Dakimbrell

This is the MiniArt 1/35th kit. If you are looking for a lot of nice detail, I recommend this kit. The bonnet louvres re molded open and the suspension springs are hollow. Dak

What is the current purpose OOB categories? Dak

Of course, the same argument continues. That doesn’t mean it is invalid or unwanted. Nothing changes if no one debates the merits. Things change and periodically you have to revisit the same argument to see if the original concept is still valid. Dak

I think when they started trying to charge for the flyer they totally screwed up. Why pay for the flyer when you can go on line and see what’s new for free? Well, that lasted about two months before they started sending them out again for free, but I bet they lost a lot of old, loyal customers from that. Dak

I still find it odd that when you go to the web page, it still says closed for renovation. Dak

I have been using powdered grout for about 15 years and use nothing else for dirt. I put it over a styrofoam fill. Only time I used Celluclay, it shrank and came off the wood. I don't like it. Dak

Welcome from Oklahoma. What are your interests? This is my latest project. Dak

I do not feel that a OOB win is automatically an easy win. Particularly give the quality of kits and artistic ability at a National. Sure it is “popular” because people are now using the category as a way to hedge their bet. If you build two Takom Tiger tanks, you enter one in the regular category and one in the OOB category. It gives you more chances to win. Now days, most entries seem to be high quality kits. In some cases, you don’t even need to drill out a machine gun barrel or exhaust. No one starts entering an IPMS National with an OOB Smer kit. This unit elitist model building, just reality. When OOB was created, it had a purpose. Now, that need has past and there are better ways to expand the categories giving others a chance to win without the headache of the OOB rules. Dak

But Nick, if you bother to look at what is being entered in OOB, they are no longer old Monogram or Aurora kits, but modern kits with lots of details. The majority of people are now building models virtually from the box. The original intent of OOB has passed as a need. It just seems there could be better ways to diversify the categories without having to continually check rules to see a particular model follows them. OOB rules take up more space than any other class. This strikes me as ironic for a class of models that is supposed to be “simple”. I just think OOB has reached the end of its need. Dak

OOB is obsolescent. Its only current value is to increase the numbers of categories and this could be do with less wailing and gnashing of teeth over the rules. Dak

Lots of rumors, but we have yet to hear any formal information like Chapter II, or a WE ARE OUT OF BUSSINESS. It may be they are trying something we yet don't know about. Without a doubt they have had problems and something is going on. If they are out of business, why no formal announcement? Same with moving or changing owners? Dak

There are a number of reasons for their problems. Personally, I liked the old web design much better than the latest one. Taking on Eagle Quest instead of continuing to support Scalfest as they did did not help either. At any rate, I started doing business with them in the old Kalamazoo days. I still have copies of some of the Magazine/Catalog they put out in the old days. Dal

Yes, I truly enjoyed the store in Chicago and later in DC. I miss them. Dak

Looks like long time mail order and wholesaler Squadron/MMD may be out of business. Nothing confirmed, but reliable sources say warehouse is empty. If I'm wrong, let me know. Dak

If it something I really want, I will probably find a way to buy it, even if I have to rent the grandkids out to pick melons in Mexico. There are some kits I think are over priced....Like Dragon, currently. That doesn't mean they are bad kits, just over priced for the market. I am reluctant to buy any cottage industry resin because about as soon as I buy it, someone releases It in plastic. Dak

My neighbor has a big, very expensive bass boat that takes up two of the three bays of his garage. He gets it out maybe a dozen times a year. I have a similar garage with shelves full of models. Based on a simple count, they are worth about the same as his boat. I need more room. Dak

I agree we definitely get more for our money these days. Do a side by side comparison with any of the kits from the 1950s or 1960s and you will see that. Except for a few sentimental kits, I don't have anything which is earlier than 1990. Most are less than 20 years old. I too shop around to find the best deal. Dak

When I began building models, they ran from 50cents to 99cents. Today I regularly buy kits that go for $50 or more. I remember in the mid-80s when Tamiya was releasing kits that were pricing at around $35 and thinking they are pricing themselves out of business. My point is, "too expensive" is a relative term and means different things to different people. One guy I knew was continually complaining about contest winners always having the "expensive" kits and that it wasn't fair. Yet, I saw him repeatedly spend $50 or more at flea markets buying bunches of crappy old kits like Frog. But buy a good Tamiya kit, no way they were too expensive. Today, for me, $100 is about where I start calling things really expensive. And the prices WNW kits are going for on eBay are definitely "too expensive". So what is your limit? Dak

When I start a new model, I set up a file on the computer and begin a page in Word. Each time I work on the model, I take pictures with my mobile phone and then place them in this file. Every time I work on the model, I add some to the article about what I have done. ( This is far easier than trying to remember what I did several weeks in the past.) By the time I'm done, I have a full range of construction photos as well as an article that only needs some editing. I then recaption the phots to state what I am trying to illustrate. When I get it all tied up, I then send it to John via a service called Wetransfer.com. This lets you send 2m in one shot, for free. Dak

I still maintain OOB has become obsolescent. True many like it, but that is because they believe they can enter a contest and win with a modern kit without going to great expense or effort. However, technology keeps changing and it seems every year or two they have to tweak the rules again. All the current OOB categories do is make more work for the contest judges. There are better ways to create the same number of categories and make it interesting. Do a builders category. Pick a specific kit and have that as the only entry and require it to be built out of the box. Do a painters category. Any kit, but painting and decals are the only thing judged. (Different scales, of course.) From the get go, divide the categories more specifically. For example: Battle of Britain/ British or North Africa German Armor. Another way to go would be divide things up based on skill level. Let the entrant pick the level where they feel comfortable. Dak

Here is the finished vignette. Last model of 2020 for me. Dak

The Meng 1/35th kit OOB. It will be a vignette with the vehicle being painted. Dak

I would disagree that OOB is a test of basic skills, at least the way the rules are today. Originally, I think it came about because there were a bunch of people who didn't want to do the extra detail to be competitive in the main categories. At least that what was told to me by the people behind it in the eighties. Now days, most of my work is done 90% OOB because the things I wanted to add---like periscopes and engine deck screens (on tanks)--are now standard in the kit. I think OOB is a waste of time as it is. If you want to keep it, then make it strictly out of the box and that includes decals. If it is a test of skill, then let the competitor deal with crappy decals. Every little exception begets another. Dak

People who knowingly cheat don't care if the victory is "hollow". However, I do not automatically assume anyone is cheating. I am just making the point that the complexity of modern kits makes it extremely easy to change or add detail without being noticed. Also, models today are much easier to build as "correct" or as award winning models than those from the early days of OOB forty years ago. What is the point of OOB any longer? Originally, it was to give people a chance to compete without having to rebuild half a model just to be on even ground. Now days, that is no longer the issue. Here is an OOB Tiger except for the figures. Zimmerit, single link tracks, engine deck screens, closed sponsons, and gun breech were not available in the basic kit forty years ago, but are now standard features. The Albatross is a WNW kit out of the box except for the machineguns which are Gaspatch. Would anyone notice if I didn't say anything? Dak

Given the design of modern kits and the instruction sheet, combined with the limited time for judging, a builder can get away with all sorts of stuff that violates the letter and spirit of the rules. If someone traded out some parts from a better kit, who would notice? I would bet you could replace a kit cockpit with aftermarket resin and no one would catch it. When the model is done and painted, can you tell the parts are three or four plastic ones or one big resin one? Personally, I think OOB is obsolescent in this day and time. It does create more categories for contestants, but we could do that anyway. Dak