Other model car forums

[Vintage AMT]

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It would be nice if they just allowed me to see whats there....

[stitchdup]

11 minutes ago, Vintage AMT said:

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It would be nice if they just allowed me to see whats there....

sadly we had to lock it up due to spammers but all you need is an email address.

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, ColonelKrypton said:

Steve,

I will have another look at Facebook. I know I am missing a lot by not looking there but I am not so sure the benefits out weigh the ills of Facebook.

cheers, Graham

You just have to understand what you're entering into.

 

I see a lot of very nicely finished models, have met a lot of "new friends" and have even picked up couple of new techniques that I had never even heard of on any of the forums, so there are definitely advantages to belonging to Facebook groups.

There is constant activity, and new stuff to see all day long, every day.

I like to think of it as a collection of quite active forums.

 

The down side is that they are social media groups, so as is the case on any social media, you're going to get a few hacks and trolls perusing the groups.

Although, I do have to say, I have personally seen very little of that in my daily visitations there.

In most cases, whenever I post on the groups, I receive virtually nothing but positive feedback.

However, having over did it, and joining way too many groups to start off with, (I just checked, and I belong to 49 model car groups!  ) it's impossible to keep up with what's going on with all of them consistently. 

But it is fun to check out as much of the stuff as I have time for, (which is very often limited)

Many of the groups have daily "themes" where they ask you to post photos of various aspects of model cars, which can be a fun diversion as well.

 

Probably the largest down side, as others have mentioned, is the difficulty of returning later to find specific content such a the forums provide.

The overall setup is of course much more fluid, so that aspect of the groups is of course more difficult, but it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of them too much.

 

At this point, I don't consider Facebook groups as a substitute for the forums, but I don't really see them as an adversary either.

Just like any tool in your shop, it's better to have them all around in case needed, rather than throwing out your 7mm open end/box end wrench because you don't use it much.

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

I disagree. I'm a regular member of another of another forum board and believe it not, it's going strong. Very active and engaging unlike "that other forum" called finescale.

I'm sure that there are some forums that are thriving, or at least holding their own, but they're certainly not as prolific as they had been in the past.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

FB is a waste of time.

As can be seen by posts such as this, there are plenty of parallels between the modeling forums and Facebook.

Negativity can be found no matter where you choose to spend your time.

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

One more advantage that I might note about the Facebook groups is that due to the vast number of active members on some of the groups, (many of them in the tens of thousands) responses to any questions that you might have can very often be immediate.

I can ask a question and often have a couple of dozen responses within a few minutes.

With some of the lower activity forums, you might wait a week before getting one response.

Granted, not all of the answers will be useful, but as is the case everywhere, you have to wade through them and separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

Even here, it can sometimes be difficult to get feedback in a meaningful period of time.

I noticed an individual had posted a question here yesterday at around 7:00 AM in the "tips and tricks" section, and although he has had about 150 views, he has yet to receive any answer at all to his question.

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited August 30, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[Brian Austin]

Heck, I've seen negativity in club meetings.

 

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

35 minutes ago, Brian Austin said:

Heck, I've seen negativity in club meetings.

 

 

Absolutely.

Antagonism is by no means exclusive to Facebook, which seems to be the most common grievance with it.

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

[RSchnell]

I'm on Facebook some. My biggest gripe is the people who post the same build in 10 different groups, then that's all you see in your feed is 10 posts by the same person to different groups. 

Makes you wonder how they have time to build when all they do is post 500x/day. The same could be said for forums!

 

[iamsuperdan]

6 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

Well.... we do have Freedom of press and Freedom of speech to list them. The mods can't stop us otherwise, it's a violation of Freedom of press and speech. 

Other forums list them if a member is curious and wanted to know.

 

Not to burst your bubble, but if we wanted to eliminate threads about other boards and prevent discussion, we could, and there's nothing anyone could do about it. 

The fact is though, discussion of other sites doesn't bother us. We know what we have here, and we like. Others like it too. And like a lot of other people here, us mods are members of other forums too. And if people want to leave and try other places, that's totally fine. Just like they do here. People show up, check it out, and many leave. That is one thing everyone does have the freedom to do.

 

Anyway...

 

I've definitely noticed that the demographics here versus social media are much different. The younger generations typically don't seem to be into the forums. It's all YouTube and IG and Reddit. The Reddit model forums are quite active, and have a very different type of build compared to here. A lot more Euro and Japanese subject matter, not as much in the way of hot rods or muscle cars. It's still there, but not as prevalent. It's kind of the opposite of this forum. 

 

[stinkybritches]

I recommend Facebook groups to people all the time. There are very knowledgeable people in these groups and there is likely to be multiple groups for every hobby you can think of. Heck, some manufacturers use Facebook groups for product support. I completely understand not wanting to be on Facebook, but the groups and marketplace almost feel separate from Facebook.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, RSchnell said:

I'm on Facebook some. My biggest gripe is the people who post the same build in 10 different groups, then that's all you see in your feed is 10 posts by the same person to different groups. 

Makes you wonder how they have time to build when all they do is post 500x/day. The same could be said for forums!

