If you would like to contribute to Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine, below are some tips and guidelines to assist you.

Getting started

Always write about something you have a good working knowledge of, or have been researching and have references on. Conversion, modification and/or detailing modelling articles, including favourite techniques, are always popular features, or camouflage and markings articles.
Don't worry if you don't consider your English grammar to be very good - as long as the Editor can read it and it's "good stuff", he can edit it - that's what he's paid for!The "write" stuffThe trick is to strike the right balance between words and pictures. Five pages of text with only a couple of photographs is going to be hard work on the reader. The best balance is one 'step-by-step' under-construction photo to approximately 200 to 300 words of text, with two or three shots of the finished model. In total, about 2000 to 3000 words - including a 'dramatic' heading photo - will fit nicely into four to five pages of the magazine, which is about the norm. Ideally, the text should be double-space typed with a generous margin for my editing notes. If you use a computer, print a hard copy off and send it together with the disk, preferably in Micro Soft Word or ASCII format. SAM is put together on Apple Macintosh computers, but we can also read PC formatted disks. We also welcome copy by e-mail, which should be addressed direct to Paul Eden C/O: steve@regallitho.co.uk

Picture perfect

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words - and this can certainly apply to modelling articles. Photos should be numbered independently on the back and accompanied by a separate caption sheet. Similarly, any drawings and/or sketches should be on separate sheets of paper, with the scale identified if applicable. Step-by-step under-construction photos should ideally be shot against a neutral background. A cluttered, paint-spattered or woodgrain workbench can be distracting and make pictures harder to decipher for readers. A simple piece of A3 card, (light grey or buff/beige), makes an excellent neutral backdrop. Lighting is all-important. If you take photographs using daylight film in tungsten light, (ie a spot lamp) you'll tend to get a yellow cast to pictures. If you can use flash, all the better. If you can't, try adding a colour correction filter to the lens, although as a last resort colour imbalances can generally be corrected at the repro stage - but please try not to make too much work for us!Bracket your shots - ie adjust the F-Stop on your lens above and below what you thin k is the correct exposure and shoot on a ratio of 3-to-1. You may end up with some shots over, or under, exposed, but in the middle (hopefully) you'll have the perfect shot. You may think you're wasting film, but as you'll no doubt agree, good quality photos are all-important for a modelling article and no amount of digital manipulation can save an out-of-focus photograph.
Photos of the finished model - especially the heading shot - should be of the highest quality possible. Slide film (transparencies) usually reproduce really well. However, it may be possible for us to photograph your model in our own professional studio - contact the Editor for more information. Also, if you can take good step-by-step photos but are unsure about the finished model "beauty shots", ask around at your local model club - 'chances are there might be an experienced photographer who can help you out.

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

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