One model makers opinion

Model makers are one heck of a competitive group of people. Its a good thing - it makes the art better and better. Good model makers always want to get to that "next level". Its not unlike other arts or music. I love to see what others do and sometimes Im blown away. Take for example, functioning miniature V-8 engines, or huge R/C 747s, or some of the Gibbs & Cox ship models from the 40s (lets not forget August Crabtree). I used to make more R/C boats professionally, but true R/C afficianados want to be able to claim credit for the performance of their model themselves.

Sometimes there are aspects to our competitiveness that have to be watched. Often a model-maker looks at what another model-maker has in front of them and unconsciously assumes that they are seeing that model-makers best work. This is how we reassure ourselves of our abilities and is natural.

Unfortunately, such comparisons may be flawed...

You will never, ever, see our best works, unless you are our customer, or the work is on display in public. Why? We cant risk traveling with works that are either too fine, or at a stage of construction where the details are too delicate. Dealing with preparations for shipping is scary enough.

When you make models for a living, there is an "economics" to the work. Some models cost hundreds of dollars while others cost tens, even hundred, of thousands of dollars. Its self-explanatory; the amounts of time, effort and quality of materials differ at each end of the spectrum.

You may be familiar with intricate models made from pieces of bone or toothpicks by someone imprisoned for decades. With nothing else to do for 20 years, it was probably therapeutic and the only thing to do. I cant imagine... Occasionally we run into someone that has been working on a single model for over 20 years. Its not the same situation, but what they have is usually wonderful.

Weve got to be careful about our comparisons. Often times between apples and oranges. We look at someone elses great work and become depresssed. Why?  Model-making is about learning and getting better. If it is that great, learn from it. Bear in mind that your own work may be better than you realize.

Much worse is to make an assumption of  another model-makers capabilities in order to measure your own.

I will say it again, "you cannot know what you dont know". This means that while youve got your chest out about your great skills, someone will come along and "blow you away", because you werent paying attention.

All model makers are different in some way, shape or form. I seriously  doubt that August Crabtree could have built a functional V-8 engine and the converse for the engine modeler. They are/were both great model-makers. I think that they would both have respected each others work, knowing the differences.

Your most important competition is with yourself. Work on learning more. Judge yourself fairly. Make models that you like and in the way that you believe they should be made. You will probably change your beliefs every now and then, but if you keep growing, youll be contributing to the world of model-making.

"Always sign your work. Its very sad to see a great model with no way of knowing who made it."

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One Lives And Learns!

I have to admit that despite doing all the calculations, in the real world the 240v electric combo microwave / oven just wasnt doing what it should have.

It did work from the engine alternators or the new 12v genset through the inverter but it was just not efficient and also an engine had to be running to use it so noisy too. So reluctantly I have had to admit          I was wrong.  I know I was told many times on the forums and had quizzical raise eyebrows from people I spoke to about it face to face.

So I now have a gas oven and full width grill and jolly well (and silently) it works too.

Once fitted I did a gas leak check with a digital manometer.  Start pressure was 39mb.  The supply was turned off and the pressure dropped to 30mb by turning on a gas ring.  It was left to settle for 5 minutes where it dropped 4mb.  After another 5 minutes the pressure had risen slightly to 28mb.  I left it another 20 minutes or so which is more than is required and the pressure remained at 28mb.  Test passed.

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One Authors Opinion

The conventional "minds-eye" image of the life of an author could be that of someone sitting on the porch of their Malibu beachfront cottage, jotting down words as they come to mind, avoiding calls from the late night talk shows, without a care about anything but the plot of their book and the daily glance at the New York Times ratings of the last book... ...the life-threatening intrusion of "writers block"... ...the miraculous insight that leads to a night of furious typing to create a 400 page novel that immediately hits #1!... ...movie rights!... ...Broadway!...

Nice fiction...

Over the years, Ive known a number of authors; some in my family, whove been "up there", so to speak. I can now say, with great pride, that I am an author, too. With that pride also comes a certain humility that I am among many, many, whose works are far more important in peoples lives than mine. Still, I know that I worked honestly, carefully, and very hard to make something that I hope lasts longer than I do, understanding that once I let it go I have very little control over its future.

It hasnt taken long to learn that we live in a time that threatens the existence of authors and other artists, especially musicians, because our technology is growing at a rate far greater than our ability to control, or even understand, what the effects of it can be. Its already been decades since musicians and music writers started losing livelihoods due to cassette and then CD reproductions of materials that were sold openly on the street.

More recently, almost every household has scanning and/or digital photography equipment. While it may not seem like the same thing as counterfeiting currency, the ease of which anything on paper can be copied has resulted in a world-wide market of pirated books. In an era of unprecedented material acqusition, as well as personal debt, the idea that you could acquire a book that youve always wanted to read for a very low price or even for free, is very compelling. Its sadly amazing to see what is offered.

That concept should be balanced with an understanding of what would never have been, if authors didnt get paid to do their jobs and if publishers tried to print books strictly out of their own pockets. I cant imagine and I am not sure if anyone else could.

You can counter this with the rationale that we are living in a new world. There are certainly benefits to the new technologies. Im sure that I have a lot of advantages over my grandfather, who typed on manual typerwriters, due to word processing programs and spread-sheets. This new world type of thinking has also led to a new way of doing business that has been developing in recent years...

In more recent times, extremely large, multi-faceted corporations have developed with goal of marketing virtually anything that exists. This means that they have, within their corporations, companies that make product A, companies that make product B, companie that make product C, etc., etc.. This gives these large corporations unimaginable resources and leverage.

If such a corporation wants dominance in product B, for example, they can give product B away to customers for free, Company B operating at what, for other companies, would be a severe loss, the other various companies within the large corporation providing the capital to keep Company B going indefinitely. Other companies that make product B, starting with the smallest, go out of business until the large corporation largely, if not totally, dominates the market for product B and then can raise prices to whatever they want, now being "the only game in town". That "town" just happens to be known as the planet "Earth".

This same leverage can be used to force other companies, whose function they may not be so interested in replacing, to operate under unfair terms.

As an author, who relies on the fair selling of the books that I write, I would simply like to be paid for the years of research required, the writing that kept me up late many nights and as a token of the enjoyment that I hope that you are getting from the book that you reading. As someone with a small, but developing sense of what is involved in bringing a book to fruition after the author has submitted their manuscript, I would like to believe that my editors, book designers, marketing staff, warehouse workers and everyone else, that Ive seen work very hard, get fairly treated for what they do.

It is not acceptable to simply copy someone elses work for free. Please look carefully at the "bargain" that is in front of you to be sure that it is a legitimate copy. If its a good deal, Im all for it. I want you to ready my book, after all. If its not legitimate, please think about whats behind that "bargain".

Id like to commend Peter Schiffer for his work in trying to help authors.
See this link: http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/press_release.php?id=48
I hope that others will follow suit...

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