Comparing Hobby Forums

LOL the R/C car forums are a bit like that too. Particular brands are looked upon with derision and there are things that you're supposed to know without asking - but how do you know if you don't ask?

It's the same with the armor forums,not all are created equal.

FSM by far is  the most friendliest,we used to have a lot more traffic,but  they changed formats,and did away with with the General Topics Forum which allowed us to  share our other interests.But it is still very friendly and informative here,much can be learned as everybody is willing to chip in.

I also enjoy Amorama.A little stiffer then here,but still informative,with guys willing to help.

Modelersalliance also very good

Migproductions was very stiff and cliquish,many topics and replies go unanswered,except for a few guys and attentive moderators like Rick Lawler,I actually don't even participate there anymore.

Missing lynx I enjoy

Jenny's Tanks and Things.  Pretty dead

Sounds like Hyperscale's aircraft group...that kind of environment gets old real quick.

Greetings,

I recently included this observation as an aside in another post in an Aircraft thread:

"One thing I really appreciate about this forum is the friendly tone and civility of the discourse. Most comments are positive, and the occasional criticism is truly delivered as a respectful, helpful suggestion. I got back into model railroading for a couple of years and participated in an N scale forum, but finally couldn't stand it anymore. Nothing but sniping and criticizing. The most innocuous comment would set off a hateful argument that went on for days and weeks. What a bunch of crabby old men -- not that there's anything wrong with crabby old men.  I checked back not too long ago and discovered that the company hosting the forum had dropped it. I think they just got tired of using up time and resources moderating the kiddie pool.

"Anyway, things are much nicer here, and I'm glad to be a part of it."

Nathan T

Sounds like Hyperscale's aircraft group...that kind of environment gets old real quick.

You know, I'm a member there too and I haven't really noticed that over there.  Maybe I don't post or visit enough though to see it or maybe I'm just not very observant.  I'm going to try to be more aware of that sort of "friction" at HS.  I do know there are some amazing model builders hanging out there too.  On rare occasions, I've posted pics of my planes at HyperScale and received nothing but positive feedback, much like I find here.   However, the forum format there at HS is not as comfortable to me as ours is here.  Perhaps there are positive aspects to both, but I like this one better.  Just my humble opinion...

Gary

With the plastic aircraft forums the big rivalry is to the proper scale.  The 1:72 vs 1:48 guys go at it at times!

If, like myself, you are into Military Miniatures (i.e. Model Soldiers), Planetfigure.com is a fantastic site, with a friendly membership and atmosphere.

I've joined several forums over the last few years. FSM, WW2 AIRCRAFT.NET, SWANNY'S, AND PAPERSCALE MODELERS. All have been good sites with very helpful members. At WW2 Aircraft. net they have a section for model builders and many other sections where you can get a lot of information. There are even a few people building 1 to 1 scale cockpits down to the last detail. I only lurk on some the other forums mentioned in the above posts only to see what others are doing with their models. Some are informative while others are quite boring. I never visit the RC forums since I don't do much in that area. I have a Harborfreight RC plane that I rarely fly since I am not thrilled with the Yellow bee plane. I thought it would be a good way to learn RC flying and found that I really need "real" controls such as a rudder and elevators. If I get another RC it will have that plus ailerons.

Texgunner

Nathan T

Sounds like Hyperscale's aircraft group...that kind of environment gets old real quick.

You know, I'm a member there too and I haven't really noticed that over there.  Maybe I don't post or visit enough though to see it or maybe I'm just not very observant.  I'm going to try to be more aware of that sort of "friction" at HS.  I do know there are some amazing model builders hanging out there too.  On rare occasions, I've posted pics of my planes at HyperScale and received nothing but positive feedback, much like I find here.   However, the forum format there at HS is not as comfortable to me as ours is here.  Perhaps there are positive aspects to both, but I like this one better.  Just my humble opinion...

Gary

Gary, I think it depends upon the topic being disscussed over there, but some topics seem to bring out stupid remarks, uncalled for crazy rants. Still, lots of nice, great modelers over there as well, but i'm definitely giving FSM a better edge in friendliness than Hyperscale.

professordeath

Don Stauffer

With the plastic aircraft forums the big rivalry is to the proper scale.  The 1:72 vs 1:48 guys go at it at times!

