CD Archive from no1 issue.....any plans?

[Bugatti Fan]

Kalmbach made a CD Rom available of all the Scale Auto Enthusiast magazines from issue 1.

It would be very nice if the same was available of Model Cars Magazine.

Any chance of this happening? Many of us started taking the magazine a number of years after it went into production.

[bobthehobbyguy]

It would take an enormous amount of work to create a cd of all of the issues. The readership for MCM is a lot smaller than than Scale Auto had. Plus the cost to produce the cds themselves. Just don't see it would be financially doable.

[T-Ray]

1 hour ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

It would take an enormous amount of work to create a cd of all of the issues. The readership for MCM is a lot smaller than than Scale Auto had. Plus the cost to produce the cds themselves. Just don't see it would be financially doable.

One thing that could possibly be done is to just have the archives available to browse and/or download on the website

[Straightliner59]

On 10/15/2023 at 1:31 AM, Bugatti Fan said:

Many of us started taking the magazine a number of years after it went into production.

Some of us started reading it before it was MCM! 🙂

[Bugatti Fan]

That may be Daniel, but the magazine and whatever its predecessor was before have never been sold over the counter over here in the UK. I only got to learn of MCM a few years back when I bought Cranky's book Rats, Rods n Rust when I saw the mag mentioned inside.

Scale Auto and Fine Scale Modeler were always sold over the counter here. SA has gone, as you probably know, but FSM is still available, albeit a shadow of its former self. As for SA being absorbed into FSM, it did not raise the Auto content in that magazine or help it get bigger as far as I could see.

I understand that Model Car Builder Magazine ceased production some time ago. Another one never available in the UK.

Bob and Tom,  As the magazine layouts would all have been done and stored on computer, maybe a digital archive could be created if none of the work has been deleted.

Scanning past issues would be a big effort. There might just be a retired reader out there who has every copy and the time and willingness to volunteer for such a task.

[Straightliner59]

43 minutes ago, Bugatti Fan said:

That may be Daniel, but the magazine and whatever its predecessor was before have never been sold over the counter over here in the UK. I only got to learn of MCM a few years back when I bought Cranky's book Rats, Rods n Rust when I saw the mag mentioned inside.

Scale Auto and Fine Scale Modeler were always sold over the counter here. SA has gone, as you probably know, but FSM is still available, albeit a shadow of its former self. As for SA being absorbed into FSM, it did not raise the Auto content in that magazine or help it get bigger as far as I could see.

I understand that Model Car Builder Magazine ceased production some time ago. Another one never available in the UK.

Bob and Tom,  As the magazine layouts would all have been done and stored on computer, maybe a digital archive could be created if none of the work has been deleted.

Scanning past issues would be a big effort. There might just be a retired reader out there who has every copy and the time and willingness to volunteer for such a task.

Yes, Plastic Fanatic wasn't always easy to find, here, either. MCM was generally a hobby shop only deal, except for a brief time in which it could be found at Barnes& Noble. I can imagine that neither would have been available, overseas.

Back in the 1980s, Fine Scale was always worth reading. The last few I saw (fulfillment for a Scale Auto subscription) weren't anywhere near as informative as their earlier issues. You're dead-on, about those.

Model Car Builder ceased a few years ago. That was mostly an online publication, I think. Physical copies could be ordered through the publisher's website, where digital copes could be read, via subscription. I ordered a couple of copies of the issue that had my dragster on the cover. Was that one of those things that couldn't be viewed in the UK?

It is history that should be preserved, I think.

[Mustang fan]

CD/DVD's are a thing of the past now, an online subscription would be much more appreciated by the car modelers around the globe (I am located in France, and shipping a CD from the US costs a lot).

Plus, the issues could be added month after month (instead of building a DVD with all the issues).

 

 

[iamsuperdan]

I think it would be a great idea to be able to purchase the full archives.

 

However, as mentioned above, CD/DVD has gone the way of the Dodo. I don't see it being viable to do a production run of CDs. 

If anything, having a full digital archive that we could access would be better. 

I believe this has been discussed in our editorial meetings, but it's not high on the priority list at this time.

I think at some point, it will happen.

As always, we'll keep you posted.

 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

It all boils down to what it will take to create a digital archive. Not sure what that would entail.  Plus it has to be digned to one person can't download and share with multiple friends. The monetary return has to justify the costs to implement and having someone oversee the transactions.

