Bugatti Fan

Dpn, not sure if an annual mcm magazine like your magazine would be the way to go. Dave Ambrose mentioned a drop off in web advertising supporting this forum. Either advertisers are tightening up generally, or maybe they research the associated mcm circulation and frequency of publication to decide on where to advertise? W H Smith, a UK equivalent of Barnes and Noble and local newsagent shops over here carry many specialist interest magazines, so print is alive and well in that sector. I think that model making magazines being g a bit more niche than general home, garden and car magazines will continue to struggle due to the general drop in youngsters taking up the hobby and developing into adult modellers. It matters not whether modelling magazines are in print or digital in this respect, the decline of the hobby is based on this factor.

Is there not another magazine out there? Model Car Builder Magazine by Roy Sorenson and Neil Van Zile Jr? No one has mentioned it but only referred to Scale Auto as the opposition to MCM. I have been sent a copy of Model Car Builder and it looks like a good magazine to me.

A pay to use forum? Would enough people really pay for it either by subscription or donation? Gregg has already stated that the 200 life subscriptions for the magazine fell well short, so would this forum go the same way if subscriptions were introduced? A number of folks day yes I would support it, but the reality is that many simply will not. Best keep the forum free it possible. If it goes to subscription I fear the usage will start to fall off quite quickly.

There is an old saying that the person who never makes a mistake never makes anything. We all get it wrong from time to time. As an experienced modeller sometimes I have come unstuck through complacency by trying to take short cuts and it comes back to bite me! Since starting to do some scratch builds it is having to remake stuff that can get frustrating, but you just have to persevere.

This thread has gone way off track about being civil, but the threads have made interesting reading none the less. I have noticed that in this debate many differing opinions have been made, retaining a level of politeness to each other. There will always be AK47 or similar shooting incidents. After Hungerford and Dunblane here in the UK automatic weapons and handguns in private ownership were quickly banned. Unfortunately, responsible gun owners who belonged to gun clubs and enjoyed target shooting got caught up in all this and all weapons had to be handed in.

Regarding one or two suggestions in this thread, a forum is a forum and a digital magazine is a digital magazine . Trying to combine both would be messy. In a magazine I would expect well written articles, in a forum an exchange of discussion. If the forum starts to charge users, the majority will simply migrate to other free forums. The magazine needs some drastic action to get it back on track and restore confidence, and hopefully eventually drag it out of the current doldrums it finds itself in. As mentioned in an earlier post, it is down to Gregg and in his hands how he resolves the current problems.

I am taking a break from a long term scratch build (don't ask!). Having a bit of fun with the Airfix Bugatti Veyron. It's a click together kit that goes together Lego style aimed at youngsters to get them into modelling. It is devoid of a lot of detail, but the body shape looks good. Will be adding the missing interior details to this one to see what I can do with it. It is the only 1/24 th scale plastic kit of this car that I know of, and it is cheap! The way it goes together saves any masking up as I propose changing the colours. If it all goes pear shaped, not much loss!

Mike, you are quite right that ultimately the fate of the magazine is in Gregg's hands. So we will just have to see how things pan out if there are no radical changes. AFX, unfortunately social media lends itself to uncivilized trolling, which is ironic considering the amount of political correctness expected these days.

Yep! Let's charge up all those new electric cars and watch the lights to out!

Roger, my main aim by starting this thread was to ask people to be a bit more civil on an open forum without it degenerating into vitriol, rather than a discussion about the current state of the magazine. However, to be positive father than negatiive, I did additionally make a suggestion about how the magazine might move forward given its present situation as Gregg said the life subscriptions fell well short of the 200 required to keep the magazine going, and I make no excuses for suggesting that an established publisher he sought. Stating that we all know what is going on is fine, but without further proactive suggestions things will probably stay as they are unless there is a more pragmatic approach to the problems facing the magazine.

