Contest Models

I want to be sure to say that I agree with you  JT. I would pay a fee to show off "3 models, with a small additional charge for each extra model"

I am just saying that the method being used is contest based, and that there is financial risk involved in a changeover.

a side note,,,,,,I won't "name names and embarrass a friend" but in the half hour since my last post above,,,,,,an FSM friend politely told me in PM that "you already pay a fee to display a model that is not in competition for an award"

I thought that was pretty funny, and worth sharing the laugh with the rest of you

Rex

Personally, I wouldn't mind paying an entry fee to a non-competitive model exhibition.  I know lots of people feel differently, but to me winning a model contest is just about. meaningless.

I also favor juried exhibitions, which are common in the visual arts.  A group of knowledgeable people determines which entries rise to a certain (high) standard.  The sponsoring organization then puts the "winners," whose number isn't predetermined, on exhibition for several weeks or months.  I believe Mystic Seaport held a juried ship model exhibition like that some years back.

That arrangement makes more sense to me than the prize system at most contests (first place, third place, etc.). I'm not willing to spend time or energy trying to convince a couple of judges (who may or may not know more about models than I do) that my model is "better" than somebody else's.  Looked at like that, model contests start looking kind of silly - which is why I don't want anything to do with them.

In the driving radius of my house, if I didn't want to go to a "model competition", then I couldn't go to any model show at all.

There are 7 Contests each year that I can try to go to,,,,,,,,,and every one of them uses Contest Entry Fees to enable the host club the ability to put the show on,,,,,,,one is larger and uses Contest Fees and General Admission, none of the others charge admission to the public.

So, as of today, while sitting here procrastinating my preparations for a show on May 17th, I am glad that people are competing and paying entry fees for their models,,,,,,if not for them, I wouldn't be meeting a few people that are on my "must meet in person someday" list,,,,,or seeing the latest items on the vendors tables.

I don't see any other way to finance the shows,,,if you jack up the table fees, you will lose vendors, not gain more revenue, if you charge the non-modeling spectators admission, they will just U-Turn at the front door, and it would take a decade to "slide" contest fees into paid fees to "display only" the models, and you risk some very lean times as the Contest morphs into a Display, maybe losing that show completely.

What we really need to do is encourage people to enter and show their models off even if they don't think they can win, or if they think they "aren't good enough",,,,,,,but, it is very hard to picture paying $10 for the privilege of  letting people see my Airfix Skyhawk from the seventies with the yellowed enamel paint on the belly, lol.

sometimes BUT i have to like the subject. i enjoy building warwheels, especially modern asian and all sorts of modern military trucks and unarmored wheels. i also like towed guns, firetrucks, and locomotives. i will build ww2 stuff for GBs, especially spa and spaa and enter them in contests. i avoid plane, cars, figures, and serious dioramas but my bases are pushing me into vignette categories so i best work on my figure painting.

most wins aren't bragging, especially if i saturate a category but it was interesting talking to the judges about why they picked my 1, 2, 3. i would have reversed 1 and 3 but i know how much effort and techniques went into the UNIMOG UN truck. they liked the fire jeep better.

my 25 year old CHALLENGER I took a 3d against TIGERs, my DAK 222 took a second in warwheels, my JGSDF TYPE 96B 8x8 IFV took a pair of 2ds.. they are braggers. my 1/35 MAS always won something because of few entries and size matters. some of my towed guns are definite contenders and i can hold my own against anyone if they have a truck suspension but no body category.

it's fun, gives me a deadline, and i ask when it isn't obvious why A won and B didn't. other times it stands out like a searchlight. i like to judge too.

Well, this thread intensifies an opinion I've expressed several times in this Forum.  I won't climb all the way up on my soapbox again, but I'll offer a brief summary.  I have no desire to convert anybody to my position, but I do think it's worth thinking about.  I don't believe in model contests.

Many years ago I was really obsessed with contests.  I took home my share of ribbons and trophies, and on more than one occasion made an obnoxious fool of myself.  I also did quite a bit of judging; the last contest I judged was the big ship model competition at the Mariners' Museum ( where I'd previously worked for three years) in 1991.  I'll never enter or judge another one.

My personal opinion (based on personal experiences, which differ from other people's personal experiences) is that contests do more damage to the hobby than they do good for it.  That contest at the MM reminded me of my long-ago days as a Little League baseball umpire.  I'd rather face a ballpark full of screaming parents than a couple of modelers who think they've been wronged by the judges.

