AIRFIX MODEL WORLD

[AnonymousFO98]

It is my intention to embark upon the seven mile journey by diesel locomotive to the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley,

whereupon I shall proceed with greatest anticipation to the purveyor of periodical publications, W.H.Smith's & Sons.

Then shall my own eyes evaluate the worthiness of this newest model journal with somewhat less than the greatest of expectations.

For it has come to our attention that there are not a few engranures of miniature plastic constructions that have been rendered with more copious amounts of soot than a child sweep has in his hair.

Roy Cross does some painting (verb) and the result is a painting (noun)

He takes the painting to the printers for printing and guess what! They make a print.

Today I hope to do some modelling...

so I hope they have the central heating on in the studio!

Edited November 5, 2010 by walrus

[Jon Bryon]

... coming from the same individuals PC...

Since we're keeping a running total, the above should be 'coming from the same individual's PC'.

Whilst I thoroughly disagree with any complaints about using 'build' as a noun, I do lament the generally low standard of English in the usual magazines, SAMI being an honourable exception.

Cheers

Jon

[davidelvy]

I've been missing Tony's articles in the various other mags of late as he tends to select subjects dear to my own heart.

Mostly Spitfires.

Well, I won't complain.

[Nigel Bunker]

Well I forked out my £3.99 at WH Smiths, and once home gave it a look. It is a typical modern magazine, begat of all the other magazines on the shelf. How to paint a tank,how to build a Phantom, how to build a Spitfire, how to build a house, how to build a car, how to build a Sea Vixen, how to build a Saturn V and how to advanced build a Su-17/22 (an advanced build obviously being buy kit, buy resin accessories, buy new decals - then build kit).

Well like a lot of people here, I have been building kits for rather more years than i care to own up to, and there is very rarely anything of interest for me in "How i built the xxx kit of the yyy". I look back with nostalgia to the days of "how to make an accurate kit of zzz" using perhaps two cheap kits where by using parts from each, along with filler and a little skill, it was possible to make a decent model. Those articles gave me information that I did not have and helped to improve my capabilities. The old IPMS Magazine and Scale Models were particularly good at these. Regretfully, only Mat Irvine's article in this new magazine does anything like this. The rest of the articles remind me of my old English homework of "write an essay on ..... and make sure it is at least two pages long" And boy, did I pad those essays with anything I could think of that was barely relevant to fill that second page.

So to all those involved in producing the "Airfix Model World" who read this - I won't buy another copy of your magazine, it just doesn't appeal to me.

Oh for a magazine for modellers rather than assemblers.

[Darius at Home]

I can't begin to imagine how that must appear to you - the forum does have a spell-checker though, if you're ever wondering what's wrong with some spelling. It's the little ABC logo with a tick in the top right of the posting window. You might have to download the software once and install it, but after that it's just a click away. I use it when I can't remember how to spell words I don't often use.

Beware of spellcheckers - a former colleague at my old firm used one on an engineering ground investigation report that he wrote and it changed every instance of the word borehole to brothel.

I always wondered what the client thought of his investigation of all those brothels...

Darius

[Darius at Home]

Dust free work area, scrubbing parts with a toothbrush, examining the surface with a magnifying glass? Nah! Stick it together, spray it with primer and give it the once over with a blind eye. From half a metre away you'll never know.

It sounds like he "builds his models" in an industrial clean room!!! I am all in favour of your approach, David, much more sensible...

Darius

[Dave Fleming]

Not seen it yet, but the fact that Tony is contributing makes me more likely to give it more than a second glance (Get Paul Lucas involved and I would be even more interested).

Other than that, the pics I seen looks like a new SAM clone. I'll give it a go.

Last month was the first month in 30 years I didn't buy a modelling magazine. None of the ones on the shelves appealed to me, so a new one might be interesting.

[spfparker]

I thought it was ok - more impressed that I picked it up in Tescos.....(WH Smiths didn't have any...)

[AnonymousFO98]

D**T!

please don't use such naughty four-letter words on this forum!

[airjiml2]

Got to agree there - Mr O'Ts modelling articles in the late Robinsonian MAM were the highlights of the mag for me - balanced with historical articles & profiles to match too. Just about spot on for what a modelling mag should try to achieve in my view.

