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Old 07-25-2017, 09:39 AM
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MarkB. MarkB. is offline
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Comrades,

After reading this thread, I went back through my copy and I'm not sure it's as far off as Peter seems to think. For instance, all of the balsa, basswood, glue and finishing instruction are still good and are the techniques most of the guys on this web board are familiar with and use.

I think the "new edition" problem is a name brand problem - no more Dutch Boy sprays, for instance. If the references to specific brands were eliminated, the first sections of the book would be relatively timeless. (For gosh sakes, anything but Testors Dullcoat, or as I call it: a yellowing agent ).


The first 28 pages are solid. Some of the tables of available tubes might need some update/tweeking but that's about it. A new p. 28A dealing with 3D printing, perhaps as tersely worded as the casting section would be appropriate. A Finishing 3D materials paragraph mentioning high-build auto primer spray and finishing epoxy would be needed as well.

Decaling would need a paragraph on home-printed decals. Again a short section.

I wouldn't touch pages 34 to 79 at all unless it were to add a reference, where appropriate, to 3D printing, of an escape tower, for example.

The "new edition" problem shows up again on pages 80 to 85. Because it lists specific manufacturers making specific kits, it's in danger of getting out of date fairly quickly. Perhaps a listing of manufacturers with scale offerings as of the date of publication would be better, with their websites.

Ah, the Internet; possibly the single most important addition to this book. Page 86 is OK, but Pages 87 to 89 could be replaced with the single sentence: Look on the Internet. I'm kidding, but only a little. Most modelers (including myself) now spend hours looking at Internet images of rockets. Minokov dimensioned drawings and other goodies are only a click away. So an interductory paragraph or two or three on the Internet and keeping the old-school snail mail way of obtaining data and these pages are ready.

I'd leave 90 to 95 as is and call it good.

I think Peter is being refreshingly modest, he's forgotten more about scale building than the rest of us will know. I'd love to see a new edition.
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