Well, that’s a lot of AM. Hope all goes well for you, and good luck with the build and publishing. Just try to throw in as much variation as possible. I don’t mean to sound rude, but just cuz you’re throwing in a bunch of AM into it, well, we’ve all seen Tiger kits chock full of AM stuff, so learn from that, and try to teach us something.
Best of luck. [:)]
Yes, I have thought out everything, and I mean everything! I think I’m ready to start writing. Jeff, I wrote you guys a letter which gives a general overview of what I will be doing. I also said in the letter I read all the guidelines, and understand them, I wrote you to make sure it was all good so I wouldn’t buy $125 of stuff and then get turned down. Thanks a bunch! write back!
So I guess the #1 question for the writer is, “what does my article have that we haven’t seen before?” Or at least not recently…
M.
Montana, IMHO you’re going at it with the wrong mindset. I wouldn’t build for FSM, I build for me and if I think the article might be good in FSM I’d write it up and submit it. And like Zoran said, try and do something different to make it stand out from the rest of the super-detailed tigers. good luck.
[%-)]
What the difference between mine and others is that, I’M 12. And build great models and can write very well.
and I’m not just doing this for FSM. I’m doing it for me. In our annual contest there are no junior armor modellers, so I go to the adult category, I get beaten by a small margin, and I’m tired of it.[:)]
Hey Montana, Good Luck and Rock On!!!
Glad you think so. Confidence is a good thing, to a point. Hope it works out, but don’t get too upset if they turn you down. There have been lots of articles and builds of superdetailed Tigers with PE thrown at them. Doesn’t sound too original or marketable to me.
Sounds like alot of money for a 12 year old to be throwing away on PE and the such when you don’t even know which versions of engine and which model the PE is designed to fit.
Oof. I think Arty hit a nail on the head. Hard. If I was to write an article though, I’d want it to be marketable in its own right, not just because i’m a junior. (which i am by the way.)
This is the third time but good luck.
I really appreciate everyone’s thought and comments. If it gets turned down, oh well, I haven’t bought the PE and resin yet. I wrote them first so I wouldn’t have to go through that. I’m going to try, though, and I’ll keep trying until I get in. Even if it takes a decade, when I’m 22.
May I offer a suggestion Montana? Perhaps do a write up of one of your completed models and post it on one of the many websites whose content is all user generated. Post the article and ask for real feedback. FSM gets many articles and like others have said, a buildup of the (rather old and not the most accurate) Academy Tiger I with tons of aftermarket may not be very interesting. Why? Well because the DML and AFV Club Tiger Is have eclipsed the Academy kit w/many aftermarket items. Someone can spend $30 on the DML Tiger and have almost as much as you’d need on a $125 bundle.
I’m not trying to rain on your parade but you should be aware of reasons why you might be turned down. Look at other build up articles on sites like these:
www.missing-lynx.com
www.track-link.net
www.armorama.com
Hope this helps.
I have nothing else to spend my money on. I have 1 friend, so all I do is model every chance I get.
The website said nothing as to which kit the resin and PE engine was for. Plus, The only one item I was uncertain about was the engine. All I really need is strip stryene and some wire. I know that all the other sets
- WILL fit, and if they don’t
- refer to #1
I’m just lucky that a kind soul on here said that it was marked incorrectly on the box and saved me more wasted time that I have plenty of.
BTW, I just picked up a Tamiya german weapons set and it looks awesome, but quite a bit of flash. Thes will be going in the Tiger as well.[:)]
This article, and this build, if done correcty, should take you anywhere from 100 to 300 hours of work to do properly. Add onto that the time to develop and write the story, and you’re looking at a 400 hour project.
While I applaud your efforts AND your enthusiasm, the story angle “I’m 12” probably won’t cut it. You need to find a theme for the story, and you need to develop that theme and carry it throughout the story. Several good points have been made, the Academy kit is now a second-string kit compared to the likes of Tamiya and Dragon and AFV Club.
Since Tigers are probably the single most popular tank ever modeled, guess how many Tiger stories I get? Same thing with P-51s, Shermans, Bf-109s, and Fw-190s. They’re popular, they get beaten into the ground, and we get lots of stories on those subjects.
As HeavyArty said (with his sledge-hammer approach to subtlety) cramming tons of aftermarket into a model doesn’t necessarily make it interesting, OR, a better model.
Think of a theme…something different…do a Tiger on a production line, or a maintenance facility, or blown up…something DIFFERENT.
Good luck, I’m pulling for ya, but you gotta think outside the box on this one.
Jeff
I’m a Soldier, subtlety is for the politician. I swing the sledgehammer an beat things into submission. That is life. If you want hugs and kisses and sugar coating, go find someone else. I tell it like it is. [8D]
OK, I realize I’m new on this forum, but I’m not new to modeling. Gino “Heavyarty” hit the nail squarely on the head. Though the Tiger is one of my favorite subjects, it has been modeled and written about so much that another article with a bunch of A.M. stuff isn’t doing anything for anybody. If you want the ultimate super detailed Tiger article go check out Lee Lloyd’s article in AFV Modeller, where he spent not $125 but several hundred on A.M. and it’s just the lower hull. If you want to do this for yourself fine, but I have to say unless you can find a unique “angle” like Jeff mentioned, you will in all probability be doing this for just yourself. Oh and by the way as for your A.M. list, skip the Jordi Rubio barrel and go for Aber.
Regards,
Mike
Confidence is a good thing.
Cockiness is not.
While I haven’t seen your models, I have seen quite a bit of your writing.
Pretty good for a 12-year-old.
You still, however, have a long way to go with grammar and spelling before you can claim to write “very well.” Writing this article is a golden opportunity for you to work on those skills while polishing your writing style.
If I were you, I would put aside thoughts of how great I am now and concentrate on improving myself further. If I were you.
Mr. Herne has provided us all with some great advice on writing for FSM in this thread. You should pay close attention to all that he has written here, Cowboy.
As has been mentioned, just being a 12-year-old modeller isn’t going to be enough to sell the article. Do you know how many excellent 12-year-old modellers there are here in Japan? Plenty! You’re going to have to work on a different angle.
Also, and again as has been mentioned previously, Tiger I models full of aftermarket goodies have been done and done again, over and over, ad infinitum. You really need to consider a new, interesting angle for this build, or choose another subject. Don’t let a freebie dictate what you write about.
Do your best, Cowboy. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do! [:)]
I’m a Soldier, subtlety is for the politician. I swing the sledgehammer an beat things into submission. That is life. If you want hugs and kisses and sugar coating, go find someone else. I tell it like it is.
At ease Gino…we wouldn’t have you any other way!!
Jeff
Roger, Standing down.
Hey, Brian, could you find some pics of what these 12 year olds in Japan do? I’d love to see work from kids of other countries and see how I measure up. (or since they’re from Japan don’t measure up I’m sure.)
I think after reading this, that I need a reality check. Now that I think about it, FSM is WORLDWIDE and one montana kid won’t get in. I’m just as likely to win 1st place nationally as a runner. I really do appreciate everyones contribution to knocking some frickin sense into my head. I think I’ll jut build it for myself with $60 AM. I’ll ty again with a 1/350 Motorized nimitz. The radar, propellers, elevators, and CATs all work! That would be cool. Oh, BTW, I got that model for free too.