[tim boyd]

I recall hearing that the internal effort to create the 35 years of Scale Auto CD took at least a couple of years of effort by the Kalmbach staff.  Not working on it full time, of course, but as part of overall ongoing job responsibilities. 

It's a very cool idea, but my point and counsel is to not underestimate the amount of work such an endeavor would require.  I'm not part of MCM's internal magazine staff, but if I was, I'd agree with Dan's post above that right now there are higher priorities given the both the financial and human resources at the MCM enterprise.   TB 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Exactly.

[Bugatti Fan]

Too much time to do!        Too expensive!          Not enough personnel!        Underestimation of the scope of the job!        Probably no one keen enough to  scan and  archive all the copies!           CD's DVD's gone the way of the Dodo!

Cannot argue against the cases for all the negativity.

But you never know?    Perhaps the International Model Car Builders Museum who must have the most extensive and complete collection of MCM just might (just might) be able to interest some retiree volunteers who live in the Salt Lake City area to take on such a task and use it as a social get together or something.   But somehow, I'm not expecting a positive reaction to this suggestion either.   LOL.

Or maybe Greg as CEO who probably also has every copy of the magazine might be able to enlist some volunteer retirees in sunny Honolulu to scan the magazines and create a digital archive as a social activity.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[bobthehobbyguy]

Don't see it as being negative it is being realistic.

And to your list of what-ifs somebody who wants to see it really happen could take on the task of making it happen.

Edited October 29, 2023 by bobthehobbyguy

[iBorg]

I have a bit of expertise in this matter having completing digitizing a regional racing newspaper that was published before the transition to desktop publishing. The early issues os MCM were either created as paste-ups or Quark Express. If the complete Quark files were available, they may possibly be exported into a PDF. If the files are not complete or the magazine was created as a paste-up, the printed magazines could be scanned. Based upon the page count, each issue could be scanned in about two hours. More than likely, later issues were created in InDesign and exported to PDF to be sent to the printer. All the PDFs could be saved to a larger pdf file. My recent project went to about 5000  11 x 14 pages. Size is not an issue for this magazine. For 220 issues averaging 100 pages with some issues having more and some being down to about 64 pages, it's about 2200 pages. 

That's doable. The problem is how to prevent it from being freely distributed. The files must be large enough where people think about copying and giving to their friends or posting on-line. Anti-copy can be added to CDs, but most new computers don't have optical drives. Jump drives are fairly easy to copy but most people think about copying files onto a $10 drive versus a 50 cent CD.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Does sound doable however the big catch is the issue of copying. It's a lot of work regardless and needs to be profitable for the magazine.

[peteski]

I have been subscribing to N-Scale Magazine since its premiere issue decades ago (before widespread Internet use).

I'm pretty sure that even back then the magazine was laid out using some sort of a computer (not manually typeset).  That N-Scale Magazine made all of their back issues available on a set of CDs in a pdf format.  I imagine that Model Cars Mag. has been laid out on some sort of digital format for decades.  It should be possible to convert whatever file format was used for the magazine in the earlier times to some currently used format (like pdf).  That would sure be easier than scanning the older copies.

[iBorg]

I agree that most likely MCM unlike its predecessor, Plastic Fanatic was created using desktop publishing. Depending on the software and storage used, converting the old files to a modern PDF file format may be fairly easy to quite challenging.

Until PDF workflow became standard in the publishing industry, you needed several files for a publication. Not only did you need the layout, which was most likely created in Quark Xpress or possibly Pagemaker, as well as all the photo files as well as fonts if they are not standard system fonts. If any of those elements were absent, the file would not print. If all those files exist in an accessible format (got a Zip Drive handy?), the early issues could be reassembled if those layout files exist to create PDFs. If they're on one of a host of various odd ball removable storage devices, you need someway to open those obsolete devices. If the files were converted to PostScript, that can cause a new set of challenges. 

Finally, the magazine is over 25 years old. The odds of the original files for some of those early years still existing is slim. They were created in an era where storing 256 Gb was a challenge.

Scanning the older magazines are a viable option if the original files aren't accessible or can't be easily converted.

 

[peteski]

10 minutes ago, iBorg said:

(got a Zip Drive handy?)