I have to chip in to agree with Jonners statement 100%. Tony's articles were always the highlights of any magazine they appeared in. Of course as stated it doesn't hurt that he majors on RAF/FAA Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Martlets...

Jim

[thx6667]

Oh for a magazine for modellers rather than assemblers.

Nothing stopping "modellers" from submitting an article and showing how it should be done.

[AndrewE]

I thought it was ok - more impressed that I picked it up in Tescos.....

Sainsburys on Archer Road in Sheffield have some as well. First time as far as I know any of the supermarkets have stocked a modelling magazine other than maybe the odd railway mag.

Andrew

[Dave Fleming]

Got to agree there - Mr O'Ts modelling articles in the late Robinsonian MAM were the highlights of the mag for me - balanced with historical articles & proifles to match too. Just about spot on for what a modelling mag should try to achieve in my view.

Jonners

That's the combination that appeals to me - accurate, indepth history, but form a modellers viewpoint along with articles on building those subjects - not just the latest wonder kit. It's a template Neil Robinson developed into almost 'my' perfect mag.

I've been told if I want 'real' aircraft stugff, I should by AFM, Aeroplane etc, but none of them take the modeller's perspective - and I don't just mean the detail close-ups that some mags seem to think are the only 'real' stuff modellers want - what colours are those, what are the detail differences between one variant and another.

Hopefully Airfix can fill some of that void.

And I hate the use of the 'build' word as well - but I suspect it reflects a change in the mentality/demographic of the modelling world, form the final result being important to the actual process.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Dave Fleming

[Chris Hewitt]

Nice magazine,won't go on about that too much, grammar,can hardly get that right myself,But a big but ,planes tanks etc no ships so,without moaning too much,nice magazine

Edited November 5, 2010 by Chris Hewitt

[ChocksAway]

That's the combination that appeals to me - accurate, indepth history, but form a modellers viewpoint along with articles on building those subjects - not just the latest wonder kit. It's a template Neil Robinson developed into almost 'my' perfect mag.

I've been told if I want 'real' aircraft stugff, I should by AFM, Aeroplane etc, but none of them take the modeller's perspective - and I don't just mean the detail close-ups that some mags seem to think are the only 'real' stuff modellers want - what colours are those, what are the detail differences between one variant and another.

I agree - to me it's a model - i.e. a copy of the real thing, not a thing solely in itself. So how do you make kit more like the real thing - how do you "bring it to life" - and where can you take it if you have the skill. Articles that just tell me what the instructions tell me with a few photos proving they have been followed don't really help much, even to novices like myself.

However, publishers have to sell in quantity, and if they specialise too much, they alienate customers as much as being too general. Tough world, eh? And as magazines haven't solved that problem, it's why I turned to Britmodeller and the Harrier SIG. I can get help and guidance on exactly what I need without wading through lots of meaningful, but irrelevant to me, material. And there's seemingly always someone who knows someone if they don't have the answer. So thanks guys and girls.

Nothing stopping "modellers" from submitting an article and showing how it should be done.

Perhaps we could have a section or sections on BM for budding journalists to practice their skills with the types of articles we are perhaps thinking about? I know contributors would only get thanks in the form of kind words, but who said altruism was dead? And we could have a rule - if you post a criticism - as opposed to a correction - of the material, then you have to offer an article in return.

[TheModeller]

Beware of spellcheckers - a former colleague at my old firm used one on an engineering ground investigation report that he wrote and it changed every instance of the word borehole to brothel.

I once had to evaluate an inline web-based spellchecker for a major clients intranet system, back in the days before such things were commonplace in web applications, the authors of the software were based in Australia...

I had reason to reply to a posting on rec.models.scale and used the phrase 'whining yanks' in my little missive...

The aussie spellchecker kicked in when I hit reply and suggested 'politicians' as an alternative, and of course, who am I to argue!

Edited November 5, 2010 by TheModeller

[The Hooded Claw]

Well I forked out my £3.99 at WH Smiths, and once home gave it a look. It is a typical modern magazine, begat of all the other magazines on the shelf. How to paint a tank,how to build a Phantom, how to build a Spitfire, how to build a house, how to build a car, how to build a Sea Vixen, how to build a Saturn V and how to advanced build a Su-17/22 (an advanced build obviously being buy kit, buy resin accessories, buy new decals - then build kit).

