Well from the time that i have been a member of Armorama, and everyday since then , i am looking to find new and better ways to communicate with all friends in here.

The best way so far i have seen is to be sincere and lay your thoughts in some written lines and then let all other friends to express themshelves.

So what i want to ask everybody from today and till the end of 2004 (plenty of time my friends to answer) is a double question.

A) TELL YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE , IN THE 2004 YEAR ,THAT IS STRICTLY RELATED WITH BEEING AN ARMORAMA MEMBER (means meeting a very good new friend, getting some extraordinary help, learning some fascinating techniques or skill u didnt knew , and everything else u can imagine )


B) SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT ARMORAMA'S FUNCTION AND POINT THE THINKS U SEEN CHANGIN THROUGH THIS YEAR'S TIME FOR BETTER AND WORST .



The purpose of all the above is that i (and i believe many others) really need and wish to know what all members feel about our site(family ).

This way some usefull conclusions might be written down , and help Jim and Armorama staff to ease the way they are trying to improve the site (and they are doing it remarkably well to my humble opinion.).

I hope this topic will give u some food for thought , and the opportunity to write down some thinks u may havent the chance to say till now.

Many members experiences will be tracked down this way and i think this will be from much fun to much important also .

Thanks for checkin this one friends

Costas

hi brother,
I think i dont need much time till new year when the questions are about Armorama.
1. I saw so many examples of that in Armorama this year like members great interest to Kevin's heart problems and Garry's wife Shirley's health problems but the best experience for me was ''OPERATION SUPPORT IOS''. I felt the max. proud of being a member of Armorama as I see the support after the fire...and your plaquet idea was so good to make it remember for always.
I have another example that i will remember for years .I remember the photo Irocarmy sent us from Iraq posing with an abandoned iraqi tank with an Armorama graphiti on it. I felt Armorama is always in mind when you are in battlefield away from home.
2. For me;Armorama's function is not only improving my modelling skills , i believe it also added a lot to my personality. Armorama makes distances closer and gives you a chance to hug people that you will meet one day or never meet in your life.
Last thing i will say ; Armorama growing fast and more members will have more expectations from the website so we must support the site more to keep it as it is now.
bestest regards

The Input I get from this site on my work encourages me to sit down and finish kits.. although I took most of the last year off due to family problems I still managed to finish a couple of new kits.. and the feedback I got on my airplane really helped me to finish it..

My wife is a great supporter but she doesn't know softskins from wingy things... and it really does help to have a place to go to meet with people who share the same interests...

Good subject

I will commence thinking

Can I post not just one? Well... the best thing that happened here was the 1st AGE campaign. I never realized that I would make it to the top. Second, I knew a lot of things -- shading, stippling, highlighting, scratchbuilding, color mixing etc etc.... thanks to the help of everyone. Third, I've met almost all of the Filipino members here and person and got to chat and pm some of the international members around the globe.




Armorama has been part of my life. Everyday I log in to my computer and search for new posts. In anyway I can, I post questions and help those who needed it by giving tips and advices and some encouragement to do better. Not to mention everyone here is as friendly as they can be. The location function helps us organize a meeting place. If he's near my location, we do a little EB. The community forum also is one of the biggest help to us. This is where we share stuffs and we speak in our very own tongue. In other words, it has been our little room here in Armorama.

I salute you Armorama and all who make this site a winner Keep it going!

Hi, My best experience here on Amorama this year has been talking to ALL the various indivduals who have been building Trumpeter's big T-34 kit, on "the Amazing T-34" segment, Parts I and II, esp. colo_artist who has really been knocking himself out by posting all kinds of detailed information that not only helps the builders of this kit(s), but also gives a lot of historical information about the real vehicles as well, to anybody who builds any of the very fine T-34 kits out there, no matter what the scale might be.

And all the good feed back that I have gotten from the pictures I have posted in the gallery of my work too.

And, of course, all the other good feed back that I have gotten from others who have been nice enough to answer any questions that I occasionally bring up. My thanks to Jim and the other moderators of this site for running such a really nice tight ship here.

