This has been running around my noodle once in a while and I just wanted to get some imput from fellow modelers and helo enthusiast.
I visit HKN ‘Heli Kit News’ now and then to see whats new and whats going on. ( lets face it…its a great place to get Helo kit NEWS ) and when I have posted I have only recieved a thank you, howdy or ‘welcome’ only a few times…if that.
Is it me…are they are a very serious bunch over there?..I often question myself…“Is this a model/Hobby site or a REAL helo tech message board?” It is a Hobby right?
Yeah, it a hobby. It’s a desirable way to spend time.
I’ve never been to HKN, but I believe that the FSM forums provide a good mix of hobby specific info and aircraft technical info that is useful to modelers. I hope we don’t take the inner workings of hydraulic systems (for example) too seriously. However, knowing where an aircraft may be prone to leaking hydraulic fluid may provide useful info to a builder. I hope we end up learning about our modeling subjects. I know I do. However, I hope we don’t end up arguing over rivet patterns.
There are some sites out there that aren’t too friendly. HKN can be pretty stuffy and formal. For an even more formal and stuffy environment, you should try Missing Lynx forums. They will even chide you for posting in the wrong place, or god forbid if you post something one of the regulars thinks is incorrect or not fully correct (to their understanding anyways). Also, if it isn’t a WWII subject, you will get almost no attention. FSM and Armorama are the best all-around sites with friendly, helpful members.
The HKN site is not an abode of stuffy types at all! We all like a laugh and a joke once in a while! CJ - the moderator and creator of the site - is a member of the Aberdeen Modellers Society here in the north-east of Scotland, a group of which I am proud to be chairman. Our monthly meetings are a hoot from beginning to end and our unofficial motto is “Laughter and Learning”! There are a great many visitors to that site seeking information or passing it on and I have never found them stuffy. This is a great hobby and the more avenues available to find information and share it amongst the modelling community the better. I have read your many posts over the years and you are clearly a person who enjoys and wants to share the hobby, Please don’t be put off by a lack of comments from a UK based site - keep the comments and posts coming! Oh, and a big HIYAAA from Scotland!
Highlanders! that explains it [:)] …I know…my wife comes from the Black Campbell clan…I have the scars to prove it…hehehehe Your all correct…I have been to more ‘cold’ or tight nit message boards, when you put it that way I guess its not that bad at all…plus when I posted last night…I did have a crummy day…( see above ) [B)] [swg]
Too many message boards can use too much of your time and just get crazy. I only visit three at this time, here, HKN and Hobby Talk.
Right! now lets get back to some serious Modeling!
Well,lets see,yep ,I have to say this is the place to be.I’ve been to some “Brand-X” sites,and I have to admit,this forum is tops.Besides having fun,making new friends,and getting a lot of useful help,well you just can’t get any better.Hobby,stress release,learning,all rolled in one.[:D]
I always wander through three forums: HKN, FSM and ARC, and exactly in that order.
I have the impression that HKN has just a little more on the civil helo-side, and being a modeller of civil kits, I like that. The FSM threads can be divided in chapters AH1, UH1, UH60, CH53, AH64 and CH47 and only occasionally something else shows up.
What I like best on HKN though, is ofcourse the HKN-“magazine” with all the latest helicopter kit news. Although I should not bite the hand that feeds me: FSM as a magazine imho is not really helicopter oriented.
HKN however does indeed seem to have a “quiter” forum: not as many posts as on FSM, and posts don’t get as long as the ones on FSM.
Whatever: the more modelling forums, the more fun!
I know what Gino is refering to. Myself, I prefer the FSM forum. More helpful and friendly in a wide range of areas.
However, I will say that CJ runs a great web site. I enjoy it. (outside the forum.) I have noticed he does try from time to time to clean up the forum. That can be quite time consuming as I had a forum once (Non-model related) and it can get away from you fast. (I had more important things to worry about.) A forum is an open door and it’s not that it’s a place for stuffys to flock. Oddly enough, things happen and it can give a bad appearence. What the eyes see the mind believes and what the ears hear the mind believes. You can’t always believe what you see or hear. Importantly, keep in mind that the people on the forum represent themselves, not HKN. Also, everyone will experiance something different. To each his own.
I’ve found myself in the past to have been stuffy on a few occations so to speak and so I put that to a halt.
Yah, I’ve been stupid. [:I]
I do modeling for all the above. Fun, hobby and escape. They kinda go together. [;)]
If you want a good laugh…someone mentioned ‘Rivit’ counting…Try looking at some of the Sci-Fi message boards…you’ll find people in their 40’s or older getting all heated up about details on subjects that do not exsist at all! some are not even real studio models…just CGI…oh man! [alien]
It’s funny how different forums and lists have different moods. I was on a UK heli list (full size heli), and they actually kicked me off because I replied to the list instead of replying to the individual. I kind of thought talking to the list was the whole idea, but apparently they think that’s rude. Bizarre. Dave http://www.dpdproductions.com - Featuring the NEW ‘Military Aircraft’ Photo CD -
Some (ok, a lot) of the Sci-fi’ers treat it more like a religion than a pastime/hobby.
Many years ago, when I first discovered “the Net”, I posted a reply to a question on Usenet in relation to one of these imaginary vessels. Someone posted a reply to mine stating that the reference that I had quoted was “not considered canon” and therefore was invalid…