The Garage
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Automodeler Group Build Themes
md72
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Posted: Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 10:25 AM UTC
Oh look, I've got a Bronco in my stash too. But even given I've got a whole herd of Mustangs in the stash, I'm thinking about tackling the '49 Custom Coupe and modifying it to look like my parent's old '51 V8 Custom Coupe. My first car conversion ever...
Dixon66
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Posted: Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 12:19 PM UTC
Was looking at my spreadsheet today and saw I have a 289 Cobra and a Ford GT as well.
AussieReg
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Posted: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 - 01:14 AM UTC
To make it easy to keep track of things, as well as to satisfy my moderate level of OCD, I have added a running list to the starting post in this thread and I will add confirmed dates to each Group Build theme as we go.

Please don't hesitate to add to this "suggestion box" if you have any more ideas.

Cheers, D
AussieReg
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AUTOMODELER
#007
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Posted: Friday, May 03, 2019 - 03:03 AM UTC
In the discussion following my 51 Chev Charity Build, Luciano took a liking to all of the displayed kits with flame paint jobs and suggested that it would make a great Group Build theme, so I have added it to the list:

"Flame On" - decals, masks or freehand, get your flames on!

Cheers, D
Littorio
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Posted: Friday, May 03, 2019 - 07:46 AM UTC

Quoted Text

In the discussion following my 51 Chev Charity Build, Luciano took a liking to all of the displayed kits with flame paint jobs and suggested that it would make a great Group Build theme, so I have added it to the list:

"Flame On" - decals, masks or freehand, get your flames on!

Cheers, D



Oh dear what have I done
accessdenied
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Nelson, New Zealand
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Posted: Saturday, May 04, 2019 - 04:01 PM UTC
,
was just looking at your listing of potential GB's and noted in your Big 3 blurb that you have missed the British options (i.e. the earlier manufacturers - Austin, Morris, Leyland et cetera). Although it's fairly difficult to define what constitutes the British Big 3 especially considering their various timelines see link and scroll down to former manufacturers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car_manufacturers_of_the_United_Kingdom

So I would propose a possible Best of British title .
This could include any British designed/built car/truck/motorcycle, be it road, race, farm, commercial.
For the groups discussion .
AussieReg
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
AUTOMODELER
#007
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Posted: Saturday, May 04, 2019 - 05:09 PM UTC

Quoted Text

So I would propose a possible Best of British title



Good idea, although I have no idea how many kits of British manufactured cars are out there and readily available to provide a basis for a stand-alone Group Build. I will add it to the list of ideas.
It may be that we need to combine several countries in a single "Big 3" Group Build to get the numbers up. For example a UK/France/Italy Big 3 with specific manufacturers might work, where I think that USA, Japan and Germany could stand alone. Definitely food for thought and plenty of time to tweak the ideas before they become "Live" here.

Cheers, D
Removed by original poster on 05/05/19 - 09:12:30 (GMT).
accessdenied
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Nelson, New Zealand
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Posted: Saturday, May 04, 2019 - 09:21 PM UTC
hmmmm,
tried to insert a nice listing of British car kits currently available but this system can't handle cut'n'paste docx.
Anywho here's a few names available:
Aston Martin,
Austin,
Bentley
Caterham
DeLorean
Jaguar
LandRover
Lotus,
MG,
Mini,
Morris,
RangeRover,
Rover,
Triumph,

then there are the farming and commercial vehicles:
Ferguson,
Massey Ferguson,
AEC,
Bedford,
Dennis,
Scammell

I'll exclude the F1 and open wheeler racing brands - leave them for a dedicated GB.

AussieReg
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
AUTOMODELER
#007
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Posted: Sunday, May 05, 2019 - 01:27 AM UTC
Hi Roger.

I find an easy way to get a reasonably complete picture here is to do a filtered search on Scalemates. Examples below:

8,129 UK manufactured car kits
https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?q=*&fkSECTION[]=Kits&fkCATNAME[]=%22Cars%22&fkPRODUCER_COUNTRY[]=%22UK%22

468 UK manufactured truck kits
https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?q=*&fkSECTION[]=Kits&fkCATNAME[]=%22Trucks%22&fkPRODUCER_COUNTRY[]=%22UK%22

30 UK manufactured motorcycle kits
https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?q=*&fkSECTION[]=Kits&fkCATNAME[]=%22Motorcycles%22&fkPRODUCER_COUNTRY[]=%22UK%22

Plus I'm sure there are a few more not listed in agricultural and construction equipment.

Food for thought.

