Hi guys,
Having one source on the net with all the photos the U-boat modeller needs would be fantastic. At the moment have to spend a fortune on amassing a library to get everything we need. There are photos on the net but not that many, and they are all dispersed around cyberspace. So one source would be great.
BUT a word of caution, if you will allow me. If we add too much material that may or may not be copyrighted, we will encounter trouble. For example if we added most of the photos in Steve Wiper's excellent pictorial there would be no point in buying the book! So I think it is a case of being prudent with the number of photos posted. If we are helping others, and a photo will prove better than any description would, then this would be okay. But a whole catalogue of images would be unfair.
Think of home taping back in the 80s. It didn't make much problem for the music industry. But with downloading on the net, the artists suffer because of the scale. We could host hundreds or even thousands of U-boat images on the site, and this would be fantastic for all modellers. But this would be very unfair on the authors who have travelled to archives, and the publishers too.
The U-Boot im Focus magazines are excellent resources. They publish rare U-boat photos that we haven't seen before, and their choices are always very good. But as the magazine is about these photos, it would be unfair of us to scan and post many of the photos in the magazines. So if we can be extra cautious about posting from this magazine Wink and I would be very appreciative.
As for photos of your own models, post as many as you like. Whether it is a quick build or superdetail project, your photos WILL help your fellow modellers. Some may well follow in your own footsteps and use your builds as reference material.
Cheers,
Dougie
