Home :: Frequently Asked Questions

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General
Login & Registration Issues
Members
Tutorials
Reviews
Galleries
Projects
Forums
Uploading Images

General

BMC is an acronym for the website's full name, Brian's Model Cars.

BMC exists as a place for members from all over the world to share knowledge and information about the hobby of plastic model cars. We offer tutorials, kit build-ups and reviews, galleries, and forums that cover every aspect of plastic model cars.

Brian Tompkins (Brian) and Gary Keith (GaryK) founded what would eventually become BMC in October 1998. Brian lives in Maine and is a long-time model builder. He's the long-time Warranty Administrator for a conglomerate of automotive dealerships. Gary lives an active retired life in South Florida. He handles all the web design, software development and database programming for BMC. Yup, you can blame the buggy software on Gary!

On a day-to-day basis we have a number of administrators and moderators who keep an eye on the website and handle any issues that arise. On a broader scale most technical aspects of BMC are handled by GaryK. Legally, BMC is owned by BlazerTech Corporation, a Florida Corporation.

Use our contacts page. All the site administrators are listed there.

Not really. We have a part-time IT professional who handles some server-related issues and the occasional consultant.

No we do not. Profit is not our motive; not that there's anything wrong with profit. Our operating costs are quite reasonable and easily affordable so we prefer to avoid any appearance of commercialism and do everything we can to foster a sense of community.

We do have a links section however we only add websites that will best serve our members. We do not accept or reply to requests for links or link exchanges. Only links recommended by a reasonable amount of members are added. Enough negative comments can also get you taken off the list.

Unfortunately these types of requests cannot be accommodated.

No. The value of any kit is highly subjective. It all depends on how rare a buyer thinks the kit is and how much he or she is willing - and can afford - to pay for it.

Indirectly, yes. Our links section contains many sections devoted to kits plus after-market parts and accessories. The sites listed there are the ones we think serve the best interests of our members.

Members

Click on the Member Services link at the top of each page and then click the View Profile link. Also, if a member's Screen Name is displayed as a link anywhere on BMC then clicking on it will usually show you that member's profile.

If you are registered and logged-in then most of your settings are stored in a database. To alter them click the Member Services link at the top of every page. From there select Edit Profile. This will allow you to change all your settings.

Edit your profile and select your preferred format for long dates, short dates, times and numbers.

The times are almost always accurate to within a few seconds. What you may be seeing are times displayed in a time zone different from the one you are in. If this is the case you should edit your profile settings for the time zone to match your particular area, e.g. London, New York, Tokyo, etc. Please note that changing the time zone, like most settings, can only be done by registered users.

If you are sure you have set the time zone correctly and the time is still different the most likely answer is Daylight Savings Time (or Summer Time as it is known in the UK and other places). BMC is not designed to automatically handle the changeovers between Standard and Daylight time so when there is a changeover you need to edit your profile and be sure the DST box is either checked or unchecked, depending upon your location and the time of the year.

All these tasks are easily accomplished by editing your profile.

Changes to your Screen Name are strongly discouraged. If you think you have a valid reason to change your Screen Name please contact the Webmaster and plead your case. Your request will be discussed by all the administrators and moderators.

Contact them privately using e-mail, IM, VoIP, et cetera. Please do not try and resolve it in one of our forums.

If you do not log-into BMC for one year your account will usually be deleted. Requests to manually delete an account usually cannot be accommodated.

If your account was deleted due to inactivity then yes. Otherwise generally the answer would be no.

Read-only mode is where you are still a member but you cannot post anything. It's used as a method of last resort to try and gain your cooperation in abiding by BMC's rules before we have to delete your account. Usually your first time in read-only mode lasts one week. Your second time is usually for one month. After that your account will usually be deleted. We really go to great lengths to avoid using such potentially juvenile tactics. As of May 2006 a mere 43 members have ever been placed in read-only mode in the history of BMC. In the end though, getting a temporary glimpse at what it means to lose BMC forever is sometimes enough to gain the cooperation of members who want to be part of BMC but haven't quite taken our rules seriously yet. And if that's what it takes to save a potentially good member then we're willing to risk appearing juvenile. Ultimately if you refuse to play by our rules we will reluctantly delete your account and attempt to ban you from joining again. Clearly defined rules and strict adherence to said rules are part of what has made BMC such a popular website.

