Model Boats – Current Issue

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

Please can anyone advise me if they have seen the current issue (October 2021) of Model Boats for sale at the normal high street outlets. I tried my local W H Smith in Orpington yesterday (28 September) but could not find a copy on display. I asked a member of staff and all I got was a blank look and shruggy shoulders. I noted that there was also a total absence of any aero modelling magazines. I appreciate that it my be caused by the current problems in obtaining drivers and obviously fuel.

Thanking you advance. David Marks

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

David , Some years ago l experienced exactly this same problem and so decided to change to subscription copies , and to date the service has been 100% reliable which has had the effect of lowering my stress levels considerably . It has also meant the bonus of lower costs both from the cost /mag point of view as well as the cost of the return journeys into town , so win win from my point of view . Trevor.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi David,

Same down here in Maidstone, I normally pick my copy up from WH Smiths on a Saturday morning but they didn't have the September or October issue's on the shelf.

I like to be selective of the content before I flash the cash !!

I do see all the Aeromodelling titles there as I'm an RCM&E fan, great plan this month for a twin ducted fan A10

Regards Ray

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

Thank you for the replies received to date. I cancelled my subscription to MB about two years ago. I did not like the way the publication was going especially when the editor at the time introduced (two pages, I think) of readers comments saying what a good magazine it was. I wrote to the editor twice to tell them where I considered the magazine was failing but no response at all. So it was exit stage left for me. I am interested in the current issue for the article on the r/c conversion of the Airfix kit. Something that I have always fancied doing but never got round to it. Hopefully something I can do this coming winter in the warmth of the house rather than the cold of the outside workshop,

[Rich Griff 2Participant @richgriff2]

Wh smith's, ha !

 

No wonder they are going down hill !

 

Gay mags gallor but anything model wise, forget it.

Edited By Rich Griff 1 on 30/09/2021 09:24:43

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

You can also usually pick up the current version on Ebay but you will pay around twice the price.

You pays your money you takes your chance!

[Kev.WParticipant @kev-w]

I always found my local Sainsburys store to be a reliable source before I took a subscription.

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

My 2 local Tesco stores also now stock MB .

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong section of WH Smith's ??

I can't go out I might use my last half a tank of fuel !!

Regards Ray

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

Yes Tesco, was in the other day and moved it to the front shelf, if there is one there on a visit I always do that.

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

OK the search is over. My thanks to those that offered alternative sources. I tried W H Smith in Bromley and a very helpful member of staff found a copy on the shelves for me. Apparently WHS do not have a defined place to display a defined magazine title, but at least the staff here were very much more helpful than at Orpington. The down side today was the bus being in long queue to get past those trying to get petrol. Ditto on the return trip but at least I had MB to read.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I appreciate that some readers prefer to pick & mix depending on the individual issue contents but that doesn't much help keep the magazine in circulation.

Overall, if the annual contents are essentially interesting then a subscription is the best way of keeping the publication afloat. OK some articles will not be of interest to you and that is inevitable but if on average the content is of interest then a subscription is the way forward to keep the magazine in production.

As always, the rule is 'use it or lose it'. If you decide to cherry pick on individual isues then the latter may well come true.

On here we are trying to keep the magazine afloat in a very difficult financial situation. Subscriptions are the best way of doing this. Yes, some issues will be of more interest thn others to individual readers but hopefully things will even out.. The same applies to all magazines.

If you do prefer to cherry pick individual issues then do not be surprised if the magazine is withdrawn as it cannot financially survive on that basis.

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop on 01/10/2021 09:26:11

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

In essence l agree with Colin's points , and to anyone who feels strongly about the magazine content , then suggest they respond in a positive way by submitting articles on their preferred subject . You never know , you may well win over some converts to your interest as well as introducing another welcome and valuable avenue to the already rich and diverse list of subjects already covered by the magazine . Trevor .

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

When you think about it our current editor used to work for a magazine for 20 years. It then ceased to exist overnight because it became financially unviable. It does happen and the comments above are not over dramatising the issue.

Lets face it we saw the demise of the only other model boat magazine only a couple of years ago.

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

I take note of the previous three comments made by Colin, Trevor and Richard and in the main agree with them. For various reasons I have not purchased a copy of MB for about 2 to 3 years, until the current October 2021 issue was purchased yesterday. I very much enjoy scratch building in fact the only kit that I have ever bought was the moulded hull for Plaudit but obviously making the remainder of the model from Plasticard. I have never really got into taking photographs of my builds but I was the chairman of my local model boat club until I resigned completely from the club last year and one of my family used to take photos for me to populate the pages of the Facebook group that I set up and administered for the club. Therefor most of my builds are from plans (or based on plans) either freebees from MB or purchased from Sarik. However I do have a very nice canal pusher tug which was to my own design/drawings, with the latter being produced by obtaining the length and beam dimensions of the actual vessel from the manufacturers website and then taking numerous photographs of one of the actual vessels. In hindsight it would have made a good article for MB but obviously too late now. However, when I commence my next fresh build I will take photos of the build and wright an article for MB and dedicate it to another DM i.e. the late Dave Milbourn whose articles in MB I very much enjoyed and also talking to the man himself.