Of all the arguments I've seen on this and other modeling forums I've never seen one over "proper" scale. Lol

What "proper scale" means is the friendly rivalry over which is the "better" scale in which to model, with the 1/72-1/144 fans being called "Jewelers" by the 1/48 fans (AKA "Blacksmiths" to the "Jewelers")...   "!/72 allows far more aircraft types to be built and displayed in the same space"-"Well, 1/48 is better for dioramas and super-detailing"...

That kind of stuff... 

And there ARE some "Grumpy Old Men" aroud here.. I'm one of 'em..

But it's only an act... Sorta.. Eh, Manny?

yeah, only an act

that is a good story, Hans,,,,,,,I think I'd stick with that one,,,,,,,haha

I am a grumpy old man,,,,,at least the Sarge calls me that when I don't agree with her every word

I enjoy the back and forth,,,,,,I will say, it is more fun in person at a show,,,,rip on the guys that "can't see a drop tank in 1/72", pick on the Air Force builders, call Panther tanks targets, etc,,,,,,there are more "differences" in this hobby than there are people, actually,,,,,oh, yeah, that reminds, "talk for the 30th year" about the death of the hobby

the cool part is that no matter what we like doing, the rest of us all get it,,,,,,if you like OOB plastic painted with enamels, and he likes highly modified resin kits, painted with acrylics,,,,,,you both still like building little versions of aircraft, tanks, cars, ships, etc

if you don't believe we have more in common than we have differences,,,,,,,,,try explaining a 3 inch long, highly detailed Panzer IV model to someone that "just doesn't get it",,,,,,,you'll be begging to bring your tank models to a ship club meeting, lol,,,,,,,,,,at least they will know the difference between glue and cement

any forum can be what you put into it,,,,,if you are active on it, it has at least that tiny amount of "your flavor" to it,,,,,,,if you only lurk, and never post,,,,,it can never reflect any "you" to anyone

I've pretty much observed many of the same things.  I'm a member of the Aircraft Resource Center forum.  That one's pretty good but I still maintain that the FSM forum is the friendliest one I've ever experienced.  The FSM members just seem to be a whole lot more supportive, encouraging, good-natured, etc.

I lurk over at HyperScale and that one seems to be the most confrontational of the four forums I either visit or participate in.  I guess you could call it the equivalent of the RC forums.  And I know what you mean about the RC forum as well.  I used to be a member of that forum, too, but you couldn't ask a simple question without getting shot down, ridiculed, sniped at, made to feel like a 3 year old because you weren't operating a $2,000 model with a 64 channel transmitter.

AT6, I know exactly which Harbor Freight RC plane you're talking about!  LOL!  My wife's cousin's husband wanted to get into RC planes and he kept "investing" in Harbor Freight RC planes.  That "Bee" one was his last one.  From the first day that he tried it, it flew into a chain link fence and it never flew right after that.  He got so angry and frustrated with it that he taped a C-sized rocket motor to it to improvise his own personal RATO unit.  It ended up slamming into the curb since it never really made it more than an inch off the ground (he worked the RC controls while I hit the rocket ignition switch).  

That still wasn't good enough for him.  He packed up the chunks, took it back home, dropped it all on his back yard and proceeded to run it over with his riding lawnmower.  He gave me a Ziploc baggie filled with some of the rubble as a reminder of the adventure.

Eric

Phil_H

LOL the R/C car forums are a bit like that too. Particular brands are looked upon with derision and there are things that you're supposed to know without asking - but how do you know if you don't ask?

Many scale forums are like this as well. Try asking about buying old kit "A" and wanting to bring it up to date with umpteen dollars worth of hard to find aftermarket items. More often than not you'll be directed to toss that kit, spend less money on new-tooled kit "A" and have a more enjoyable, accurate build.

Now the answer is different if you've got old kit "A" already in the stash or it was a gift, grabbed at a yard sale for a buck, just returning to the hobby and you want to build a starter kit, etc.

Buying kits because of brand name alone is not recommended. Every manufacturer (except maybe Tasca) have dogs in the pound that aren't worth the price of the glue and paint.

One of the main reasons that this is a friendly and cilvil forum is that is constantly under review by a good group of moderators at FSM.  If someone gets out of line, they will warn him politely, and if the misbehavior continues, the offender will be banned from making any more posts.  The moderators are modelers like us, and understand the subjects.  They won't tolerate flaming or personal attacks.  And at the bottom of each post is a "report abuse" button so anyone can notify the moderators immediately of an offensive post.

Most of all, I believe the members here are basically a good group of people who want to be civil and helpful at all times.

