Once a journalist made an interview with a postal worker whose job was stamping the envelopes. She asks him: Isn't this job boring? And he says: No, it's fascinating! Every day there's a different date on the stamp!

If aircraft are boring, then how boring are the gundams? Just giant lumpy robots armed up to their teeth that they don't have all of the time!

Thing is, if you love something, you never find it boring.

As for why no reviews - they (Sci-Fi) probably don't sell as good as the good ole WWII fighters.

It's worth noting, that scale modelling still has to fight for the call of a "respectable hobby" as opposed to "wasting your time for playing with toys and bull**it like that". Gundams don't help in this respect.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Hey whoa slow down!  Yes it is true that most if not all westerm modeling mags that cover "scale" stuff do not cover Japanese sci-fi.  But if they were to cover all the new releases that come out on a monthly basis, there would be no place for the planes, tanks, ships and autos!  The Japanese sci-fi kit world is like a gigantic iceberg that floats in the modeling sea.  The "scale-only" guys know nothing about it - they just see the tip and dismiss them as crude snap-tite toys for kids.  Since you build Japanese sci-fi, you know that is far from the truth, and that some of those kits are incredibly sophisticated and oftentimes rival and surpass scale kits in engineering.  And yes the scale guys don't want to hear that, much less be shown it.  In the past, there have been angry letters to FSM berating the magazine for publishing sci-fi articles, being labeled "Fantasy Stuffed Modeler".

But the sci-fi guys don't have to be like that.  The obvious solution is to submit articles of Japanese sci-fi to FSM.  And post stuff on this forum.  We are here and are willing to help, so join us in constructive, civil discussion!  Yeah maybe we do need an English language model mag that covers stuff from Japan, as I had mentioned that new stuff just pours out every month.

BTW, I was one of those "scale-only" guys until I stumbled upon my first Gundam kit back in 1983.  The door opened and I haven't looked back since.

There is more to sci fi modeling than anime inspired. I’ve seen H.G. Wells’ War of The Worlds stuff, Star Trek, Star Wars, 2001, Space 1999, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and many other facets of Sci Fi modeling covered in FSM in the past. Are they in every issue? No, but many articles in the mag are reader submitted, so any one of us can change that. 

My son loves Gundam and builds those. They don’t do anything for me, but give me a Klingon cruiser, Romulan warbird, 1950’s Martian war machine, Y-Wing, or UFO Interceptor and I’m there. Alongside my Real Space, WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Cold War, or Mid East Wars subjects. It’s all good.

Went to La Cantina last night. Annoying, no sushi, walked out.

It's not a one-stop-shop world anymore. 

OP I get your point but there must be other sources out on the web.

Bil

   Obviously the OP hasn't seen this months FSM, much less read the article about the model on the cover.

    F-86's do nothing for me, albeit they are probably the cornerstone of our modern strike/ fighter aircraft we have today, and this issue is chocked full of 86s.

     I hope the OP finds joy in his(?) pursuit, but I for one will continue to enjoy FSM and this website, who knows I may develop a taste for Sabre Dogs, or Gundams.

Nightwind

Name something  that is new  in plane buliding NOTHING!!

I was under the impression that we all came here (and read the magazine ) for "fellowship" and  tip's and technique's to improve our own kit building. And to view other's build's 

Name something NEW in model building in general  ... Lot's !    If your looking . 

15 post's in 8 year's ,and your upset with FSM because of "lack of content". It sound's like your bored and not having fun anymore.

Share a build with the rest of us .... Maybe make a few "Convert's" out of us. ( I have a robot / Syfy kit somewhere.)

If your "truly" fed up ..... there's alway's "Needlepoint" ... ( now THAT'S boring ! )

Littletimmy, watch out for those angry folks with the long needles!  They comin' for ya!  

For me, the great gateway drug was kit-bashing. That's what George did in the first SW movie.

Remember that scene in the hold of the sand crawler? There's a Rubbermaid High School garbage receptacle, but.. it talks.

I just love to rip up stuff and put it together backwards. No magazine will ever get that except maybe "Modern Criminal Behavior", but hey, it's all for fun.

I   did  planes  for 30  years  i found  that  after  all this  time  there  is  not a magazein  for  Sci  Fi  Modeling. Modeling  is an art form  it has  many views  an dislike. FSM  is  way to biast  they do  not promot  all aspect of  modeling   look at the  mag every issue is  nothing  but  planes an armor.  this recent issue  had a  gumdam  in it  which was a first for this  mag. there  is  one  other  issue  they did  that had a  gundam bulid  in it. that  stile  does  not  change  they  do  nothing  but  planes  an armor an  ships  Why  can they  give  equal time  to  Sci  Fi  Modeling.  FSM is  not for  all  modelers  it pertains  to  3  groups  Planes    armor  an ships.  Thank you  for your  view.

The answer is simple. If there are no articles on subjects you like, submit one. 

Many of the articles aren't written by FSM staff, they're written by modellers. There's been many articles written by some of our own forum members. 

I can recall plenty of Gundam, MaK and some Macross models featured in the Readers' Gallery in the magazine over the years.