Edited By David Marks 1 on 01/10/2021 08:36:21

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

David, Why would your pusher tug not make an article now? It doesn't really matter that you built it some time ago as long as you have some decent pictures and can put some text together. Scratch built models are probably one of the more difficult areas to get contributions from as there are less and less scratchbuilders around and few of them willing to contribute articles. I'm sure yours would be appreciated.

As for taking photographs, for many years now I have kept a pocket digital camera in my workshop. Mine is a little Panasonic but it has a Zeis lens so produces a really good quality picture, and is an identical camera to a Zeis model at around half the price. I frequently take it out and take a couple of snaps in fully automatic mode paying attention to such basic things as composition, focus and lighting. These pictures are then downloaded to my computer before being labelled and stored in a database. It is a very simple process yet it provides a wealth of archive for me to use in support of articles. If I am doing a build I simply take a couple of shots when I have something new to show.

You may surprise yourself at how much you enjoy keeping a record of your build and how easy it is to do.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Like Richard, I have always photographed progress on my models whether I intended to write an article or not. My fishery cruiser Brenda which was featured a while back sat on the shelf for 20 years after the initial hull construction as I lost interest but I did take initial (film) photos at the time and was able to scan the prints in to compile a comprehensive build article when I finally completed it. I am documenting my current liner and paddle steamer projects in the same way. No idea when either will be finished but there will be the photos if I do an article (and there is still a magazine to publish it).

Incidentally, this forum is dependent on the mgazine continuing, if it doesn't then all the forum material will be lost as it uses bespoke software and the publishers will have no incentive to convert the data structures.

Colin

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

Richard/Colin – Before seeing your last comments I had already decided to do what Richard has now suggested. I certainly have some photos of the completed model going through its paces on the boating pond in Orpington. Not sure what I have of "work in progress" but I can obviously take some of the internal i.e. batteries, motor etc. and describe the rest of the build. I am just coming out of a bad bout of depression (first one ever) and now feel on top of the world again. One of the things I had to do during the recovery process was to set myself targets, so to cover this my target is to have an article + photographs sent to the editor of MB by the end of October (4 weeks).

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

David, I'm glad you are on the mend and looking more positive again. Can I suggest that you contact the editor and ask her a little about what she might be looking for, particularly as regards number of words and pictures.

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

David , That's absolutely BRILLIANT news from you . As for comments made in your last post , been there , done that etc, and so I appreciate the significance of your present position , so WELL DONE . It also means I now have another MB article to look forwards to , thank you . Trevor

[Charles OatesParticipant @charlesoates31738]

Even if someone doesn't want to do a full blown article, the readers models section would be a great place for some photos and a bit of text.

Another thing about the content, my interests have changed over the years, and I now look back at old issues to read articles I probably skipped first time around.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi David,

I'm glad to here your getting back on track you may recall a few years ago you did me a favour and put me in touch with a Crash Tender and Smit tug from a family in Petts Wood who wanted to dispose of them, well the tug went to a new home and I kept the Crash Tender for a rainy day.

In return I see your interested in the Airfix Severn Lifeboat, I have one you can have FOC just PM your address and I'll send it to you, It's far too small in my opinion, maybe all right in the bath  I havn't started the superstructure and the decals are fine, maybe useful for spares ?

The down side is I have glued the deck on for a static model so it may need some cutting and carving !!

Here it is beside my 15" Sun tug, I found MB's in WH Smith's this morning.

Kind Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 02/10/2021 18:50:31

[Dave Smith 17Participant @davesmith17]

Is this the right place to comment on the latest copy of Model Boats (January 2022)?

I have just sat down to leaf through it and found it took at least three times as long as any of the 2021 issues. I discovered that instead of flicking through it, I was drawn into reading several of the articles, and making a mental note to return to some of the others later.

Not having precious pages of the magazine taken up with 'Q&A" with people who seem to have have little relevance to model boating is a big step forward. I found every article to be of interest, even the usually predictable 'Christmas Tale' offered a fresh take and was an enjoyable read – and a great twist at the end!

I have copies of most editions going back to mid 1966, and this current issue is worthy of its place amongst them. Please keep this new standard up – I was very pleasantly surprised.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Dave, constructive comments are always welcomed by the Editor.. Glad you like the current issue.

Colin

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