Competing with Yourself

[John1]

Interesting discussion.   I never did WIP's until about 5 years ago.   Since then, with only a few exceptions, that's all I've done.   I can't explain why but as I start researching my build, I get pretty passionate about my subject and just figured I'd share what I've discovered with the rest of the class.  The actual build is almost secondary.   I mean, seriously - who would not be fascinated by an in-depth discussion on the color and weathering of the canopy emergency jettison handle on an F4U-1D (late version)?

 

As far as responses to my updates -  It's hit or miss.   If I'm being honest, I would love to be showered with comments and suggestions after each post.    That usually doesn't happen.  A bit disappointing but I don't take it to heart, I'm just as guilty for ignoring a lot of fantastic builds here on LSP, or just skimming through the updates quickly before going to work and then forgetting to circle back and provide some feedback to the author.   I've had a couple of builds on other sites (BM and ARC) that received pretty much no comments, post after post.   In those cases, I simply stopped posting.   ARC is on it's last legs anyway so I get it.  After reading this thread, the one take away I got is that it's well worth spending a few seconds to hit "like" or send a quick comment when reading someone else's WIP. 

 

Just my $0.02

Edited May 2, 2022 by John1

[Tony T]

I've never posted, mostly because I don't want to use up what little energy I have doing that instead of modelling. I also like planes the way you see the real ones in museums, which is too clean and shiny for today's tastes. 

 

WIP is more interesting if showcasing a new kit or major conversion. I mostly look at the RFI which can be accompanied by some how they got there pics, after the fact.

 

The thing that really impresses is when somebody showcases their entire build collection. Wow!  They've done all of those!

 

Tony 

[tomprobert]

I’m lucky in the fact I don’t give two hoots what people think about my models. Saying that, it’s nice when fellow modellers comment on my builds and take the time to give feedback, etc. and I try to do the same when time allows and something has grabbed my interest. 

 

The reason I post online is because I simply enjoy sharing my projects - the vacs I build usually create quite a bit of interest as they’re unusual and few build them. I like to show off some old school techniques and if others learn a tip or two (as I regularly do from following builds here) then it makes posting worthwhile. 
 

Going back to the original linked article, I’m stating the obvious but it is important to build for the reasons that make you tick. Some will build and post as they like the positive feedback - others simply for the community feel and sharing of ideas. Each to their own, and all that 

 

Tom

[LSP_K2]

4 hours ago, John1 said:

I mean, seriously - who would not be fascinated by an in-depth discussion on the color and weathering of the canopy emergency jettison handle on an F4U-1D (late version)?

 

Me.

[LSP_K2]

I must confess that I generally don't even look at build threads here most of the time anymore, haven't for the last couple of years. I do update my own nonsense from time to time, but that's about it, same with the RFI area.

[europapete]

YUUUUP! Got to agree with that one. (oops! forgot to turn the page. I meant about following Pete from Airscales' articles.)

Edited May 2, 2022 by europapete

[mozart]

11 hours ago, LSP_K2 said:

I must confess that I generally don't even look at build threads here most of the time anymore, haven't for the last couple of years. I do update my own nonsense from time to time, but that's about it, same with the RFI area.

In my naivety, I thought the role of a moderator was to keep an eye on the content and tone of posts on the forum…….

[quang]

14 hours ago, tomprobert said:

The reason I post online is because I simply enjoy sharing my projects ... I like to show off some old school techniques and if others learn a tip or two (as I regularly do from following builds here) then it makes posting worthwhile. 

That’s exactly what I feel and I cannot say it better.

 

Nonetheless as much as I enjoy sharing, I’m also counting on the exchange I get from the readers. Exchange meaning discussion (and even banter) and not merely thumb-ups or ‘likes’. If my goal was just to hunt ‘likes’, a better thing to do would be to create a FB group. A forum ( formerly known as a discussion group) is another matter.

Some people don’t suspect how much time and effort it takes to run a WIP thread: taking the photos, writing the words, hosting the pics, publishing, etc.
The reason I post is not to get positive feedback. It’s to get feedback, ANY feedback. It’s like going to a pub and talking with people.
If I talk to people and nobody talks back, why should I continue to do it? You tell me.

 

Quang

[jeroen_R90S]

Interesting for sure, though I don't mind if my builds won't get attention or not, as long as I'm enjoying what I'm doing, be it modelling, researching or writing an update for a forum.

 

I'm quite a realist (sometimes unfortunate, as well!) and have written some articles for ModellingMadness on some of the, shall we say, less than stellar examples of models the plastic model industry has turned out.

