Just gotta get this out of the way first: I could've titled this post "Where's the beef?", but I didn't...

Now, for the 'beef' of this post: (hee hee...)

I've observed that there aren't too many kit reviews on the stie. 25 Armor kits are reviewed, and two, count 'em, two aircraft kits are reviewed.
I know that between all the dedicated members on the site, we've got several hundered kits worth of experince. So, I am posting to request that some of you who've built a certain kit to write up a few words about it. It dosen't have to be long. Just a summary of what you did and didn't like, how you rate the kit, and if you'd recommend it.
It certainly dosen't have to win a pulitzer prize, it just needs to be coherent enough to understand. (with my writing skills, I barely meet this requrement.... ) I plan to submit a few reviews in the near future, and I urge you to do the same.
Thank you, and good night.

YodaMan

Could I write a review on an aftermarket thing? I could do a review on the Zvezda M13/40 and then another on the Model Victoria conversion kit I used to spiff it up. Where would I file the second one? Also, can you put pictures in with the review?
I agree, though, reviews shouldn't have to be big. Just a few thoughts and a general description of the model would be really helpful to others out there. Just think how quickly the database would grow if we all put in a little something on the model we just finished.......

Nic

PS--I guess the only problem with me doing a review is that it would be on a kit that probably no one else here is going to build..........

As far as I know, as long as it's model related, you can review it!
Here's the link to the Reviews Page It's also on the main menu on the left side of your screen.
I plan to review Tamiya's M41, Halcyon's Alien Warrior and do a build up article on Tamiya's Corsair that I'm working on.
Oh, and as far as I know the only way to add pictures to a review is to provide a link to an online album, though I may be wrong. (see Dagger's review of the Trade Federation Tank)

YodaMan

Don't point a finger at me, I've got about 10 listed.

Reviews should focus on new and upcoming subjects. No sense doing a review on an old kit, book or accessory that's been out for years unless it's been recently reissued or the like.

I did a review on a Bradley engine compartment as well as the new M41 AFV Club suspesion, so doing aftermarket is fine. Yoda, I did one on the Fine Molds X-Wing, you may want to do one on the TIE and Jedi Fighter if you get them.

I got one up and as soon as finnish the current project I'll try and get another out.

Josh weingarten
aKa shiryon

Why? I'd think people would still want to know about it before they bought it. If it's not already on this site, I don't see why we shouldn't add it.

Nic

Being farly new to modeling still on my second time around, I would love to see as many reviews as possible on the site.

I've got an idea. What do you guys think of coming up with some type of quick review chart for the site. I would be willing to do reviews on what I build but don't know exactly what to put into it. What I mean by chart is have everyone or some of the pros come up with a few important features of kits like fit, accuracy, flash, etc. and then rank from 1-10. Also some things like how brittle plastic is or if the panel lines are raise or recessed (a big one to me on AC kits). Anyway when someone builds a kit they can just fill in the areas and the information is shared. If someone like myself can't really vouch for the accuracy then just leave it blank. What do you guys think of that?

I emailed Jim a review of the Tamiya M26 Pershing. I haven't heard any feedback on it nor have I seen it posted. The initial review is just an overview of what is in the box and on the instructions. I am doing additional documentation as I complete the build. I also emailed him pictures relating to the "whats in the box" review. If your interested in posting my review let me know and I will email the stuff to you.

Indeed I do have several reviews to post (about 3). I am working on a new review page/system that will allow for more info, pictures, categorization, and a better layout. You can preview it here:

New Review Page in Process

If anyone has any further suggestions on this please let me know.

My apologies to sgtsauer, Paulo, Keith Magee, and Monroe Perdu Studios (they kindly sent Keith a kit for review) for this delay.

Cheers,
Jim

The "prototype" review page looks great Jim. Thanks for all of your hard work. This board is like a fine wine. It gets better with age.

I had submitted a kit review back in July for the contest, and am patiently waiting to see it posted in the reviews section. Jim, If you need me to re-send my review of the Ta-183" Huckebein" , I'll get it to ya ASAP....