When a member's account is placed in read-only mode the member is always sent an e-mail explaining why and for how long. If your account is in read-only mode and you didn't receive an e-mail it's probably because it got trapped by a bulk-mail or spam filter. Please be sure to check all your mail folders including bulk, junk and spam folders. If you absolutely cannot find the e-mail please contact an administrator with a polite request for an explanation.

Login & Registration Issues

Have you registered? You must register in order to login. If you have registered and you still cannot login then check and double-check your Screen Name and Password; this is almost always the problem. As a last resort be sure your web browser is accepting the two login cookies that are required. If you still cannot login then you should request a new password via the Login page.

Probably because you have been banned from BMC for being an annoyance. We enforce our rules very strictly and if you don't read and abide by our Terms of Service you'll probably receive an e-mail from one of our site personnel. Because of our strong sense of community very few members have actually been banned. That's because we'd rather invest a little time to assist members in becoming better members of the community than simply giving up and banning them.

You don't have to register at all. You may view almost everything BMC has to offer without ever registering. If you want to join a community of friends and contribute to our Forums, post Reviews or have Galleries access then you will need to register.

It shows a measure of trust on your part. Amongst other things BMC will host a small gallery of your model cars almost right away. Eventually you may be able to have an unlimited number of galleries. A real name in exchange for a community, knowledge and your own galleries seems like a fair trade. Nobody except administrators will ever be able to see your real name. The only way we'll ever give it up to anyone else is via a court order.

If you do not check the Automate Logins box when you login then BMC will only keep you logged-in for your current session. This prevents the potential misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged-in check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc. Both login cookies are strongly encrypted so there's no chance of anyone being able to see your password. If you trust your environment then this is a great feature to use.

There's no need to panic! While your password cannot be retrieved a new one can be created and sent to you via e-mail. You can click the, Send me a new password, link on the login page. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time.

Almost always this is because your web browser is refusing the two login cookies and one session cookie from BMC. Even if you don't want to automate your logins you must still accept these three cookies in order to login and remain logged-in. If you're positive your web browser is accepting the cookies then follow whatever steps are appropriate to delete the cookies from BMC and start over again. Sometimes cookies get corrupted and deleting them is the only way to fix the problem.

Most likely you haven't fully completed the registration process. The last phase of registration is entering the code that was sent to you via e-mail. This confirms your e-mail address is valid and enables you to start posting. A link to enter the code can be found in the Member Services section. If you haven't received the e-mail by now you probably won't receive it ever. Not to worry. It's easy to have a validation code reminder sent to you again via the Login page.

You should have no-replies@briansmodelcars.com on your e-mail account's whitelist so your spam filters don't delete it or move it to the spam/junk mail folder.

The most likely reason for this is you entered an incorrect Screen Name or Password. See the FAQ in this section about how to request a new password.

Tutorials

Thanks for thinking about doing a tutorial. Contact GaryK and explain your idea to him. In turn he'll discuss the idea with the administrators. If most of them think the idea is a good one we'll give you the go-ahead. The finished tutorial is also subject to review by the administrators.

You must type your tutorial using Word or any text editor like Windows Notepad. If your tutorial includes photos, and we hope it does, indicate in the text of the tutorial where those photos should be placed. If you're using Word do not embed the photos into the Word document. Ideally your photos should be no larger than 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall, and have a file size of no more than 150,000 bytes. It is preferred that you number your photographs sequentially. For example, 1.jpg, 2.jpg, 3.jpg and so on. If you can zip the tutorial and the photos that would be great. If not that's alright too. Send the zip file, or the tutorial and photos to GaryK via e-mail. That address will be in his reply to your initial e-mail asking about a tutorial. After you submit a tutorial please allow 1-2 weeks for a decision to be made. You'll be kept informed of what's happening all along the way, and we'll work with you on anything we feel needs clarification.

