[WWI] "Scale Effect"

[Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton]

Not beng an expert on anything but occasionally knowing a few things
about some other things, that reticence to answer questions online can
sometimes be due to the way a question is asked and unrealistic
expectations for the results rather than an unwillingness to share or
a fear of being seen as a blowhard...

A single focused question  is easy to answer is a few words and will
usually get an response from someone if the information is available.
"What colour is the interior of a Pfalz?" is a good simple question
though clearly one without a simple answer

A demand for a detailed service history of every Naglo ever built and
comparisons of the available kits together with scans of all the
pictures in several copyrighted works is probably not going to get
answered. In this case I might suggest that they be willing to do some
basic rearch and learn to use libraries and interloan, then ask
specific questions. I might steer someone to a book or other reference
because I don't want to spend the whole of my weekend reading and
typing an answer to a question that they can answer themselves with a
little bit of effort. And, yes, some members of  the instant
gratification fringe have taken exception to that approach.

Aidrian




> With almost no effort I can find numerous threads on the net where people
> whinge about modelling "experts" who are unwilling to share their hard won
> knowledge or techniques. Frankly, I have never had that happen to me, but
> maybe the "expert" doesn't share for fear of being branded a know-all or
> braggart simply for *trying* to share.
>
> Shane