The reason I mention this, is that is a one-way exchange: you put a lot of effort in an article, but will never know how many people will actually read it or find it useful.
I use that approach to forum builds as well: I write my stuff down, take photo's, and if somebody finds that thread 10 years from now, on how to do a DIY-A-6A-Intruder-accurization-on-the-cheap I hope it's helpful then. If only one modeller finds something of interest and it helps them, great!

 

I also agree forums are a place of exchange and differ from articles; and, though I have only 2 build threads I have been really surprised at the feedback and information I have received, without which my Intruder model would definitely have been a worse one, even if it isn't even finished yet. I really do appreciate each and every comment and/or like I get on a post. It's not a goal in itself, though.

 

On the other hand, the build quality is very high here, at least higher than what I can do, so sometimes I don't quite know what to comment on. Getting a "looks great" at every update isn't all that constructive, although I am guilty of posting that!   But as many of you turn out high quality stuff and seem to know what you're doing, judging from this end of the monitor, I personally find it quite hard to give constructive feedback... And there's so much going on that it's hard to keep up with all the build logs!

 

The short version of this is, please do not be discouraged by a lack of replies or likes.
Someone will stumble on your build at a certain moment and find it helpful, even if you'll probably never know. And sometimes you do, as I have (rarely) gotten some e-mails from my MM acticles thanking me or asking more questions.
And, even more rarely, some really cool ones as well, such as from the painter who actually painted the VFA-137 Super Hornet's digital camouflage I did a 1/72 model of, or a former EP-3B crew member contacting me after reading my Hasegawa Orion conversion. You never know!

 

Jeroen

[MikeMaben]

Just now, jeroen_R90S said:

    Someone will stumble on your build at a certain moment and find it helpful, even if you'll probably never know.

True, and why sometimes I post things that are obvious and I know most folks here already know, but I figure

maybe someone doesn't now or in the future.

A better gauge of interest in your posts is to check out the 'views' column on the right of the OP page.

I agree with Jeroen, don't be discouraged.

[John1]

3 hours ago, jeroen_R90S said:

Someone will stumble on your build at a certain moment and find it helpful, even if you'll probably never know. And sometimes you do, as I have (rarely) gotten some e-mails from my MM acticles thanking me or asking more questions.
And, even more rarely, some really cool ones as well, such as from the painter who actually painted the VFA-137 Super Hornet's digital camouflage I did a 1/72 model of, or a former EP-3B crew member contacting me after reading my Hasegawa Orion conversion. You never know!

 

Jeroen

 

That actually rings very true.   One of my first WIP's ages ago over on ARC was a 48th conversion of the Kinetic S-2 Tracker to a US-2B utility version.  I had decided on a whim to try to replicate a US-2B that crashed at a nearby NAS when I was a kid, killing both crewmembers.    I did a FOIA request, got a copy of the crash investigation and more than enough info to complete the build.   The Navy's investigation was fascinating.   Essentially, while out on a local training flight over Cape Cod, the crew lost an engine.   They headed back to base with their one good engine starting to smoke, and through a series of miscommunications with an escorting helo, they were never informed that their good engine was having issues.   The remaining engine failed 90 seconds before they would have made the runway.   The crew overflew a crowed ball field and deliberately put the aircraft down into woods to avoid the field and nearby homes.   Both crewmembers perished.   

 

Turns out that both engines were severely damaged by improper maintenance by short staffed, apathetic personnel at the base.   Follow up QC/QA measures that would have caught this were also ignored.   After the crash, the former commander of the air station argued that because of the complexity of those old radial engines and being short-staffed, it wasn't surprising that the aircraft didn't receive proper maintenance!    

 

Anyways, a few months later, I was contacted by the son of one of the deceased pilots.   His family never knew the full story behind the accident, they were told it was crew error and possibly drugs were involved (they weren't).   The WIP gave them a great deal of closure and a year later, I met the son, another son and the pilots widow to hand over my model to them.   It was an amazing moment.   Later on, the WIP ended up as the source for an article in Flying Magazine.   

 

That build made every WIP I've done since worth it. 

[easixpedro]

46 minutes ago, John1 said:

 

That actually rings very true.   One of my first WIP's ages ago over on ARC was a 48th conversion of the Kinetic S-2 Tracker to a US-2B utility version.  I had decided on a whim to try to replicate a US-2B that crashed at a nearby NAS when I was a kid, killing both crewmembers.    I did a FOIA request, got a copy of the crash investigation and more than enough info to complete the build.   The Navy's investigation was fascinating.   Essentially, while out on a local training flight over Cape Cod, the crew lost an engine.   They headed back to base with their one good engine starting to smoke, and through a series of miscommunications with an escorting helo, they were never informed that their good engine was having issues.   The remaining engine failed 90 seconds before they would have made the runway.   The crew overflew a crowed ball field and deliberately put the aircraft down into woods to avoid the field and nearby homes.   Both crewmembers perished.   

