masters that border on genius. these guys either scratch build or heavily modify and replace kit parts.theres also another tier where the the guys do mainly aftermarket mods. such as using taurus engine parts and others as well as aviattic ,pheon and master cooling jackets.next there are guys who do a nice job of doing out of the box builds using mainly whats included with the kit. then there are intermediate modellers who are learning and experimenting with techniques to find what works for them.these guys do a good job but there are obvious rough edges.i have seen a few who are only average and are happy to build in their comfort zone.these guys do it for the love of the hobby and not to impress anyone.of course there are some that are straddling 2 different levels on the way to improving their techniques. i have not seen many true beginners though. but i encourage any and all who feel they want to post to do so. it can and will help you improve to have your work examined and questions answered.

myself personally i am somewhere near the upper end of the midrange, i do use aftermarket items as well as scratchbuilt details and my models have a better than average look when finished but i choose not to post for a couple resons. 1. i am not good with digital photography and 2 because i dont want to be constrained to having to entertain others with every step of the process. its too time consuming in my opinion and i dont wish to take my limited time modelling up with posting every step. i do occaisionally post completed works.

in the end this is a laid back environment tht accepts all and is very helpful to any requests. welcome

[Tony Haycock]

Hello,
I'm still fairly new here. And I have not searched all Posts.
But there are no beginners here?
The construction reports are always all so perfect. That is a quite dizzy.
Not that it's not fun to look at this, but there are 2 aspects.
It can be very inspiring when you see what is possible in the modelbuilding.
However, it may also cause the opposite. This one is very depressed, that it does not work with your own model.
So where are our beginners in the forum? So, don´t be shy and show your projects.
You can only win. You will receive targeted tips and tricks to build the models and beginners can build up mutually.
It's just so, it would sometimes beautiful, not always so to see perfect work and also to observe how a modeler developed.
Do not get me wrong, it is of course always super these little works of art to look at.
I just mean, "beginner", if there are those here, comes out of your holes.

Only some thoughts during building my Albatros. 

Kindly regards

Jörg

I'm quite happy to say I'm a beginner, and a crap modeller. I have posted a few photos of my still to be completed models and have had nothing but great comments and help from the modelling masters who are on here every day, showing people like me what can be done. Don't be afraid, this is a great place for someone like me to sit back and try to learn. 

[IFF1418]

Hello all,

I was a lucky guy when about two years ago, when I decided to give modeling of WW1 aircrafts a try, the first site on the internet I visited was that so nice site of Des.  I immediately mailed him to ask a few questions which he kindly ( as he always is) answered and he also asked me to get a look on the forum, something which I did. So this was my start as a complete beginner in modeling.
Until this moment I haven’t been meeting but very gentle people, which is such a great thing (I have seen other forums where many  verbal battles have  been fought). So nothing but my most thankful thoughts of this creation of Des. Without him all this would not have been possible.
But ( a very small “but” )the thing  is that the degree of modeling abilities on this forum being  so very high, makes a beginner think that this is quite normal and that he ( well maybe I should only speak for myself ) should produce the same quality of work from the beginning on. That is what I tried to do and of course this brought me a number of terrible failures, and I think that it is still shining through in my finished models. So the thing is to quickly know what one’s limits are, and maybe just trying to improve as much as possible. Even if I certainly know that everyone on the forum gives help, appreciates the efforts done and no way will ever be pejorative about a model, I am still a bit shy and reserved to show my work. It is so very hard to obtain a continuous and steady degree of modeling, so my most spoken words are every time  “next time better”.
I would like on this occasion to say “Thank you Des” for having created such a lovely island of friendship.

Kind regards
Patrick

[Michael Scarborough]

This may seem somewhat tangential but it really isn't:

I listed an item on eBay a while back that hasn't sold but keeps being relisted. In my description I noted that a similar item had just sold for considerably more than I was asking for mine. Apparently, another similar item has sold for less since my initial posting. item Well, I got an email through eBay yesterday from some guy, clearly a model builder, who blasted me in a very insulting manner, flat out called me a liar, and wanted to know how I maintained a 100% approval rating when I made such "outrageously untrue and misleading claims". If the man had simply asked about the info I would have been glad to explain it to him. But it was the tone that riled me. In the end, I did the smartest thing...ignored him.

My purpose in relating this saga is that this sort of readiness to pick a fight and just plain nastiness is sadly pervasive of model building websites. I don't know why that is. Initially I thought it was a generational thing but some of the more interesting personalities we encountered on the old 'drome site (R.I.P.) were of advanced and what one would think would be "mature" years. Sometimes I wonder if it's the solitary nature of model building, which suddenly becomes social on a website, that causes socially challenged people to become insecure. Perhaps it's the solitary nature of sitting at a computer and not really interacting socially, like with a breathing human being whose feelings might be hurt, or, who might smack you in the mouth, fro what you say.

Whatever, I say again God bless Des for giving us this forum and for keeping it jerk free. It's just sad that his model building time is cut into by having to monitor things.

Cheers all,
Michael

[WarrenD]

OK, I hate to take a tangent and vector it even further off course, but I've got a burning urge to reply to Michael's post.

No, while it may have something to do with the solitary nature of modeling, I have found the same thing true of living history/reenacting forums. They're just as bad. In fact, I'll call it worse, because the very same people you might see at a display/event on a weekend would get online on Sunday night or Monday morning and blast you and your historical impression all to you-know-where. Didn't have the nerve to say something to your face, but the safety of a keyboard, I've found, brings out the absolute worst in people. We call them "keyboard kommandos".

Meanwhile, back at the farm . . . . .

[James]

OK, I hate to take a tangent and vector it even further off course, but I've got a burning urge to reply to Michael's post.

No, while it may have something to do with the solitary nature of modeling, I have found the same thing true of living history/reenacting forums. They're just as bad. In fact, I'll call it worse, because the very same people you might see at a display/event on a weekend would get online on Sunday night or Monday morning and blast you and your historical impression all to you-know-where. Didn't have the nerve to say something to your face, but the safety of a keyboard, I've found, brings out the absolute worst in people. We call them "keyboard kommandos".

Meanwhile, back at the farm . . . . .

I couldn't have said it any better, Warren. That's why I don't frequent most forums anymore. They are a bunch of you know what's sitting behind their computer screen thinking they know everything and are tough. Give me a break. I'm 48, I'll be 49 in January, I'm no angel, believe me, just ask my wife, but what happened to common decency and respect in this day and age? This IS the ONLY FORUM, where there is no fighting, wars, or B.S. and it is truly nice to be a part of that in my own small way. I don't think I've EVER seen anything like that on this forum and that is a tribute to Des and the wonderful site he runs and all the wonderful dudes and chicks that take part in this forum. It is so nice to see common decency and respect for each other on here.

That's my two cents anyway,

James Sontag