Stupid question everyone… but I’ve never been involved in a group build…how exactly does it work?
Thanks
You browse the Group Builds Forum,find a theme and a timeframe that matches your desires,you sign up,and after the start date you begin your build.You share your progress shots along the way,get encouragement and suggestions along the way.And you pay attention to your fellow build members and support their builds also with encouragement,compliments,and suggestions.A very important aspect of the Group Build is this interchange because that’s what makes it fun.Nobody wants to post and be ignored.
After your build is complete,post your finished shots and you will be awarded a Group Build Badge,which you can display on your profile.After your build is done,continue to check in on your fellow builders and continue to participate,remember the build isn’t over just because you are.
so good luck and have fun.
Thank you very much for the info…
A couple of links for you on Group Builds, both should give you lots of info on joining and participating in group builds:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/154045.aspx
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/90924.aspx
Oh…and…there is no such thing as stupid question. Just 'cause you don’t know something doesn’t make a question stupid, not at this forum anyway [:)]
Cheers…[t$t]
PS
Now head over to the “count to 2000” tread and have fun with group counting [:D]
And a dissenting opinion…[whstl] Group Builds also take a lot of worthwhile modeling projects and member interaction OUT of the main public forums and tend to somewhat compartmentalize subject matter. I personally don’t like them because I think they take a lot of member interaction and good advice & valuable techniques and put it into more-or-less “private” forums where a lot of banter goes on that never is accessible to the main forums. After all, who goes into a group build forum unless you’re part of it? Not that you can’t, but it just feels weird to me, like you’re snooping into some other social group’s treehouse or something. [:|]
I always share my build blogs on the main forum because I think that more diverse modelers get more access and help through the sharing of information with everyone who traffics the main Armor (or whatever subject) forum. [:)]
Hi the doog…Thank you for being very honest and refreshing… I tend to lean on your side of this subject.Kind of new to this as you can see from some of my builds on past threads… I’m getting there, but will continue to grind away and get better.
[:)] You’ll get different opinions on this, Woodspider18. Some people genuinely think they’re the greatest things in the world; some members here seem to almost exclusively interact with Group Builds. On one hand, you CAN make new friends, and get specific information to whatever you’re building sometimes quicker than if you post in the main forum where many people who are unfamiliar with that particular model. But then again, that information never gets to the public, where those people then STILL don’t know that! I’ve learned things about certain armor or subjects that I knew absolutely nothing about by clicking on a post and reading a bit about the model being built. So I think that, while they can be beneficial to the people involved, they somewhat impoverish the main community boards.
The other aspect of it is that, well…every now and then we have a problem with certain “cliques” and “alliances” growing between some members and those situations sometimes wind up being fractious to the community here. Anything which sort-of funnels and channels like-minded people of certain interests or endeavors into small, exclusive groups worries me. Of course, that’s only my own prejudicial opinion, [clwn] and may be only paranoia, but it’s still in the back of my mind, because that’s just “human nature”. [;)]
I wasn’t advocating group builds one way or another,I was just giving info to the question asked.As I noted even within some group builds,some are ignored to some extent or another,I don’t sign up for many,but when I do,I try to support fellow builders,but not all do this,there are cliques even within the builds,who don’t pay attention to eveyone’s contributions.I have posted progress shots,and the vey next poster puts his up without even paying attention the the post one above his.But still if you have the right moderator and folks on board,you can still benefit and enjoy a group build.
That being said even on the main forums it happens where you post something,and you only get a handfull of responses from the regulars,but hundreds of views and no comments,it can be frustrating.Even people you have answered and commented on, ignore your posts sometimes.
While I am a big fan of GB’s, I have to agree with thedoog on these, especially recently. There used to be a good mix of GB’s and WiP builds, but the latter seem to have faded away.
While GB’s are good to picking up ideas and getting info from others who are building a similar subject, to does restrict your audience to those in the GB.
And the GB;s themselves do seem to have taken over and slightly gotten out of control. So while a few months ago I was trying to encourage people to join in with GB’s and come up with some ideas of there own, I am now starting back peddle a bit.
Of course you could always do a WiP thread as well as the GB, best of both worlds.
