Review Request: scale models

The only thing I wasn't particularly keen on was the red on mouseover on the links. Two other comments - the images on the first page look like they should be clickable and also it feels like the whole page should be centered in the middle of the screen boith horizontally & vertically at larger resolutions.

Well aren't you just a creative, busy one.

I think it is a very informative site on how to build models as well as a nice showcase of your work. The images do need a little work though but you already know that. I agree with webmistress on the images looking "clickable".
Cool effect there with the image rollover for your models. I was a bit confused about the red X's at first but I guess I catch on quickly.
On each tip page the table of tips seems like it might need a header of some sort using a larger font.

I think you should use more of the yellow on the site. It would go good with the black and white.

I was expecting to see a picture of you on the "Me" page. Common...get brave.

I had the layout centered both horz and vert both it made the page jump around to much switching between pages as every page is different height. the red and yellow are for the folks that dont use NS4.7 lol, in NS4.7 its all just black, white and grey.

If the images on the first page were clickable, where would the link go?

I started with a header on tips pages but figured the page links highlights the page your on, but then i changed the table colors, so may try it again.

Picture of me on there haha no way, I do have a picture of my on another old site I'l put up for review some time, but until then ...

I thought that a lot of the photos on the site should link somewhere - probably to a bigger photo and some sort of explanation of that model and how it was built... I don't know... like on all those pages you have in the models section.

The red mouseovers are really a problem... I'm not sure what else you could use though.

The text on the tips pages should be reworked a little bit in terms of styling. LIke make those headers stand out a little bit more and indent that table a little bit so that it doesn't stretch so much at higher resolutions. I also think that text should be just a tad bit bigger. Some areas could use some bulleted lists rather than the tabled layout you have - like in the "tools" section you have.

Again, the writing style needs some work. You're overusing commas - that's one of the main thing I'm noticing. And your sentences are still really long. Here's an example:

Quote: The canisters you get that have the film in it when you buy it, is useful for storing small items as well as making things, I haven't done it but reckon you could use them to make some rear wheel tubs.

Should be more like:

"Plastic film canisters are useful for storing small items and can also be used to make things. Although I haven't tried this myself, you could use them to make rear wheel tubs."

Otherwise the design is nice - shows off your work really well. Those are cute models too

Thanks
I hear you on the link with description but problem is most of the models on there were made 10+ years ago and I have no idea how I did them then lol. I am thinking of linking the thumbnails on the model and project pages to the actual model, I'll just have to change them if I/when I finish the project ones.

I know my writing style sucks, when I was doing it for a living I relied heavily on editors and proof readers (probably why I'm not still doing it).

The tips page layouts. I tried several methods of doing it but gave up and settled on that. I had them as lists but as it was all one color made the page look very boring (i didnt have lines between them thou, hmmm).
The headers arent realy meant to be headers, I used a word or two to try break the straight line of text look. I suppose I could work headers into them

the tips sub pages were at a set width but then I changed it to percentage, I wonder if I indent every second cell?
the tips page is one I personaly dislike, cause it aligns differently in Opera and IE

I agree with the red mouseover but what do I change it too, the site is basicaly black white and grey and I think any color will look out of place as it isnt anywhere else.

I found out today a friend of mine submitted this site to a hot rod magazine, I'll let you know if its included.

Oh and incase your wondering, the "DW" at the end of the lines doesnt stand for dreamweaver, I just happen to have the same initals

Interesting site!
I had to actually laugh out loud when I clicked on one of the eyes on your Home page:
Best viewed with your eyes (o)(o)

Models:
What does the Model Enthusiast do if he is only interested in Ford Pickups?
Does he have to cycle through all the pages (27?) until he gets to the pages that really interest him?
I liked the mouseover with the different views. I thought it was quite easily understood what the
big red X meant. I almost grasped it immediately. No problems there. Actually, a rather nice setup!

Links:
I was kind of disappointed that the links to other sites where not hyperlinked.
Is this on purpose? Did I miss something?

Tips:
Splitting up all that text with different colored backgrounds and text colors is a nice touch, and
eases the fatique factor when reading such large amounts of information.

Me:
a boot in NZ is a trunk in North America?

Contact:
busys (at) hotmail (dot) com
Huh? is this a cute little intelligence test?
Why not just give it to them?

Otherwise quite a nice site. I compliment you at your patience. (the hobby itself)

regards

Quote: Originally posted by holzi
I had to actually laugh out loud when I clicked on one of the eyes on your Home page

I hadn't noticed that before, well I had noticed it but didn't think to click on it, so I did this time and I too laughed out loud! Although it should be "Ouch, you're a meanie"

lol on the "ouch" also

The white on black gets hard on the eyes (these old eyes anyway). On the other hand, black backgrounds do make a nice backdrop for the images.

Your links within the text are hard to find, I had to trip over them. Either colour or underline your links.

It seems like you are spending a lot of your time explaining on how to navigate the site. Either you are being redundant or the navigation isn't intuitive enough. Personally, I think it's the former since I had no trouble getting around.

So you're all meanies huh

**I should of paid attention in school :(**

The site started out (as they do) as a 3 or 4 page site, then grew, I actually had 75 model pages but had navigation nightmares so cut it down to 25 then back up to 30 or whatever it is now.

The link colors have proven to be a problem it seems, but so have color options lol

The contact bit was to avoid spam (at) (dot), but ended up putting my email address in the copyright section anyways (which will be linked to my domain once obtained), plus if i just put "you could email me at ...." the page is to short lol

What does the Model Enthusiast do if he is only interested in Ford Pickups? look at the index of model pages (the "page" link) which is mentioned on the model and project pages.

the links arent finished yet, hense no links, most of what I had there went to 404's but will hyperlink em

a boot in NZ is a trunk in North America? In America, the "trunk" of a car is known as a "boot" in NZ, very hard writing stuff as not many things are universal, cars are worse but I could say something like "ask ya shelia to grab the chillybin, shoot down the diary, grab a slab, but dont use the ute, use the footpath" and would confuse anyone outside of NZ or OZ (well some Australians would know most of it). translated into American, "ask your girl to grab the cooler, shoot down the corner store, grab a tray of beer, but dont use the pickup (really more El camino shape), use the sidewalk".

Hey Busy, patience is.
That's gotta be at least one of your mottos!

Nice site, I agree with lots that has been said..
-love the mouse overs on the model pics page;
-do think you need to at least underline the links within the text.
-I think a medium periwinkle shade of blue would look way nicer than the red links...blue also goes well with grey.

On tips..what tweaks my eyes is the 'headerlinks' in the 2nd & 3rd columns start above the dividing line in the light grey, seems to me that moving them in just a few pixels would help that.

I also agree with reading lots of white text on black, hurts my head/eyes.

On the interior tips pages, i like the different backgrounds, it helps break it up, but i think that using bullets, uls, li, something to break up those big text areas would also make it more easy to read.

You are a busy guy!

dragonsjaw