Got this eMail today . Nice touch in my book .
GHQ has an exciting announcement for N-Scalers. We will regularly be posting fully illustrated step-by-step articles on our N-Scale forum. These articles will expand your choices and enhance your opportunity to create the kinds of models and scenes you desire. They will prove that N-Scale is a great modeling scale, and show that any model railroading project is possible in N-Scale. Many of them will feature a set of specifically designed parts at the end of the article that you can purchase to complete your model. While selling product is an objective, not all postings will be directed to selling GHQ products. Many will be kit-bashing ideas for products made by other companies. The main purpose will be to enhance the modeling experience, and options, for all N-Scalers. Our goal is to turn model railroad collectors into modelers, and existing modelers into master-model builders.
The last 10 years have brought profound changes to N-Scale model railroading, some good and some bad. Obviously the increase in high quality, ready-to-run prototype specific motive power and rolling stock has been gratifying. However, apparently now we are embarking on a new era of ready built "everything else. This is not so encouraging. The more ready built that is available, the more everyone's layout looks like all the others. It encourages settling for what comes out of the box, and discourages prototype modeling. People are buying fewer, and fewer kits. They are kit-bashing less, and less. As model building becomes less necessary, the market for quality kits disappears. The true modeler winds up with a shrinking number of products available that caters to his needs. When you see the same boxcars with different paint jobs, buildings, bridges, etc. on everyone's layout, the hobby becomes much more uninteresting. We already have had this problem with DPM buildings. Don't g
et me wrong, it's a great line of buildings. In fact, because its such a great line, every layout in the country has the same town on it, the same block of buildings, always with the same corner turret on the same end of the block: Pleasantville, USA, posing as Minot, North Dakota, Ogden, Utah, and Birmingham, Alabama. We are in grave danger of this hobby becoming boring, uninspiring, and unfulfilling.
Fortunately there is hope. There is a core of true modelers in N-Scale that soldier on, willing to take what's available and modify it, or scratch-build, to create their own favorite prototype scene, and period. Most of these guys are frustrated steam or transition era devotees who have been unable to effectively cater to their main area of interest, and prototypes. These people have a vision, and make it come true. These are the same people who amaze you in the magazines. You can probably tell that GHQ products have always been targeted at those modelers. You can be one of those people.
With the advent of the internet, new ways of reaching and sharing information with these modelers is now available to all of us. But it goes beyond that. In a very real sense, sad but true, stores and even magazines are becoming obsolete. GHQ will be enhancing our website to better serve and inform model railroad customers, to keep ahead of the curve, just as we do for our military customers.
Most of you are probably familiar with the Zen Master series of articles that appeared in N-Scale Magazine a few years ago. The Zen Master philosophy on modeling will prevail here as well. As we tried to get across to the readers of those articles, maintaining the Zen philosophy, and attitude, towards a project or task enhances your success. Zen is not a religion, it is a philosophy of life. No one is trying to convert anyone to any religion.
Here are a few of the Zen Master's principles:
1. Every part of a model is a model and should be approached as such
2. Everything you buy is just a bag of parts and should be studied for it's component uses
3. Nothing on a layout should be recognizable as a commercial kit
4. No matter how good you think your model is, the next one will be better
5. Its only impossible to model something in your mind
6. The first models made by the best modelers in the world looked like crap
7. Approach your modeling with humility, because, no matter how good you are, there are better models in your future
8. You are not in competition with anyone but yourself. Share your knowledge. This is a fraternity
9. You don't have to know everything before starting a project. Often times, the model shows you the way as you make it
With that spirit in mind, we will offer articles on locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, right of way, or anything else that strikes our fancy. The articles will generally be prototype specific, but the techniques illustrated in the articles can all be applied to whatever era, or railroad, that you choose.
Remember this hobby is called Model Railroading, it's not called Railroad Model Collecting.. Leave the collecting to those brave souls who continue to hold on to their Beanie Babies. Hopefully, this website will inspire model railroaders to become railroad modelers.
You can find the first of these articles here:
http://www.ghqmodels.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3260Thank you for your support,
GHQ
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