I find GB’s are my favorite activity here. They have deadlines!
the doog is a pretty gregarious guy, he’s been doing this for a while and he’s good at it. He’s also organized about collecting his information, taking photos as he goes, and putting together a good story.
I, on the other hand, don’t have the organizational skills to do a WiP, which is much more difficult than it sounds, I have found, for the skill set required as I just described above.
I find that when I post a completed build, I get a half dozen genuine compliments from people I know, then it just disappears down the string.
At least in GB’s I get a lot more feedback.
It does seem common that completed builds get many more views than comments. But I think its often the case that people are simply not sure what to say. I think there are only so many people who have the confidence to point out errors and there only so many words you can say for a really good build. That seems to be common with all forums.
I’ve read and searched through countless group builds on here as far back as 2005 just to gain hints and tips about certain subjects and kits. Even though the group builds where long over I got a ton of info just by reading and looking at all the pics. Stuff that I would have never found or info I would never have gained just by posting questions in the regular forums.
Group builds should demand a little respect and discipline from the participants and it should force people to earn their way up if you will… Not by being a super modeler but just by participating and trying your best to hold to a deadline and interacting frequently as possible. Nothing wrong with that I think. It makes for a much better rounded forum. But I tend to agree with Bish, now we are seeing so many gbs that its just getting crazy.
There is a such thing as too much of a good thing. I agree. I couldn’t imagine starting a GB just because…[whstl]. I have trouble managing one GB. I can’t imagine multiple GB’s to host![:S]
But the problem is, that’s what seems to be happening at the moment. GB’s are being started with little thought to what else is going on and when this same type of GB was last done. It’s getting a bit like British TV. They have a few ideas, like gardening or decorating, and then flog it to death.
The good thing about GB’s are coming up with ideas that are new or have not been done for a while. But we now seem to be running some of the same GB’s over and over meanwhile new ideas are falling by the wayside because its so diluted. There are so many good GB ideas and people like to join them (and I am very guilty of that). But joining them and building for them are two different things.
Take a look at the NMF GB. This used to be really busy. But the current one seems very quiet compared to the others. I think the idea has worn out a bit. When it was suggested that there should be another Steel cats GB straight after the one that just finished, I felt like screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. That idea is done, move onto something else and we can come back to that in a few years.
Its not so bad hosting more than one GB at a time as long as the idea’s are good, and give other people a space to host there’s. Though I am actually thinking about postponing one of the GB’s I was going to run next year until 2015 when hopefully things will have calmed down.
What we need is a good mix of WiP threads and a handful of well thought out and planned GB’s, rather than just posting here’s my GB, it starts today.
Well that’s my [2cnts] on the matter anyway.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about. The Group Builds I’ve seen in the past threw a feeler out there to see if there’s an interest in a GB and if there’s enough then plan it out WAY ahead of time with start/end dates, rules and all that and get peoples input and feedback. Its a group build, not a “Me build”
I kind of got off topic a little and do apologize. I will say that getting into a group build got me to know folks in the forum a little better than just a passing comment here or there. There are some good people here and its good to get to know them on a little more personal level rather than in passing. Plus a lot of neat tricks can be picked up while you are building and its just plain fun to see different spins on the same subject being built.
A lot has to do with the moderator,my two favorite recent ones were “Steel Cats” by Tigerman Eric and “The Panzer III Build” by DeafPanzer Andy,Now those had a lot of encouragement and most important,completed builds,and the Moderator not loosing interest.
I don’t know much about the Panzer III build but I DO know about the Steel Cats GB. Man there was just some wild and crazy stuff coming out of that one! I was tempted to join and haven’t even built any armor stuff!! I actually bought a kit BECAUSE of what I saw in that build. And yes ,ol Tigerman knows exactly what he’s doing when he runs a GB.
This thread makes me miss the old days of Darson’s BOB group builds and Franks Reich Defenders…Oh well, must not hold on to the past…
You are very right there. Mustang is another example, his GB is still going great guns. But sometimes, no matter how hard the moderator tries, a GB simply goes now where. I think we not only need to think about what GB’s we are starting, but also think about those we are joining and are we really able to commit to it.