Dave Ambrose

One bit of clarification -- The forum address will not be changing.

Looks like this problem may have its origin in the Forum software. I'll be checking into that aspect.

Due to some support changes, we are migrating the MCM forum and website to a new and improved server. I don't have an exact date and time yet, but I'll publish that info as soon as I get it. We're going to see disruptions in our email, and forum services while we cut over the services to the new server. We'll do our best to keep those disruptions to a minimum. I will need to take the forums offline for parts of the moving in process. When I can, I'll announce those in advance, and will keep the duration to a minimum. Please reply here if you have any questions, complaints, or observations.

It's been three years since my last message. A lot has happened in the interim, and a recap is definitely in order. First off, thank you all for sticking with us through our browser compatibility problems. Like many software problems, the work to find the problem dwarfed the work to actually fix it. We should be good for the foreseeable future. We survived COVID. The pandemic had a major impact on both the board and the hobby. Our hobby lost some luminaries. It also gained a lot of new practitioners. They discovered that it's still fun, and can be as simple or as challenging as you care to make it. Many of them landed here. Thank you all for helping them out. Having something rewarding, and social connections were key for many to weather the physical isolation. Thank you all who came up and introduced yourselves at GSL. It was by far the best part of my first (and last) GSL. The rest of the show was also amazing, and not only did I see some truly great builds, I made some new friends. Although there won't be any more GSLs, there's no reason other shows can't incorporate some of the elements that made GSL such a stand-out. We'll be discussing those topics in the future. Model builders have been getting back together in person for a while now. If you haven't been to a model car show, I recommend you go to one, and bring some builds. Talking to other builders, especially in person, supercharges your enjoyment. There is a lot to know in this hobby, and sharing knowledge is a key element of the fun. We have an outstanding community here. Our goal is to be welcoming, have fun building model cars, and exchange useful information. We've also shown we can be very supportive when people hit rough patches. For all this, I'm very grateful. It matters. Thank you all for contributing here. We've had some amazing builds, great conversations, and it's just been fun to share. We have been running our Forum Finds in the printed magazine for a while now, and it's proven to be very popular. Those of you who keep an eye on the Model Cars Magazine masthead will notice that I've taken on the role of managing editor for the magazine. Rest assured that this forum and our web presence are still very much part of my responsibilities. I've also retired from my day job and now have more time to devote to improvements. We ran a survey a while back. Thank you to all who responded. It paints an interesting picture. As many expected, the practitioners here are older. But fully 40% of our members are under 50. We do like our hotrods. Most of us build them at least occasionally. Other popular categories were Factory Stock, Box Stock, and Racecars. Unsurprisingly most of us build in 1/20-1/25 scales, plus some in 1/16. But there are also a significant number of modelers in the 1/32 and smaller scales. This is a challenging hobby, and we have questions. They're mostly about painting and detailing, but a lot of people want to learn more about design and build planning. Those topics will be making their way into the magazine and web site. Aircraft seem to be our popular "other" subject. Guess it needs to go fast to keep us interested. We also got a lot of constructive comments. Thank you all. It's nice to know we're on a good path here. It's a journey, and we document it with our builds. I sometimes spend a bit of time looking at the models in my display case. I'll reminisce about certain aspects of the builds, but mostly they remind me of how much fun I had. Though, I'll confess, it sometimes might not have sounded that way to nearby observers during construction. Let's just say that some builds were more educational than others. On a less happy note, we've been having trouble with spammers signing up, then posting nonsense everywhere. The automatic initial moderation seems to be keeping them at bay. I apologize for the inconvenience to our new members, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to ward off these attacks. Please report any spam when you see it. The forum has automatic moderation steps that kick in when posts get multiple reports. We're also seeing some fraud attempts in the trading area. They take the form of "I don't have the item, but my dear friend xxx@yyy.zzz does." Please report these when you get them. We'll ban them ourselves, then go back to their mail providers and get their accounts shut down. Our regulatory environment is changing. We'll be modifying our terms of service to comply with current regulations, and you'll need to explicitly accept them. It's primarily related to improving data privacy, and I don't think anyone will object. We don't sell your data now, and will not in the future. I would be completely remiss if I didn't give a hearty shout out to Mike (Xingu), Dan (iamsuperdan), and Mike (BadLuck13) who do all the day-to-day moderation, thus keeping the forums running smoothly. They make a lot of things possible, and I am grateful for their help on a daily basis. They are the reason that problems stay small here. We have good plans for the future. We are moving to a new server within the next few days. It will allow us better performance, resiliency, and most importantly, more storage. We consume somewhat more than 1/2 a terabyte for content. It's mostly photos, but we also have nearly 2 million posts going back to 2008. Lastly, thank you all for making this such a good forum. Model car building isn't as widespread as it used to be, and finding fellow modelers is very difficult for some. This is a challenging hobby and having fellow builders available is a must. We're privileged to provide that platform. Let's go build something cool. -- Dave Ambrose

