Group Builds: what’s your point of view?

[Landrotten Highlander]

I have participated in only 1 group build so far - the Eastern Front one at the beginning of this year - and enjoyed the process very much.  An interesting topic, varying approaches and ideas making less-known or unusual types/camouflages help to add with the interest which is what I think is the moset appealing aspect of GB (at least for me - before this I never looked at GB because I thought variations of different people working on one model or all people making the same model, I now know this is inacurate).

 

I planned to participate in the BoB build, but life got in the way (studying for my second degree with the O.U. leading to 2 exams during this time frame (July and September). so have to skip this one.

Have all intentions of completing a kit with the 'boring' trainer version - already picked my subject, kit and paint version.   Luckily, this GB is at the beginning of the next 2 modules in my studies, so I do not see too many obstacles - unless as a isabled person I find a job I can do from home, that is.

[MikeC]

An interesting question.  I have started a few GBs on this and other fora; I think I've only ever finished two, both of them here on LSP.  There are any number of reasons, but chief among them:

The subject is not one that interests me.

Announcing in the "Is anyone interested?" thread that I'll be participating, and when the time comes I'm heads-down in another project.

Starting with the best of intentions, then realising that the GB is finished and I've got a half-built model and a couple of photos of the box and sprues.

The model gets bogged down in problems, and is lovingly placed on the "Shelf of Doom".

I had enough deadlines when I was at work.

Real life gets in the way.

 

There's another reason as well.  I also write for one of the magazines plus an online resource, and quite honestly it's sometimes quite pleasant to build a model just for me, without photographing it as I go along, or thinking about how to put a particular point across.

 

Having said all that, I have a few plans that may be suitable for "Trainers" ...

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by MikeC

[MikeMaben]

To me, GBs are the same as WIPs but with a time limit.

The reason I see why people poop out half way thru is

that there's no reason not too. There's no winner or prize

so there's nothing to gain and nothing to lose. If there were

some sort of prize, there would have to be judges, or a

point system or something of the sort.

Calls for some imagination. Some sort of incentive.

What do you all think ?

[mozart]

Mike, I participated in several GBs on a forum that was my “home” before LSP, a public vote of the most popular model at the end was the norm.  Although I “won” one such GB, a nightfighter one I recall, I didn’t particularly like the idea because of the added pressure that it implied.  There was also one chap, bless him, who rarely had any votes but who joined in every GB regardless, and another who was disqualified because he was found to have been “canvassing” for votes!   I hosted a Tiger Moth Single-type GB there and made it clear there wouldn’t be a competition, just build and enjoy. 
 

For me the big difference between a GB and a WiP is that in the former you are all modelling to a common theme, though usually building completely different planes, and there can be a great sense of camaraderie and support to help get your flagging enthusiasm over the finish line. 

Edited July 15, 2020 by mozart

[RLWP]

1 hour ago, mozart said:

Thank you all for your input, it’s interesting to read different people’s thoughts and opinions. What prompted me to ask the question was the surprisingly low number participating in the Battle of Britain GB, a theme which I thought would have been very popular. It made me fear for the upcoming “boring” Trainer GB.

 

If you go back to the thread announcing this GB, sticking to a quite short real-world time window means there are not a lot of kits. Extending the GB to include aeroplanes from the BoB film, or modern 'planes in BoB colours hasn't taken off

 

This is likely to have limited the number of participants

 

I'm actually more enthused by the Trainer GB as it is much broader and includes some newly issued kits

 

Richard

 

 

[mozart]

3 minutes ago, RLWP said:

 

If you go back to the thread announcing this GB, sticking to a quite short real-world time window means there are not a lot of kits. Extending the GB to include aeroplanes from the BoB film, or modern 'planes in BoB colours hasn't taken off

 

This is likely to have limited the number of participants

 

I'm actually more enthused by the Trainer GB as it is much broader and includes some newly issued kits

 

Richard

That may be true Richard, but Britmodeller also has an anniversary BoB GB just started, and they have a huge number of builds going on.  I know they cater for all scales but I still think our BoB GB is disappointingly low.

[thierry laurent]

I believe that the amount of possible topics is a critical factor. Just compare the numbers of entries in the Vietnam war, Korean war and BoB group builds. To me, this is quite obvious. Then, some topics are not directly linked to the topic but are eligible to me: e.g. the Tiger Moth or Dragon Rapide were used by the RAF during the BoB even if they obviously did not participate directly. So, quite often the scope is larger than we consider! 

[Greif8]

3 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

I like Group Builds and read most of them even if I don't or can't participate.  I like the camaraderie of the group and the deadline aspect so that I get on with the job.   I will participate if I have a kit in my stash that fits the parameters for the GB, or can quickly lay my hands on the kit and aftermarket I want.  It's a pity with the present pandemic that the post seems to have slowed so much, creating a problem in meeting that deadline, but with luck that will be a temporary situation.  For me here in Perth, I'm heavily reliant on internet sales to get what I want nowadays, as the number of hobby shops and stock available in them has deteriorated over the last decade.

