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[KitS]

Take out a subscription save all the hassle and save money also. If you are away often just think of all that reading when you get home in this world of doom and gloom it would surely make you feel better.

Hm, yes.

I did that with MMI for many a long year, and look where that got me? 

[Dave Cook]

Totally agree with Colin ,if a fee were to be introduced for the forum it would only scare off people new to model boats who only a bit of advice . I myself years ago when i was new to model boating needed advice and was made most welcome from the gentlemen on the MB forum and would now gladly pay a very small fee for it .
Dave   

[Leaky]

Bought my first copy for years in Worcester WH smiths which had a few and I'm quite impressed and I think I will subscribe in the next couple of months.
Mine came with a freebie namely a copy of model collector not my thing but an interesting read.

[RAAArtyGunner]

Ifyou are having trouble getting the magazine why not feed this information back to my time media.I am sure they would appreciate your feedback.Its o.k. to complain about problems getting the magazine but without feed back nothing will change. Personally I have no problems taken out a regular subscription arrives every month my thoughts on this matter only

  Seriously, that is the first thing done and what happens is you get fobbed of and get a PR apologetic speech which does nothing.
Net result no improvement, so subscription cancelled.

As previously stated far better to buy from newsagent that way you get rid of the chaff copies.
The shortsightedness is the publisher.
Get rid of the so called specials and add that to and improve the content to the other 12 issues.
Logic suggests no increased costs, so lets put that furphy to rest, indeed reduced cost, because you save one mailing to subscribers and save one set up cost.
Who wants to buy 24 issues to read parts 1 to 24 of building/making a whatsit.

It didn't work for other mags, such as build the Titanic week by week, so where is the logic of Model Boats following suit. It's called shooting yourself in the foot, namely a self inflicted wound, nothing to do with subscribers/purchasers or costings but poor management and lack of foresight.

[Colin Bishop]

RaaArty,
It's best if you don't burst into print with incorrect assumptions, much better to get your facts right first as it simply confuses people. Model Boats don't run articles in series over extended periods and haven't done so since the early 1970s. Was that when you last bought a copy?  . Articles have rarely been spread over more than two parts for many years now.
Has it occurred to you that your 'chaff' issues actually contain stuff that other people want to read even if it it is not to your personal taste? If you don't like the content then don't buy it but don't rubbish those people who do - and there are thousands of them!
You also have no idea of the ins and outs of the printing process and the costs involved so best not to go there either.
Colin

[Davew]

Well said raaArty
davew

[roycv]

Hi all, I support Colin in this as I am sure many others do, he has had experience in the production of the magazine and the Specials.  The kit reviews frequently sell kits and buyers often wait until there has been a kit review before buying.  Some of the articles on a single build can go on unremittingly, but if done well turn up some useful techniques and tips.  I wonder if the editor intervenes to offer a bit of guidance here?
The obvious thing is that the magazine has to turn a profit otherwise it will be closed down.
I have just received my August edition of Model Boats magazine and F & J this month is about failed American model boat magazines.  With me having more past than future a bit of nostalgia never goes amiss.
regards Roy

[Dave Cook]

Well said Colin ,thousands of true model boaters every month who buy Model Boats can't be wrong.
Dave
 

[ballastanksian]

I agree, if done concisely then a multi part article is not an issue. Looking at Dave Wooley's multi part articles spread across several years, each article covers one item or set of sub assemblies thus being as much a stand alone article as a section of a much larger one.


The increase in multi part articles may be to do with what various people have said above, and that is the magazine articles to publish, so more articles submitted may well mean fewer multi parters.

[RAAArtyGunner]

RaaArty,
It's best if you don't burst into print with incorrect assumptions, much better to get your facts right first as it simply confuses people. Model Boats don't run articles in series over extended periods and haven't done so since the early 1970s. Was that when you last bought a copy?  . Articles have rarely been spread over more than two parts for many years now.
Has it occurred to you that your 'chaff' issues actually contain stuff that other people want to read even if it it is not to your personal taste? If you don't like the content then don't buy it but don't rubbish those people who do - and there are thousands of them!
You also have no idea of the ins and outs of the printing process and the costs involved so best not to go there either.
Colin

C'mon Colin and all your loyal MB supporters what a load of codswallop.

Issue March 2018 Page 48, states Warship scale - Part 13 (oops) pardon me but in Australia part 13 means there have been 12 before.
Also same issue page 44, Steam basics part 87 oh my goodness 87 articles, no not possible must be a typo.
There are other examples, the saying goes there are none so blind who cannot see.
These articles have run for over the space of at least one year, so are you guys understanding what you are reading??
I understand Colin has an obligation to be supportive and give him 10 out of 10 but the rest are blowing hot wind the facts speak for themselves and you wonder why you have closures.

Don't suppose anyone thought to bring out a special on steam basics rather than inflict it on everyone for 87 issues?

I wise mentor told me you can't reason with the unreasonable so enough said by me.

I won't re-subscribe again, done that three times so have experience, unless it improves.

It's not too late to turn it around else we will have no boating mag.

[Peter Fitness]

I wise mentor told me you can't reason with the unreasonable so enough said by me.

I don't wish to appear nasty, but perhaps this could refer to yourself. The extended multi-part articles you refer to are able to be read as standalones, you don't need to have read the previous ones to make sense of the subject.


Granted there are some issues in which some of the articles don't appeal to me, but marine modelling is a very diverse subject and most of us don't embrace the whole spectrum. I am not into steam power, but I can admire the work and techniques involved, similarly submarines and fast electrics. This doesn't mean that I will drop my subscription simply because articles on those aspects of the hobby appear regularly, there are many subscribers whose main interest are those very subjects.