Actually I do (along with a 3.5" and a 5.25" floppy drives).

Edited October 31, 2023 by peteski

[Dave Ambrose]

We have considered this idea. It has both merits and drawbacks.

There are some great articles that are still worth reading. This hobby also has an interesting history that doesn't get the appreciation is probably deserves.

Biggest drawback is the amount of work that would be required. While we have a fairly deep archive, reconstructing those early issues for digital publication would be very challenging. Finding an appropriate distribution channel or medium is also a challenge. Removable media other than SD cards are becoming less common, and hosting them online has a different set of challenges. Also, there is a lot of content in the early issues that has very limited relevance for a contemporary audience.

At this point, we're putting our energy into publishing a top quality magazine, and running this forum.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Thanks Dave. 

It's the devil in the details. Lots to consider.

At this point keep on making the magazine better with each issue.

[Bugatti Fan]

Don't know about how Dave can conclude that content in the early issues would have limited relevance to a contemporary readership.

Fact or just Dave's personal opinion?      On what basis is he making that statement?

Before I get verbally castigated, I am fully aware of the developments in kits, accessories, paints, materials and technology related to this hobby, having been at it since the 60's.

But with the amount of older kits that get continuously reissued down the years I would imagine that reviews that were done at the time would still be relevant, and newer generations of modellers wou!d find find the articles of the day interesting reading about how long established builders detailed and finished their models without all the off the shelf stuff we take for granted today to make our modelling easier.

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

A question was asked and an answer was given.

11 hours ago, Dave Ambrose said:

Biggest drawback is the amount of work that would be required. While we have a fairly deep archive, reconstructing those early issues for digital publication would be very challenging. Finding an appropriate distribution channel or medium is also a challenge. Removable media other than SD cards are becoming less common, and hosting them online has a different set of challenges. Also, there is a lot of content in the early issues that has very limited relevance for a contemporary audience

Obviously this wasn't the answer some wanted to hear. 

In the meantime Dave is working on fixing the current board issues and we also are getting close to seeing a new issue of MCM.

Again thank you for keeping this site running smoothly and your and the others efforts with giving us a great magazine and website experience.

 

 

[iamsuperdan]

It's not as simple as just scanning in some old magazines.

If we're doing it, we're going to do it right.

That means high resolution images. 

It won't be just some jpgs or a pdf file for each issue. 

You need to be able to "turn the pages" and click links to advertisers where applicable, and click on any social media links, or email addresses. Maybe clicking on images to blow them up to wallpaper size.

It's a big job.

And we like the idea. We want to do it eventually. But producing current magazines on a timely schedule, adding content, sorting out printing/post office/delivery issues, and getting the forum and website back to 100% are far more important things right now. 

Once we have all of that under control, then maybe we have a look at digitizing the archives.

 

Now I am going to take off my staff hat for a minute.

I wonder how many people would actually pay for it. Every time having digital copies available for new issues, such as on Magzter or something comes up, we inevitably get a chorus of people saying they prefer print and don't want or need a digital subscription. Every time the topic of a nominal fee for increased content on the forum comes up, we get people saying that they won't pay and aren't interested. So if we had digital archives available, would people actually pay? I know some of us would, but would there be enough interest to justify the cost and the effort?

 

[peteski]

While everybody is dismissing the Compact DIsk media in favor of the current online cloud storage, or memory-based media (like SD cards or thumb-drives), to me CD media is still the best for archival storage.  I have pressed CDs that are over 35 years old with absolutely no signs of any deterioration, and some 20+ years old "burned" CD-Rs, with no signs of deterioration.  I believe the CD media will outlast any of the Flash memory based devices, and who knows what will happens with the cloud based storage when it starts raining data. 

The N-Scale Magazine archive on CDs is distributed by the N-Scale Magazine itself (sold on their website).  I'm sure they have the CDs produced elsewhere, but they do their own distribution.  They recently announced that they will be producing the next CD in 2025 (each CD volume contains 5 years of issues). So there are sill publishers out there who provide "hard" archives of their publications.

[bobthehobbyguy]

All good points Dan. Lots of things to be considered.

Most relevant is how many would be interested in paying for it.

Added thought.

Although there may be an interest in a digital archive there are some major hurdles to be overcome for it to happen.

Edited October 31, 2023 by bobthehobbyguy
Added thought