 

I would join in the BoB group build, and I have to say that the present participation rate and variety for that is disappointing.  I managed to acquire a suitable kit recently, and something a little different from the Spitfire/Hurricane/Messerschmitt focus, but it's the lack of current aftermarket availability that precludes my joining in with what I want being unavailable.  Guess I'm just going to have to build it later, which is personally disappointing.  Where's all the Junkers and Heinkels etc too??

 

So I hope the concept continues, and it's great that we all have some input as to what the next ones will be.  Long may this continue.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

Hi Michael,

I agree that there is not much variety in the builds, but I think that might be related to the time folks have to get a build finished during the summer months into early fall.  I have a 110, 88 and 111 in the stash, but for this GB I wanted to try and complete two builds that are "theme linked".  If I have the time I may pull out one of the big boys and see if I can finish a third build before the deadline; but to be honest that would be very optimistic of me to expect to finish three builds for 1 GB, I have never pulled that off before.  The special circumstances were have been in since late winter have allowed me a massive amount of time at the bench; however, I started working again this past Saturday (I'm returning home from a job right now) and my time will be constrained from now on.

 

Ernest

[RLWP]

6 minutes ago, thierry laurent said:

I believe that the amount of possible topics is a critical factor. Just compare the numbers of entries in the Vietnam war, Korean war and BoB group builds. To me, this is quite obvious. Then, some topics are not directly linked to the topic but are eligible to me: e.g. the Tiger Moth or Dragon Rapide were used by the RAF during the BoB even if they obviously did not participate directly. So, quite often the scope is larger than we consider! 

 

I did my best to point that out to potential entrants, even finding images of the helicopter used in filming BoB. If you think laterally, there are quite a lot of opportunities for an interesting and individual build in this GB

 

Richard

 

 

[vince14]

1 hour ago, MikeMaben said:

The reason I see why people poop out half way thru is that there's no reason not too. There's no winner or prize so there's nothing to gain and nothing to lose. If there were some sort of prize, there would have to be judges, or a point system or something of the sort.

I ran an 'African Air Forces' GB on ARC many years ago. Now, that's a subject well outside the interest of most modellers and so you'd think participation would be low - but it was really successful, as I got Harpia Publishing to offer a few copies of their 'African MiGs' books as prizes and asked them to judge the entries. The carrot approach works.

 

The other issue with GB's here is a lack of promotion. After the initial hurrah of getting it going, there's no further mention of it in the more popular forums i.e. LSP Discussion and GD. An occasional reminder that it's going on in these forums might boost participation as well.

[Tony T]

I'm too psychologically traumatised for now to do much more than occasionally glue a couple of parts together, but do enjoy looking at others' builds. So please continue. 

 

It would be great to snap out of this, and I was hoping a Meteor-level new HKM kit might just do that, but alas the new kit turned out to be a derivative bag of spare parts. Maybe the Dora Wings 1/72 Fairey FD.2 will help when it emerges — something new. 

 

There's also the hurdle of taking and posting pictures. What do people use? I don't have a cell phone as I'm at home with wifi, a second generation iPad and a landline, and Photobucket has ended so is there a free service out there? 

 

And I have all day, every day, every week. Very frustrating!

 

Tony 

[Landrotten Highlander]

20 minutes ago, Tony T said:

Photobucket has ended so is there a free service out there? 

I use Imgur.  it is still free - unlike photobucket - and is easy to use.  There are others as well (I believe a number of topics on this subect are being / have been run in the General Forum, I think).

[Old Dog]

I have not participated in a group build on this site but have on others with mixed results as far as completions go. My issue is I really don't like deadlines. It's also easy to get sucked in if you have a kit that fits the topic but all too often I find I'm not motivated to build that particular kit at that time so it ends up on the shelf of delay.

[Archimedes]

I'm new here (so what do I know?) but so far have signed up for the BoB group build.  Thank to Jennings; 'Grumpy' Unwin's' Spitfire MkI looks like my weapon of choice for that one.

 

I think group builds are a good idea. I think they may be better subscribed to if it were more obvious where they are located.  I'm in broad agreement regarding many of the comments above: Yes life does get in the way, there is often a greater number of subject available to make than we realise and (from previous GB experience on a different site I sometimes visit) there can be great camaraderie. 

 

Paul

Edited July 15, 2020 by Archimedes
Typo

[mywifehatesmodels]

3 hours ago, Tony T said:

There's also the hurdle of taking and posting pictures. What do people use?

Tony,

 

I've been using postimg.org for the last few years. It's free and easy. Like any host, it takes a bit to get their process down, but I find that I can upload much faster and with fewer failures than I ever could with photobucket and none of the other hassles, either.

 

Best wishes,

 

John