I have been a subscriber to Model Boats for a number of years now, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, if you choose not to buy the magazine, for whatever reason, that is entirely your prerogative.


Peter.

[Stan]

We could rattle on about this for ever the choice is simple either you find the magazine excellent and have regular subscription or you buy on a hit and miss option. Either way the magazines future is our hands so is not time to put this topic to bed. We must remember we now only have the one magazine  for our hobby so support it or lose it.




Stan

[Peter Fitness]

Very well said, Stan, I agree completely.


Peter.

[TugCowboy]

It used to be stocked in my local WH Smith (Hastings) But haven't been able to find it recently.
Hope to be able to subscribe soon anyway, would like to be able to support it.

[Peter Fitness]

Model Boats is available in most of the bigger newsagents here in Australia, but the issues on sale are usually a month or more late. I find that a direct subscription is not only considerably cheaper, but the magazine arrives soon after release in the UK.


Peter.

[Charlie]

I just bought the August edition, mainly due to the free plan which was included, which is actually one i might make, for a change! This is the first one in many years that i have bought. I have to say the mag is vastly improved, and there are lots of interesting articles as well as the plan! The new editor gets a definite thumbs up from me.

[phil_parker]

Working in the model railway press, I can confirm that Colin is spot on with his information on costs - and also the impossibility of trying to keep everyone happy. The situation for specialist magazines is difficult nowadays.

THE way to ensure any mag is to survive is to subscribe. Stop worrying about not everything inside being perfect for you. Sometimes you might even read something you didn't expect and enjoy it. If the cost is a problem, and compared to most of the stuff we spend money on (beer/fags/chips etc.) it's tiny, when a member of your family asks what you'd like for a birthday or Christmas, ask for a subscription. It's the gift that keeps on giving all year and costs less than some of the other c##p you will be bought if you don't come up with an idea. My sister pays for my Dad's sub and loves it when he tells her what he's read. If she'd just bought a single thing for his birthday, it would be forgotten about 3 months later.

"But I like to buy it from Smiths" - well Smiths take nearly all of the cover price when you do. Money that would otherwise ensure the mag keeps going.

If you don't have a postal address, get the digital mag. Then you can read it wherever you are.

To be blunt, Model Boats is a really good mag that deserves our support. If it goes, there will NEVER be another. Read it, write for it. Tell other people to buy it. The editor (IMHO) is doing an excellent job but it's not easy.

(And RAAArtyGunner, All partworks, vanish from Smiths shelves after issue 7. By that point they print very few that aren't pre-ordered, that's how the business model works. The multi-part MB articles are intended to be read as stand-a-lone pieces so if you've missed the others, it's not the end of the world.)

[Colin Bishop]

Well said Phil, puts things into perspective. We only have one UK Model Boating magazine left and it should be supported. A lot of effort is put in to making it appeal to as many people as possible and the contributors are all dedicated model boaters. Most of the articles are a good read even if you are not into that particular aspect of the hobby and it is always interesting to see and admire what others are doing.
Colin

[roycv]

Hi all, glad to have read the above, it has always been my favourite magazine.  I bought my first Model Maker magazine in late 1954, when I went into the forces I had it sent out to me via the on camp book shop. I bought the magazine via Smiths regularly until I found a reliable wire box to catch everything from the letter box and so deprive the dog of her favourite activity.
Since then I have had a subscription.  I did not realise how much the shop takes from the cost of the magazine, but knowing that I hope others will follow the advice.
I have made a few contributions my first being to represent John Cundell at the Nuremburg Toy Fair in 1992, that was great.
regards to all,
Roy

[Tug Fanatic]

……………………."But I like to buy it from Smiths" - well Smiths take nearly all of the cover price when you do. Money that would otherwise ensure the mag keeps going. …………………..

I know retail mark up on many things is to double the price paid & some of the gift shops around here work on a minimum of trebling cost price. I understand that those "free" extra magazines that are sometimes included are a required promotion for having the magazine on the shelf at all. As an aside I dislike those free magazines as they are never something that I want to read & they stop me looking in the magazine to decide if I want to buy it. One lost sale but presumably they attract someone else. Do magazines with a free extra magazine result in many extra sales?

I also understand that Smiths is both the wholesale & then the retail agent so I can only guess how little of the cover price gets back to the magazine. Would 25% of the cover price to pay for articles, editor, publisher overheads & printing sound silly?

[Charlie]

If the retailer takes so much of the money, why doesn't the publisher offer a direct online sales channel, where buyers can purchase the magazine? That way they cut out the middle man, and keep more of the cover price. Magazines seem to be one of the few things that you can't buy online - i wonder why that is?

[jaymac]

Well Septembers issue arrived today

[Colin Bishop]

The publisher gets rather more than 25% of sales price but it is not far off a 50/50 split.

As for selling individual copies online, it would be pretty expensive to employ people to sit around waiting to address envelopes and stuff them into magazines plus pay the individual postage costs. As things are, the subscriber copies are desptached by the printers who know exactly how many to send and there is no doubt a bulk mailing discount.  They wouold also need to maintain or pay for an online payment system. If it were economic for publishers to distribute their own magazines they would!
It wouldn't be very convenient for customers either. Firstly they would have to find out what was in the magazine to determine whether it would be worth purchasing and then go on line to actually order and pay for it, all very tme consuming.

Colin

[jaymac]

Almost the  same boat so to speak as subscribers Colin, except they could read all that is in it prior to purchase MAGAZINE COVERS AND CONTENTS: Model Boats

[JimG]

Traplet had an online shop where you could buy individual copies of their magazines, both back copies and the latest issue. The main drawback was that it took around two to three weeks for them to arrive after ordering.
Jim