It's fascinating but but a bit in your face

General Discussion
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I strive to not use the words “show off” because what they are doing is absolutely fascinating to watch them work. I speak of the model builders who through hand model demonstration and some catchy elevator music, demonstrate everything from showing you the box it comes in to showing you the contents of the box to actually building the model step by step, with the help of speeding up the process. I check out the vids on YouTube or YT for short. There are several I am aware of showing the build of the Kittyhawk UH-!D, I watched one showing us how he, based on the size of the hands, built an MH-60 Blackhawk special ops chopper complete (in the kit itself) not bought separately, Pilots and crew and weapons. It wasn’t a Kittyhawk it was some other company I have not had the pleasure.

As to the “in your face” comment. This is where I get in trouble. I am too honest. I want to help but you know the old “road to hell” statement that simply means, even the nicest person with good intentions can get himself in hot water where there was no flame or means of heating it. Simply put I find these videos fascinating to watch and I enjoy watching them but can’t just one person do a video showing us how to put the thing together and leave out the fancy dancy scratch “look what I can do” stuff?

I applaud their painting skills, Bob Ross would be proud, I applaud the knowledge they have of how to mix and thin paint to make it bend to their imagination and will. I applaud their ability to come up with unique and different ways to attach this or add that or install pieces and parts the models designers left out or got wrong or screwed up. I understand screwed up. Here’s how to fix the problem fellow model builder as you will encounter this mistake in manufacture as well. But for heavens sake, keep in mind that not every model builder who buys this model is going to have the skill set they have.

I go from wanting to watch how the model is built, to being mesmerized by the sheer talent and skill the hand has and how easy it makes everything look. Hands the size of baseball gloves able to handle parts you’d need a microscope to see clearly. I did catch in the Blackhawk video that the manufacturer went so far as to add cut outs for us to use to make masking tap cut outs for the windows. Nice touch, way to think ahead, and thank you for the help. So in the process of being the kids who stand and stare with their tongues hanging out at the neighbor lady washing her car in shorts and a tank top, I do catch things in these videos that are helpful and add to my research of the model itself. But all that special painting and this coat then that coat then dry brush and set it on fire and beat it out with a rake and turpentine to get that weathered, jungle weary, on its last leg look that he was looking for. Just build and paint the model in the colors that best depict a real MH-60, so us novice builders can see what we are up against, see what it has to offer, and have some idea of what color its supposed to be to look realistic. I find the addition of blood and guts pouring out of the wounded soldier being carried to the chopper a cool touch of realism, but knowing how to attach that tiny rotor system piece using the correct tool, the correct glue, and what color it is supposed to be is more important to this modeler, over how dead you can make the pilots look in your helicopter accident diorama.

My apologies if I crossed a line, I do that a lot, but I believe in honesty and honest can be a hard nail to swallow sometimes. On paper I can sound like a disgruntled customer, but in reality I’m as nice and easy to get to know as anyone would hope I would be. But I do still have my opinions. Thanks John

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My name is actually John. I’m not thanking John, I’m saying Thanks for reading
John

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All I can suggest is move along to find a different video on YouTube that may be more in the league that you’re looking for. I personally rarely watch these types of videos, so I can’t recommend any particular builder to look for. But odds are there is someone out there posting such things that are closer to what you’re looking for. It’s just time consuming to separate the wheat from the chaff.

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As a former content creator for video games, I can probably speak to the phenomenon you’re experiencing here. Unfortunately the sensational approach is generally the best avenue to channel growth and capturing the attention of first-time visitor through slick production values.

That being said, it’s not the only approach. Others have demonstrated through creating consistently good content and developing a loyal follower base, but this takes time and is generally incompatible with converting your career from your day job to one of content creation.

The algorithm also demands regular uploads of content, or you basically drop out of search results and recommendations, so trying to do that over time while maintaining your day job is an incredible ask.

So yeah… Most content creators will have to take the sensational approach in order to grow the channel and monetise it in a timeframe that enables them to change careers, and keep up the content to maintain audiences and growth.

Hopefully you can find another channel that’s more to your taste while still providing the information you seek

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There are narcissists everywhere,some people just do things to draw attention to themselves.

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I understand completely. I am friends (words only, no actual contact), with a guy in Cleveland who generates Bass fishing videos. The “tube” is flooded with Bass fishing videos. But Greg goes about in a way that says, “I hear you, you just want to go to the pond, fish for bass, and not have read a 1000 page book on what lure to use.” The problem is that you can only talk about pond fishing for so long until you start repeating yourself. As you said, the algorithm promotes constant content. As I said in my “rant?”, I applaud every content influencer who builds models for out entertainment on YouTube. It’s absolutely fascinating to watch. The problem is that all of them do it. One model builder who just puts together a series of steps showing you step by step from the instructions how to build the model, explains what he or she is doing and why, paints the parts describing why it was done in this order and not before or after this step, and, (research), tells you ahead of time, “Now this part is bent, broken, wrong, backwards, doesn’t go in like the instructions say, and I’m not sure why this part was even in there.” One time deal. It’s out there under a name like “for the novice modeler getting started” I’ve watched bass fishing video that are 10 years old. Learned something I didn’t know. 10 years it took me to find this video. But it’s out there. All you have to do is look for it. Leave out the scratch builds, the fancy paint jobs, just walk us through it, give advice, teach us a technique we can use for a reason, and keep up with your comments if we have questions. Does this forum allow videos?

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I think I understand what you’re getting at, John.

I actually enjoy watching some of those incredibly talented builders, and I’ve learned a lot from them. But having only returned to modeling about a year and a half ago after being away for more than 30 years, I’ve also found myself wishing sometimes that somebody would just slow down and explain why they’re doing something.

Not just, “Here’s how I scratch-built this incredible replacement part,” but things like: here’s where the instructions are misleading, here’s something you really need to test-fit before you glue it, here’s why I’m painting this part now instead of later, and here’s something you can safely ignore if you just want to build a good-looking model out of the box.

In some ways, I think that’s harder to teach because an experienced builder does so many of those things automatically that they probably don’t even think to mention them anymore.

And I don’t think that kind of video necessarily has to leave out weathering or advanced techniques. I’d actually like to see both. Show me the basic path through the kit first, and then show me what I can add if I want to take it farther.

That said, there’s a difference between explaining the process and making me watch the entire process. :grin: I don’t need to watch ten minutes of somebody sanding a seam or spraying primer in real time, and I’ve definitely seen modeling videos that do exactly that. Show me what you’re doing, explain anything important about how or why you’re doing it, and then move the story along.

That’s the kind of modeling video I’d watch.

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