Cheers, D
Littorio
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Posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2019 - 05:14 AM UTC
D, had a thought on two more possible group builds;

Emergency services - Police, Fire, Ambulance, Coast guard etc

Work and delivery - Those light commercial vehicles, pick-ups (Utes), panel vans, mini-buses
md72
#439
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Posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2019 - 06:45 AM UTC
Hmm, both of those could be cross site opportunities as well. My club is doing a "Life Savers' display at the museum. Most of the display is fixed wing and helos but there is a Vosper RAF rescue launch. There's plenty of options for floaty and wingy things available.

Same with transport, Airfreight, military cargo planes, freighters and container ships.
Dixon66
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Posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2019 - 08:40 AM UTC
While I was looking through my spreadsheet earlier today (yes, I have an inventory, LOL), I realized I didn't see open wheel or open cockpit as a suggestion in the thread.
Littorio
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Posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2019 - 09:29 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hmm, both of those could be cross site opportunities as well. My club is doing a "Life Savers' display at the museum. Most of the display is fixed wing and helos but there is a Vosper RAF rescue launch. There's plenty of options for floaty and wingy things available.

Same with transport, Airfreight, military cargo planes, freighters and container ships.



Mark as there is already a big rig theme the 'Work and delivery' idea is aimed more at the local builder/plumber/repair guys van or pick-up or the local small hardware/grocers shop keeping it Light ie under 7ton.

Yes the emergency idea could be a cross over although I would prefer we kept it to civilian organisations which is more in keeping with AutoModeler.
betheyn
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AEROSCALE
#019
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Posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2019 - 09:49 AM UTC

Quoted Text

While I was looking through my spreadsheet earlier today (yes, I have an inventory, LOL), I realized I didn't see open wheel or open cockpit as a suggestion in the thread.


Hi David,
Technically the Strip, Track and Trail - Drag strip, Race circuit or Rally track cars would cover them.
Andy
Dixon66
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Posted: Thursday, May 09, 2019 - 01:17 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

While I was looking through my spreadsheet earlier today (yes, I have an inventory, LOL), I realized I didn't see open wheel or open cockpit as a suggestion in the thread.


Hi David,
Technically the Strip, Track and Trail - Drag strip, Race circuit or Rally track cars would cover them.
Andy



True, I guess I was just thinking more specifically than race cars in general.
Joel_W
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Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 01:10 AM UTC
D,
Somehow I entirely missed this thread. I'm going to go out on a limb with my personal views, observations, suggestions on GBs in an effort to make the GB system better work for all.

1st and foremost, there are way to many GBs in most forums going on concurrently, they generally run for too long of a period, as well as consistently overlap. All three of these issues do cause what I feel are negative issues while trying to create a more positive GB experience.

We are basically a small forum of auto/motorcycle/truck modelers who are passionate about what interests us, and thus what we build. Having multiple GBS running at the same time so that there are subjects that would appeal to all of us, only creates smaller number of enlistees for each GB unless one opts to join more then one at a time.

Time periods of a year in reality stretch the GBs out so that you don't even have to join near the start to complete your build, and thus it's quite common to never see the starting builds, and they most likely won't be around to follow your build. That in my opinion defeats one of the main purposes of GBS: common subject builds where members help, encourage, and support fellow members with similar interests.

Having a running time of 6 months seems like the perfect length of time. Anymore for the average build, and there is absolutely no sense of urgency to focus on your current build to conclusion. Hence, the dreaded SOD or Shelf Queen syndrome pops up it's ugly head once again. And as I said, enlistees generally pass each other entering or leaving the GB.

I do see the need to have more then one GB every 6 months as not everyone wanting to be in a GB is interested in the subject matter. So how about start a single GB every 3 months? That gives us 3 GBS per year. More then enough to vary subject so that everyone's interests are included.

As to what subject matters are of interest to each of us, really is about as varied as the there are subjects to explore. Perhaps as you're now doing, let everyone interested in an upcoming GB slot vote yes/no on the proposed subject from a proposed few subjects, or something along those lines.

Joel





AussieReg
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#007
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Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 03:27 AM UTC
All very valid points Joel, we need to find a way to build our active membership numbers here while keeping the existing core of contributors enthusiastic and motivated.

I think having 2 themed Group Builds running at the same time (along with the "Garage Queens") with a staggered 3-month start is a good idea. I would be happy to enlist in multiple Group Builds as one would be (hopefully) well down the track before the second one commences. It also means that we are not all waiting for 6 months if the current themed Group Build is not to our liking.

Lets put it out there to the crew, please let us know your thoughts.

The upshot of a supporting vote here is that we will need to schedule a Group Build to start on July 1. We could either bring the "Blue Oval" forward or decide on another theme.

I'm definitely looking forward to the feedback from the contributors here.

