Issue 137 complaint

[ViperDave]

When I read through the magazine the first time I didn't read that article "Yet". I read over the rest of the magazine but I will go back and read all of it from cover to cover. I know there are things that will be helpful and useful to improve my modeling skils.

No complaints here.

Dave

[MikeMc]

Just got back from the LHS and they FINALLY got the issue in question, so in fairness, I decided to give er a scan. Honestly, NOTHING in it interested me at all. Least of which seven pages of sometihing I'm NEVER gonna do. Sorry but this issue was not worth the money, so I put it back and grabbed a Scale Auto (which as usual) was worse and put that back to. Left with no magazine (which to me is better than wasting money . Better hopes for next months issue (should be tha January issue by March right??

I'm tired of being PC .

Hey led, I've subscribed to both mags and I have yet to read your byline and if I missed it I'm sorry up front. BUT either put up or SHUT UP!!

I do not know what was so bad about 137......unless it was the letdown after Bills hinges made for some fine readin!

So not to rip you , why not submit your stuff and make it better?????

Edited February 8, 2009 by MikeMc

[Merkur XR4Ti]

I got my issue yesterday, and LOVED the column in question. Weathering techniques, scratchbuilding, how to add clutter, and masterful craftsmanship....I thought it was just great.

[Harry P.]

As far as submitting my stuff, I have and DO, Its just that the GLORYHOGS and IMPORTANT PEOPLE take precidence and there is no way I'm gonna kiss anyones butt just to get an article in a magazine.

Actually that's not true.

As you know, I recently posted a "Model Cars Magazine Wants YOU!" notice, asking for people who want to submit a feature to the magazine to please do so.

Gregg and I are working to feature as many "unknown" modelers as we can, and we want to feature a wide variety of different things.

Since I made my request here on the forum, I've had a LOT of responses, and the fact is, I've gotten some REALLY good stuff... so good, in fact, that everything I've gotten so far has either already run in the magazine or will appear in a future issue.

For example, in the October issue we had a feature on creating weathered and rusty looking paint finishes, in the November issue we had a step-by-step tutorial on how to open and hinge doors, and in the December issue we had a feature (and a cover shot!) on a late 70s Volare/Road Runner. ALL of those features appeared in the magazine because the people who supplied them answered the request I posted right here on this site! All of them are "regular guys", not "gloryhogs" or "important people"... they're all members here just like the rest of us.

And there's a LOT more coming... I have quite a few more features from other members here already lined up and waiting their turn in upcoming magazines! And the submissions keep coming in... thanks guys!

We want MCM to be the model car magazine that features the work of everyone... big names in the hobby AND "regular joes" from our own online family.

[MikeMc]

Posts like this just keep proving my point (from a recent Rant) that there are more and more self-righteous arrogant jerks around here. which is why most of the GOOD modellers and people Worth hanging with have left.

I dont shred you for your opinions DONT YOU DARE shred me for mine and then try to make it okay by trying to appologize in the very next sentence. If you didn't mean it, you could have just as simply NOT posted it.

All I was saying in my post that you replied to, is that I DID take a look at the issue and chose NOT to buy it because it had nothing of interest to me (which is my parsonal taste and no particular business of yours). As far as submitting my stuff, I have and DO, Its just that the GLORYHOGS and IMPORTANT PEOPLE take precidence and there is no way I'm gonna kiss anyones butt just to get an article in a magazine. And I wont buy an issue just because it is the best magazine as a whole, if the issue isn't to my taste then to me its not worth the money. And if an issue claims to be a certain month then it better show up SOMETIME within the 30 - 31 days of that month NOT 1.5 - 2months LATE .

So now why dont you go try and insult and intimidate someone else, cause that 2-bit highschool garbage dont work on me

MY MY MY!!!now go back and READ the post.....you didn't like either mag what are you doing to make either better???

led I've seen your work so what is your anger about??This is fun ..........calm down the fumes musta got to you...cause if I wanted to insult and intimidate you

I would have....and I'm certainly not important or a gloryhog.....

[Harry P.]

Why not go through tips and tricks and contact the submitters that way, rather than have the poster have to put it up twice? Just my thought on it but isnt that the idea behind tips and tricks, yeah we help each other here, but also it in iitself is an untapped goldmine for the mag, why not just monitor it and when good ideas show up, use em with the posters knowledge (or however the legal mumbo jumbo works).

The problem is the quality of the photos.

Photos posted on the web are at low resolution (72 dpi), but for print I need high-resolution images (300 dpi and much bigger file size). So even if I see a good tutorial here online, it would have to be re-shot anyway, so that the photos would be good enough for print reproduction. I mention that in my request... so if anyone wants to submit something, they'll know up front that I need high-res photos, not photos from the web site.

[Harry P.]

Okay, in theory it makes sense, but in reality it kinda confuses me . If pics from this site arent the right resolution, then how does putting the tutorial in the other thread help??? Or is it just to let you know and then email the pics ????

Basically, I guess what I'm asking is How do you get the pics at the right resolution if theyre sent accross the web either way???