The only drawback I have about the whole thing is the beating I have given to the old wallet this year due in a large part to this site. Ha, ha!!!!!!! (But given a choice between vegging out in front of the eletronic idiot box or running around going nowhere and wasting gas, I would have to say the money spent on plastic has been money well spent.)

Take care, Sgirty

Hey Costas,
It's hard to begin looking for one best experience, But i'll try. Meeting and having talked to so many members from around the world is an experience in it's self for me. Armorama has put me in touch with people who have the same interest as i do, modelling. So many members willing to help at the drop of a dime answering your posts and sharing their tips and techniques. The one experience i enjoyed the most was in rebuilding your modelling lab with so many others.
I have only been a member at Aromrama for the last 10 months and just joined the A-guard this month, so i missed some of the big changes over the years. So as for improving the site i believe i would leave that to the more experienced members.
The only drawback i do have is that i can't meet some of these wonderful members.

The best experience I have had with Armorama in my 11 months that I have been with this site is still ongoing: the Move It Survey. Despite the thread being started out of my curiosity, the praise that I have gotten from so many members, new and old alike, (not the least of which is Mr. Roo) fills me with warmth everytime I read a post. That I am so young, in the middle of nowhere, being praised by people across the country, across the world, humbles me continuously.


On this internet, there are billions of web pages. Many are trying to sell things, many (statistically most) are perverting our lives, many are isolated islands in an ocean of islands, few interconnected. Even fewer are families.. The time, effort, love, money, and courtesy that we strive to give and show one another everyday in our lives is seldom carried over into this network that consumes our lives. The site, in all its wealth of the items listed above, contributes so much to each member's lives. Yet one thing that occasionally strikes me when I log onto multiplayer games over the internet that involves some form of talking, I find facinating everytime an act of kindness is committed on this site. From "Op. Support IOS" to our concern for those living in the states affected by the multiple hurricanes this year, we do anything for each other. Unlike our personal familes, 99% of us have met not 99% of the members on Armorama that we communicate daily with.

Now I'm not saying go out on a massive roadtrip and meet everyone, in fact don't. What I am saying is that though we know each other by a name (occasionally a picture), we do things for each other that we a lot of times don't do towards our friends. We share a common interest. As a family shares its main common interest of love, we share our main common interest of model building.



All the above is what makes this site great. The only thing that makes this site not as great is unavoidable. This site is built on people sharing knowledge and techniques on the art of modelling. As an international site, and a successful one at that, it will grow. A site this large is never simple or ideally easy to navigate. But the simplicity and ease of navigation that Jim and all the staff at Armorama have given Armorama is unprecidented all the sites, modelling and otherwise, I have seen to date. The only way to make this simpler is to constantly ask for advice, even to the point of obnoxiousness. Because no matter how many times you ask, someone has missed the thread. And that someone may make all the difference. But it is not just the staff's job to ask and read carefully the responses, it too is the job of the members to give there ideas unhesistantly. Shout it out. If it is as bad as you think it is, the worst thing the staff can do is read and consider it and move on to the next.

In short (and in retrospect this isn't), Armorama is awesome and groundbreaking. Each member on this site is part of history. This isn't textbook history, but history that we can look back when this site is a hundred times bigger and say, "Yeah, I was part of that. I was one of the first on that site! And I made a difference to someone on the other side of the world that I haven't even met!"

Jeff Edgar

Nice one Costas,but i find it difficult to find one example on how i feel about our family here on Armorama,but with all the troubles out there in the World,we seem to be able to celebrate how different we all are,ie Nationalities,religious beliefs,and what we do from day to day,taking care of our familys,when one of is hurting i feel it too and discuss it with my other half.The one thing about this club is that nobody is put down and made to feel inferior about their work,rivet counters are a no, no! and have been put in their place,i just wish i could reach out sometime and shake you all by the hand,well that is my tuppence worth,by to my glass of red.
Arthur

My best experience with Armorama was finding it. For too many years, I have largely ignored the kits that I have in favor of other things to do with my time. Since I joined, and have seen what happens here, I found that I missed modeling more than I realized. But like others have said, it's the people, and I'm grateful to the staff and members for making me feel like I'd been here for years right from my first post. As for changes, I think I'll put my trust in the staff and other long time members to keep doing their thing. They've done great so far and I don't see anything but more of the same in the future.