I'm a big believer in non-competitive exhibitions.  I love to look at models, and I love to learn things from them.  But somebody's personal opinion (and it invariably is a personal opinion, no matter how many rules the judges are told to follow) that one model is better than another does nothing whatever for me.

The model club I belong to (The Carolina Marine Model  Society - meetings on the last Saturday of every month, September through May, at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort) has no competition whatever.  We just meet once a month to show off our models and talk about them.  In the fifteen years I've been in the club I've never heard an unpleasant word pass from one member to another.  I've made lots of friends, and learned a great deal about different approaches to ship and boat modeling.  To me, that's what the hobby is all about.

I don't suggest that the above argument is the only one; I know lots of people don't agree, and that's certainly their privilege.  But please think about it.

Silver

.At one time I entered a model Die Cast aircraft model and won Ist place in a particular category .I actually fooled the Judges.Have fun and good luck.

You cheated. Plain and simple, you stole credit for work that was not yours and deprived at least one other person of recognition. That's something to brag and be proud about! We in New England knew a guy who did that. He was found out with an Isetta model he asked the judges not to touch. When the open door was touched and snapped closed with a metallic noise, the jig was up. He lost all respect of his club members and the modelling community as a whole. 

I watched a modeler's skills improve over a course of two years because of "AMPS style" judging of his model aircraft at a small show.

The first year, he entered about 6 model aircraft, and he didn't get any medal. In his words he "just built them" without thinking about contests.

The next year, he entered 3 and got one Silver and one Bronze,,,,,,,just because he took more time on each model and built with the judging "tick sheet" laying on his bench. (there were quite a few Medals in his category, so, the Golds would have taken 1-2-3, leaving him with nothing under that system)

I told the young man (he's "only" in his forties, lol) that if he goes home and builds with that method from now on, he will know that he is building "award contending" models from now on, even if he doesn't ever enter again.

I do hope he contends again,,,,,,I would love to see him win a Gold someday. And he has talked me into competing "alongside of him", which, as you say, is so much more fun than "competing against".

Rex

TarnShip

If you want to relax, and not worry about "beating Tarn or T B's model",,,,,GSB is cool,,,,,it is simply Your model, the judges, and a tick sheet to gather points, if get enough points then you get a Gold Silver or Bronze,,,,,,negatives don't count against you, they just don't count for your total,,,,,you could get Bronze just by excelling at your favorite part, even if you flop on the part you don't enjoy doing.  Oh, and 10 guys could all get Gold in the same category for weathered or unweathered aircraft models on the same table.

Rex

A much more civilized way of "competing." Too bad more events weren't like this. It's how AMPSand the figure shows do things, as taught to us many years ago by none other than Shep Paine. It's how our club judged everything but aircraft and cars. 

haha, T B

nope, I fully intend to continue to  build in Semi-Gloss for "public viewing" and the correct Non-Specular and Glossy as appropriate for my own private shelves. (Unless I get older and lazier and just use Semi-Gloss for top and bottom of all large surfaces)

that way I satisfy the "everyone knows that Gloss paint gets worn down 2.3 minutes after it is painted on" guys, and the "Flat paint gets shined up the first time the aircraft flies" guys at the same time (lol)

I don't weather though,,,,,,almost all of the pics that I physically have are smaller than my 1/72 models, and only the dirtiest aircraft shows weathering in those pics,,,,,,so, if I weathered to match the photos, they would be weathered so very subtly that not doing it is just about perfect.

I will be taking a nice 8 by 10 glossy along to one show, though,,,,,,,,it is of a subject that has been released by a decal company, it is at the end of a 6 month Vietnam carrier deployment, and it is of a pristine Skyhawk after many dozens of bombing missions from Dixie Station, with many many mission marks on it and everything. It will go under the entry form as "additional reference" in a G-S-B contest (counting as one additional point, which means I will gain a point by deliberately NOT weathering a model, haha)

If you want to relax, and not worry about "beating Tarn or T B's model",,,,,GSB is cool,,,,,it is simply Your model, the judges, and a tick sheet to gather points, if get enough points then you get a Gold Silver or Bronze,,,,,,negatives don't count against you, they just don't count for your total,,,,,you could get Bronze just by excelling at your favorite part, even if you flop on the part you don't enjoy doing.  Oh, and 10 guys could all get Gold in the same category for weathered or unweathered aircraft models on the same table.

Rex

Aw ! C'mon T.S.

