INBOX Review Details Page

'INBOX' DETAILS PAGE

This is a supplementary page to the INBOX Review section of the web site and contains a list of details about what sort of things are suggested when contributing an Inbox Review, as well as providing some guidance on what various headings and aspects of the review mean while reading through them.

Please contact me by email if you have any suggestions, comments, additions or queries about the content of this page and the inbox review section. If you would like to contribute your own review use the following headings as a guide and simply put the details in an email, or a text (such as a word document) attachment and send them in! INBOX reviews are added to the site within a few days.

It must be stressed that the headings are a guide, some reviewers prefer only to use a couple of headings, others lots of different ones, and then some others none! The individual choices made by reviewers are generally their own, SMAKR reserves the right to add in headings to enhance readability, but in the main they are just left as they are. Font for INBOX reviews is generally defaulted to Arial 12 pt.

Please remember to have a quick browse of the Submissions page before sending in your first review - there are some information and conditions on contributions that are worth just having a quick look at. All of it common sense, most of it probably could even get away without being said... but best to highlight that for you before you send in a review.

'INBOX' REVIEW DETAILS

Suggested headings, contents and ratings for use in the previews

DETAILS

While Reviews will vary in content depending on the author, I generally like to publish them in a consistent format. It enhances readability and gives the review an organised and logical appearance. There are quite some optional headings and topics to cover, but it all comes down to individual reviewer preferences, so only take the following as a guide. If you use the headings, please work within the suggested topic coverage. In a survey conducted in 1998 the overwhelming consensus from 400 responses was a format like that which SMAKR adopts be used.

Remember, these headings are a guide only - do not feel like you have to write on every section, or even test fit! It's about what is in the box that might count over anything else, and a quick rundown on the contents still suffices as an inbox review.

Kit Details - A quick description of the kit title, label and number - could include notes if it is a reboxing etc
Aircraft History - A brief history/preamble on the aircraft subject being reviewed
Kit Parts - how many parts, what media type (resin, injection mold etc); number of sprues, colour, are they packaged, panel line raised/engraved, flash, photo etched detail sets, etc
Instructions - an overview of the instructions, how the assembly steps are rated, what's included, paint reference call outs
Colour Options - Markings and schemes the kit caters for, what examples, external colour schemes, etc
Decals - An overview of what is on the decal sheet; colour register; are they thin, matt/glossy; much carrier film; any printing defects and so forth
Cockpit/Wheel bay Detail - This could be included in the Impressions or kit parts, but sometimes readers like to whip straight to a paragraph outlining these; a brief overview of the fit out of the cockpit; what's the detail like - any sidewall detail; is there instrument panel detail raised, and/or does the kit supply a decal; what parts are in the cockpit (seat, floor, stick, Pilot figure etc?). Any structural or plumbing detail in the wheel bays? You could even include something like the bomb bay here in appropriate kits
Options - A summary of moveable components and optional positioning parts eg: open speed brakes, flaps, canopies, amount of stores provided etc
Impressions - a 'notes' section summarising the reviewer's impression of the kit and how it looks on the sprue; you might have covered all you want in other sections, or you might just include this section and include cockpit detail or whatever here. Up to you. If you decide to test fit some components or compare parts against scale plans, this could be where you put it; or have you seen or heard something about the construction of the kit.... any notes you wish to include really
Accuracy - Some reviewers may feel it inappropriate to include this section (or instead include some comments in the impressions part above), which is completely at the reviewer's discretion. The model obviously hasn't been built yet so any comments here are probably best described as perceptions, or knowledge obtained from other reviews, modellers etc. Sometimes you can measure fuselage and wings quite easily while on the sprue and thus can comment on the accuracy of the kits dimensions, or even detach a few parts and compare against some scale drawings/plans. If you do decide to comment on accuracy, please ensure those comments are accurate!! :-)
Conclusion - Final summary of the kit as you see it perception wise; on the basis of what it looks like in the box, would you recommend to other modellers etc?

RATINGS:

Ratings are also a good idea to use in these INBOX reviews and give the reader an added indication of what the various components are like. People perceive ratings differently, what one might describe as adequate, another might have as poor, so as a suggestion I have listed the following recommended rating types to use and what they should cover:

Poor - The lowest rating that really recommends the component be replaced; be wary
Adequate/Reasonable - Borderline but will do the job it's intended for, but nothing more, also be cautious
Good - Better than adequate but nothing to dance about, will do the job quite okay, likely to be accurate
Very Good - Enhances the kit, will make the task enjoyable/much easier, commendable, accuracy observed
Excellent/Outstanding - Certainly is worth recognition and you can't do much better than this, superb

IMAGES:

Does SMAKR encourage images of kits contents to be sent in with reviews? As a short answer, yes, although please keep the size of images (as in file size!) to a fairly modest amount. Please note that images are NOT compulsory, again it depends on the reviewer and what access to scanners etc you have. Still send in that INBOX review even if there are no images!! If you are thinking of sending in images here's a quick "preference" policy for SMAKR - Note that the submissions page has a whole section devoted to image submissions.

Boxart - Definitely recommended and sought after. If the kit is already reviewed elsewhere on SMAKR with it's boxart, obviously no need to send a new one in
Box bottoms - on kits where they have a colour scheme shown on the bottom of the box (often seen on SMER, Italeri and small Airfix kits) - these are quite useful to display one of the versions in the kit and enhance readability of the review. The image should be as small as possible as far as file size is concerned but obviously you may want to ensure that one can still read the details!
Sprue images - Really this is your call, happy to include them with the review but please keep the images no more than say around 50kb in size. You can usually cover in text enough information on what sprues contain without the need to send a sprue image, but I know some readers out there really love to see an image of the sprues!
Instructions - Generally not encouraged, other than snippets of one or two steps that might be of interest to modellers
Decals - Similar to the Box bottoms above, this is often quite a useful picture of what options the kit has to offer, and sometimes these little pics can tell a lot of words
Other Images - For example photos of the aircraft etc - please see the section in the submissions page relating to this, but basically they are welcome if you think they enhance the review (especially if they are of an exact aircraft subject in the kit), but please let me know of any copyright information to acknowledge!

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