I was thinking of starting a special July 4th Group Build. I’ve never done a Group Build before here or anywhere else. What tips, advice, suggestions would people have for how to run one?
Are there any special rules or guidelines if it’s going to be here on the FSM forums?
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As the starter of the Group Build,you would establish the rules.The subject: Armor,Cars,Planes Ships Figures,Battles,Campaigns,the length of the build,any badges to be awarded.
Check out the Group Build section for some ideas
Once it starts,its up to you to list the roster and who’s building what then you need to stay involved with comments and encouragement.
First thing to do would be once you have an idea put out a feeler post to see how much interest you have,and go from there.
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One suggestion… Stay engaged. Don’t start a group build if you’re too busy to run it, or get tired of it and drift away.
Also, consider time. A lot of GBs run a year or more. Will you still want to stay with it for that long?
I also consider whether I will join a GB according to how long the GM has been around. I prefer someone who has a couple of years under their belt. Of course, that depends on the subject.
Those are my thoughts.
Gary
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That is a great question and I was thinking the same thing. Great advice from those who gave it as well. I am thinking of a Battle of Midway group build to begin on January 1st, 2027. Still will be looking at the badge and a few other things I need to iron out.
Regards,
Freddie
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Group builds have rather slowed around here. We’ve lost a few members who were some of the most prolific builders and those willing to run a GB. A Battle of Midway GB sounds interesting. I have a TBF-1 Avenger that needs building.
Gary
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Freddie-hope you decide to run your Midway GB. Back when I started, specific battle, era or theater themes were always a draw for me to dig into the history of the topic. Like Gary said, there were a lot of GB’s but unfortunately time brings change.
I have a Dauntless & Wildcat that need building also..
Bob
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Thanks for the 'Push" Bob. My biggest issue is that I am not very computer literate and not sure exactly what to do or, how to proceed. Any advice from Gary, yourself, or anyone else out there that has started a group build will be very much appreciated.
Thanks again for your response and I look forward to hearing more. I think I am going to do this!
Freddie from Palm Beach Gardens
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Check out my post,it’s the 2nd one in the thread,it lays things out for you,and of course me and others will help along the way.
Look at some of the threads in the Group Build section,it will give you an idea on how to procede.
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Tojo72 has given great advice regarding organizing and running a GB.
One thought I have is when researching previous GB’s, go back several years-I remember several WWII era & battle group builds in my early days here. In my opinion, it seems Group Builds have not been as numerous in the past few years.
Here is a Midway GB from 2017 that might be a good guideline.
https://forum.finescale.com/t/battle-of-midway-group-build-3-june-2017-7-june-2018/242009
I’m planning on joining and will be more than happy to help if needed.
Bob
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Well, that’s a blast from the past. I noticed most of that GB are not around anymore (except for Bob and Freddie).
I wouldn’t worry about being too computer saavy. Posting photos is much easier now, since the site allows posting them here without need for a separate photo hosting site. The only issue is if you have the stamina to run a GB, since you have to stay engaged for awhile. It surprisingly takes up a good amount of time. You have to post photos of completed builds, answer questions, and keep the GB on track (they tend to veer off in unexpected directions).
Anyway, good luck!
Gary
PS> One thing you might do is ask someone to act as a “second”, and post soon after you, so that if you are unable to continue or something happens, he’ll be around to take over the GB for you until your able to. As an example, I got Modelcrazy to co-host one I ran.
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Yes that is a problem,so many start one and end up ghosting their own Group, one solution is to keep it relatively short,say 6 months,try to get someone to design a campaign badge that can be awarded,I have one displayed from Gary’s Korean War Build.
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Freddie, I say go for it! I’ve been following this discussion because I’ve been thinking about starting a group build myself, but like you, I’ve never run one before.
After reading all the advice here, it really doesn’t sound like the mechanics of setting one up are the difficult part. The big thing seems to be picking a good subject, setting some reasonable rules, and then staying involved and keeping people engaged.
In fact, this thread has me thinking about a theme: “Unarmed and Unafraid.” Reconnaissance, observation, electronic warfare, tankers, transports, rescue, trainers, test aircraft—basically military aircraft whose primary job wasn’t shooting at somebody. It could cover just about any era or country and might produce a pretty interesting collection of unusual subjects.
So I say we both take the plunge. If you do one, I’ll do one too! 
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I’ve run a couple group builds. Make sure to define the build well and fish around/refine based on feedback. And ensure you have interest. Create the GB thread allocate the first page for rules and timing, second page for who has committed to what and the third page for completed builds. The stay closely attached and involved with everyone’s builds and be sure to build something yourself.
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Keavdog,
How would I start new pages? Most of the time I just keep responding to the initial page when I post updates. Would I start a new topic and call that a page? I am probably going to kick this off and I am looking for input. I think I would like to have two badges, one for the US side and one for the Japanese. Your thoughts? Anyone else have any input that would greatly appreciated.
Freddie from Palm Beach
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Navigate to the groupbuilds -
And click on the new topic button in the upper right corner and off you go. Once you submit go in and reply twice to reserve your roster page and completed page
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See this F1 GB I did in 2023 as an example
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Looks like we’re both actually going to do this! 
I seem to remember saying if you launched yours, I’d launch mine, so I guess there’s no backing out now.
I’ve been working through a lot of these same questions for my upcoming “Unarmed & Unafraid” Group Build. One thing I just figured out is the badge system. I made a full-size badge for the Group Build thread and then a separate 100x100 transparent PNG for members to put in their signatures after completing a build. I hosted the small version on Postimages, and it works really well.
I like your idea of separate U.S. and Japanese badges too. Someone who completes both would get to collect the pair.
I’m learning this Group Build Master business right along with you!
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