You mean I won't get to zero in on your nice shiny planes ! Darn !

... or the guy with the beautifully done F-15.  Top notch assembly,  consistently detailed. Good presentation.   He thought it was a sure winner.    

It didn't place.   He grabbed up a judge and asked what was wrong.  Why did I not win?    The judge  took him over to his entry and had the guy sight down the nose.  There was a wad of tissue paper masking left in one of the intakes.   Head slap!

You may know where the flaws are,  but look at your entry critically like a judge would

ajlafleche

stikpusher

That is often why you will see a model displayed on top of a small mirror. It allows any underside work to be seen without any handling of the model.

Saw one guy do this with a car missing the drive shaft from transmission to the differential!

stikpusher

That is often why you will see a model displayed on top of a small mirror. It allows any underside work to be seen without any handling of the model.

Saw one guy do this with a car missing the drive shaft from transmission to the differential!

That is often why you will see a model displayed on top of a small mirror. It allows any underside work to be seen without any handling of the model.

A judge is allowed to pick up a model if it is needed for judging.

But, even though it is allowed, judges will do everything they can to avoid picking one up. When you put your model on a display base, it is a great idea to add a note on your entry form that lays next to, saying the model is not attached to the base, or that it is.

Since the IPMS rule is that picking up is allowed,,,,,,,,we pretty much have to accept that it could one day happen. If my model is picked up, I have no basis to protest, if I am told the contest is using IPMS rules, and it is posted on the IPMS site,,,,,,,,it falls under the "I gave permission by entering the contest"

I have a question as I've never been to a model contest: Do the judges pick up the models and examine them or are they limited to only what they can see as it sits on the table? Thanks...

Even if you are building to compete just at the level of your local IPMS Chapter monthly meeting, and not regional or national level, it will push your building skills up and up as long as you use the critiques that you recieve. It has with me.

Very nice summary! It goes a level deeper than just reading the judging rules, which is essentially what I was looking for. I can see that building contest models could push you out of your "fun zone" but I think it's also possible that seeing the results of building to a different set of priorities might alter how you build just for fun. Anyhow, it's a different aspect of the hobby and worth experiencing, I think.

Okay, I don't know why but my post came out all packed into one paragraph instead of easy to read individual lines. What am I doing wrong?

Okay, problem solved.

So in a nutshell:

- Try to start with the best kit of the subject you are building.

- It helps if you are passionate about the subject; it can delay the onset of burnout.

- Concentrate on the basics (assembly, paint, decals).

- Always check alignment (wings even, wheels all touching ground, etc).

- Aftermarket and weathering will enhance your model if done properly, but if poorly done will hurt you.

- Consistency. If you super detail the cockpit or any other specific area, you need to commit to the rest of the model to be likewise detailed.

- If you turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, some photo documentation will help. A couple of good quality photos clearly showing the relevant mods and additions is better than a huge photo album.

- I am not sure having a nice simple base really helps you out in a contest (it's not supposed to count in an IPMS contest), but it can't hurt. Plus people like me will enjoy looking at your model even more.

- A novel subject and/or presentation helps you stand out of a crowd. But of course the basic construction thing still applies.

- My final test is, I ask myself what flaws I can see on my model. I built it, so I should know where all the mistakes are. If I can see them, I try to fix them (during construction of course, not at the end of the build).

But that is the reason contest models are not as fun to build for me. The deadline thing also puts me off, as I'm lousy at time management. And don't forget it's all about fun. The ones who take the hobby too seriously are the ones who seem to enjoy it the least. And vice versa. Hope that helps, and good luck diving into the contest fray!

Accepted, Ajlafleche,,,,,,,I also apologize for getting my back up at you.

It is sometimes more difficult to have a conversation online than in person. In person, there is the immediate back and forth that we don't have in posting online.

have a great remainder of the day

Rex

Tarn, I apologize for having appeared to be a contrarian. It was not my intent.

I do think there is a tendency with more experienced judges to give a bit more to someone who builds a silk purse out of a sow's ear.  That is, if someone turns out a really good model, with a lot of mods, to a Lindberg or Glencoe kit, that does influence judges that know those kits.  I have heard conversations about that during judging.

Thanks everyone. All good things to think about. Sounds like volunteering to judge would be very useful. Hoping to enter the Spring contest in Northern VA and then on to the Nationals in August. I really enjoyed the Nationals as a spectator the last time they were in Norfolk. Time for a new perspective!