The State of the Armor Forums

[Mikester]

Just a quick note on this side of the house.  Yes, we know that the armor side of our site isn't nearly as busy as the aircraft side.  The staff has spent a good deal of time discussing this.  It's not that we don't like armor, it's not that we don't care, we just haven't been able to attract a lot of armor enthusiasts.  The Eastern Front Armor GB is a start to encourage people to get out there and build a tank or vehicle or something that doesn't fly.

 

What we'd like from you guys is help.  Suggestions on what we can do to improve things would be great.  If you've got a buddy who builds armor but isn't a member here, get him to sign up.  For those you in SoCal Paul can come by with that swill he calls beer and talk Shermans with you until your eyes glaze over (that's about five minutes for me).

 

Tanks for your attention!

 

Mike

[Mikester]

Stik,

 

I appreciate the input.  In regards to the people who don't find it "accepting or friendly here" I'm a little baffled by this one.  We've made a genuine effort to make this a place where everyone feels comfortable posting and we have done our best to minimize the bickering and petty arguments that plague some forums.  If you've observed something that we missed, feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.  We're not perfect, but we do try.  I guess there is a segment of people out there who would like to believe that we somehow consider ourselves "better" since we build larger scale models.  Having been associated with a lot of forums over the years I can tell you that the staff and membership we have here are some of the most down to earth, helpful and friendly modelers I've ever been associated with.  We are all avid modelers here, we're one of the few sites I know of where the entire staff actually builds on a regular basis which is why I love this place.  We may be a little opinionated here and there but that's because we enjoy what we're doing and are engaged in the hobby. 

 

We are a 1/35 and up site and we do realize that this limits our scope to a degree.  On the armor side of things though 1/35 is by and large the most popular scale for armor by a good margin so I don't feel like we're leaving a huge segment out in the cold.  We can't be all things to all people but we hope this is someplace people feel comfortable posting their 1/35 and larger armor and vehicle projects and discuss the hobby.

 

Mike

[One-Oh-Four]

Basically yes. Now, I'm not going hunting if I can find an ex-military firebomber or a SWAT V-100 and kick them out. It's my / our hobby and being a bit laid back isn't a wrong thing. Therefore I don't see the need to try to define the exact borders of what is "right or wrong" on LSM. I'm not a lawyer, you know....

 

So build what you think is appropriate for LSM, using your own healthy judgment and I think you're cool in 99,9% of the cases.

[Mikester]

Some good discussion here.

 

Stik, please don't ever be afraid to ask a question.  We've only banned a handful of people (legitimate posters, not spammers, etc.) here since we started up and in all but one of those cases the person was given multiple opportunities to play nicely.  It's not something we take lightly and is never done on a whim and it was done because the individual was in clear violation of the rules and was having a negative impact on the forum.

 

This is a military modeling forum but there are always gray areas, it's no fun squashing people's projects and we don't get any enjoyment out of things like that.  As Erik said as long as you're going with the grain here rather than against it you should be OK.  We're not out to steal your joy but conversely we're not interested in being a generic modeling forum either. 

[Mikester]

And we do appreciate the input.  While we not might implement every idea submitted immediately, or at all, we do discuss them and give them due consideration.  The staff forum has a considerable amount of "lively" debate on a variety of topics relating to running the forums.  This is everyone's forum and we all have a stake in this thing so we want to ensure that everyone has a voice here. 

 

Of course you know the old adage "You can please some of the people some of the time....."  but we're going to do our best to do right by everyone.

[PAnderson]

Please tell me you guys DID NOT ban Stikpusher from the forum. I was reading a thread where none of his posts were showing except the material quoted by other members. It looks to me as if LSM has become a forum of moderators and not a forum of members. How in the world does the forum expect to survive on such a limited view of modelling. Seriously? I am asking you guys  as fellow members. What is going on? Someone asks about expanding the options concerning genres and is met with scorn. I do understand the forums rules and was willing to abide by them, up to a point. I love the idea of Large Scale Modelling. But aircraft and armor only? Be realistic. Haven't you noticed how many people have left? That the vast majority of posts are by moderators and not members themselves. There is a whole world of modelling going on that encompasses more than just aircraft and armor. A lot of very talented modellers build other things besides aircraft and armor. I thought I had found a home on LSM for precisely the reasons you guys espouse. Except for one thing. I build many different genres, including ships. Therein lies the problem. I do not want to post to other forums. I wanted to post to the forum that I decide to call home. I wanted to post and show off my work to people that I had become accustomed to calling friends, for want of a better word. Not strangers. I really don't have time to call more than one forum home. I don't need the attaboys either. This isn't just about ships either. It's about modelling, period. All of this smacks of elitism, I can understand where some people get this view. But as stated above, there are other things going on here. Trying to create a forum that smacks of quality, not elitism. I don't believe the elitism bit, but I can see where some people might get that idea. But it is exclusionary. Planes and armor, all the rest of you can go pound sand.

