Yes, it’s dire isn’t it? In my copy the first two pages were still attached to each other down the long edge and I had to separate them.

Colin

That’s not good to hear about the other two mags. as well. Some folks will stop buying if the poor quality continues which will make things worse as regards viability. I will consider going digital only next time. Perhaps this is their plan? If so, given the demographic of the readers, they will lose even more customers.

Chris

Thinking just the same as I flicked through my copy this afternoon.  To be honest some of the pages look no better than newsprint.  If I compare it with any of the other magazines I get such as Hornby Magazine, Airfix Model World and even, yes even, Vintage & Classic Motorcycle, which is a free magazine that you get with an annual subscription to The Vintage & Classic Motorcycle Club, they are all in a different league.  And Model Boats Magazine costs 10p more than Airfix Model World, which is 148 pages this month.

If this is the best they can come up with I can only see it as being the final nail in the coffin of the magazine.  There will always be a few die hards who support it for its history and heritage but we are never going to attract new readers to it with that quality.

Interestingly Colin my first two pages were also half attached and I had to cut them apart.

The first 9 or 10 pages on my copy had to be separated.

Also I wonder if the paper is thinner  as on some pages I can see the print on the other side showing through.  This can make the white background seem grey on some pages.

Tim

I mentioned this on Today’s Boating month ago…seems like a trend and not a one off.

Adding extra pages but cutting the  quality of paper/printing seems a poor trade off.

Anyone browsing on the stand would be instantly put off by this. Looking like a mag from the 70’s..

Ashley

Yes Ray, the ad was in the December issue, in the Classifieds.

Stephen

Merry Christmas everyone.

I sense that the market may have declined considerably in recent years. Many older modellers are seeking to ‘de clutter’ but the demand is weak. It took quite a long time to dispose of Paul Freshney’s models, advertised in May 2023, and they didn’t all sell despite promiment photographs and a supporting article in the magazine.

I sold two out of three models on Mayhem, but again it took a while and I didn’t get the asking price although they went to good homes.

Our executors are going to have a few problems I fear!

Colin

Most clubs depend on two or three members to drive things along and do much of the organisation, the others then fall into line and supply the necessary manpower. If the key people drop out, often from advancing age these days, then the whole thing fragments.

A lot of the decline in the hobby is due to age related problems. Ill health, low energy levels and commitments to frail family members all conspire to cut into external activities.There are few younger replacements willing and able to step into the shoes of their elders.

A few years ago, attending the Mayhem event or the International Model Boat Show at the Warwick Exhibition Centre was a given. Up and back in a day from Surrey, no problem. With the loss of an eye during Covid it is a different story. I can no longer drive at night or in low light and during the day distances are restricted as one eye has to do the work of two and I need to avoid eyestrain. Other people have other problems, most of us in our 70s suffer from one or more issues which impact on our activities. Basically horizons gradually close in at best and  more drastically at worse.

I still build models in my workshop but running them is more problematical as Bushy Park is an hour’s drive away and I am reliant on Ashley to launch and recover my models as my knees no longer function the way they were intended to. I can get the model into the water but am likely to join it in attempting to get it out again!

No fun getting old.

Colin

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Colin</p>
I built some larger models in my late 50’s and 60’s which look great on the water but getting them to the pond, getting them in and out again. That’s the problem.

I would be joining them in the pond.

I tried to sell some in the magazine this year but only one response but no real interest.

Still building models as it’s what I have done since I was 11. Keeps the brain active!

Tim