Please see this thread posted in the Suggestions and Feedback section. I’m just interested in what everyone else thinks…
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33331
I personally build everything, armor, aircraft, ships, fantasy… whatever grabs my attention at the time. FSM is perfect for me because it does cover a wide variety of topics and I especially like the new products section and the work bench reviews. Now, I could find all that information on the web but I guess I’m old school and still like to sit in the big recliner chair and take a break from the computer once and a while.
I could see how if I only did armor or only did ships that I would be looking elsewhere for my inspiration. You can’t please everyone!
I also agree that “some” of the articles are a little vague in their descripitons from time to time. If you are going to do a “how to” article on super detailing a model you have to be specific in every little detail. Some of the articles fall short in this area.
Otherwise its a great rag and I am happy with it.
I like FSM for what it is, a general coverage magazine showing all phases of modeling interests. Aircraft, Armor, Autos, Ships, Sci-fi, Figures, etal. Yes it’s more slanted to the beginner/intermediate modeler, but often runs articles on models that would challenge the most skilled to duplicate. The build reviews are sometimes frustrating for lack of depth, but the editors are trying to pack a lot of coverage of several subjects between the covers. As far as too much Aircraft or too much Armor arguements, that varies issue to issue. If you look at the post counts on this Site, I think you would find the magazine pretty much covers topics in line with the demographics of their readers. Personally, as an Aircraft modeler, I still find the articles on Armor, Ships, etc. interesting & informative. It gives me a view of the rest of the modeling world that I might otherwise forgo. If you want in-depth coverage of your special interest, by all means buy the dedicated mags like AVF, SAM, Military Modeler, etc. But if we all gang up & stop supporting FSM, how long do you think this wonderful site would survive ?
Regards, Rick
My take is people just sounding off. Kinda waste of time to read a post by a buncha guys that just have to sound off about something that can’t be what they want it to be. There will always be threads like that as long as there are rags like fsm that cover a broad specrum of subjects. Their time imho would have been better off discussing Zimmeritt applications then that thread.
Jeff
Slightly different take on things,but I only buy magazines when there is an article which interests me. I don’t religiously by FSM, or SAM every month, only when there is a balance of articles that make the mag worth buying.
Karl
Good point!
Since becoming a member of he forum at FSM, and subscribing to the magazine, I have asked a few questions there hat obvioulsy mark me as a rookie. Yet, the support, advice and answers I have received have been priceless, maturely stated and well appreciated. I don’t see how anyone could say negative comments about this forum.
Yet, what’s wrong with being a participant of several magazine or forums? Part of the thrill of modelling is studying the subject matter. THat means getting as much information from the old pros as one can find.
What makes this forum particularly great in my opinion is that there are many long-time modellers here who have been-there, done-that, and they are happy to share their wealth of knowledge with both new-comer and fellow modeller, which in the end strengthens the hobby of modelling.
Well, those guys do have a valid point, sad as it makes me feel to say so.
But I will always be an avid FSM purchaser.[^]
It was one of their mags that I picked up some 3 years ago because of a pic they had on the cover, and thanks to that the childhood enjoyment I had building kits slowly crept back to me after being AWOL for some 20 years.
There is no way possible that FSM can cover everything, all the time, in the way some of those people would like, and still remain affordable AND enjoyable at the same time.
Not every mag is to my liking, but I read how to weather the hull of a tank, and catch a glimpse at how that method might help me weather my planes, one way or another.
Mind you, I do find it strangely amusing that a bunch of tank guys are crying fowl for FSM covering Ships, Helos, Planes, Figs AND Armor, when all they wanna see is Armor.
[%-)]
Must be something in the water[alien]
You mean to say there are other modeling magazines besides FSM?? I really don’t care to read them, this is where I like to be.
From my take on things, I believe that Rick summed it up perfectly.
My take on it is that there views are valid as far as the interest of the modeler go. If you like armour and only that or ships and only ships cars and only cars then there are mags out there for you. BUT! FSM is for the renaiseance(?) modeler! that certain someone who has their favorite flavor of model but also can work up sweat at the thought some other flavor of modeling , you know such as myself, I prefer aircraft but! AFV’s have there appeal to me as do submarines and autos.
FSM is geared to all modeling and modelers and favors no one discipline of modeling. it caters to all from it’s articles to it’s tips and sometimes and issue is just OK reading and others it can be WOW! but it always has something in it that I enjoy reading. the only other magazine that came close stopped publishing about 20 yrs ago. So don’t let it bother you what shows up in another website FSM is like a model show I go to see all the great models and not just what I favor and FSM is the same I read it for all the contents.
I agree with Rick as well…I will always be subscribing to FSM because I always get something from every issue…plus it feels like Christmas every month I get it [:)]
Rick did indeed sum it up very well.
