COMMON TERM USAGE

Throughout this site you will no doubt find a term or word that seems unclear - for many this may relate to a difference in terms for specific aircraft parts depending on whether you live in the US, Australia, UK or somewhere else in the world.   To close this gap and just provide a quick guide to often used terms in reviews, articles, web pages and the like I have decided to produce a sort of glossary.  I hope you find some of this of use and bear in mind that many of these relate to my terms and usage thereof.  If there are any others you think should be included on this page, please let me know.

A.M.S.:  "Advanced Modellers Syndrome" - this is what you have when you get to the point that perfection is still not good enough.   Each model you buy must be the best (not always but if its there you will get it) and you spend hours perfecting the finished product with different detail sets and aftermarket products.  In otherwords the most simple model you purchase still needs to become a perfection personified marvel.  This topic is often covered in rec.models.scale.

Blu-Tak:  is an Australian-made rubbery like adhesive substance used to put pictures etc up on walls instead of using sellotape etc. It's applied very much like chewing gum (but is not really sticky in the hands) with texture more akin to plasticine, in that you tear off a 'blob' and use it to fasten a picture to a wall.  I use it a lot in models to pack in noseweights and even use it itself as a noseweight.  We use it in Australia to put in the corners on the back of posters to put up on the wall and is really a useful commodity.  I believe it is similar to Milliput used in the UK?

Difficulty:  Most people in their reviews will rate the model on a scale of difficulty - such as, experienced modeller only, intermediate and up, and so forth.  While these difficulties are generally of the same calibre the three-pronged scale I use is as follows (from easiest to hardest) - Novice - covers beginners, inexperienced and those still learning the art;  Intermediate - has a few skills and is now starting to experiment with different kits and exercising some skills learned; Experienced - the advanced modeller, knows the tricks of the trade and is able to adapt the process to any kit he wants to conquer. 

Horizontal vs. Vertical Spilts: Wings and fuselage parts are often split into two half pieces and one of these two terms is usually given.   Horizontal splitting means that you have an upper and lower piece whereas Vertical splitting indicates that there are left and right halves (in most cases wings are horizontal splits and fuselages are vertical splits)

OOB - Out Of The Box - basically this means that the kit was built using only the parts in the box - no conversions were made, no aftermarket detail sets were used and generally nothing other than what was in the box was used (or as defined in the reviews)

OOP - Out Of Production - this term talks about kits which are no longer in production, those hard to get kits that you are likely only to be able to pick up second hand or if you are lucky, in a corner of stockpiled old kits in a hobby shop!!

Ratings:  My ratings on any particular topic are covered more in depth in the Inbox reviews page but in short ranges through Poor (not worth it, replace it)/Reasonable (adequate, satisfactory, not bad)/Good (does the job, no need for replacement)/Very Good (does the job well, enhanced feature) to Excellent (outstanding, excellent etc).

Rec.Models.Scale:  You will see this on many reviews.  This is the Internet newsgroup where you can post messages about models (not only aircraft) and is an excellent source for information on products, opinions and advice on all aspects of modelling.  Many review contributors have asked for their email address to be kept private so I have simply posted this newsgroup as a way to contact them - really its a way of finding out info about that model if you have any queries (or you can go through me in the first instance and I will pass your comment on).   This newsgroup is often talked about as being one of the best on the Net - rarely will you get a flame if you make a genuine request (although I have from one Don!).

Satin:  This is a range of paints in Humbrol enamel range and is basically a semi-gloss paint colouring.

Tailplanes & Stabilisers:  These are the rear wings on most conventional aircraft and are termed as one or both depending on where in the world you live (commonly, UK & Australia = Tailplanes, US = rear stabilizers).

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