Jim, that review page looks awesome. I think Andrew brought up a good point about a small checklist to help people decide on the quality of the kit to include the things he mentioned and possibly others we can think of. I guess it wouldn't even have to be a checklist but possibly a code system that can be inserted into the the top part. For instance, under the grey 'scale' box insert another box titled 'Features'. Then to the right of the box list the appropriate codes for that box (EP=engraved panel lines, RP=raised panel lines, PE=photoetch materials, IT=individual track links, VT=vinyl track, etc.) Or it may be just as easy to list these features if it doesn't create problems with page formatting. Did I explain that right? LOL!

Penny,
That is sounding familiar yet it's not in my que. Can you resend it if possible. Otherwise I will probably be able to find it if I search through my mail archive.

Thanks,
Jim

The review article checklist is most definately a good idea. I will try to work that into the Contributions help page.

Thanks!

Jim

Other items in such checklist might be decals, resin parts, transparent parts, figures included...
I think the quality of the instructions sheet is important too.

I like the idea of a chart or list to fill out too, with room for our own thoughts, of course. I'm not sure rating things out of 10 would be very useful, because we all have different expectations. Maybe if we just answered in a sentence or two. For example: The model has a little flash, but nothing that would give a sharp X-Acto knife any trouble.

I do think that we shouldn't hesitate to review a model (any military model, old or new) for the site. If we want this site to be a one stop resource, we need more than just new releases. I know a lot of you guys have a couple hundred models waiting to be built. I bet they don't all say copyright 2002. Reviews should be helpful for building a kit, too, not just deciding whether or not to purchase one. Mentioning what problems you had and how you solved them would be good. I don't think this would require a lot of work, otherwise it would be a build article for the Features section.

Nic

He Gimme a break here,

I've been fighting with Drew during the last week , did a bit of modeling and.....bummer.....had to go to work too..... Oh and I fed the baby during night time.

No seriously, at this moment I'm working on a Operational Review (a build and write experience #:-) ) on a figures kit. The figs in this small kit will be built and painted using three different methonds:

The Bannerman Way
The Verlinden Way
The Gino Poppe way

I'll excecute and describe every step in all tree ways on how to build and paint the figures. This way I can get some figure- building and painting experience, decide which painting method suits me best, and share the results with all of you. It's not gonna be an instruction on How you must do it, but on how I did it. I expect the fellow members to shoot at it so I can improve my skills with this.

Since I like this paint thingie (there it is again....thingie) very much, I spend quite some time on it and it the progress is...good. I expect to be able to to post the Article / Review / step-by-step thingie in 3 or four weeks. It goes without saying that every step will include some pics like



and



So be patient... In some weeks I let you be the judge on my modeling and writing skills....

Ooops, sorry. i'll shrink the pics in the future....

I am going to do one if I can stay straight enough to write one where is agood place to look for away to do this

Please feel free to modify my idea. I just through something out there to be built on. If the 1-10 the sucks then kill it. I personaly love the detailed reviews with pics and everything but a lot of people just arn't going to do that. Most would be willing to come fill out some form on a model they built. One more thing, we should be able to do more than one review on a kit. My view and someone elses on a kit are most likely different. We should have all the information we can on the kit. Thats the main idea here, information for people like myself that don' know their head from their afterburners when it comes to most kits.

That's also a good paint, Drew. I always gather as many reviews as possible on a kit before beginning construction. To make the review writing quicker and easier, it might be better just to have ratings like excellent to very poor and then be able to add more comments on that aspect of the model if you want. I think that could work.......

Nic

I just made 2 reviews ! One for aircraft, one for figures !

I think that rating from 1 to 10 is great because it gives a quick sign of what the writer thinks.

Yeah, maybe Penpen. I'm just thinking if all the review has is a few numbers beside some headings, it wouldn't be all that useful. If we had those ratings and explained why we gave them, it would be better. I'm kinda thinking of how they rate computer games on some websites. I do like seeing the overall rating for the game and it's aspects, but I need to know why....

Nic

Folgore, I couldn't agree with you more ! :-)