Will Model Cars Magazine Survive?

[ScaleMaster]

It's more than a little disconcerting that the moderators allow libelous and outright false statements from jb welda about me to be posted, but my rebuttal to try clear up his misunderstanding of the reality was not allowed to be shown?
Why was he allowed to post his opinion based on incorrect assumptions, but I am not allowed to respond?

Again to be clear, I do not know who "Just Mark" is and it is NOT me.

Since this post was allowed and since jb has been editing his post in an attempt to try to talk down to me, or "pile on" as he says, it's only fair that I'll try to offer my original response the same way.

Well JB,
You seem quick to assume (incorrectly) an awful lot there. First off as I mentioned in that post, I did not write that MCM post that I shared, it was sent to me by a friend. Maybe you need to reread it without so much bias yourself? I am not "Just Mark" and I do not know or even have a clue who he is.

Since I did not receive a copy I asked a few friends who had access to the magazine and they told me it was odd that the GSL BOS winning car was absent from the coverage. I don't know why they would say that if what you are saying is true, but I trusted them and that is what I based my comment on.
If I'm so self serving why do you think it is that I did not claim ownership of said model when asking the question?
It was an observation of the coverage of the magazine (again as it was told to me) not an attempt to "self promote" as you incorrectly state. Pardon me, but I read a lot of bitterness in your diatribe.

I'm not sure how "Trumpian" applies in this case or why you would use it here; injecting politics into this discussion seems like an unwise attempt to besmirch those you disagree with. Since I looked up the meaning of the word, should I take it as you think I am the President of Car Modeling? Thank you! But I chose not to run a long time ago...

I am not cyber stalking anyone and you are way out of line for accusing me of doing so. Apparently, (by your words) you have confused me with someone else (maybe the person who wrote the post on MCM?) and some of your post makes zero sense in the context of this discussion, but it does read as bitter drivel that I won't waste any more of my time trying to decipher.

One last point; there is no innuendo in my posts. I think I made my points clearly. In that vein some of what you wrote comes off rather hypocritical while you are accusing others of what you are doing. You come here only to blast others you disagree with and then hide behind the false claim of "constructive observations". Maybe you should take some of your own advice as it fits what you are doing far more than than what you are falsely accusing me of. You can be an MCM/Gregg supporter all you want, but there are many of us who were burned and had content essentially stolen from them by Gregg and we are equally entitled to our point of view as anyone else. We don't call those supporters out and try to shame them as you are attempting to do here. We have stated facts and not went off on opinionated personal attacks. Don't like the message? It's not the messenger's fault.

You can respond to this, (as I'm sure you're inclined to), but I will not respond to you any further. Your attitude and flaming/trolling in your post makes it clear that you have an issue with me (or someone who you think is me), and as long as you are of the mindset that Gregg is "just a guy trying to put out a magazine" and are willing to dismiss the cheating of contributors by him, we will be at odds and you'll just have to live with it. Have a nice day.

BTW, A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. The scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from product sales or other means, and they remain unaware that other investors are the source of funds. And that is exactly what the lifetime subscription did.

[ScaleMaster]

Much like Bugatti Fan, I was stiffed by Gregg after building three cars and writing three articles that Harry commissioned from me and guaranteed I would be paid despite my concerns that Gregg would flake out yet again. (My instincts were correct, but I trusted Harry. Harry was not happy with the way that situation went either.) I stopped writing for MCM years earlier for lack of payment among other "ethical concerns".
Gregg used to be a good friend to my wife and I until he burned me too many times. I'm not sure many of the people supporting him now actually know/knew him as well as we did.

My experience is firsthand and spans decades, unlike others who only have opinions based on hearsay.

[Egon]

Big Question.

Why are we discussing an another web page in this forum, it is not time to close this discussion on Daniel's own web site, and for anyone else who is not interested in this MCM and their problems with there members, I hope Daniel will agree with me.
I personally am tired of looking at these discussions.

[ScaleMaster]

We were discussing a magazine that owed its contributor(s) for content (at least I was) not the forum associated with it. But I see your point Egon and agree for the most part.
I understand why Bugatti Fan started it but this conversation appears to have run its course when it devolved into unfounded personal attacks and libelous suppositions instead of discussing the facts.
It's unlikely anything can/will be changed, but then sometimes a conversation is helpful to understand all the facts. I think that was the OP's goal; to let others know another part of the story that has been left out of the narrative.

[Bugatti Fan]

We need to remember that Model Cars Magazine is a commercial modelling magazine and therefore a business and has subscribers not members.
Any questions on their own forum about their deliveries going out or how the magazine is faring recently have been almost instantly blocked.
I and other writers that I know of had articles commissioned that went to publication in the past and have still not received payment for them. From what I have heard, MCM are not paying article writers for the time being.
This thread is in General Discussion is it not? Whilst I understand that the subject matter may not be to Egon's liking, it is general discussion and there may be others that are interested to know what is going on if they are considering either writing for or subscribing to that magazine, hence the debate on this forum.

[MODEL A MODEL]

Well?

At the rate of one issue per year, I think I can expect to be receiving magazines up to the year 2039?

Not bad? Not good, but not bad. It’s nice to have something to look forward to!

[MODEL A MODEL]

There seems to be nothing to do to get payment for work done.

Warning others IS a good service and use for this or other forums

What will happen to a magazine that only sends out an issue a year? -it’s pretty obvious.

I’m sorry you got stiffed, Are you planning to write anymore articles?

FINESCALE and SCALE AUTO are still around?

[ScaleMaster]

Fine Scale and SA are still around. I still write regularly for Scale Auto. I'm under the impression Kalmbach is always open to more content.