Issue 224 was just mailed. If the post office does its typical thing, it should start landing in mailboxes the second week of June.

Thanks, I'll take a look at it.

This is getting to be a popular sport. The server's self protection software spotted it and blocked the source.

My first model car was an AMT 1962 Thunderbird Convertible. The kind with the metal axles front and rear, and those strange chassis screws. 7 year-old me thought that was wonderful. That was also the point where my grandfather taught me it was okay to modify tools to fit your needs. There was no paint involved, but it was clearly a life altering experience.

At our age, falling is a big deal. Glad you got looked at. Speaking from experience, rib injuries do not heal well on their own. I'm sorry you're in such discomfort. I hope you heal well, and quickly.

I very nice eulogy. My condolences to his family.

We were getting strangely formatted requests from some sketchy source. I've blocked them, but daresay they'll reappear from some other place. PM me if it starts happening again.

Please PM me your old member ID. We can join it with your current one.

We're working on it. At the moment, it looks like we'll be adding a page to the website with the direct links.

Yes, that includes you.

I'm seeing that too. I'll investigate.

Claes, I'll be sending out the international replacement issues this coming week.

I'll preface this by saying that our local postal service people are great. They know their stuff, do a good job, and are very much part of our community That said, I see the underbelly of bulk mail malfunction. It's bad, and there's nothing I can do about it.

From Larry Greenberg: As you may know, we recently lost one of our own. Mike Siegman was a longtime modeler, collector, car enthusiast, and was the creative energy behind former aftermarket company S&S Specialties. Mike wrote articles for the former Scale Auto Enthusiast and later, for MODEL CARS Magazine. I was honored to call Mike friend, and shared the MCM presence with him at the 2023 NNL East. He will be missed by so many of his fellow modelers, myself included. For all those who knew Mike and would like to pay their respects, information on the memorial service is listed below. A Celebration of Life for Mike Siegman will be held at Hill Funeral Home at 220 S. State Street, Westerville, Ohio 43081 on May 11, 2024, at 10:00 am -12:00 pm. Internment at cemetery by invitation. Reception at the family home from 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm where all will be welcome. Link will be posted at a later time for those unable to attend to watch a live stream

I may well be in on this one as well. I'm currently building ICM's Model T Speedster kit. It's a very nice kit. The only thing I don't like about it is that the plastic is a little too soft and pliable.

We saw the eclipse! Our plan A site was going to be clouded out, so we relocated to Llano, TX. We had some disturbingly thick clouds. It wasn't looking promising until about 15 minutes prior to totality when a big hole showed up. We got to see all of totality, albeit through some high, thin clouds. Lots of prominences for this one. The city was well prepared for the influx of people, and we got to support some local organizations. Here is one of my better shots:

I rebooted again, but it still seems to be misbehaving. Unfortunately, I won't get back home until later this week but will dig into it when I get home.

Rebooted the server, and that seems to have resolved the problem.

It's behaving strangely for me too. I'll take a look at it.

My Christmas present finally came. It's an ornithopter from the new Dune movie. Nice detail and pretty simple too. Built the Harkonen version and will tackle this one soon.

I agree this is very sad. I've crossed under a lot of bridges on a sailboat, and they always seem so spindly from underneath. I'd find myself a little anxious until we cleared the bridge.