Quote:
Originally Posted by Revell-Fan
...Granted, UHU may do as he pleases. However, the way he does it is not the Gentleman way. He has many fans outside of Japan and blocking them without notice is a major slap in their faces. This doesn't make any sense. If he doesn't want to be admired by them, why is he still showcasing his work? It would have been better if he had put his blog on private completely.
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I understand and share your disappointment, as it the same as mine.
And I know you, the same as me and many others, like his designs
and admire his structural solutions, and the graphic details he adds.
That being said, and despite liking his designs, I'd like to play the devil's advocate here.
Maybe if we see things from another point of view we can understand better.
To start with, I don't think he even cared much about the out-of-Japan followers.
I believe it because his blog, kits and instructions have always been in Japanese.
Never in English or any other major global language that the visitors could understand.
He did, however, answered to each and every comment made on his posts.
Most were in Japanese, but to those of us who commented in English he replied at least with a few words.
Probably just being polite. Or probably he just likes to answer to all comments.
But if he had wanted his work to be more accessible to the rest of the world,
he may have used other more global means and language from the beginning.
On the other hand, many Japanese (and Korean) paper designers have been known
to have a strict policy on local distribution only, even if they're only free kits.
UHU was a rarity in that sense, offering high quality designs for free to anyone who
could find his page and (in the past) to anyone who could gain access to the library.
Even more of a rarity to have formerly teamed with the other forum in that.
But he was the only (or one of the very few) to be open to out-of-his-country downloads.
I am thinking of another factor here: the Yamato is incredibly complex and superbly documented.
The amount of detail he's adding is otherworldly. No other kit of a ship has been designed with such care,
not even by commercial designers. And UHU himself must know that. Of course he does know.
Probably he knows the Yamato will be his magnus opus, and, being an icon of Japanese military history,
he wishes it to remain in the hands of Japanese fans. Not much because of piracy prevention
(other released kits are still publicly available). I don't know if that's the case, but it may be.
Or he knows the Yamato will be a massive download (if he ever puts up a download of it).
Maybe because of the size he will only sell printed copies instead of offering a download.
Now, we agree that he can do as he pleases. And I also believe isolation
is not the best way to solve things. It is difficult to balance everything.
But yes, I also would have liked a warning about not being able to comment anymore.
I don't think a warning would be useful at all, if only to say good-bye.
Was it, as jaffro suggested, the hosting company decision? Probably that's why UHU did not issue a warning.
Was it his decision? He seemed polite enough to warn publicly about it.
Now, sure there are ways to surpass that restriction, and fake an IP to make it look as if you're writing
from another part of the world. But that wouldn't be "gentlemanly" either to impose such invasion.
So, yes Revell-fan. Even though I agree with you in a sense, we can also consider other factors.
I guess only time can tell.
The Yamato is just beginning. I don't think he finishes it in less than a year or two.
And you can add several months to that for him to make the beta build and correct issues.
And a lot can happen in the meantime.
Let's keep hope of change.