Well like a lot of people here, I have been building kits for rather more years than i care to own up to, and there is very rarely anything of interest for me in "How i built the xxx kit of the yyy". I look back with nostalgia to the days of "how to make an accurate kit of zzz" using perhaps two cheap kits where by using parts from each, along with filler and a little skill, it was possible to make a decent model. Those articles gave me information that I did not have and helped to improve my capabilities. The old IPMS Magazine and Scale Models were particularly good at these. Regretfully, only Mat Irvine's article in this new magazine does anything like this. The rest of the articles remind me of my old English homework of "write an essay on ..... and make sure it is at least two pages long" And boy, did I pad those essays with anything I could think of that was barely relevant to fill that second page.

So to all those involved in producing the "Airfix Model World" who read this - I won't buy another copy of your magazine, it just doesn't appeal to me.

Oh for a magazine for modellers rather than assemblers.

Actually I find that quite a bit insulting, as I did not 'pad', not one little bit.

The point you are missing is that you sir are not the target audience. The producers of the magazine were tasked with publishing a product aimed, yes you guessed it, at the general modelling market. This general market is neither you nor I but the chap or chapess who waunders into his LMS one or twice a month and buys a kit to build. Those people do not nessesarily inhabit our microcosom of website instead they buy what they fancy and build them usually straight from the box with the minimum of further investment beyond paint and glue.

A magazine that aids these people in furthering their hobby and maybe draws them into this or other websites is a good thing. After all what drew you first to the more intense side of the hobby? Me? Oh I bought issue 14 of SAM and the next thing I knew it was convert this, change that, balsa, talc and dope the other. And where did I find these things in a magazine!

THC

Nothing stopping "modellers" from submitting an article and showing how it should be done.

Well said sir, I look forward to seeing all the naysayers in print in this or any other magazine.

THC

[MASH4077]

My local Tesco has it , the shelf is still full.

[Gajman]

I know that as a reader you are entitled to criticise what you read. But I do find that some of the criticisms voiced in this, and in the thread about the new SAM are very harsh. If you feel that strongly that people have got it wrong, then do something about it. Write that perfect article and submit it. The more articles that an editor has available to choose from, the less likelihood that the 'bad' articles will be published.

To give an example of where I believe some of the criticisms are badly made, there are a lot of criticisms about people writing an article where they get the latest kit and add hundreds of pounds of aftermarket resin to that kit. Yet look at the majority of builds featured on this forum ...

I have found the same sort of thing helping out at my kids school. There are oh soooo many people criticising what happens at the school, the school doesn't offer enough, the teachers do a bad job, etc. etc. etc. but when it comes time to ask for volunteers to help out with something like a school trip or an after school club or a fund raising, the parking lot is suddenly empty.

So here's a challenge to all of you who have been so loud with your criticisms, start writing and submitting articles.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Gajman

[AnonymousFO98]

We may not be the target audience, but the magazines that did cater for such a readership turned coat.

In an already saturated market of identikit kit mags we have yet one more it seems.

It is also pointless inviting people to write "modelling" articles if they won't get published.

There is nothing wrong with just building a kit. Or bashing things the old fashioned way.

Either way is good.

Please may we NOT have that argument again?

[Shar2]

Perhaps we could have a section or sections on BM for budding journalists to practice their skills with the types of articles we are perhaps thinking about? I know contributors would only get thanks in the form of kind words, but who said altruism was dead? And we could have a rule - if you post a criticism - as opposed to a correction - of the material, then you have to offer an article in return.

We already do Graham, it's called the review section. Anyone can do an in box review, then go on to writing a build review.