Nightwind, it appears to me that you are angry at FSM, and most "scale guys" by proxie. Your second post is basically your first post repeated, I would ask if your here to start trouble please don't. You are entitled to your opinion, you have made your point, SEVERAL folks have replied to get a conversation with examples, and solutions yet you still just rant. Please enjoy the hobby WHATEVER your interests are, share if you like as ALL genre seem to be welcome here.

Actually when I first started to get FSM about twenty-five years or so ago I remember they took a lot of flak for doing Star Trek, Star Wars, and other SF/Fantasy type models as well as military and auto kits. 

Well, the old adage remains true.  Not all, all the time, keep happy.

Overlooked is the huge & traditional link between modeling and history.  Face it, modeling as a pastime that came from sailing ship modeling.  Then the nearest cousin, military figure modeling, linked to wargaming which was about recreation of battles.  So, the link to what you call 'military' modeling is strong because the subjects are related to the historical stories of conflict and 'valor' (and after all, isn't Gundam just another form of military modeling?  Pretty sure the story arcs are based in warfare...if fictional.)

The modeling techniques the magazine reports also cross many genres, so there is still value in, for example, an armor build article even for auto, aircraft or scifi modeling.  I see your lament is not for the modeling but rather for the lack of Gundam and such as the illustrative subjects for articles and kit reviews.  I hope this May's "Sci-Fi" issue proves profitable and hence, repeatable so perhaps FSM can expand a bit more into the "iceberg".  It can't hurt to cater to the modelers who are of more recent vintage than I (I predate the Japanese cartoon influence and so found my stories of lore in WWII and record breaking flights, as well as Trek and SW's.)

I suppose my point is, take a longer view, stay engaged, be positive and sharing and don't toss the baby with the water.  The only constant is things will change, including old friend FSM.

Regards, Robert

Nightwind

Why  is it   that  FSM  does  not  review gundam  crusher joe  star blazer robotech Macross  kits. I  am not buying  FSM  any more  they  do nothing  but aircraft  armor  ship  molel kit  buliding  an reviews. All  the above  mentaion kits  have a place  in the  modeling world. I  use to bulid nothing  but planes  a freind  of mine ask  why did  i limted myself to plane  modeling.  I  thought  about it  he is right. To me planes  are boring  same old stuff put  the  prop on put  the wings  on  put the weapons  on.  Name something  that is new  in plane buliding NOTHING!! There  needs to be a SCI FI Modeling  magazine not planes  no  armor  no  ships. I  wasted  money  on a magazine  that  shows  no  interest  in  promoting  Sci Fi  Modeling.FSM you are a big letdown.

 

 

Not sure from your post if you are into just Gundam or Scifi in general. I understand your frustration with FSM but I'm pretty sure there are a lot more armor and airplane builders out there than Scifi, much less Gundam. I'm into Scifi but not Gundam.

There was once a magazine called "Modelers Resource" that covered scfi/fantasy models. I believe the people that published it just got tired of the magazine business. Check Ebay for back issues. I loved this magazine.

I currently subscribe to Amazing Figure Modeller.  As the name implies its all about "Figures". They may have done some Gundam stuff. I dont remember as I'm not into them.

Two other magazines you might check out are "The weather Magazine" and "Damaged". Pretty sure I've see robot type stuff in those.

As another poster mentioned techniques are transferrable over genres. You could use the same method to weather a robot or space ship they same way as a tank or airplane.

Have you checked on Gundam forums to see if any magazine sources are available?

Ask the not-race car builder is they think the article mix is "fair."

The motorcycle builders.

The not-military plane builders.

Or the "real" space modelers.

And, heaven forfend you ask the commercial ship builders (o_O)

Each of those genres are hugely under-represented in kits out there.  Even including exotic media versions.  Browse through the different sections here.  There are no end of "I want to build a [thing] at [scale], is ther eone made?" threads.  When the answer is not a categorical "no," it's often a "yes" but in a limited run cottage/garage molded kit in a weird material for an arm and two legs (if even in production at all).

Let's suppose you wanted to model a US 7.5ton atriller prime mover truck (the correct vehicl to tow a 155mm Long Tom).  Not only are the review few and far between, the one and only kit (IIRC) was a limited release kit that was like £150.

Want to build APA and/or AKA in 1/350?  Pretty much sol unless you are willing to engage in a lot of plastic surgery; an Anchorage LSD?  scratchbuild.

There's really a lot of gundam review--if you can read Japanese.

Published media generally reflects market interest/participation for the area a periodical serves.

I remember reading all the complaints about how RCM (Radio Control Modeler) "failed" to include enough content on RC ships & boats.

What gets glossed over here is that producing articles for publication requires work.  A commitment to the craft of writing, and specifically for writing for periodical publication.  I really have to push myself to pound out articles for architectural publications--and that's a field I've been practicing in for forty years.  If an editor came to me ans said we need more articles on golf course design, well, what I know about golf course design would barely fill five paragraphs.

See above:  Want to see more reiews, submit more reiews for publication.  (Protip:  Start small, start with a blog, the learning curve hurts a little less.)