Once again, Ron put me in a state of mental internal hemmorage. Just shows what happens when you open your mouth and say "someone should do this"....Ron asked me to put my money where my mouth is and moderate the kit review forum, and while my mind was screaming NO, NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, my fingers typed yes in the response. I look at this as our chance to tell the designers/publishers what we think of their kits (within the standards of common decency established by Ron for this site, of course.), as well as feedback to the other members regarding which kits are good buys and which ones should be avoided. The basic format Ron posted for the forums is a good starting point. In my reviews (when I actually manage to get a kit completed and photo-documented), I will attempt to provide a comparative grading system for what I think are the most important considerations when selecting a kit for purchase. Granted that the "value for cost" grade is pretty subjective, and probably should only be attempted for kits that are currently in print (available through at least one of the retailers, and not just on Ebay). This grading system is NOT a requirement I am adding on to Ron's format...just my own preference in how I intend framing the reviews that I add to the forum. If there is enough interest on the part of you other reviewers out there, I will post my grading criteria. And, in keeping with Ron's standards, please no reviews of pirated kits (this primarily concerns "internet finds," but sometimes pertains to hardcopy kits peddled on Ebay). I'm not quite sure what the ethic is regarding the original copyright holder re-pirating a pirated copy (see DeWayne's internet store (www.teuton.org/dbarnett) for an example), but my opinion is what's sauce for the goose......
Moderator introduction
- Thread starter Darwin
- Start date
Dar, welcome to my end of things 
As the moderator of both the review forums, you can run them as you wish as they are yours. I agree fully about not reviewing pirated or questionable material. I think this is on the right track when we say commercially available kits only. For freebies, anyone can make their own judgement calls just by downloading them or listening to the positive or negative chatter here in the forums. Your grading system works for me as your experience in paper modeling preceeds anything I have done and probably many others. You're now officially set up as moderator so take it away! Email addy on the way
As the moderator of both the review forums, you can run them as you wish as they are yours. I agree fully about not reviewing pirated or questionable material. I think this is on the right track when we say commercially available kits only. For freebies, anyone can make their own judgement calls just by downloading them or listening to the positive or negative chatter here in the forums. Your grading system works for me as your experience in paper modeling preceeds anything I have done and probably many others. You're now officially set up as moderator so take it away! Email addy on the way Just want to clarify my remark about commercial kits was just for assigning a "did-I-get-taken" judgment; it is kind of meaningless doing a value judgement for something you got for free (kind of a don't-look-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth type of comment). I think these forums can and should include reviews of internet freebies, as it is a valid way of getting feedback to the designer, but should not primarily concentrate on such reviews. Selfishly speaking, I am more interested in finding out a kit is a waste of money than whether it is a waste of bandwidth.