I've actually gone and taken out a subscription to the Airfix mag. From the first issue I don't think I was wrong in doing so either. I like the way it's laid out and the articles are pretty good. It's not perfect by any means, but I've found in the past that it takes a little while for a mag to find it's way. Hopefully some maritime stuff will be included along with some larger scale military kit.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Shar2

[cmatthewbacon]

Well said, Mr Claw and Mr Gajman. I'm sure the usual suspects will be along in a minute to remind us that "If you think you can do it better, do it yourself" is playground taunting and that they shouldn't have to, or that they already do it themselves on an exemplary and very exclusive web-site somewhere, but I'm with you guys... There simply isn't a big enough market for a magazine exclusively for "modellers" rather than "assemblers" (which distinction I find a bit insulting in itself... and I'd certainly consider myself an assembler!). And let's face it, if you're Airfix, "modellers" aren't very profitable: the end result may be a competition-winning masterpiece, but if it's taken six months, that teenage assembler who bangs a kit together every weekend has bought a lot more of my product, and probably enjoyed them a lot more, too. Thus, if I'm Airfix sponsoring a magazine, I want one that appeals to the mass market of the hobby, not the "elite"... I'm not a railway modeller, but I bet if you checked out the Hornby magazine, it's not aimed at people who build O Gauge locos from brass kits, like my uncle, or those who have a layout the size of Pete Waterman's...

bestest,

M.

[thx6667]

My own personal observation is that the very section of the modelling community that seems to dismiss the current crop of model magazines as being a bit glib, superficial, also seems to be very apathetic when it comes to doing something about it. As the saying goes, "be the change you want".

"Ah but" comes the reply "its not down to me, its down the editor and writers, I shouldn't have to get involved" which in many ways it is, but equally if everyone just sat on their duffs having a bit of a moan and expected others to provide them with then kind of magazine they seem to think that they - and everyone else - really wants, rather than what they are getting, then we'd have no magazines at all.

And while I can't speak for any of the magazines or editors out there, I'm sure they'd be delighted to get the kind of material that often gets alluded to, which some feel is lacking. But its going to take someone to actually make, write, photograph and send it in to get the ball rolling.

Plus, and this is where it perhaps starts to become a bit of a generation thing, times change. Perhaps the rise of the "assemblers" is just a reflection of a shift in modelling culture, that maybe a lot of people do like that kind of thing and far from the magazines being out of touch, maybe its some of us who, rooted in an earlier era of magazines, no longer make the connection?

But then that comes back to my first point - be the change you want.

[keefr22]

There simply isn't a big enough market for a magazine exclusively for "modellers" rather than "assemblers" .......

I'm not a railway modeller, but I bet if you checked out the Hornby magazine, it's not aimed at people who build O Gauge locos from brass kits, like my uncle, or those who have a layout the size of Pete Waterman's...

No, you're right, Hornby magazine doesn't cater for that market. But there is a magazine that does - it's called Model Railway Journal & is unashamedly aimed at finescale modellers who do build brass kits, who all seem to have the skills of a Swiss watchmaker (such as Madman of this parish....!!!) and can produce the finest scenery this side of Mother Nature! I don't pretend that I will ever have the skill to emulate their work, often I can't even understand what they're talking about! But it's a high quality magazine, with a lot of well written (& edited!) text with a high standard of photography. It caters for exactly the sort of niche market that the aircraft modellers here are asking for a magazine to step in & fill. It doesn't pretend to want to take away the readership of Hornby mag., Model Rail, British Railway Modelling or Railway Modeller. It's different & has survived for over 25 years by being different. If the model railway hobby can support such a mag., is there really not a market for a similar model aircraft publication. Although I occasionally buy the 'mass market' model railway mags, MRJ is the only one I regularly buy. Because even if I'll never put them into practice, I do actually learn things from it!! And there actually seems to be a market for two such model aircraft mags in France - namely Replic & Wing Masters (although there is an assumption there on my part that they are both still in publication?) Why can't we have a similar English language publication. I guess Air Modeller is the nearest we have, but the problem with that mag. to me (although it is the only one I now buy) is that it seems to be filled with articles by modellers for whom English is not their first language. Nothing wrong with that, but the editing lets it down with far too many errors (grammatical, spelling & contextual) in the text.

And whilst I accept the 'if you think you can do better write them yourselves' arguments. I really can't be ar*ed to write articles, for the same reason as I'm cutting way back on my group builds on here - I can't be bothered taking pictures of me sticking two bits of plastic together, then painting them, then sticking another two bits together & painting them, then........ How many ways can you say (& photograph) the same old thing about building plastic aeroplanes? There must be room for a magazine with a bit more 'depth' to it? I'd buy it. I don't buy ANY of the ones now on sale.

Keef

[Derbyeomanry]

Got mine in Smiths today - fair bit of variety quite an enjoyable read