The whole thing seems rather silly to me…any modeller who focuses exclusively on one genre of modelling, be it aircraft, armor, automobiles, whatever…would certainly find FSM lacking due to it’s nature as a GENERAL modelling magazine (uh-oh, the Sci-Fi guys (including me) are gonna be screaming!!). There are specialty magazines devoted to those modellers who focus on one genre only. Beats me why they would take the time to whine about FSM.
Personally, although I’m primarily an armor/aircraft/SF modeller, I enjoy and learn from each and every article in FSM, whether it be new info and techiniques or a reconfirmation of something I already know. No matter what your skill level is, there is always something new to be learned, and plenty of new twists on old techniques.
In my opinion, these folks should spend less time whining and more time pursuing their interests. Wait a second…maybe their interest IS whining?
Well then, knock yourselves out, fellas! [;)]
I used to have a (long) list of modeling and aviation magazines that I bought every month (or simply subscribed to), buying them regardless of what was inside that month. Many went into the appropriate pile unread, but never thrown out. Now that I am no longer a daily newspaper reporter, and make my paltry living as a lowly freelancer, I have to be very picky about what I buy, so I do scan the table of contents pretty thoroughly.
Especially so with Brit or other foreign magazines and quarterlies, which sell for anywhere from $9.50 (for SAM at Barnes &Noble) to $20 for Air Enthusiast. One good thing about freelancing is that, though model magazines pay worse than just about any other type of specialized magazine, you get a free copy every month.
As to quality, I easily prefer the Brit magazines if forced to choose, because I like their emphasis on historical research, and the preponderance of color profiles, and not just flashy graphics, lots of photos, and sort of shallow “how to” articles. Still, FSM fills a certain niche, and their kit reviews are so much better and more thorough than those of the Brits, it’s not even close. And the new product coverage is better than some Brit publications (though, in the interest of – how does this line go? – fairness and openness, I must admit I am employed helping a well-known Brit mag expand its new products colum by a number of pages).
And though I no longer subscribe to FSM, I rarely go a month without buying it, and that’s been the case since the first issue. My lord, if the younger guys out there knew what American modelers had for reading material before FSM, you would know how limitless was our gratification for FSM.
The leading scale model magazine (and I think it was the only general circulation scale model magazine in America ) was called simply Scale Modeler and was published by an outfit called Challenge Publications, which had other aviation titles under its corporate umbrella and a pretty seedy reputation among aviation writers and editors.
Well, SM was a journalistic joke, and an ethical cesspool. Readers are supposed to be able to trust their magazine’s reviews to be based solely on the observations and expertise of an experienced builder with no motives other than to provide an accurate and fair review. SM did articles on products based on whether the maker of the products bought advertising. And their kit reviews were kits that were made by their advertisers, and each and every kit they reviewed was described as “long awaited” or “a much needed subject” that was usually perfect in every way. The occasional pan of a kit was delivered against a model whose maker did not advertise in SM. They once did a two-part series on the Aztec Airbrush as soon as Aztec bought a series of full page ads.
FSM, which as far as I can tell, has always been ethical to a tee, has never pulled its punches in reviews regardless of how much Tamiya or Hasegawa or whatever company spends for advertising in FSM.
But when reading model magazine (or any publication, for that matter) keep an eye out for signs the editorial department is uner the command of the advertising department… This is especially important if you are going to depend on them for advice when you are preparing to invest your hard earned money in, say, an expensive Trumpeter kit or an airbrush and compressor. There are many, many ways in which all magazines are not created equal.
TOM
I model a little bit of everything depending on how I feel. I learned years ago, along with my son, that you can learn something from one area that can be used in another(i.e.cars and aircraft or armor)
My subscription just ran out and I didn’t renew not because of anything wrong with the mag. but because I always got it 2 to 3 weeks after it was on the news stand and i usually read it before mine came. I will still pick up most issues if it has something that interests me.
Not quite sure where you got this one…
Not to take any particular side, but it has been brought up, by the statements above, that FSM covers the demographics fairly equally, in relation to post numbers and whatnot when it comes to the forum. I find this to be entirely untrue. The AC guys and gals do hold the majority, and rightfully so is their interest the majority of the mag. However, the armor forum is a close second, and yet in the mag, is anything but.
Hey,
I agree with rick and subfixer. I dont’t subscribe but like mkhoot I buy almost
everymonth. I learned a long time ago not to subscribe from Kalmbach if you
want your mag before it hits the stand.
Good Hunting,
G.W.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by zokissima
While reading the forums, this was the impression I got from there writings.
And yes I do agree there is alot more emphasise on Aircraft than Armor in FSM, and being an Armor modeller aswell as Aircraft, I find it to be a little annoying also.
But I don’t think the Armor scene has hit it’s ‘peak’ yet, this I feel is mostly due to there being a lack of subjects in the real world for manufacturers to base a model on.
How many ways can you model an Abrams or Sherman, till the topic becomes overdone?
There is alot more scope with A/c than with Armor, sad but true.
[2c]