 

Turns out that both engines were severely damaged by improper maintenance by short staffed, apathetic personnel at the base.   Follow up QC/QA measures that would have caught this were also ignored.   After the crash, the former commander of the air station argued that because of the complexity of those old radial engines and being short-staffed, it wasn't surprising that the aircraft didn't receive proper maintenance!    

 

Anyways, a few months later, I was contacted by the son of one of the deceased pilots.   His family never knew the full story behind the accident, they were told it was crew error and possibly drugs were involved (they weren't).   The WIP gave them a great deal of closure and a year later, I met the son, another son and the pilots widow to hand over my model to them.   It was an amazing moment.   Later on, the WIP ended up as the source for an article in Flying Magazine.   

 

That build made every WIP I've done since worth it. 

Loved that build and the amount of work you put into it. 

 

And one of the reason's behind what I build. There's usually a back story of interest to me. I'll research it and share in the off-chance that someone will find something (as esoteric as my subjects are) of interest to them. At the end of the day, most of my builds end up being donated in some way shape or form. I've found great success in giving them to associations to auction off at reunions and such. Helps them, and helps me from having a large collection of models sitting on display. If I can share as I build and we all learn something, either in the historical sense or in learning a new technique, I'll keep doing it. At the end of the day, I'm just puttering around at the bench in an attempt to relax. 

-Peter

[MikeC]

2 hours ago, easixpedro said:

And one of the reason's behind what I build. There's usually a back story of interest to me. I'll research it and share in the off-chance that someone will find something (as esoteric as my subjects are) of interest to them  ....  At the end of the day, I'm just puttering around at the bench in an attempt to relax.

 

Yes, that's me too.  The research is, to me, as important as the building.  In fact, I sometimes think it's more so.  I love an interesting back story, like Flt Lt Raymond Hearn's 112 Sqn Mustang III - he shot down a Ju 88 (or 188, sources vary) in Italy once with one gun out of four working.  Or a Tiger Moth I know of still flying today that once flew with the BEF in France in 1940, then went to 24 Sqn and was flown by (among other) the actor John Justin. 

[LSP_K2]

11 hours ago, mozart said:

In my naivety, I thought the role of a moderator was to keep an eye on the content and tone of posts on the forum…….

 

True enough, but there are more than enough mods to spread the load, so there's generally no need for all of us to read the exact same stuff. In fact, that would be a counterproductive use of our time, especially in mod mode.

[Kagemusha]

10 hours ago, John1 said:

 

That actually rings very true.   One of my first WIP's ages ago over on ARC was a 48th conversion of the Kinetic S-2 Tracker to a US-2B utility version.  I had decided on a whim to try to replicate a US-2B that crashed at a nearby NAS when I was a kid, killing both crewmembers.    I did a FOIA request, got a copy of the crash investigation and more than enough info to complete the build.   The Navy's investigation was fascinating.   Essentially, while out on a local training flight over Cape Cod, the crew lost an engine.   They headed back to base with their one good engine starting to smoke, and through a series of miscommunications with an escorting helo, they were never informed that their good engine was having issues.   The remaining engine failed 90 seconds before they would have made the runway.   The crew overflew a crowed ball field and deliberately put the aircraft down into woods to avoid the field and nearby homes.   Both crewmembers perished.   

 

Turns out that both engines were severely damaged by improper maintenance by short staffed, apathetic personnel at the base.   Follow up QC/QA measures that would have caught this were also ignored.   After the crash, the former commander of the air station argued that because of the complexity of those old radial engines and being short-staffed, it wasn't surprising that the aircraft didn't receive proper maintenance!    

 

Anyways, a few months later, I was contacted by the son of one of the deceased pilots.   His family never knew the full story behind the accident, they were told it was crew error and possibly drugs were involved (they weren't).   The WIP gave them a great deal of closure and a year later, I met the son, another son and the pilots widow to hand over my model to them.   It was an amazing moment.   Later on, the WIP ended up as the source for an article in Flying Magazine.   

 

That build made every WIP I've done since worth it. 

 

What a brilliant story, and no doubt your wonderful model is now a priceless family heirloom, doesn't get better than that.