I've seen a few model forums like that. And others that just have such terrible interfaces or that are so annoying organized (which to be honest includes FSM after the last format change) that they're just too much to keep up with.

Lately I've been spending a ton of time over at Scale Plastic & Rail's forums (sparforums.com). Definitely smaller, but a very fun, friendly and supportive group and forum software that just works.

An excellent forum is Scale Model Addict, and for ship builders Model Ship Builder. This forum caters to both wood and plastic ship builders.

I also fly RC and notice that stuck up attitude from certain people at the flying field. You try to be friendly and strike up a conversation and it's like you are bothering them so I just keep to myself. If anybody comes by and asks, I'm polite and helpful.

 I spend a lot of time in a small UK site called trackpads. The chaps there are extremely friendly and helpful. I fin this FSM site is one of the better organized ones with helpful members giving sound advice.  Armorama and AeroScale are pretty good too.

Wow...it has been a long time since I participated in FSM forums....I used to hang out here as my primary site and left because of all the bad behavior.  For some to say now that this is the friendliest site around comes as quite a surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one.  I hope it is true because there is a lot of talent and a lot of nice guys on here.  In the past, I enjoyed the comments and input of respected folks like Hans and Doogs.

But it was the bad behavior by a few that ruined it for me.  I come to these sites to share, learn, and participate....a nice escape from all the crap I deal with at work and such.  There were too many personal attacks on others and that took the enjoyment away for me.  Transferring to the Agape site was a breath of fresh air and a great place to participate.

So, I hope that the culture on FSM has changed, as some of you have described...that is great.  I may just frequent here again more often.

Hutch  

hutchdh

Wow...it has been a long time since I participated in FSM forums....I used to hang out here as my primary site and left because of all the bad behavior.  For some to say now that this is the friendliest site around comes as quite a surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one.  I hope it is true because there is a lot of talent and a lot of nice guys on here.  In the past, I enjoyed the comments and input of respected folks like Hans and Doogs.

But it was the bad behavior by a few that ruined it for me.  I come to these sites to share, learn, and participate....a nice escape from all the crap I deal with at work and such.  There were too many personal attacks on others and that took the enjoyment away for me.  Transferring to the Agape site was a breath of fresh air and a great place to participate.

So, I hope that the culture on FSM has changed, as some of you have described...that is great.  I may just frequent here again more often.

Hutch  

Hey Hutch, I remember you from back in the day!  Good to see ya back man.

Best regards, Gary

Rob, to be fair, the exact opposite happens on forums also

The mere mention that a modeler is building a Tamiya Skyray or Academy Crusader brings out a host of "real men build from the Testors or Revell kits" type of posts, completely ignoring what those kits really would look like without 7 years of work for each finished model, sitting on a shelf (this is 1/72 only)

one of the best parts of being here is that if a guy wants to build the Testors Skyray OOB or slightly improved, someone will help him do so,,,,,,,and mostly the same people will post "nice build" for the Tamiya if it is posted

I am a big fan of Hans' work,,,,,,,but, you couldn't find two people more opposite that still both build plastic models if you tried,,,,we are only opposites when it comes to aircraft/AFV, acrylic/enamel, new kit/old kit, resin parts/home made details,,,,,,,and I forget what else, lol,,,,,,oh,,,,,"keep all on shelf"/"strip out and tear down"

and yet, here we have been,,,, talking and discussing models and stuff together for however many years it has been

whether it is this forum, or another,,,,,,,when you find a place like that,,,,,,that is where you belong

Texgunner

hutchdh

Wow...it has been a long time since I participated in FSM forums....I used to hang out here as my primary site and left because of all the bad behavior.  For some to say now that this is the friendliest site around comes as quite a surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one.  I hope it is true because there is a lot of talent and a lot of nice guys on here.  In the past, I enjoyed the comments and input of respected folks like Hans and Doogs.

But it was the bad behavior by a few that ruined it for me.  I come to these sites to share, learn, and participate....a nice escape from all the crap I deal with at work and such.  There were too many personal attacks on others and that took the enjoyment away for me.  Transferring to the Agape site was a breath of fresh air and a great place to participate.

So, I hope that the culture on FSM has changed, as some of you have described...that is great.  I may just frequent here again more often.

Hutch  

Hey Hutch, I remember you from back in the day!  Good to see ya back man.

Best regards, Gary

Thanks, Gary...I remember you as well.  See you around.

Hutch