Yes. Near the top right of every page is a search box. Select Tutorials from the drop-down list and then type a few words pertaining to what you're looking for.

BMC shares copyright ownership with the author of each tutorial. In general, BMC will decline requests to use our tutorials on your site. If the author of the tutorial wants to share his or her tutorial with you that's a private matter between the two of you and does not involve BMC.

Reviews

Reviews about model cars primarily. But that also includes trucks of various types including pickups, vans and big rigs. Motorcycles too, as are reviews of transkits or detail sets are also welcome.

Most often the answer is an unqualified yes. Each member who does a review is posting from their own point of view. For whatever reasons, their opinion of a kit might not be the same as someone else's. That's why the more reviews there are for any given kit the easier it should be for you to make up your mind to build this kit or not. We hope you'll rely partly on our ratings system and mostly on having read each reviewer's comments.

Up to some reasonable point the more reviews for a kit the better. This has never been an issue before so there is currently no limit.

A wizard guides you though the addition of a new review or adding to an existing review. First you select the manufacturer of the kit. The next page will contain a list of reviews for that manufacturer. If you don't see the kit you want to review in the list you can create a new review. If you do find the model in the list and select it the next page will display the box art and ask you to confirm it's the right kit. If it is then you can add to the review. If it's not you can add a new review.

Yes. The kit can only be given a fair review if the model has been 100% completed. You could run into problems on the final stage. Maybe the body doesn't fit correctly. Maybe the decals didn't stick or cracked.

All reviews must be approved by our Reviews Administrator, Alex. Alex Kustov is a respected member of the modeling community. He's a published author and hosts a website of his own. The reason for pre-moderating reviews is to ensure the reviewer does a thorough review instead of one-liners that are not helpful to anyone.

A photograph of the box helps ensure that everyone knows which kit you're reviewing. If you don't have one it's usually easy to use a search engine to find one online.

We've got a fairly extensive list of manufacturers, but we probably don't have them all. Contact the Reviews Administrator with your request to add a new manufacturer.

The Reviews Administrator will always tell you why a review was rejected. Usually it's because you didn't share as much information as possible about the pros and cons of the kit being reviewed. One-line reviews will almost always be rejected.

Are you a registered member and logged-in? If not then please register and/or login. To limit the potential for flooding the site with reviews there is a limit on the number of reviews you may post in any 30-day period of time. The current limit is ten reviews in any 30-day period of time.

Yes. Near the top right of every page is a search box. Select Reviews from the drop-down list and then type a few words pertaining to what you're looking for.

Galleries

BMC has two types of galleries for completed models. If you're a member in good standing for one month then you'll automatically get a starter gallery. If you've been a member in good standing for at least three months, have had at least three reviews accepted, and have started and completed at least three WIP you will be able to apply for a full gallery.

A starter gallery is limited to five models at a time with up to five photos for each model.

A full gallery gives you the ability to add an unlimited number of models with up to ten photos for each model.

When you've met the above minimum requirements for getting your own gallery a link to the galleries application will show up in the My Account section of BMC. This link also appears near the top of the Forum Active List. The application notifies our Galleries Administrator, Gator, that you would like full galleries access.

Once the Galleries Administrator receives your request he does a number of things before deciding to accept or reject your application. One of the first things he does is look at your ratio of started to completed WIP. It's not good if you start WIP but never finish them. The quality of your photographs is also evaluated. It's helpful if your photographs exceed our minimum standards for photographs. Having a tutorial published on BMC is a major plus. Also, being known as a friendly and helpful member helps a lot!

Typically it takes anywhere from a few days to a week.

If you have a starter gallery you probably already have the maximum number of models allowed in it. You will need to delete a model before you can add a new one. If you have a full gallery you are allowed to add five new models to your galleries in any 30-day period of time. The actual date in that 30-day period of time changes every day. While you may not be able to add a new model today you might be able to add one tomorrow as opposed to next month.

Use http://www.briansmodelcars.com/galleries/gallery/x where x represents the Gallery ID of the model you want to view.

Use http://www.briansmodelcars.com/galleries/member/x where x represents your Member ID.

