RCM&E

[David Hazell 1]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

I like the paper copy, but regularly 'cull' my collections as it's heavy, and takes up precious space.  I save any plans and associated articles, plus anything of particular interest.

 

If the choice was an electronic copy, or nothing at all, I'd take the electronic mag........

 

I don't like that you can't get the plans from the electronic version.

[MattyB]

This bit about the free plans with digital editions seems eminently solvable to me. Just have a button in the reader app/form on the website that asks you for your unique subscriber number, pay the p&p and click go - the plan would then be printed on demand (much as many of the UK kit manufacturers work now) by a partner org and sent out direct.
 

The cost of this service could be factored into the digital subscription price. Yes, subscribers would have to pay p&p on each plan ordered, but you could reduce this for multiple plan orders, and how many free plans people actually build anyway versus just looking at? It would certainly make me think about subscribing again, I lapsed my digital subscription a few years ago and only buy a physical copy if I fancy the free plan.

[EarlyBird]

If Sarik, or someone else, were to supply all the plans featured in the digital version this problem would be solved. At present the 'free' plans are limited to a size that will fold into the magazine, going down the Sarik route would remove this limitation making larger models possible.

 

I wonder.

 

Steve 

[GrumpyGnome]

Indeed. No need to lose plans just because of a digital delivery...

[Geoff S]

Couldn't free plans be available as pdfs?  They're easy to print out at home, either complete or as small parts which can be stuck on the wood as patterns to make cutting out easier. 

[Erfolg]

Geoff, I agree with you.

 

I built a Cussutt from tiled file. I have also printed out a plan of a Frog Minx by the same method. It works and works well. Just takes a little time to accurately stick the sheets together.

[EarlyBird]

16 minutes ago, Geoff S said:

Couldn't free plans be available as pdfs?  They're easy to print out at home, either complete or as small parts which can be stuck on the wood as patterns to make cutting out easier. 

No printer in my paperless office but pdfs can be printed at a printers.

[Peter Christy]

1 hour ago, EarlyBird said:

No printer in my paperless office but pdfs can be printed at a printers.

To a point - a lot of printers will refuse to print it if it has a copyright symbol on it.

 

--

Pete

 

[EarlyBird]

42 minutes ago, Peter Christy said:

To a point - a lot of printers will refuse to print it if it has a copyright symbol on it.

 

--

Pete

Personally, I would get SLEC to print it and buy the wood at the same time which in my mind gives free delivery on the plan, copyright permitting obviously.

 

Steve

[Andy48]

I used to do quite a lot of magazine writing over the years. I've probably had over 100 3000+ word articles published, including some in RCME. I've never had an article rejected by a magazine. I stopped writing for RCME because of the requirement for professional quality photography. It simply wasn't worth it for the time and effort. Its not something anyone else can do with a build article which is what I was interested in. Professional photography has its place in the magazine, of course, but not for every article.

 

I wonder how many, like myself, have been put off by this requirement?

[Masher]

Me too. I failed at the first hurdle because my photography was not good enough! All I wanted to do was write about electronics and radio issues. Seemed pictures were much more important than the words. Never mind 

 

[kevin b]

In as much as our scale models are toys (for grown ups), likewise magazines are nothing more than comics in the same way.

They say a picture paints a thousand words. That's why photographers get paid more than writers.

[Phil Green]

But the mag is printed quite low-res I think?   I know some are printed at 75dpi which makes a mockery of your high-res photos! 😃

 

[Tim Hooper]

7 hours ago, Andy48 said:

 I stopped writing for RCME because of the requirement for professional quality photography.

 

 

It's my opinion that the required standards for photos have been relaxed a little these days, which I think is a good thing.  I, for one, no longer maintain a home studio for static shots.  Nowadays I'm more than happy to take shots on the work bench, with the main subject surrounded by the clutter of the building process.  Far more accessible for the contributor, and relatable to the everyday reader.

 

It's also my opinion that the standard of printing also been relaxed, as has the quality of the paper used, maybe for economic reasons.  But that's out of my control.

 

Tim

 

 

[Colin Leighfield]

I have tried subscriptions for electronic versions of magazines, but as with work documents, I don’t like reading long subjects on screen and tend to not bother, or print them off to read, which isn’t cheap and offsets the savings.  At the moment, all of my mag subscriptions, aviation and motorcycling, are for hard copy. I’m not arguing about the way things are heading, but I still get more out of the printed version. Probably and mostly, a generational thing, I expect. I’ve subscribed to Aeroplane ever since it re-appeared in 1973 and have every edition since then, mostly bound. Fabulous source of information that can’t age because it’s historical, but I expect it will finish up in a skip somewhere when I pop my clogs. It does take up a lot of space. 

[leccyflyer]

I'm the same with magazines. They do take up a lot of space, but they are a marvellous resource - most of all you can't really safely read a tablet, laptop or phone in the bath, which is my preferred location for soaking up my RCM&E. 🙂

 

[Zflyer]

For good tips and instructions on using depron look at Expiremental Airlines on youtube. The guy has stopped now and whilst the videos are a few years old the techniques remain the same. If you can't find it try typing Armin Wing into Google then click k on videos to search.

[Colin Leighfield]

17 hours ago, Andy48 said:

I used to do quite a lot of magazine writing over the years. I've probably had over 100 3000+ word articles published, including some in RCME. I've never had an article rejected by a magazine. I stopped writing for RCME because of the requirement for professional quality photography. It simply wasn't worth it for the time and effort. Its not something anyone else can do with a build article which is what I was interested in. Professional photography has its place in the magazine, of course, but not for every article.

 

I wonder how many, like myself, have been put off by this requirement?

That’s interesting. Some time ago, I wrote a feature on the Supermarine Spiteful/Seafang and the 1/10 scale model I had designed and built. David Ashby was interested and I sent a copy of the plan and a wooden pattern for the canopy, but he said the flying photos weren’t high enough resolution. Danny Fenton very kindly came along to the field to take some pictures, but I got nervous and flew it into the hard runway in a low pass that he asked for and did some damage! Danny said that the pictures he had got weren’t good enough anyway. I did repair it later, but haven’t flown it since. Perhaps I should have another go, but I don’t have an answer to the photo issue. 

[leccyflyer]

She's a real beauty Colin. 😎

[Colin Leighfield]

1 hour ago, leccyflyer said:

She's a real beauty Colin. 😎

Thank you, I’ll dig it out and have another go.

[MattyB]

6 minutes ago, Colin Leighfield said:

Thank you, I’ll dig it out and have another go.

Looks like a Dark Nights Fix-Up 2022/23 candidate to me - she’s a beauty!

[Graeme Poke]

Yes please Colin. I'm still waiting for your article. I love the Seafang/Spiteful. Cheers Graeme

[Colin Leighfield]

On 24/07/2022 at 10:09, Graeme Poke said:

Yes please Colin. I'm still waiting for your article. I love the Seafang/Spiteful. Cheers Graeme

I’ll see if I can do something about it, although it’s likely to be September.