NEW PROCEDURE FOR FUTURE DOWNLOADS PLEASE READ

In this space previously and on the DISCUSSION page, I briefly mentioned that with all future products, we were thinking of providing them only in O scale and also providing you with instructions to print the kits out at your desired scale.  Well, we are no longer just thinking about it, with the release of the hotels, it is becoming our new way of making kits available.  For too many reasons to list, it make good business sense to us.  So, just to let you all know how this is going to work, here is what will happen with the release of the hotels.

The ADD TO CART button, will not mention scale.  There will only be one button that you can select.

There will be only one price.  Data is data.  You get the same amount of it no mater the scale.  Our new pricing model will be one price irreguardless of your final scale.  It will be lower than the historical O scale prices, but more than the HO or N pricing of the past.

Included with the kit download, will be a “PLEASE READ ME FIRST” file which will contain a lot of information about building paper model kits.  There will also be information about reducing with your printer to get the scale that you want.  With this information you will be able to produce kits in any size SMALLER than O. (1:48)  You will NOT be able to scale larger because you will run out of paper space.  This will not be difficult if you follow instructions.

I hope you all will embrace this new way of doing things.  It is what our competitors have been doing for some time and it will greatly help in streamlining our way of developing kits which should help us to get new things to market much more quickly.

One final thing about the “READ ME FIRST” file.  One of the problems of providing kits that can be scaled down is that any text on the kit pages is reduced also.  That becomes a problem when you are reducing from O scale to Z scale.  Very little is readable.  So the plan is to “Eventually” eliminate all of the text from the actual kit pages.  Any special instructions that may be needed for the kit will be included in the “READ ME FIRST” file.  Also a list of “conventions”, standards that will be used in displaying the kits, will be included.  This will be things like defining which way to bend a tab base on an icon rather than text.  Something that will be understanable, even though reduced.  I said the text will eventually be eliminated.  Until you all get used to the new way of doing things, some text will remain but you may have to view it on screen to make some of it out.

Sorry for changing things, but as we move into our second decade, we really need to move forward.

Thanks for you support and understanding.  Please send your questions to me at <mize1@sbcglobal.net> or use the “DISCUSSION” page.

Comments

[John]

Sounds cool. So let's get on with releasing the hotels.

John

[Steve]

Works 4 me.

[bob bruce]

Makes sense. Most of us already enlarge and reduce as needed.
And when you spell out the process in the read me first pages everyone
should be able to get on board.

[Steve Cox]

Whilst I appreciate that there may be compelling efficiency reasons for this move, have you really considered what your customers want?

I model in N Scale and have many of your models - some of which have been featured recently. If I download an O Scale model and print it in N Scale, I waste 70% of every page I print - card, paper, etc; not very environmentally friendly. i.e. only 30% of each page is actually printed on.

Also, despite the comment that your competitors do this, the ones I use - and these number 5 - all offer downloads in several scales; most in HO/OO & N.

Perhaps the majority of your customers model in O Scale? If so, the decision makes sense. If not, then are you really delivering what your customers want?

Cheers
Steve

[John]

To add to Steve's observations: HO scale is still the most popular. Perhaps as many as 65% of model railroaders use HO followed by N scale. Like Steve I also obtain many models from other venders that in fact offer several different scales.

Steve is correct about the paper thing. He will be using a lot of paper to print a model.

But from your side of the fence I guess it makes sense.

John

[bob bruce]

The waste of paper issue is a valid concern. I have run into it in re-scaling.
Some printers will allow smaller sheets. Mine, for example, will print on 3 x 5
and 4 x 6 index cards. I am not sure how many printers allow paper size
adjustment, but many do, to allow printing envelopes, etc. If yours does, it
could get around this issue. Not as convenient, but it would work.

[Dave]

We don't want to put folk off but data storage is getting out of hand. and as Dave mentioned creating in other scales hold up releases. I'll have a kit ready in O because everything starts in O and some times the conversion to HO gets held up. Not that its hard its just kind of redundant. We certainly aren't lazy but we do get tired. I just want to make cool kits that will build well and be enjoyable. We intend to maintain that practice. We can't be everything for everyone but we are not leaving anyone out either.

[CSAhomodeler]

Why don't you put the kits in just ho and o, and that way the n scalers can scale down the ho kits, and the s and other larger scalers can scale down the o scale kits. I have to agree with Steve, Bob, and John.
The amount of paper used would be extremely expensive, (not to mention wasteful.)

