cbk57 Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 3 minutes ago, AlanG said: I personally cannot stand BG. Don't know why. I just think he comes across as smug. For reviews i tend to follow what Phil Flory says. I have no personal thoughts on Brett Green other than he has a massive influence on the hobby with various websites and projects he is involved in. I suppose if I had to have an impression I respect his work and his achievement of turning his hobby into his profession. Eagle Driver 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 I too respect his work and what he's done for our hobby. But imho he still comes across that way in his vids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, AlanG said: I personally cannot stand BG. Don't know why. I just think he comes across as smug. I was like that before, but I really appreciate his work now. And it happened with time passing and me gathering more experience. 10 minutes ago, Markjames1968 said: if you have recieved the kit gratis and are reviewing the box contents, its not worth the ‘paper’ its written on if you recieved a kit gratis and build it out of the box, i might read what you have to say but unlikely, theres shocking amounts of bias and bad practice by so called ‘reviewers, best thing, if you like a kit.. buy it.... build it.... enjoy it, build more, ...l.........dont like it, move on to next kit Usually true, but not always. I get 4-5-6 even more kits a month and for various reasons. Nobody builds that fast. Even if I had all my time to devote to building. I know reviewers that get 10 or more per week. Besides this is part of the game. YouTube videos, reviews... Just any of us finding his way of expressing their participation in the hobby. There is that guy on YT that is building superb models and bragging about how he does not do it to show off and go and win medals. And from a reliable source I heard that he started it just to prove that his work is worthy to those who never gave him medal on a contest. Again - all part of a game. Edited January 27, 2020 by Eagle Driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 With regard to Brett Green reviews, the quite glamorous one he wrote about the Trumpeter BAC Lightning illustrates that there are topics you should not review...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quang Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 There is no such things as good or bad reviews. There are just good and bad reviewers. A good reviewer doesn't need to build a particular model to do a review but he KNOWS about the build experience and what to expect from a kit just by studying the plastic parts. He also knows how to convey his impressions to the reader in a instructive AND entertaining fashion. A current reviewer I admire and follow is Gary Wickham from The Modelling News. In the olden days of printed paper magazines, reviewers received the kits free from the editor AND got paid for their writing. Of course there's no such thing as an objective review, but there was a thing called 'ethics' which forced them to deliver as honest and truthful a review as possible. Nowadays, anyone with access to a keyboard can call himself a reviewer. This is just not so simple. My 2 euro cents, Quang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 1 minute ago, quang said: Nowadays, anyone with access to a keyboard can call himself a reviewer. This is just not so simple. Not only that. There are certain requirements from a technical standpoint. Length of the review in terms of words, number of keywords, links inside the review, etc. What I've seen is the best review length is between 800 and 1400 words. Then there is the picture requirements. Size, text, alt text. Everybody wants good quality pictures. Nobody thinks how that will affect the search engine results though. Site speed too. It is simply not that simple anymore, even though very easy as you pointed out. And yes, everybody's a critic. And why not? Kevin often reviews movies on FB. Shorter than tweet reviews. And I've seen a lot of his reviews to be spot on. Is he professional? I don't know and I don't care. Since he does not wet his pants about Avengers or Fast and Furous 28, I think to myself - why not? We live in a competitive world, probably to the furthest extreme ever witnessed. Nothing to wonder about. Its just what it is. In the end...Tamiya always wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quang Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 We need to be reminded that a review is above all a piece of writing. If like Kevin, you're good at it, what keeps you from sharing your feelings about models, music, cinema... on FB or elsewhere? Eagle Driver 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 late to the party but, I like kit reviews like Phil Flory does. Instructions sprues decals also a fan of the quick tape together to check for fit reviews as well. What I really look for is how are the details, any gross errors or problems and pictures. LSP_K2 and AlanG 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 6 hours ago, Shawn M said: late to the party but, I like kit reviews like Phil Flory does. Instructions sprues decals also a fan of the quick tape together to check for fit reviews as well. What I really look for is how are the details, any gross errors or problems and pictures. This is more or less exactly the way I proceed with my own reviews (with the exception of the dry-fitting part), as that's, by and large, exactly what I'm most interested in. Some thoughts on "free stuff": While it's true that most of us don't pay for the review items we receive with money, we most certainly do pay for it with our time, which for many, is much more precious than money. Model reviews, in particular, even the "what's in the box" variety that we do here frequently, can take plenty of time and thought, even if it doesn't look like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Short story of my recent past: A company who shall remain nameless told me: We will now stop sending you kits. The reason is that we want you to build them. Inbox reviews don't work for us. Either you build them, or we won't send you anymore! I told them: Look folks, you kit costs this and this. Building it will take me 160-200 work hours. Nevermind paints, putty, aftermarket decals. Then... at least 50-60 hours of editing. Because, for example: ZM video review /of the sprues only/ takes me 25-30 hours to shoot, record the sound and edit everything and that is even without paying much attention to any part of it. If I decide to do it like it should be done, it will be twice that time. Now think again: Do I want you to spare me XX or XXX amounts of dollars, so I can waste 200-250 hours of my time and pay for supplies, just to make you happy? Better buy the kit myself I think. This is just a different perspective on the things. By the way Flory does not do it for me. I caught him saying complete bull$i7 once or twice. D Bellis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 I once reviewed a book from a well known publisher for LSM. In general I liked the book but also gave my honest opinion what was in my view missing. After that no more books came in for review. Cees thierry laurent, RLWP, Eagle Driver and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Jackson Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 I'm sure that most of us research a kit on-line before deciding to buy it, often the photos of each sprue/parts provides more insight in to plus/negative points, versions, details, accuracy and options including decals. Why don't kit manufacturers do what Eduard do with their etch sets - put each set off instructions on their website in pdf format? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 26 minutes ago, Jennings Heilig said: Whoever that is deserves the fate they're likely to have made for themselves. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of a hobby business to say to its customers. They are...pretty serious company actually. You will be surprised. But I understand them to some extent. In the back of my mind I still have hope that they will get in touch with me again at some point. Not that I cannot afford to buy their kits, its just different kind of feeling to get them for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenous Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 About Flory: 25:25 of this review says it al.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Fenous said: About Flory: 25:25 of this review says it al.... I don’t see anything related to the thread title at the 25:25 mark. What am I looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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