 

Ban me if you need to, I am prepared. Because, frankly, I won't limit myself to such a narrow view of modelling.

 

All the best my friends,

Paul

[James H]

Hi Paul,

 

I sent you a PM. 

 

Saying we have a narrow field of modelling interest is correct. We can't argue with that. This site is for large scale armour and aircraft. Many other sites cater to other genres and scales. LSP caters only to large scale model builds (albeit with a non-LSP forum area), whereas we also accept large scale armour. We can't be be all things to all people. We try our best. Sorry if that doesn't fit in with what you perceive LSM should be about. 

 

This is what LSM caters to, and there's nothing more I can add to that.

[JeroenPeters]

A whole friggin fleet of 1/48 Bf109's could have been built in the time that is being spent moaning over them being build here.

 

Anyhoo... I'm in with my 7/2 halftrack with FLAK. Tadaa!

[Beychevelle]

I like to say a few things about this, because I think some of the unrest was triggered because of my "large ship" idea.

 

It was just an idea, and maybe my second idea was better (other stuff by members).

I had no idea this is a sensitive subject on this forum. Obviously things happened here and elsewhere in the past...and that seems to linger on a bit.

I wasn't aware of that since I'm new here.

 

Still I don't understand the fuz, it can't be that difficult to discuss ideas in a mature manner. Certainly not something people should get upset about.

 

there some simple options....like it here and be happy,  don't like it and move on. In between those two....suggest something and wait and see what comes from it.

 

Sadly some staff members put out fire with Me 163 fuel, sneery remarks are not needed and not helpful.

 

Let's glue plastic parts together and throw some paint on it. Here or wherever.

 

Be happy, life can be a bitch, but this is a hobby.

 

Cheers to you all.

[Beychevelle]

Oh and I still have a resin WWI Mark I (male) somewhere. I'll dig it out and start working on it.

[JeroenPeters]

Hi Beychevelle,

 

Just sent you a PM. Nothing to do with your post. Just a sensitive subject at the moment. It will blow over.

 

Groet,

Jeroen

[Mikester]

Paul,

 

I see where you're coming from and empathize to a point.  However, we've always been up front about who we are and what we do here.  We tried the standard, one size fits all, generic modeling forums with the SPAR forums and we weren't particularly happy with that scenario so we changed focus.  I realize that many people are diverse in their modeling subjects, often times building different scales and subjects.  And that's great, we're not against that.  However if I set up a Harley-Davidson motorcycle forum because that's my bag, I may not be particularly receptive to Yamaha and Kawasaki bikers who want their own sub-forum. 

 

So I guess that runs the risk of being labeled "elitist".  From my personal perspective I can tell you that couldn't be further from the truth.  Although I build only 1/35 and up these days this hasn't always been the case.  I have a good friend here in Japan who I make the Tokyo hobby shop circuit with who is dyed in the wool 1/72 guy.  And that's cool, we still talk plastic and have a great time.  When I go to a model show I look at all the tables because I appreciate a well built model regardless of the scale or subject.  I'm a second generation modeler and my Dad is a 1/48 guy who will tell you that's the only scale worth bothering with.  So I get it, but when you sign for LSM and read our mission statement you should kind of know what's in store.

 

Nobody is getting banned for making a suggestion, but sometimes there's more to the situation than meets the eye and we're not going to go public with these decisions.

[Dave J]

Oh and I still have a resin WWI Mark I (male) somewhere. I'll dig it out and start working on it.

 

Oh yea! Love to see that!

[krow113]

...

[One-Oh-Four]

Kssssttttt, git!!!!! Only Triumph and BMW for me, bro'!

 

Oh, we weren't talking 1:1?.....

[Steve Scanlon]

I just gotta say that I enjoy this forum and it is a fact that armour will always be behind in popularity, personally I just accept it and get on with my vehicles, though I do have a stash of 1/48 aircraft that I intend to build sometime, wingy things have defeated me so far but I have to accept that I have been out of the circuit for a while [lost my mojo] but I agree if we can keep it light hearted and swop banter as well as ask questions as well it will become more enjoyable and will build slowly but surely, we armour modellers just need to keep making the effort.