How do you reference a model without buying an inordinate amount of books? How do you accumulate this info?
You can do a lot of research on line, but this can often be hit and miss. You don’t need to buy a large amount of books on any given subject, in fact i would suggest its best not to. Different sources will often say different things. I would suggest getting advice on which are the best books for the subject you want to research, but of course we may all have our own opinions on that as well.
I use the library first. For pictures I do a google image search- that usually gets me a number of photos of any subject. I do buy compendiums that cover a large number of airplanes. I also puruse the books section of those Squadron flyers- there are frequently good bargains on single mark airplanes.
To me, there is no substitute for books. Internet searches can turn up useful pictures, but the captions / information on a lot of sites is fictious. But then, so is the information contained in some books. It is best to read as much as you can on a given subject, then compare what you have read and try to decifer what information is correct. Often times incorrect information will be repeated in several books on the same subject, confusing the matter.
I print a lot of info,blogs and instructions of the diffrent forums
Yeah, it’s kinda like the email I got talking about the B-17 “All American” that an Me-109 nearly sliced in half. The email stated that they flew that bird all the way back to merry England from North Africa…uh-huh!
Google Images, viz., _**https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi**_
I have THOUSANDS for reference books, but I always check Google.
I am a firm believer in using physical books, from the paperbacks that cost less than $10 each, all the way up to the Hardcovers that function as in-depth references
I also collect and use the various Military manuals and publications and declassified reports, I have found the Official sources help a lot of the time when it comes to breaking the “tie of mistakes” made in books
for example, I have around 25 Phantom books of the nearly 40 available, and the actual USN SACs work just great for deciding which author is easier to trust when they disagree
you only have to read that the Bicentennial USN Phantom was an F-4S or F-4B once or twice before you start to question “resources” that don’t know either an F-4J BuNo or the start date of the F-4S program
if you use only the internet, you might possibly become an “F-4S believer”,the reverse is also true,if you use only one Phantom book, and pick out the newest USN book,you might believe that VF-11 and VF-111 had continuous histories (the Double Ugly USN book got those wrong)
so, just like our college professors told us,we need to use different sources to find the overall picture
I too prefer books as many(not all) Internet sites are out of date or void of much that is uselful.
However, I must admit I probably have more “useless” books as “useful” books.
Its just so hard to tell until you start reading the book if its what you need.
I dont wanna think about all the expensive highly recommened books I have that are collecting dust.
Remember, guys- most libraries can order books they don’t have by inter-library loan quite easily. There are state and national networks of libraries so they can do a computerized search. If you can find the name, author and publisher of a book, they can frequently find a copy to borrow.
True, it would have to be that way locally.
Browsing the shelves of my local main/branch libraries reveals a wasteland of anything model related. As in zero, zilce, nada!
Must be the multitude of modellers getting there before me![:(((]
Try the catalog (used to be the “card catalog” for us old timers). If you find a book you think sounds good in the catalog, you can, with most libraries, put a hold on it. I find most libraries in area have quite a few books on aviation, fewer on model building. But then, for reference it is the full-scale stuff we are looking for.