Art

Hi Costas

The high points of the year have been when I've managed to help a new contibutor get their stuff published for the first time!

What I love about Armorama is that people who never considered writing for magazines have found themselves authors...

Power to the people! I love it...

All the best

Rowan

Wow it's great to read all of these posts! Well here goes. 1. I really think the best parts of Armorama are the Features, and the capability to ask anything you want realted to model-building of these forums and practically always get helpful answers. But specifically I finally figure out how to paint camo nets (mixing it in with the glue/water mixture) 2. I guess i cannot answer this question since I have not been here for that long. I hope this website continues for many years to come and expand more so more people can find out, and join in. Heck, i wouldn't be half the modeller or even into the hobby as much as i am today. So, Happy Holidays and i hope you had a good year! -Mike (:-)

A) The best experience for me is getting to learn from so many talented modelers. Everyone has been so helpful, no matter what the question. Even those I would consider "Master Modelers" have been helpful with my novice questions. I'm also amazed that I can share experiences and questions with modelers from around the world. Armorama is an amazing resource for the modeler and I'm glad to be a part of it.

B) I don't know what the founders of Armorama envisioned for this site, but I'm going to assume is was to do exactly what I see happening...modelers of all levels learning from each other by sharing information, resources and experiences with each other. I think Armorama has done much more than that though. In fact it's gone far beyond the "call of duty."
This site is one of the greatest resources a modeler could ask for, but more than that, it's a place where I see friendships develop, a place where all modelers can build their skills and confidence without feeling threatened by the experience. That I find amazing...actually I consider it priceless.
Thanks Armorama! You are the in this modelers world much of the time.

Well i think is about time i have to answer to my own post !!!!!


1) I couldnot state another best experience here than the treatment i had from Armorama in my big disaster of Lab fire.
A HUGE THANKS IS NOT ENOUGH

all support was superb and the moral support and caring is still present more than 2,5 months after the incident, In a really diffcult year for me and my family , with many sad events, more than the lab fire, this was a trully sunny spot , and i have to be thankfull for being a member in Armorama family.



2)For Armorama work so far, i have to state this one.
Its doing lots and lots and lots more than any other free subscribed in site , and there is the human touch that covers all the hobby actions. I mean here , even though the distance among most of us is huge , and though we may never meet, we are friends above all. Then we re partners in a hobby thats the best in the planet, and extends to the limits of art meaning. More than this , everyday actions of kindness and helping, beyond any slfishness and profit , prove how sincere the relations are. Thats the best to get from here. Technicalities and corrections and improvements are always possible, and likely to happen , but the feeling is superb, so ....


LONG LIVE ARMORAMA

Wow what an amazing topic. i think my fondest memory from armorama was the operation IOS as Engin has already said. How so many people from all over the world came together to help one of there own amazed me and showed me the power this site holds. I have also met many new people from here, have new friends and new "brothers" And I am very proud to be a member of such a wonderful place. All this and I havent even mentioned all that this site has taught me about modeling. So I have to say what the greatest thing about Armorama is has to be the commaraderie. cheers Kevin

Like so many of the posts here, the thing for me relating to Armorama in 2004 was actually joining it. The experiences shared by the members here is priceless. My modelling has steadily improved since joining. Thank you all who have supported and shared their knowledge, tips, hints & experiences with me through 2004.

As for point B... I would personally like to see Jim Rae's book forum be implimented. I think it'll fill a gap in the site. I would also like to see more of the recently started manufacturer's campaigns that provide said manufacturer feedback on products.