Members picture?

Sorry John you’ve lost me there

I, and the other Admin I'm sure, totally agree.
I try to chat on other peoples car/vehicle builds when I can. (I'm a car chap) However, I do also comment on the other builds at times.

I currently have 3 or 4 builds of my own on the go here.
Comments? Hardly any.
However, I don't let it put me off as I see how many views there are, which is actually more important.

We can post stuff and with any luck it's of interest to others and may even be of help. If there are few/no comments, then ok, it's disappointing but hey-ho - so what?

I agree though.
With such a HUGE membership it's sad how few ever bother to post anything at all.

I suppose though that at the end of the day if there are a small(ish) number here who keep the forum moving, then all to the good.

Those who visit and post - keep doing it. You keep the forum alive.
Those reading this who rarely/never post, please add something.

Roy.

You've offended nobody.
Please - keep posting.

Ok so here’s my look at the forum.

Photos is the biggest issue for me, if I can’t see what people are talking about then I don’t bother with the diary’s reading isn’t my strong point so no photos not bothering and refreshing 10 times isn’t what I want to be doing.



If that was in the rules then I personally wouldn’t bother with the forum, it’s down to the individual how they interact with the forum.

Personally I see that only a couple of people take interest in my builds, I think my F14 diary only got one or two people that made a comment which then makes me wonder why I bother.

I’ve been looking around and have been ask to join other forums but how many do you join before that one becomes the same. This forum seams to lean more towards the partwork/model space models then the conventional kits, as I notices the plastic kits I build don’t get a lot of interest really.

Winter isn’t the time for me to build as my workshop is a shed it gets very cold and as I suffer with issues down my left side as knee, hip and shoulder all injured in work accident I notice it when it’s cold so I end up doing my other hobby of cross stitch mostly.

The comp was a nice idea, but it was only open to people’s diaries that had been singled out by admin as builds of the month so not everyone had a chance of winning but you want everyone to vote does that seam fair. That’s like saying here’s a raffle all by tickets but only the people that have a 1 on the ticket could win.

The other issue is the way this forum is laid out it becomes confusing where to post a diary.

I don’t want to upset anyone, and admin’s do a great job with what they have to work with but this forum need a complete rebuild from top to bottom.

But it’s like this on a lot of forums.

My issues with posting and the forum in general is pretty similar to others. Getting pictures to load is hard work and after refreshing multiple times I like many others get fed up, give up and leave the post, unable to physically see someone's hard work and beautiful models leaves commenting impossible.

Also the ability to upload photos from a mobile device is impossible, I have no idea how to resize a photo on my phone to be under the file size limit required, otherwise it ends up as a download, and everybody gets fed up with them too and the admin also not keen on them uploading like that eirher. I dont own a computer so that is not an option for me to do anything with. Which in turn means I also can't really create a diary of my builds. Other forums are much more user friendly, especially on mobile devices.

I also think another thing holding a lot back is the sheer lack of any models getting released for people to talk about - in 3 years i think there has been 2 releases from model space - the x wing and gt40 (correct me if I'm wrong?) Pretty much everything on the model space website is out of stock so can't even purchase a past model to build either as a sub or complete kit. Pretty poor when lots in the same time frame has come from the likes of hachette (I can count 4), eaglemoss (4 from them too) and agora have cranked out lots since they launched just over 12 months ago, granted 2 kits are a re sale for other countries, and the 1st was a re make of an existing kit but at least they're putting some effort in as a company and got to start somewhere, They have 1 unique kit, and 3 more coming this year alone with more due to be announced. It really feels like model space has died, some people seem to be under the impression MS will be closed down soon due to lack of anything, the sudden opening of fan home and subsequent move of products from MS to FH! I suppose the new fan home subsidiary of de agostini has added a fair few - iron man, the dodge charger, picking up r2d2 etc, but despite them essentially been de agostini, seems a bit off that they can't be talked about on a forum that clearly bears de agostinis name. Also, a heck of a lot of model community has now moved over to social media in recent years - build groups on there are busy as heck, from ecto 1, Terminator, spitfire, Eleanor Mustang, etc there are hundreds of groups with many hundreds of fully active members on each group (or topic if you like). Granted there is no organisation on Facebook compared to a forum, but its far more active.

Quite a lot of other companies out there also have lots of models available between them, but we're not really allowed, or welcome to share them here (understandable, why would model space want their forum full of competitors builds?), but on the other hand it perfectly acceptable for the regulars/'old boys' (not old in the literal sense, just those who have been here a very long time) to share lots of diaries etc on anything weather its MS related or not.... seems a little unfair.