My thread about 'Is the magazine getting back on track?' had some really vitriolic posts removed and was locked as a result. Please guys, let's be civil to one anorher, and get our points across without it degenerating into a slanging match. I saw some of those posts just before they were removed. Although I can fully understand their frustrations, they need to consider that this is open forum. The CEO Editor's comment at the end was interesting in that it was stated that the life subscriptions did not come close to the number required. I think it was 200? So what now if that number was required to keep the magazine going? I admire Gregg's dogged determination, but what with the health issues and domestic responsibilities, maybe it is time that he looks for a publisher who would retain him as editor to concentrate on that alone, thus freeing him of all the other stuff like getting printing and distribution done as well as the accounts. Maybe that might be a good way forward in getting the magazine back on track and restoring both stability in the market place and regain subscribers and vendor buyers confidence.

Talking of electric cars, part of the UK national grid went down this week. How it will cope when everyone has to recharge electric cars regularly is anyone's guess?

Nice car! The retro models of older cars are cool, but I guess that VW has gone as far as it can with a retro beetle. Good to get one of the last of the line new. It will be interesting to see how much more mileage there will be with the retro Fiat 500 and the BMW Mini ranges.

Definitely Steampunk meets Cartoon Fantasy. Get pics off to Revell Monogram?

Thanks for coming back Mike, I will try and follow this up. Come to think about it, I think that I have Harry P's postal address from when he sent me a copy of his book 'Evolution of the Automobile in Scale' to review for the UK IPMS Magazine shortly before he died. If the family are still domiciled there, maybe a letter might be best, as possibly Harry's email may not be picked up by family members any more.

Harry P was working on a Pocher Bugatti T50 shortly before he died. Anybody know if he actually finished the model? I can remember seeing some of his build progress, but did not see it listed amongst Harry's collection that his daughter Amy was disposing of after her dad passed away.

Looks like it is still 'Watch This Space" as far as the magazine is concerned. Will be interested to see any new developments if any.

Is the mag getting back on track at last? Heard that the editor CEO got over from Hawaii to the last GSL in Salt Lake City promoting it. Also heard that lifetime subscriptions were on offer? Not been subscribing for a while, so would like some feedback about current activity.

You never know. It might resurrect itself!

I learnt recently that Gerald Wingrove 's wife Phyllis is alive and well and has moved back to the uk.

Nice to see your new project Mark. Remember this being a fantastic kit in its day. Look forward to seeing your magic worked on it. Next GSL winner?

Still looking for a blue bomb Renwal! Virgil Exner Bugatti to renovate and put on display at the Bugatti Trust Museum here in the UK. If anyone can help with one gathering dust somewhere please get in touch via the forum private message service. I am a retired on a limited income, so not looking for a pristine kit from Ebay. An old knocked about one with bits missing would be fine. Hope someone out there can help me with a donor model for this venture. Even just an old body on its own would be fine.Thanks.

Junkman, the craftsmanship of Tom Kirn, Roger Zimmerman and Louis Chenot is known to me, and is well up there with the skills of the professionals that I mentioned in an earlier thread. I have two articles about Tom's Packard and Duesenberg models that were in Scale Auto Enthusiast a few years back. I read about the Wingrove Kirn visit to the Auburn, Cord Duesenberg Museum and think it was mentioned in one of those articles, as your mention of it rings a bell. Roger Zimmerman's fantastic builds can be followed in the Scalemotorcars Forum. Louis Chenot's incredible 1/6th scale model can be seen on the Craftsmanship Museum website. The true to scale engine was actually test run for its only one time before being fitted to the model. I think there may be a UTube video of this being done. These three remarkable model engineers it must be remembered built the models for their own pleasure and to.meet the challenges involved. I am sure that there are many other skilled amateur craftsman artisans beavering away in their workshops making fantastic creations as we!l.

Not aware of that magazine Greg. Way back in the sixties I managed to get hold of just one or two copies of Model Car Science. American Car Modelling magazines were as rare as hen's teeth in the UK back then.

Probably not Greg, but their creations are much sought after by well heeled collectors in the know, and in demand through the top auction houses. I would urge anyone to look at models made by these masters. A quick trawl of the web will unearth pictures of many of their fantastic scratch built models.