E-mail inbound, Georg.
I must disagree with you on the idea that one might not be qualified to be a judge.The first time I judged at AMPAS East was in 2001. I observed a team for a couple models then jumped right in. If you can build a model, you can judge a model. You'll be surprised at how closely eachjudge scores compared tot he other judges, even when novices are on the team.
If you enter shows you should be giving back to the shows and the easiest way to do this is with judging. It helps the show move along, reduces the work load on those already judging, and it's a darn good way to A. get a close up look at some fine craftsmanship, B. see what goes into a good model, and C. learn that judges are not giving awards to their friends, but to deserving builders. If you're new to judging at AMPS (or anywhere) you'll also get to meet and know some of your fellow modelers. It will also help you see why a particular model, of whatever genre, placed or didn't, so when some upset bloviator says this should have won, you'll be able to say (or at least know0 that there were valid reasons why one model finished ahead of the other.