 

Not everybody belongs to the same groups.

What's posted on one group may not be seen by people on others.

There are probably hundreds of model groups on Facebook.

 

As with every forum, it's easy just to scroll past if something is not to your liking.

I disregard posts there, as well as here, all of the time.

 

Personally, I never pay attention to anything that pops up on my feed anyway.

It's generally nothing but a bunch of junk.

 

 

 

Steve

[Bucky]

I created a Proboards forum more than ten years ago.  It was mainly for scale automotive builders. Participation ebbed and flowed, about like the Gulf of Mexico. It went down to just about nothing at one point, but there were still some hardcore forum members that kept it running. Another Proboards forum I was a member of folded, and I invited the members to check out my forum. Myself and another admin revamped the forum, and things got better. Several of the members don't use anything but forums, so they are logged in most of the time. We do have a good number of members that just check in to see what is going on, never saying anything. Hopefully, they are building in the background. I check out Facebook and post comments, but I don't post any of my builds there. I don't see anything wrong with participating on multiple sites, either. You might just see and learn something that hasn't been seen anywhere else.

[Classicgas]

Keith, pm me a link.

[peteski]

On 8/30/2023 at 12:28 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

However, having over did it, and joining way too many groups to start off with, (I just checked, and I belong to 49 model car groups!  ) it's impossible to keep up with what's going on with all of them consistently. 

But it is fun to check out as much of the stuff as I have time for, (which is very often limited)

Yeah, with all the FB groups you belong to, then here and possibly other online forums, even just skimming the contents, how the heck you still find time to build all those beautiful models?  You must be retired or independently wealthy! 

[JollySipper]

You mean...... There's other forums? 

Just kidding..... Really though, as good as this forum is, there's really no reason to be anywhere else. Instagram has a Bunch of modellers there, noone has mentioned it.....

[Classicgas]

Not knocking this forum but there's a lot to be said about being on other forums. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

Yeah, with all the FB groups you belong to, then here and possibly other online forums, even just skimming the contents, how the heck you still find time to build all those beautiful models?  You must be retired or independently wealthy! 

Basically, most of my forum and groups time consists of either down time in between things that I’m doing, or during bench breaks.  
To be honest, many of the groups that I belong to are subject dedicated groups that I don’t visit a lot when I’m immersed in a project that doesn’t apply.

For instance, as I’m currently working on an AMT Pontiac, I’m not spending a lot of time on any of the MPC, Johan, Mopar, etc, groups, so that cuts down considerably on the number that I frequent.

 

 

 

Steve

[iamsuperdan]

16 hours ago, JollySipper said:

You mean...... There's other forums? 

Just kidding..... Really though, as good as this forum is, there's really no reason to be anywhere else. Instagram has a Bunch of modellers there, noone has mentioned it.....

I have an IG account I use strictly for models. That's just about the only social media I participate in.

 

 

I visit other forums, but I wouldn't call myself an active participant, or even a regular visitor. I don't spend a ton of time online. So many other things I'd rather be doing...in real life.

 

[atomicholiday]

I belong to only one other forum,  and it's focus is much less about cars and more about military models.   I was drawn to it because of my interest in model airplanes specifically.    But I haven't been active there in years.   Nothing against it.  It's just that my focus is on cars currently. 

I do think it's great that there are so many outlets for the hobby now.   Especially since many have different areas they focus on.   You can learn a lot from people who have different interests than your own.   

I'd love to be active on some of the Facebook pages, but I tend to stay away for two reasons.  First,  it's easy to lose track of time when you start down that rabbit hole.   I have a hard enough time keeping my attention on projects without more distractions.  Second, I don't like the idea that everybody knows what you're doing on Facebook.   If I make a post here,  the only people who know about it are other kit builders.   

Edited September 1, 2023 by atomicholiday

[av405]

2 hours ago, atomicholiday said:

Second, I don't like the idea that everybody knows what you're doing on Facebook.   If I make a post here,  the only people who know about it are other kit builders.   

That's the reason I only participate in private groups on Facebook. It's not that I'm trying to hide my hobby, but why does somebody I went to college with 10 years ago need to know that I'm asking a question about Tamiya paint compatibility on a model car group?

Edited September 1, 2023 by av405

[Richard Bartrop]

A model car forum with an emphasis on vintage subjects.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/automotion/

[Classicgas]

Thanks.

[atomicholiday]

3 hours ago, av405 said:

That's the reason I only participate in private groups on Facebook. It's not that I'm trying to hide my hobby, but why does somebody I went to college with 10 years ago need to know that I'm asking a question about Tamiya paint compatibility on a model car group?

Exactly!👍

That, and to be honest I’m just not into facebook.  I don’t care what so and so had for dinner tonight, or what drama is happening with this person or that.  I figure if we’re real friends, I’ll just talk to them. 
 

That being said, there are a couple of groups I’m curious about.

[Bucky]

On 8/31/2023 at 6:46 AM, Classicgas said:

Keith, pm me a link.

I sent you the link, Lee. Thanks for your interest.