I also agree with what mustang said RE: the recent competition. I felt like anything from me wouldn't even be considered an entry, and certainly no chance of winning anything as I only build standard partworks, im just beginning to learn the basics of weathering my 1st ever model, and adding modifications to another, theure from competitors companies (forum rules state we can't share them), and I can't upload photos off my mobile, so what's the point entering?

The mention from the OP regarding all he has seen is posts regarding delivery issues/damaged parts... well, thats pretty much a full reflection on model space. Granted the past year has been tough for everyone globally, but I have recieved 19 deliveries with a few minimal disruptions for 1 kit, a full sub delivered every month for the last 12 months without fail for another, and 2 others running as regular as clockwork through the whole pandemic and none of them with damaged parts either, only MS seems to be suffering constant and regular issues which, small parts sent out loose in massive boxes its no wonder parts get damaged, so people come here to complain as as I belive is rightly so - a company should be able to take the negative as well as the positive, and improve the negative. is getting mighty frustrating.

TL:DR its old fashioned, not compatible with modern mobile devices, doesn't work/load properly,lack of MS products to actually share/talk about.

Everyone is welcome to post anything they’re building. Regarding competitor builds, there is even a special section for them, so it is hardly what is described. There are a few conditions to posting builds from the other companies, but hardly anything onerous.

Pictures have been a problem for ages, and I’m told that will be fixed when the new forum rolls out. (A lot of other things are tied into that, but it’s coming)

Kits are listed as “out of stock” because there are stages/packs missing and/or the product has been moved to FanHome. They finally figured out that folks weren’t thrilled with ordering a full kit, and getting somewhat less than.

There are MANY apps to size pics for your phone, and most are free. Apple imbeds a bit of code that only allows pics to be viewable as a download.

Regarding the comp; if you note, most of the featured builds were NOT partwork builds. The winning entry was 1/700, no less! Regarding the number of votes...we had 27. Twenty seven. Out of hundreds of viewers. Kev mentions the kit I pulled out of my own stash; a 1/12 Model Factory Hiro Ferrari 126C2. It has a retail value of $775 or so. That was from ME. I won’t getting reimbursed for that. I put it up in hopes of further engagement. So, this last comp was the last comp, period. From a sheer commercial point of view, the ROI was not there on terms of boosting forum engagement. Unless you, the viewers have an idea on a comp (which I’d really like to hear. The forum SHOULD have comps, and they should be FUN)

Under the “previous” management, these boards were not friendly. I have done everything I can to change the culture and feel of them. It IS a more enjoyable place to be. We have more viewers than ever before, with at least 250 viewers at any given point in the day Mornings (UK time zone) are the busiest. This is 10pm my time, and there are usually 1000+ looking around. 7pm Pacific time zone usually has 6-800 viewing. When I’m poking around during the day, 350-400 is the usual. I’d love it if everyone was commenting, but in all honesty, that would probably crash this POS platform, and that’s no good.

Also, under the previous management, complaints were not allowed. That was the first thing I changed. While I can’t magically cause the parts to repair themselves, or teleport missing packs/stages/parts, I CAN put a bug in the right ear. I also will not give you a BS answer. If I don’t know, I say I don’t. If I say I’ll try and get an answer, I try. (I don’t always hear back, but that’s another story) And as many here can attest, I have helped a lot of you-all. I recognize and share in your frustrations. I also pay for my subs. And, my subs are delayed too. I also have kits that are missing craploads of stages, because I’ve pulled parts from my own builds to help you-all keep going. What aggravates me to no end is seeing the same complaints being talked about, time and again. Usually, the answer has not, and will not change. You are all as aware of the current shortcomings as I am. But, trust me, this too shall pass.

Bottom line is this; this, for the time being, is what we have to work with. We can attempt to make the best of it, or we can wail and moan about it. (I personally tend to swear a lot, as the FST can verify) But, we, (the FST) are doing everything we can do to make sure that you-all have an enjoyable experience while here.

So, what do you LIKE about the forums? We’ve pretty much covered all the crap.

Best,

Mark

Morning Folks

I have been busy renovating my shed so not posted for a while

Bought a new one and used the old tongue and groove planks to line the inside (double planked ) and just waiting for the floor paint to dry

With regards to lack of comments on members diaries I find that I would only be repeating what has already been said so perhaps the addition of a thumbs up imogi (a like button) could be added to boost ones moral for time and effort taken to post

Although I post non deag models I do have a few of them stashed away which I have no intention of starting until I retire

I find it best to check out the forum between 3 and 4 am when the ****** cat is meowing to get out then back in
I have no probs seeing the pics between those times

Take care