mikemodeler

Don and Carol Holthaus (The Modelhaus) created the standard by which resin casters are held to and with good reason. Some resin folks do this as a side job, others it becomes their main job. In any event, stating upfront what the timeline will be helps all involved and is what made Don and Carol so successful. Like it or not, but their method of processing orders in the order they were received kept them organized, on time and had people willing to wait for the product because they knew how they were being treated. Today many casters try to operate the same way and they have earned a similar reputation as The Modelhaus. The biggest problem I see is a lack of communication leads to frustration. In the case of (un)Reliable Resin, it becomes confrontational and usually not worth the hassle. If you are laying out $5 or $150, it pays to vet whether or not a company is worth it.

I have mixed emotions about it myself as it's a great opportunity for me to network with old friends and make new ones. It's also a time for me to see old customers and hopefully meet new ones. Yes, our company will save hundreds of thousands of dollars but if they had a choice, they would rather spend the money and grow the business if they could. New times mean new way of doing business and we are adapting and succeeding, but definitely miss the personal contact that comes from the old way.

It was announced earlier this afternoon that the automotive industry mega event- SEMA and AAPEX- traditionally held in Las Vegas around Halloween every Fall, has been cancelled. Reality set in when they figured the majority of companies that normally attend and display had decided not to go and the likelihood of a government limit on the number of attendees made the events unlikely. As someone who has gone for years, it's a relief to know I can plan on being home this year and my feet and back are happy as I usually end up sore after a week of standing at the shows.

Hobby Lobby sells the Tamiya stands, around $20-24. Use the 40% off coupon and you get a really nice paint stand with accessories. I also use old paint cans and wooden fixtures depending on what I am painting. And in a variation of Ace's idea, I have glued a wooden paint stick from Home Depot (thicker than regular ones) to a latex glove.

I snagged a Moebius 67 F-100 Utility bed truck for under $30, along with some jars of paint.

As much as I agree with you and know what great sellers that could yield, I also think there is a market for the Dodge trucks. The GM trucks could be done as pickups and maybe even a Suburban, with GMC and Chevy variants. The next group to tackle would be some 73-87 GM trucks and sport utilities.

I personally think there is more potential if - fill in the blank model company- were to offer the never-before-kitted series of Dodge trucks from early 60's to '72. Much like the Moebius model, just update grilles and you could have a bunch of different vehicles to offer. I think if a company was to offer the post WWII Dodge Power Wagon they would be limiting the different versions and ROI on the development costs.

I believe that project got scrapped, not sure if it was licensing issues or tooling problems.

So my math was not 100% but the fact of the matter is that Issue #230 or something close to that should be out now and it isn't. The magazine has a history of not be published on a regular schedule and now, because someone has been announced as Associate Editor, you have expectations that ALL of the problems are in the past and we should see it delivered like clockwork? For your information, Issue 204 was the last one printed before Harry died. Issue 205 was printed after he died but was nearly complete and ready for print. Issue 206 was contest coverage from the two previous years, stuff that had already been seen online and in other publications. There hasn't been any "NEW" MCM material for over three years, and Gregg has said in the past that he plans to run another Contest issue, which clearly indicates no new material. I fail to see where the excitement is over that?

There's plenty of model builders in the area, all one has to do is look at the shelves at HL and see the movement of models and supplies. Go to a local show and meet fellow modelers and they say the same thing. The reason why a hobby shop struggles is pretty evident- online competition. I have bought more models and supplies online this year than I have in person. Need some paint? Click on the computer and check a couple of sources and in less time than it took to drive to HL to see if they MIGHT have what I am looking for, I ordered it and will have it in a couple of days. New releases? I can hope that HL will have them or I can order online and have them delivered to my door without guessing. Sure, I might pay a few bucks more because I didn't use my 40% off coupon, but then again I didn't waste time and money driving to the store, risk catching the Rona and being disappointed at the kit not being there. The other hurdle facing a brick and mortar store is the costs associated with running a retail operation. If you are in a strip mall, likely have certain hours and days you have to be open. Might have to participate in a "Sale" where you discount your merchandise. Need to hire help? Try finding competent help for less than $12 per hour around here. Rent and utilities? Not cheap. Discount the kits and you still can't compete with HL or Michaels' coupons. Add in that model builders are cheap bastards and it's painfully clear.

Haven't seen two issues in 5 years and you want two issues in 5 months???????