BTW Harry my comments are not a knock agianst MCM (cept maybe a little prodding toward more punctuality ) but rather toward the attitudes of those who's sole purpose in the hobby is to be one of the "Big Shot" published guys. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see some of my work in print (wouldn't anyone), but I build for me first, friends next, anyone else likes 'em then fine. It just gets discouraging and a little insulting when certain people hold it over other's heads that they've been published so therefore they must be better and their tastes are "right".

And the only reason I didn't purchase the new issue the other day is that i felt it wouldn't benefit me to spend the money and gain no knowledge that I would use anytime soon, no offense, just wasn't my style this time. Next month maybe.

They don't put their tutorial in my thread. The submissions I get aren't given to me through this site... the contributors send me their material directly via email (photos and write-up). I get their material sent to me directly, the website has nothing to do with it... other than me asking for submissions here. I can't use any material that's been posted here, it has to be shot specifically for print. I may see a good tutorial here, and if I want to use it for the magazine it has to be re-shot in higher quality for print reproduction.

[Harry P.]

Almost all digital cameras have a "high quality" setting. That's what you would need to shoot at... whatever the highest quality setting your camera has.

Some contributors send me a "test shot" first if they're not sure... I'll take a look and let them know if it's good enough for print.

[Gregg]

Dang, wish I'd had a chance to at least look at it before we sold out of that issue, sounds like a neat article!

If your hobby shop sells out all the time, have them call the office and up their issues sent each month.

Preferably, we would like to see them returning 1-3 copies per month, that way we know they aren't selling out and missing potential customers.

My one cent

[Billy Kingsley]

Actually Harry the photos posted on the board do NOT need to be re-shot. All the person would need to do is send you the original, full size file, (What comes out of the camera) not the compressed version that gets posted. I know, I had my model in a half page Galaxie Limited ad that was taken at the exact same time as the photos I posted on the board....and in fact I sent them all to Jairus first and asked him which one he did not want me to post at that time...

EDIT: They would need to be reshot however if they are not "clean" photos- plastic trimmings, tools, standard bench clutter, other things in the background that are not related to the topic of the picture= bad picture. You don't want to distract the reader from what you are trying to show them

But I sent Jairus the original file, whereas the photos I posted were compressed by Fotki.

If I could get out of this accursed slump I'd be contributing right now myself. I just got a new 10.1 MP camera too so the photos I took the past three years at MASSCAR are going to be blown away by this year's....and I will be contributing that!

Edited February 9, 2009 by Billy Kingsley

[Harry P.]

Actually Harry the photos posted on the board do NOT need to be re-shot. All the person would need to do is send you the original, full size file, (What comes out of the camera) not the compressed version that gets posted. I know, I had my model in a half page Galaxie Limited ad that was taken at the exact same time as the photos I posted on the board....and in fact I sent them all to Jairus first and asked him which one he did not want me to post at that time...

EDIT: They would need to be reshot however if they are not "clean" photos- plastic trimmings, tools, standard bench clutter, other things in the background that are not related to the topic of the picture= bad picture. You don't want to distract the reader from what you are trying to show them

But I sent Jairus the original file, whereas the photos I posted were compressed by Fotki.

If I could get out of this accursed slump I'd be contributing right now myself. I just got a new 10.1 MP camera too so the photos I took the past three years at MASSCAR are going to be blown away by this year's....and I will be contributing that!

If the originals are hi quality shots, then yeah, I could use them. But most people don't shoot at the highest quality setting when they're just going to post photos online... there's no need to. In that case I need higher quality shots. And like you said, I need "clean" shots... no workbench clutter or pet cats in the background, no shooting on top of the clothes dryer or on patterned bedsheets, etc. Most people who post photos online aren't really thinking about the quality of the photos... some are, of course, but your basic casual "hey look what I did" type photos don't cut it for print reproduction. I don't want to spend my time removing messy backgrounds from photos!

[Gregg]

I have had quite a few articles on shooting with digital cameras.

I think I posted some of them here.

If not, I will make a pinged thread and post the pdf's there.

There are some things that have to be set and checked on the camera to get the best shots possible.

It doesn't have to be a ten gazillion mega pixel camera.

Darryl and John O use my favorite camera, a 5 mega pixel Olympus CZ5050, one of the best cameras made before the "new" revolution.

My one cent again, so that makes it my two cents total.

.......

[Harry P.]

Yeah, like Gregg said!

You don't need to be a professional photographer or have a big fancy camera. Almost ALL digital cameras today can shoot photos (at their best quality setting) that will work for print. I have an 8 megapixel Sony Cybershot that I bought a few years ago for $179... something along those lines is all you need, nothing fancier. I'm pretty sure most of you have a camera as good as, or even better, than that one. And since I bought that camera, prices have come down further... you get more megapixels for less money today than ever before!

[Gregg]

And the ability to shoot at aperture priority, at the highest setting.

I'll get those articles up today.

[MikeMc]

And the ability to shoot at aperture priority, at the highest setting.

I'll get those articles up today.

OR WIDE OPEN...that will blur fore and backgrounds!

DEPTH OF FIELD AND DEPTH OF FOCUS.....They really are different!!!

[Merkur XR4Ti]

And the ability to shoot at aperture priority, at the highest setting.

I'll get those articles up today.

Thanks Gregg, that's a big help. I've thought about sending in some stuff to you but my camera knowledge is woeful.