Cheers, D
PasiAhopelto
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Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 03:39 AM UTC
The staggered builds starting every three months sound good to me for the reasons stated above.
md72
#439
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Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 03:50 AM UTC
OK, so my 2 cents. 6 months is about right for almost any campaign, I could see vacuforms, scratchbuilds, or dioramas running longer. One start every 3 months, 4 per year, plus an ongoing Garage Queens seems to be on the verge of challenging, but I might not be interested in every group build . I know I got overwhelmed on Aeroscale where I have had at least one build 'due' every month from March to September.

I'm OK with moving Blue Oval to July, just means I gotta get that 56 T Bird ordered.
Joel_W
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Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 04:05 AM UTC
D,

if you start two GBs on month 1, then 1 additional GB on Month 4, where the GBs run for a 6 month period, you wind up with always having two GBS running concurrently, with a 3rd one running the last 3 months of the 1st two. Plus the Shelf Queen GB which is just on going with no formal end date? How do you award a ribbon then?

That really seems like way to many GBs for a list of this size. The Ford GB only has 12 enlistees at this point.

Lets say the cycles would be Jan/June & July/Dec with the alternate 2nd one starting halfway through the 1st started one. That sure seems like plenty GBs to me.

At my present build rate, I'd be hard pressed to enter and complete two per year.

I'd echo Mark's point of view too. Way to many modelers enter more GBs on Aeroscale then they can realistically complete, or spend enough time per model to do their best work. So they rush from one GB to another, which just seems to burn them out after a while. This seems counter productive to what we're hoping to achieve.

I don't think you'll get everyone to enter consistently every GB or even concurrently. Just getting them involved with following and posting would be a major accomplishment.

Joel





AussieReg
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#007
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Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 02:23 PM UTC
It always helps me to scribble things down and visualise. How does this look?


Garage Queens is an automatic annual 12-month event, Jan-Dec, so folks can join in with whatever they want along the way. Ribbons awarded New Years Day for the previous year as the new build commences.

Group Build 1 commences along with Garage Queens, running Jan-Jun
Group Build 2 commences April 1, running Apr-Sept
Group Build 3 commences July 1, running Jul-Dec

This way we have 2 builds running concurrently for Quarter 1, then 3 running Q2 and Q3, back to 2 running in Q4 to finish out the year.

Thoughts?

Cheers, D
Joel_W
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Posted: Sunday, May 12, 2019 - 03:51 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

So I would propose a possible Best of British title



Good idea, although I have no idea how many kits of British manufactured cars are out there and readily available to provide a basis for a stand-along Group Build. I will add it to the list of ideas.
It may be that we need to combine several countries in a single "Big 3" Group Build to get the numbers up. For example a UK/France/Italy Big 3 with specific manufacturers might work, where I think that USA, Japan and Germany could stand alone. Definitely food for thought and plenty of time to tweak the ideas before they become "Live" here.

Cheers, D



D,
As far as a British only build GB goes, include race cars of all types, and you've got even more then the Japanese in terms of numbers. Combining countries is a great idea as well.

Joel
Joel_W
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Posted: Sunday, May 12, 2019 - 04:03 AM UTC
D,
Looking at your chart, and not including the SOD ongoing GB, and after the 1st 3 months of GB 1, you'll always have 2 active GBs at the same time. Allowing only 3 months per build would be very tight for most of the members here from what I've seen of build time needed.

Rushing a build is something we should always keep in mind as not everyone likes to, or can focus on more then one build at a time. That's the group that I fall into. For me personally, I would be builder in GB1, a follower/poster in GB2, then a builder once again in GB3. And that's if the subject of the GB allows my areas of interest to join in.

As I said before, I think it's a wiser and more constructive venue to start off with a single GB of 6 months, and the 2nd one of the year after that. Then see where the membership of the list stands.

How many actually entered, vs how many actually finished, or worse just dropped out.

I'm averaging 3-4 months per build, with the Porsche 956 taking 5+ Months. That's just me, but I won't be interested in joining another GB till I completed my current build. But that's just me.

Joel
md72
#439
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Posted: Sunday, May 12, 2019 - 06:40 AM UTC
Joel, might have good advice about not starting a new build until you finished your last build, but, my building cadence can leave me with nothing to do on one project while I'm waiting for paint or filler to cure. So I pick up another project to fill the gap. Just me I guess.
Damien on the other hand must be the most ADD modeler I've ever known. I think I've got 6 projects on the bench (only 2 really active) but I think he's got at least 3 ships and 9 cars actively on the bench.

Sothe point of all of that is we all build the way that we're comfortable with. I don't see any issues with having 2 six month builds overlapping each other.