You could argue that SA had no competition as MCM hasn't been published on a regular schedule for years. Not sure how a magazine will survive and attract new readers without any distribution in place. Hobby shops? Not sure how many are left in North Carolina where I live, none in the Charlotte area for sure. The hobby is changing, I shop for more of my models online than I do in person. Reading about the hobby is done online. Wanting to have a printed magazine to read is great, but the writing is on the wall- print media is dying. I work in sales and we stopped printing paper catalogs years ago and only print sales flyers on as needed basis. Even Harbor Freight has stopped printing their catalogs, realized the cost versus benefit was not there.

One magazine in the last 3 years does not instill confidence in one's ability to breathe life into something given up for dead. I, for one, am excited to see what a combined SA & FSM will look like. I remain hopeful that we will get a magazine that has broader appeal to more modelers.

Something to ponder.....If they decided to pack it in at SA with the support of a publishing company and staff, what makes the likelihood of MCM succeeding without it?

Nice work, looks like a work truck!

I know the Model Empire in Milwaukee (West Allis actually) sells back issues.

Monogram developed the kit originally so not surprised. And for historical purposes, Monogram has been 1:24 scale while Revell has been 1:25 scale, probably the easiest way to tell who developed a kit when it comes to those two companies.

Based on other's comments, yes, but it is by request and at a slightly higher cost than the digital version.

Yep, SA is just like every other evil company out there, screw over their subscribers and take every penny you get from them! Sarcasm turned off. While it's great to think that some evildoers at Kalmbach plotted for months on how to scam the unknowing car modeling community out of their hard earned (or fixed income) money, the reality is that they probably tried to figure out how NOT to cease publication. You see, they are in the printing business and eliminating magazines means less work, less income, and more employees on the chopping block. Sure, they want to make money, maybe have shareholders to report to, but if they truly wanted to save money they would go all digital and not be subjected to fluctuating paper prices, postage increases and the uncertainty over whether or not the mail delivered the magazines. We can all speculate on what a terrible company Kalmbach is, but I have yet to hear one person say they couldn't/wouldn't get a refund on their subscription. And they did announce plans to MERGE the magazines into one plastic model hobby magazine, and if we are patient enough to wait until this Fall, we will see what that looks like. I guess Kalmbach could have just raised the subscription cost to us modelers instead of ceasing publishing of the magazine. But as cheap as this group is, with the people complaining about the high cost of kits, I am sure that would have gone over as well as a fart in church on Sunday morning. I don't profess to know anybody within this hobby other than some passionate builders who like me see the glass as half full, but I gotta tell you some of you need to look at the big picture and realize losing a magazine is not that big of a deal. Whining online won't change what has been done and if you aren't happy with what Kalmbach has decided to do, cancel your subscription and find another model car magazine to glean your information from.

With the announcement that Round2 is bringing out the Racers Wedge kit of the 72 Chevy and somewhat similar bed as illustrated above, I wonder what that does to Dave's plans? I guess we will find out soon enough, huh? Anyone have some insider information now that Art Anderson doesn't work with Dave any more?

Rich, They still do the $15 off a $50 order, haven't seen the free shipping since they filed bankruptcy and came back. 01A15 is the code to use, check next time when you go on their website, they have have a coupon button.

In a previous post you mentioned that it was a third party that handled the subscription processing. With that in mind, what is the likelihood, based on your long prestigious career in the business world, that upper management of one company would tip their hand to a subcontractor for whom they have doing work on more than one of their publications? I work for a very large automotive company and sometimes our manufacturing plants don't tell us about production issues, discontinuation of part numbers or product lines until AFTER it was decided, leaving us to scramble to figure out how to supply our customers. If a company doesn't communicate internally, what is the expectation they would externally? You assumed that they knowingly took your money for a subscription the day BEFORE it was announced via press release and email. Many people expressed how surprised they were at the announcement and I am sure that third party company learned about it a few minutes before the release went out. Given your background and extensive hobby industry contacts, I am surprised you didn't have "insider information" on this Dave.

What's with the feigned outrage over Kalmbach's decision to stop publishing Scale Auto ? You state how mad you were that they "allowed you to renew the day before they shut the doors" but in the end you got a refund, didn't you? What about the people who paid for a lifetime subscription to MCM last year and have received one "Contest Issue" of contests from 2017-2018 and a bunch of hollow reasons why the magazine hasn't printed another issue since? And that "new magazine" that is rumored? Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.

Nice work on that truck and looks spot on with the details and weathering.

You do realize that for $90 you get 218 magazines, right? That is $.41 per copy, a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH sweet deal if you ask me. No stack of magazines taking up space, able to print off articles and images as you want, seems like a much easier way of having this "resource" at your disposal.