Look at the page the model is on. One of the details displayed there is the Gallery ID. It's a number located right below the member's Screen Name.

We've got a fairly extensive list of these items, but we probably don't have them all. Contact the Galleries Administrator with your request to add the new item.

For starters, be sure the file is in JPG format. The file size cannot be larger than 150,000 bytes. That's really quite large and should be more than enough to accommodate your photographs. Finally, the dimensions of the photograph must not be more than 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. You can upload larger images but BMC will resize them and reduce the quality until the photograph is within its acceptable limits. For the best quality photographs you should always do your editing, cropping and so on before uploading the photograph.

Projects

BMC has three projects per year where any member in good-standing may submit a model that conforms to the theme of the project. We also have two Supporters Projects per year that only subscribers and donors may participate in. All projects have a theme. Past projects have included such diverse themes as Convertibles, Movie Cars, Rally Cars and 1967 and 1969 Ford Mustangs. Supporters Projects are always more challenging builds. Opening doors, working lights, and so on.

Mostly for fun. Also to see everyone's take on a given theme. And to challenge some members who like to build one type of model. It gets them out of the rut of always building one type of model. Our Supporters Projects further challenge members to attempt complex tasks that expand their skillset.

There is sometimes minimal competition if a vendor steps forward to sponsor a particular project. Mostly it's just for fun. BMC has never really been about competition, so this is all experimental for now.

The Projects Administrator (aka wisdonm), will start a thread to discuss ideas. Eventually it's up to him to make the final decision. It is not uncommon for him to let the final choice be made via a vote by the members.

You start by adding the model to your gallery. On the page where you enter information about your model there is a drop-down list that contains the names of the currently available projects.

The model will not be visible to members in the Projects section until the deadline date has passed.

Once a deadline has passed you cannot enter a model in it. If you're late entering a Project that just ended contact the Projects Administrator to see if he will add it for you.

We'd like you to see all the entries at one time. Plus it just seems like the fair thing to do.

Generally speaking the answer would be no. However, if you miss the deadline by a reasonably short amount of time and present a compelling reason why an exception should be made it's possible your late entry will be accepted.

Not only can you, you must add it to your gallery. That's the first step in submitting your model for inclusion in a project.

Absolutely yes! There is a special group with three forums for everything related to our projects. The forum related to project build-ups is called Project WIP. Donors and subscribers projects are in Supporters WIP. If you post your project entry in that forum you will automatically get credit for doing a WIP.

Forums

It's always nice when a member decides to introduce himself or herself. It's the members after all who make BMC what it is today. The proper place to post an introduction is the New Member Introductions forum. You'll receive a warm welcome that'll make you feel accepted right away!

The Active List. It is a compilation of all threads from all forums you've selected and it keeps you informed when a new Tutorial, Review, Model or Message has been added. The Active List auto-refreshes on a timetable you can customize ranging from never to every five minutes and intervals up to one hour. This is by far the way most of our members view the forums.

Yes. Click Forums in the main menu at the top and bottom of every page.

There is a Charter for every forum. It describes what the forum's purpose is and what types of messages are permitted. If you're still uncertain about where to post your question post it in the Pit Stop forum with a note asking a moderator to please move it to the proper forum.

It's in the Options menu at the top and bottom of every page in the forums.

A thread is simply a collection of messages within the same topic. For example, someone creates a new post. Another member creates a reply to the new post. And the process continues. Collectively these messages are referred to as a thread.

When there's some important site-related news or other information that BMC wants you to see, the resultant thread can be made to stick to the top of each page for a set period of time. Since the thread is stuck in place, sticky seemed like a nice name for the process. A push-pin is the icon BMC uses to indicate a thread is sticky.

Subscribe to the forum. You do this from the forum's index page or the thread page. Look in the Options menu at the top and bottom of every forum page. It's in the Actions sub-menu. When subscribed to a forum you'll receive one e-mail notifying you of the new post. If you want to keep track of the new post you'll need to flag it and/or subscribe to it.