[cnwnorthline]

Interesting. I'm not aware of any other sites that make you scale down from O. I do use a number of OO sites and I find it endlessly frustrating when I need to reprint a page and forget to adjust the scaling or forget if I have or not. That shouldn't be too hard to tell with O vs. HO, however. I do share some of the concerns that have been mentioned above but I guess I can't say anything until I've actually given it a chance! I'm glad to hear that you guys have an eye toward the future and are looking to not only stay alive but hopefully grow. I hope to continue supporting you in the future and I would have to say that the health of the company is the best for everyone involved.

[Dave Rarig]

I do most of my modeling in N scale, but have also done HO, Z and O with your designs. I have an Epson printer and I find that I can print some of your designs in multiple pages per sheet, but only if the original data file has all of the pages in one group, i.e. 1 of 9, 2 of 9, etc. The original freebie of the O scale General Rope kit is done this way. I was able to print it in N scale 3 x 3 or 9 pages per sheet, saving a LOT of paper and time. It took a little fiddling to get the reduction percentage correct, as a straight 30% doesn't work with multiple images. It would be greatly appreciated if you could make your future kits this way.

[Dave]

Guys, What can i say, I get why some of you are unhappy. The facts are It's a ton of work to load multiple scale versions into our commerce site. It's a job my brother does after working a double shift in a heavy industry, dirty job. He's rightfully tired and deserves a few breaks.
This is a business and we do have a responsibility to customers. that responsibility is to make good useful designs and good customer service. I think we do that.
You are all great guys and impressive modelers. I can hardly express how proud I feel when i see one of our kits in a show or contest. Without you we don't exist
We are a cottage industry and not wildly profitable. We do this because we like it (most of the time) In general we sell fairly well but still after 10 years. it's still not supporting either of us (came close last year but this year has been a see/saw)
Right now it's important for us not to let this become drudgery. We will continue to make a great kit and hopefully most of you will continue to buy them no matter what the scale.

[Dan Howland]

When I reduce the scale of a model, I cut the excess cardstock away, set it aside, and use it when I need to double the thickness of a piece.

[Jim Bisbee]

I understand your decision and support it. Your designs are great and if this allows you to crank out more then I am all for it. Thanks for your work!

[John]

Thom,

You and Dave turn out great models. You have been doing so for a long time. Proof of this is that I have over 5 gigs of your work on my computer. I have perhaps built 1 gig. But every week I continue with more builds because you turn out a great product. Posting in 'O' scale is only a small inconvenience for a few. Rest assured after a bit all will get used to it.

My fear for you fellows is that new visitors to your website may not get it. They will see 'O' scale and move on. You must get the message to all. I think you need to say (display) loud and clear that all models are available in all common scales. Please figure out how not to shoot yourself in the foot.

In the mean time please release the hotels. Your last promise is for next week. Oh, as for me I have built a hotel. Some time back I did send you some photos of work in progress. But I do need more. I do have three communities on my layout. (smiles and haha)

Stay well,

John

[Jim Bisbee]

I believe Thom and Dave note the conversion percentages for various scales in some of their current kits currently. Here's a link to a scale conversion table: http://dfarq.homeip.net/2004/07/a-model-railroad-scale-conversion-chart/

[Donald Schmitt]

I am in N scale, but I have been buying the HO versions even when N scale is available. I use Corel Print Shop Pro to copy and arrange the building components onto a "larger: sheet, That way when I reduce them to N Scale on 8-1/2 x 11 sheets.there is less paper "wasted". I have doon the same with O scale. Gimp , a free program, should also work.

[jerry]

For any of you out there like me that aren't computer experts, let me suggest that you download one of the free pages & try your hand at changing the scale. I use Adobe for my downloads, but they don't seem to want to print smaller even tho you change the scale. My printer seems to only allow you to scale if you are copying. Tried opening it in Photoshop Elements 2.0. I was able to change the scale under IMAGE. But, you couldn't use the PRINT PREVIEW button. I closed it out & saved the new scale. I then took the smaller sized page from my pictures folder & put it back into Elements & was able to print it in the smaller size???? must be an easier way.

[Dave]

Jerry, what printer are you using?
i suggest you keep two file folders, one with unscaled and another with what ever modifications you make. It's prety easy to accidently not same a file and have it revert to its original size. As far as I know All printers allow scaling.
when you press print a window should open and one of the options will be percentage of size. of course if you modify the size in a graphics program then you would still use the 100% setting.(not always the default)

[jerry]

Thom...I am using an Epson XP-400.None of the options seem to be for scale. Seems I can do most anything else. The procedure i described does work for me even if it does take one more operation. The downsized copy stays that way so I can just print it in the future. I do understand why you almost have to go this way, just hope it doesn't scare off some of us old dinosaurs.