I gave a presentation at a historical society about modelling the local railroad in V-Scale last year. There was quite a bit of interest, but there *are* tradeoffs with physical modelling.
Physical fragility is replaced with data crashes / corruption / accidental deletion. The low incremental cost of V-Scale is balanced by the high startup cost of a decent computer. Track and physical maintenance is replaced by computer maintenance.
I'm not sure how hobby shops could support our segment of the hobby. More plans, perhaps? Run Blender / GMAX clinics or classes? RR-related peripherals (raildriver, others?). Resell / demo payware? Sell 3D models that can be imported into various train sims? Many of these items might be just as easily sold online; other than the ability to demo various items w/o chance of piracy.
Curtis
Edit: And yes, I have several half-completed LEGO models on my desk ;-)
Physical fragility is replaced with data crashes / corruption / accidental deletion. The low incremental cost of V-Scale is balanced by the high startup cost of a decent computer. Track and physical maintenance is replaced by computer maintenance.
I'm not sure how hobby shops could support our segment of the hobby. More plans, perhaps? Run Blender / GMAX clinics or classes? RR-related peripherals (raildriver, others?). Resell / demo payware? Sell 3D models that can be imported into various train sims? Many of these items might be just as easily sold online; other than the ability to demo various items w/o chance of piracy.
Curtis
Edit: And yes, I have several half-completed LEGO models on my desk ;-)