Subscribe to the thread. You do this from the thread page. There's a menu item to let you subscribe to and unsubscribe from the thread. When subscribed to a thread you'll receive one e-mail each time a new reply is added. Look in the Options menu at the top and bottom of every thread page. It's in the Actions sub-menu.

There sure is. If you want to keep track of a thread you can flag it. There is a menu item to flag and unflag threads. Look in the Options menu at the top and bottom of every thread. It's in the Actions sub-menu. To view flagged threads look in the same Options menu in the My... sub-menu.

Yes, there is. Look in the Options menu at the top and bottom of any thread page. It's in the My... sub-menu.

An icon of a pencil laying on a piece of paper is always displayed next to a thread's topic/subject if you've posted in the thread. To see only threads you posted in look in the Options menu at the top and bottom of every thread page. It's in the My... sub-menu.

Double-posting is when you post two or more messages in a row in less than 30 minutes. It's considered bad etiquette on most websites because you can edit your posts for up to 30 minutes. If you forgot to mention something in your first post you should edit that post and add whatever it was you forgot instead of creating a new reply. Often moderators will consolidate double-posts into a single post and leave a note in the message about not double-posting. Of course, if you need to add something and it's been more than 30 minutes feel free to post again.

Thread bumping is when you post a new reply in your thread in order to get it back to the top of the list. Bumping will only be allowed if it's done no more than once every 24 hours.

Links to other websites are generally prohibited. This is both to prevent BMC from being penalized in the search engine rankings for things that are beyond our control, and to limit the risk of exposing our younger or more sensitive members to inappropriate content. The only exceptions are to sites listed in our Links section and sites an administrator deems appropriate when asked in advance by a member. Links within BMC are always acceptable. Although moderators try to remove links with inappropriate content, BMC is not responsible for the content of linked sites.

With one exception, links to off-site photos and galleries are not permitted in our forums, and all such links will be deleted. The rationale for this rule is that at some point those links are likely to become dead, either because accounts were canceled or sites no longer exist. BMC would not look very professional with a bunch of dead links to photos and galleries. The sole exception to this rule is for posting a link to an off-site gallery of 1:1 car shows and model car shows in our Model Shows and Competitions forum, but only after the show is over.

Are you registered and logged-in? Has your e-mail address been verified? If not then that's why you can't post. Is your account in read-only mode? If so then that's why you can't post. It's also possible that even though you're a member in good-standing the thread you want to post in has been locked to prevent additional replies. Locked threads are denoted by an padlock icon.

After 30 days with no new replies threads become dormant and no new replies can be added.

The owner of a WIP may ask a moderator to unlock the thread when they're ready to add a new reply. Once the owner has posted an update the thread is open to new replies just like any other thread. If an update isn't posted by day's end the thread will be automatically locked again.

When a thread is not posted in the correct forum a moderator will move it to the correct forum. As part of the moving process a note is added to the old forum indicating that your thread was moved to a new forum. A link to the thread in the new forum is also added.

If your message doesn't conform to the Charter of the forum it was posted in, as well as our Terms of Service and this FAQ, it will most likely be deleted. You really need to read these things. They're not long and it'll make your BMC experience so much nicer.

It all depends on which forums you're posting in. Posts in some forums, like Pit Stop, don't count. Not that the messages posted there are worthless. Rather, we'd like your post counter to reflect how active you've been in the model-related sections of BMC. We love to have fun, but ultimately it's all about the models. Check the Charter for each forum to see if posts count.

Our preference is that you only use links that are in our Links section. These are sites we've checked-out, and continue to look at on an ongoing basis. If you know of a site that you think should be on the list please contact BMC. You may not link to any scale model-related website that has a forum of its own unless the site is in our Links section. Beyond that, if a link isn't on our Links page you must ask an administrator for permission before posting the link.

Signatures are popular. A little too popular. So they've been limited to a maximum length of 255 characters. Signatures also get abused in terms of design and content so no HTML image or link tags are allowed.

You must have a signature on file and you must check the box to include your signature in a message. Beyond the basics, if your message-length to signature-length ratio is below a certain level your signature is automatically omitted. Signatures were becoming so long you'd often see signatures that were longer than the message itself. We want the viewer's focus to be on the message, not your signature. This is our way of suggesting that to you.