[jbwelda]

yes Scalemaster, its all a hoax, all a witchhunt, all fake news.

where have we heard that before?

to claim "libel" on my part while posting such malicious claims over and over again, that really takes the cake.

thanks for the response though

The fact remains you have posted the same sort of thing, more than once, in this exact thread, not to mention threads on other forums, so if "JustMark" is not you, then he probably got his "information" from one or more of your posts. You have told us all about your history with Gregg Hutchings, how you were friends, how you are not now friends, how you avoided him, or he avoided you, at GSL and all that emotional stuff. I was merely pointing out that maybe it would be better for you to just let it go than persist in this manner. You are just making yourself look bad.

And Bugatti Fan, thanks for trying to translate that saying...it is actually saying we should be coming here to use the product, not try to run the company.

Sorry neither of you got paid for the fruits of your labor; mature people accept the fact and move on, they don't try to smear, over and over again, the party who supposedly wronged them. That is how little children run their lives.

PS: I do not have anything against you personally, I don't even know you, just seen your models. And I know well what a "ponzi scheme" is.

Also sorry for injecting my two cents worth, I figured it would not make me any friends. See you at NNL West, perhaps we can discuss it in person there and get Mr Hutchings in on the discussion.

thanks again
jb

[MODEL A MODEL]

Let’s build the best we can

Support the magazines that are in need and deserving

And,

Play nice.

This is distracting me from Roger’s build, Jo’s Birkin Bentley, possibly more Lotuses and Voisins and Bugatti’s.

[jbwelda]

you know, you are probably right Model A Model and I apologize for further stirring the pot and will refrain from doing so further, just note that it is not I who originally posted all the critical stuff, I was just adding my two cents to the increasingly one sided conversation.

I also have to apologize to ScaleMaster, after going back and reviewing some sources I thought he contributed to, I realize I may have conflated him with Bugatti Fan, at least on a couple of forums I was thinking of. So perhaps it is just here (and on MCM itself, I think, although those posts got pulled probably) that he was letting loose with the personal problems between he and the MCM editor/publisher and so I should not have spread quite a large net, and for that I do apologize.

thanks again
jb

[marktaylor]

OK, Bill. I got sent a link to this from (possibly) the same person who contacted ScaleMaster. I re-activated my profile after many years of being away. Disclaimer #1, I am friends outside of forums with ScaleMaster. Disclaimer #2, I am someone who used to write for MCM, and had contact with Gregg during that time. #3, I speak for myself and nobody else and have no axe to grind. I've dropped out of the hobby forum world/magazines and have never looked back. Until now. The record needs to be set straight.

However, there's not a single shred of anything here posted by people with inside information about MCM's operations that is not 100% true. If it's "libel" then I'd gladly testify for the people who have been unfairly painted with that brush in court, under oath. Telling the truth about how Gregg and MCM operated, an may still, that's just factual and I back everyone here speaking to that. I read every word here and can vouch for the validity of concerns raised. I lived that dream myself and experienced 100% of "the Gregg treatment" personally. I wrote the resin column for a few years as a favor to Harry Pristovnik, who I hold in the highest regard in both life and, sadly, now memory. Gregg caused situations which made my continued contribution to his magazine and forum toxic, and I disassociated myself from both by choice. I felt bad making Harry's job harder, but I couldn't in good faith have my name (and I'm not hiding behind a forum handle) associated with anything Gregg touched.

While it's not going to help MCM, people have a right to know what they're getting into before investing money. If you're OK investing in someone who ripped off countless people including a man dying of cancer. Go to town. I had to get far, far away from that as my conscience wouldn't allow me to play in a sandbox full of cat deposits.

Finally, realize people do all sorts of undrhanded things on forums trying to impersonate others. I know it's happened to me so many times I lost count (another reason I quit every one I was on), so be more careful about saying that poster A is really poster B. Normally people willing to say the unpopular things have the backbone to own their comments, and the internet trolls who don't like it try to paint those who know the less-popular but true stuff as trouble makers.

[Mark Moore]

Ok, I needed to join another forum like I need a hole in my head, & I've done my very best to avoid the person here accusing Mark Jones & Bugatti Fan of somehow lying about Gregg Hutchings. But, I am going to clear the air regarding all of this.

I'm the "Just Mark" that made that post at MCM & I'll happily & freely own up to it. Every single word of it was & is the truth, that I was told by various sources, each one directly involved in this mess.

Prior to signing up as "Just Mark" at MCM, & solely for the reason of exposing all of that, I was a member at MCM from 2006-2011, under the screen name "Bluesman Mark", & I was a moderator there in 2010, until I made the choice to step down. I stepped down & eventually asked to have my profile & membership at MCM deleted a year later, in no small part because I was starting to see just what an untrustworthy person Gregg is, & I didn't want to be associated with him.

I hope this resolves any confusion & clears everything up. Just remember, everything that I wrote about Gregg Hutchings is the truth, other than the fact that he has eked out a single issue of MCM since then, albeit one made of of contest pics up to two years old. Trust him at your own risk.

[s.e.charles]

I have found in most circumstances when consistent information is heard from a variety of sources, it's usually correct.

[jbwelda]

So I was kindly informed on another forum that the "Mark" in question was in fact not Mark Scalemaster. So sorry for the inference. I was obviously incorrect in that Holmesian assumption.

My point remains that it is the professional thing to do to shrug off bad experiences and move on, learning a lesson along the way. All writers have problems with editors, paymasters, bosses or whomever for a variety of reasons. It is best to keep those problems to themselves and not air dirty laundry in public.

And there are many sides to every story. I was just reading one here.

jb