Steve, I am on Brit modeller. There are quite a few none Brits on there as well, including one other from here. I really joined it because a few of the guys from the club I am in are members.
Thanks Bish, I’ll check it out.
So Yanks are welcome? [:O] LOL [;)]
I run Balsa Model Aircraft Builders Association and in the last few months I have noticed a large increase in traffic. For that I am thankful. But as for FSM I have noticed its laying idol for long periods. Genessis Models had some decent traffic, but I have not renued my membership in a while. A lot of those UK based forums are hopping! I think this site would really benefit from a for sale/trade section!
I would post more, but I am reclusive, quite, reserved, invisible, (or any other adjectives related to quiet) in real life.
Well, at least tolerated…LOL, you know the old song: over paid, over …, and over here…
I always figured the only dumb/stupid question was the one un-asked. Even if it has been in the past, easier to ask again than spend a couple of hours digging…as long as nobody gets flamed by an AIM-9…
Not that I’ve been very active here for the past couple years anyway…but, this time of year…trying to get the work season wrapped up, plus my own "winter prep, cutting back perinials, clearing the yard of leaves(I pretty much live in the woods), gathering, cutting, splitting firewood so my house will be warm, gathering meat so we can eat…it’s deer season!!!
I have noticed a slight drop off here. But in my own way I don’t browse as much in the summer early fall. Because I’m outside all the time. Now that it’s dark much earlier I’m in earlier and have more time at the bench and on model forums. John
Bish I am also a member of Britmofeller.
I would also like to add that Genessis Models also really reaches out and interacts with their memebers. Bobby Waldron always hosts building competions that are peer voted on. The winner will receive a little plaque or what ever. He is FLAWLESS with his member interactions. That is just the tip of the iceburg.
I’m probably one of the ones who has dropped off a bit. To be honest, I’ve gone more into Facebook Modelling Groups.
Admittedly, you may not get the same level of dedicated answers to specific questions, nor is FB set up to act as a forum, but, i find they have a lot more “how to” style tutorials/videos that people of posted/shared.
I also really enjoy just checking out other people’s builds and you tend to get a lot more of that via FB then here. One of the reasons I slowed up on this forum is because there seemed to be fewer people posting their builds - i’m guilty of that too.
It’s nice on FB because you don’t have to upload your images to photobucket, etc.
I agree that the volume of traffic here has slowed in the past few months. Whether that was caused by the forum revamp, or that was merely a contributing factor is open to debate. But both happened at the same time. I know that I personally went they some modeling doldrums here, for several reasons, and that cut down on my work posts. And having computer problems, as well as issues with the revamp via mobile devices curtailed all of my non build postings. But even with those limitations, it looked to me that there were fewer posts that I could contribute to in that time period. Especially when compared to past years here at the same time frame.
I’m just back into military modeling this past year, after many years in railway modelling. In general, I prefer the setup of other forums over this one. I came here after the ‘change’, so can’t comment on the differences. But one thing I don’t care for is that one has to scroll forever through a thread, with all the added graphics that are attached to people’s messages. Also, and perhaps if one is a subscriber to the mag this doesn’t happen, or perhaps because I’m new, but if I post anything, it has to be approved. Sometimes it might be just a couple of hours, but one I posted early this past Saturday was not allowed until mid morning on Monday. So I figure, why bother? None of the other forums I am on does this.
Unless I find extra in my hobby budget, I most likely won’t subscribe to FSM. My interests are WWII armor, mainly in the smaller 1/72 and 1/76 scales, and small naval craft, like PT Boats, etc… Have no interest in Sci-Fi, cars, commercial aircraft, etc…, so I subscribe to more focused mags.
I’m on the Britmodeller forum, but my 2 main preferences are Armorama and Military Modelling magazine’s forum, as they have dedicated sub forums for braile scale.
On all the above, plus the model rail forums I still check out, yes, there has been somewhat of a slow down the last few months, but not much more than what seems to be the usual ‘nicer weather months’ effect. And a couple of the yahoo MR groups I am on have actually been busier than before.
Jim Flynn
edit: Ok, seems it must be a magic number of posts and I reached it, as this post showed up instantly.
I’m not sure there is a “down-turn” but I think of a hobby in this light"it is something to do when I need a break and/or when there is nothing else to do. That may not be how others see it, but this works for me. When I retired I thought there would be “tons of time for hobbies”, but as it turns out being retired is somewhat more taxing than work. I agree with the idea that seasonal considerations are accurate. As the weather cools I’m in the house more and thus have more time for hobbies.
Thats just how I see it.
Have fun !
I have to check out FB then. I’m really surprised FSM doesn’t have photo storing capabilities to eliminate second party picture storage which tends to become tedious at times when posting a series of pictures.
I personally got tired of the Photobucket pop ups and adware being introduced into my computer and switched to Imageshack which has no advertisement or pop ups.
I was posting on a smaller British site a while back but misplaced the web address and can’t remember the site name either. The guys there are very talented and helpful. The gentleman running the site is named Andy. I’m still trying to locate the site. [^o)]
Looks like I really opened the spigot this time! Thanks for the opinions, guys.
I have pretty much become accustomed to the new format, though I certainly do not think it is better than the old, and turning down the background brightness would help, though I am aware of many sites that have gone too far (dark blue letters on a black background and such).
Things have really slowed down in the tools and techniques section, which I think has some of the most helpful forums in the whole FSM forum domain. If you have never scrolled down far enough to have come to them, do have a look.
I’m a returning modeller with only a couple of posts here.
Part of the perceived downturn in activity could be due to the recent change/downtime in the site combined with quality of competition. There are numerous other REALLY nice sites out there! I also like that as a newb it takes a while for my posts to get “approved” before they go online: for reals?
All that being said, I consider this my “home” site for modelling info.
me too. thanx for saving me a lot of typing. i really need the spell checker.
[dto:] I’ve been screaming about that since the change.
Nice looking Avatar Steve!
yeah what he said.