EagleDriver Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) Hello fellow modellers, Is there anyone who has this DVD? What do you think of it ? 'cause i want to order one myself... Tnx, Luc Edited December 7, 2012 by EagleDriver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hacker Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 http://www.kalmbachstore.com/15150.html you get it from Kalmbach for about $100. Right now they are offering free postage. I think it better then having all the mags hanging around but you will get the good, the bad and the indifference in terms of issues Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skidbuggy Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Did Kalmbach fix the problems they had with their Model Railroader DVD for those of us who are Mac users? When I got mine, it would crash the computer and Kalmbach wasn't much help to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Midway Sailor Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've had my copy for about two weeks and installed it on both a PC and a laptop. It runs great with no problems (at least on Windows platforms, haven't installed it on my office MAC yet). It has a lot of options, allows printing of the pages and is great for those who are missing older issues. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scot M Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Is this available long term? Interested in getting one,but have to wait till early next year... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kei Lau Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I've had my copy for about two weeks and installed it on both a PC and a laptop. It runs great with no problems (at least on Windows platforms, haven't installed it on my office MAC yet). It has a lot of options, allows printing of the pages and is great for those who are missing older issues. This question is for Midway Sailor and all the 25 years DVD owners: When I view a FSM review on this FSM website, I can get a pretty good quality picture by clicking the picture on the article. For example: http://www.finescale.com/Products%20and%20Reviews/Kit%20Reviews/2012/01/132%20Skyraider.aspx Can I expect similar quality from the DVD on my PC monitor screen? The pictures in the preview video is somewhat grainy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Midway Sailor Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Screenshots All images except image #6 are resized. They are meant to show what the program looks like. Image #6 is cropped from the screenshot, but the actual article image is still 100% (at a screen resolution of 1920 X 1080) Opening screen Directory (Beginning ~ shown oldest to newest) Directory (End ~ shown oldest to newest) Issue cover with Table of Contents (single page view) Article (two-page view) Article (single page view ~ actual size with no zoom) Article (single page view with partial zoom) Article (single page view with full zoom) Here's an excerpt from the pamphlet enclosed in the DVD case: "Some pages may appear light or discolored, and older magazine pages will have slight markings, stampings, or small tears on them. Some photographs have noticeable dot patterns. Magazine issues after mid-2004 are reproduced from digital originals; earlier magazines were scanned from paper copies. The best available issues were scanned to make this DVD set." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kei Lau Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Midway Sailor, Many, many thanks for posting those screen shots. It answered most of my question about the DVD quality. It is not quite magazine quality, and the characters were a little burry. But it is as good as most modeling DVD I have in my collection. I think that I will get one copy of the DVD's sometime. Your post also raised another question: "Some pages may appear light or discolored, and older magazine pages will have slight markings, stampings, or small tears on them. Some photographs have noticeable dot patterns. Magazine issues after mid-2004 are reproduced from digital originals; earlier magazines were scanned from paper copies. The best available issues were scanned to make this DVD set." The screen shots are from a September 2003 issue. Therefore, one of the lesser quality. How much better are those from post 2004 issues with digital originals? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SonyKen Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Sailor, Those screen shots are Fantastic! Thanks! I owe every issue of FSM and the one thing that I like to do with my issues is to go to a copy machine and copy off articles that may pertain to a certain build that I am working on at the bench. So I have a question about the print-outs of the articles. Are the print-outs of the pages like they were imported into a WORD or Adobe file or are they like "scans" of magazine itself? I am mostly talking about "borderless" as opposed to haveing a border around it where the copier scanned larger than the actually size of the magazine. As long as the print-outs are "full page", I will be getting this DVD. If I find the print-outs satisfactory, it will save me the time and the wear and tear on the magazines themselves of searching out the issue I want to make copies of and then having to seek out a copier/scanner that can render a usable copy of the article to be used as reference at my work bench. Thanks for the information! Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Midway Sailor Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 (edited) The screen shots are from a September 2003 issue. Therefore, one of the lesser quality. How much better are those from post 2004 issues with digital originals? January 2007 Article (double page view ~ Full 1920 X 1080 screen resolution with partial zoom) It's not the quality of the photos in the online FSM forum galleries, but when it does provide every article written up to December 2007, I'm not complaining. Edited December 8, 2012 by Midway Sailor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Midway Sailor Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Sailor, Those screen shots are Fantastic! Thanks! I owe every issue of FSM and the one thing that I like to do with my issues is to go to a copy machine and copy off articles that may pertain to a certain build that I am working on at the bench. So I have a question about the print-outs of the articles. Are the print-outs of the pages like they were imported into a WORD or Adobe file or are they like "scans" of magazine itself? I am mostly talking about "borderless" as opposed to haveing a border around it where the copier scanned larger than the actually size of the magazine. As long as the print-outs are "full page", I will be getting this DVD. If I find the print-outs satisfactory, it will save me the time and the wear and tear on the magazines themselves of searching out the issue I want to make copies of and then having to seek out a copier/scanner that can render a usable copy of the article to be used as reference at my work bench. Thanks for the information! Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Print outs of the newer issues are good quality. Print outs from the older issues are only as good as the scanned original. When printing in the two-page view, each page prints separately. When a page is printed out, it's exactly the same as if you removed it from the original magazine. They're full page with the same borders the original magazine has. You could basically print two-sided and after stapling them together, have an exact recreation of the original issue (with less image quality in the older issues, of course). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SonyKen Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Sailor, How much of a cut is FSM giving you off the sales of these? :thumbsup:/> Ha Ha! Hopefully they are giving you something because your answer to my last post just sold me on the DVD. I may still have the email code for the free shipping so I will be ordering that puppy this weekend. Thanks! Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Midway Sailor Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 How much of a cut is FSM giving you off the sales of these? :thumbsup:/>/>/> Ha Ha! Hopefully they are giving you something because your answer to my last post just sold me on the DVD. I may still have the email code for the free shipping so I will be ordering that puppy this weekend. Thanks! I wish, but unfortunately nothing is coming my way from FSM. I simply had the item and was answering questions the best I could. When I read reviews, I always want the most accurate and informative descriptions possible. Some people might not like this DVD, but I'm sure most will, myself included. I'm glad to finally have access to all the back issues of the magazine and hope they will release 2008 and later as upgrade installments. It would be great if some of the other publications will follow with back issue DVDs of their own! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SonyKen Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Troy, I not going to wish for other no farther than FSM's Kalmbach sister publication, Scale Auto, as far as back issues on DVD. Those two publications would have me set. That would give me a ready reference at my finger tips with the least amount of trouble. I have been searching for years for ways to combine my two favorite hobbies of model building and computers. Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rick in Maine Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Kalmbach wants $100 for 25 years of back issues on disk. National Geographic wants $60 for more than 100 years. You do the math. I've got FSM back to the first issue, with articles I'm interested in on indexed 4x6 cards. I'd rather have the DVDs but not at Kalmbach's price. Rick in Maine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kei Lau Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Kalmbach wants $100 for 25 years of back issues on disk. National Geographic wants $60 for more than 100 years. You do the math. I've got FSM back to the first issue, with articles I'm interested in on indexed 4x6 cards. I'd rather have the DVDs but not at Kalmbach's price. Rick in Maine I am not defending the pricing strategy of Kalmbach. Whether $100 is fair for the 25 years of back issues is up to the buyer. However, It is not fair to compare FSM to National Geographic who are on opposite spectrum of the readship scale. On the other hand, I paid only $30 for annual subscription of FSM. Any other general topic modeling magazine from England will cost 2.5-4 time more. Those British mag price is not going to drop any time soon. There is not enough readers in the US to justify creating a US printed version. So, we have to pay for the air postage to get them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SonyKen Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I am not defending the pricing strategy of Kalmbach. Whether $100 is fair for the 25 years of back issues is up to the buyer. However, It is not fair to compare FSM to National Geographic who are on opposite spectrum of the readship scale. Kei, I second you on that one. Comparing FSM to National Geographic in terms of age of the publication, readership volume, and content, it is like comparing (as the old saying goes) apples to oranges. I would love to see FSM to one day have the readership base that National Geographic holds, but with the ebbs and flows of interest in building models, it will probably never happen. It is just like the mom and pop hobby shops. For every local store that I have done business with over the last 25 years, I can name you 5 or more that are no longer in business. The folks at Kalmbach/FSM/Scale Auto can tell you that their business can be feast or famine. I am sure that they gain a little year to year, but I am sure that they can tell you that with the ups and downs of the market that they pretty much stay on an even keel. Yes, I think that the price is fair and worth it for me, not to have to flip through my vast collection of magazines for a build article(s) and the ability to print out those articles for my use at the work bench adds even more value to my purposes. Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hegedus Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I like the idea of the DVD, but would really like it to be something that could be installed on a tablet (i-Pad specifically). That would allow use at the bench without printing, and also be conveniently portable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EagleDriver Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Quite a discussion i started here.... I've ordered the DVD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SonyKen Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 (edited) I like the idea of the DVD, but would really like it to be something that could be installed on a tablet (i-Pad specifically). That would allow use at the bench without printing, and also be conveniently portable. Joe, That is interesting, but I would rather spill something on a piece of paper rather than a $200 plus IPOD or other mobile device. With my ten thumbs, it is just about a given that I will spill paint, glue, or weathering medium on it, in it, or somewhere near. That would also include the super glue finger prints that I end up leaving permanently on the screen. YIKES! Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Edited December 15, 2012 by SonyKen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skidbuggy Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I received my copy today and installed it on my Mac and I am a spammer, please report this post. Air. No problems so far and works fine. Too bad Model Railroad work as good. Alex Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EX_Birdgunner Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Wow! At first the price did not really get me interested in the DVD but after seeing this I might ask for it for my Birthday. Would really help cut down on the clutter and allow me to have access to a lot of back issues. Thanks for sharing. Denis Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.