Group Builds?

silentbob33

 I felt more comfortable posting my work in the GB forum instead of the theme specific forums.....

......I didn't get a whole of constructive criticism to help me improve. While I didn't expect too many responses, I was hoping for more constructive criticism so I could improve my skills, especially where armor is concerned.

See, that's where the GB failed you, And for reasons that are probably predictably "Human nature".I would imagine that guys who are joined together in a sort of camaraderie might be a bit reluctant to give negative criticism? Maybe not ALL, but certainly SOME. Or maybe they thought that someone else in the GB would? But that's perhaps the intrinsically insular character of GBs, and another one of the reasons I don't care for them.

I almost guarantee you that if you had put your build in the regular Armor forum, you would have gotten plenty of constructive criticism and help.

I can see where you're coming from Karl. I did post a WIP in the Armor forum as well, and I got a little bit of help correcting a painting mistake at the beginning and someone offered to send me decals to replace the bad silvering I had, but that was about it.  Although with the arrival of spring maybe there is just a lack of traffic on the forums, but I didn't get many responses in the GB forum or the armor forum.

Tojo72

One of the worst things that happens on Group Builds is when you banter,offer constructive criticisim,and commendation and try to acknowledge your fellow builders,but when you post your build,it's like crickets,nobody says nothing,then all of sudden a new post goes up,with no acknowledgement of yours and then the thread takes off without any notice of your post.Sometimes if your not part of the familiar crowd in the build,you are left out.To be fair,this happens more on Armorama,so much that I gave up group builds over there.Over here I would give Tigerman and Deafpanzer a lot of credit for conducting great builds and being attentive to all.Im sure there are others bur i dont do that many so forgive if i missed you.So this is something to be aware of not to kill the fun of being in group build.

You're right about this . I have seen what you're talking about here and as a host I usually end up countering this by when making a comment on an overlooked post, I'll copy that post into my reply pictures and all. It works. Folks will respond in the "How did I miss that? " demeanor and comment on it and it doesn't get missed.

 I've been involved hosting GB's now for the last 2 1/2 years and now I'm hosting two of them! After this year is up I'm going to take a break from them and start posting in the mainstream more. I do admit that I miss a lot being hosting and being stuck in GB's not only here in the forum/ forums but also at the bench. My build pace has slowed to a crawl as of late.

mustang1989

Tojo72

One of the worst things that happens on Group Builds is when you banter,offer constructive criticisim,and commendation and try to acknowledge your fellow builders,but when you post your build,it's like crickets,nobody says nothing,then all of sudden a new post goes up,with no acknowledgement of yours and then the thread takes off without any notice of your post.Sometimes if your not part of the familiar crowd in the build,you are left out.To be fair,this happens more on Armorama,so much that I gave up group builds over there.Over here I would give Tigerman and Deafpanzer a lot of credit for conducting great builds and being attentive to all.Im sure there are others bur i dont do that many so forgive if i missed you.So this is something to be aware of not to kill the fun of being in group build.

You're right about this . I have seen what you're talking about here and as a host I usually end up countering this by when making a comment on an overlooked post, I'll copy that post into my reply pictures and all. It works. Folks will respond in the "How did I miss that? " demeanor and comment on it and it doesn't get missed.

 I've been involved hosting GB's now for the last 2 1/2 years and now I'm hosting two of them! After this year is up I'm going to take a break from them and start posting in the mainstream more. I do admit that I miss a lot being hosting and being stuck in GB's not only here in the forum/ forums but also at the bench. My build pace has slowed to a crawl as of late.

I think one of the problems with commenting on others builds is that there are only so many times you can say well done, nice build and so on. And when people do see things that they thing they may have advice for or see something wrong, they may well be put off from saying. This could be because they thing there own builds are not up to the same level, so maybe they thing they are not in a position to say anything. But also I think the way 'rivet counters' have been condemned over the last few years in the hobby in general, that put people off from offering suggestions or advice even when its asked for.

The lack of comments on others builds isn't restricted to the GB's either. Just check any WiP or completed build thread and compare the number of views with the number of comments. I think all of us, and I will put myself at the top of the guilty list here, need to make more effort to comment on others builds, more so those who are not part of the 'cliche'.

Joe, like you are am planning on dropping out of the GB scene a little. Every build I have done on this forum since I came back in 2008 has been for a GB. I do plan on hosting a couple next year that have been in the pipeline for a while and can't really be postponed, but when I am not building for those, I plan on doing some of my own choosing.

Bish

 I think all of us, and I will put myself at the top of the guilty list here, need to make more effort to comment on others builds, more so those who are not part of the 'cliche'

I can agree with that Bish. I usually have my head down into hosting GB's so much that until recently I haven't "popped" out to see what's going on in the mainstream. More important is welcoming  newcomers who know nothing about GB's and view the place as what looks like  a "ghost town" when in reality there's all kinds of stuff going on behind the scenes. I'm also over at Model Car Magazine which has helped me open my eyes a lot that there is all kinds of stuff happening in the mainstream.  I ran one GB over there and after I got out into the rest of the forum I'll never run or participate in another one over there. Don't get me wrong, the GB there was fun just like the ones that are here, but there's so much stuff happening out from under the rock that I prefer to stay out in the open over there.  I'm going to have my fun with the GB's I'm running  for the rest of the year here because there is some amazing stuff coming out of both of them but after that I'm gonna coast for a while and get to know some folks here.

 

I know what you guys mean.  When I joined here last year I was directed towards the GBs, and that was where I spent most of my time.  I'm starting to look around more, and post more.  I'm doing my second WIP thread in addition to posting in the GB threads.  Like you mentioned Bish, one of the reasons I don't comment a lot is because I feel like most of the builders here are high above my skill level, and I just don't know enough to make informed critiques about accuracy, colors, etc.  I don't have a large reference library, I mostly rely on the internet for pictures of how things should look.  I can't begin to describe how much I've learned here about Luftwaffe colors (I never could have imagined the debates on that subject), names of different parts, history, and so on.  I do a lot of "lurking" and I'm trying to do my best to post more.