Sometimes good things go bad. Smileys were getting out of hand so now there's a secret formula that dynamically limits the number of smileys to the length of the message. The longer your message the more smileys you can use. You're allowed one free smiley and then the formula kicks in.

No!

Probably because you didn't upload acceptable progress photos within 30 minutes. When you've posted photographs of actual progress ask a moderator to move the thread back to the appropritate WIP forum.

Some of us at BMC have an odd sense of humor. This restriction has everything to do with marketing. If you write a really good description of your new model it will usually pique the viewer's interest enough to get them to click through to your gallery. Once you got them, it's up to you to keep them.

From the time you save your message you have a 30 minute window of opportunity to make corrections to it. After that the window closes and you may no longer edit your message.

When the time comes to consider new moderators the choices are usually rather obvious to us. We look for someone who's been a member for awhile, with a proven record of being even-tempered, friendly and helpful. One of the worst things a member can do is ask to become a moderator. Many years of experience have shown us that members who actively seek out a moderator role usually don't work out despite the best of intentions. So if you ask about becoming a moderator it's almost certain you'll never become one.

Uploading Images

This happens sometimes when the photo you're uploading is larger than the maximum acceptable photo file size. BMC will try to resize it, and attempt to reduce it in quality until the file size is less than the maximum acceptable photo file size. If, after all that, the photo is still too large, often the top, or sometimes the bottom, will not appear correctly.

BMC has a set of photographic standards that all members are expected to adhere to. If your photo doesn't meet those standards it will be deleted. Common reasons include blurriness, darkness, and cluttered backgrounds.

The photos must be in JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) format. The file size cannot be larger than 150,000 bytes (approximately 746 US KB) and the canvas cannot be larger than 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall.

The avatar must be in BMP, GIF, JPEG or PNG format. The file size cannot be larger than 25,000 bytes (approximately 24 US KB) and the canvas cannot be larger than 60 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall. Animated avatars are acceptable unless they're too distracting.

The photo must be in BMP, GIF, JPEG or PNG format. The file size cannot be larger than 150,000 bytes (approximately 746 US KB) and the canvas cannot be larger than 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall.

If you upload a file that is larger than the above file sizes the software will attempt to resize and/or reduce the quality of the file until it fits within acceptable parameters. If the software is unable to reduce the file sufficiently the upload will fail and you'll see a warning message about the file size being too big. If the software has to manipulate your upload in any way it's likely the quality of the photo will suffer. You should always optimize your photos before uploading them.

You will need photo editing software. There are a variety of software products on the market. Some are free, some are mid-priced and others are very costly. For this type of task even the free software will do a good job. The first thing to do is crop your photo so that only the important stuff is visible. That will reduce the file size of the photo which is sometimes a good first start. The second thing you can do is reduce the dimensions of the photo. While BMC allows photos up to 800x600 you might need to reduce that a bit to make the file size small enough for upload. Finally, you can reduce the quality of the photo slightly in ways that are often undetectable. This last method can yield dramatic results in terms of reduced file size! For a list of software BMC's members have consistently recommended over the years please see our Links section.

An avatar is a small image that represents an individual member. Oftentimes avatars indicate what your favorite hobby or sport is. Other times they're more representative of your personality. On BMC, avatars are displayed in each message you post. It's an easy way for other viewers to spot you without having to see your name.

It's a photograph where you are the main and preferably sole focus. After a personal photo is uploaded it must be approved by a moderator before others can see it.

It's a photograph of the vehicle you drive on a daily basis. BMC is mostly a model vehicle site so why not show off your real-life, 1:1 vehicle. Your daily drive as it were. After a daily drive photo is uploaded it must be approved by a moderator before others can see it.

In the USA, and most other countries as well, the legal rights to your photos are well defined and implicitly in-force simply by displaying them online. Unfortunately there are people who like to download someone else's photos and use them as their own. Stopping them is nearly impossible. Adding a copyright notice to your photos makes it a little more difficult to use your photos without being obvious about it.

Last revision Tuesday, July 13, 2010 3:26:44 AM GMT