Contest Models

I recently helped judge a model contest for the very first time. This was at the Blizzardcon in Columbus, Ohio. All of what has been said above is true. We were told not to judge a model by its beauty or accuracy, but to see how many flaws we could find. Many beautiful and unique models lost because a seam wasn't filled or a small paint run.
One thing to note, at that contest we judges were told that we were NOT to touch the models. However practically every model was set down on top of its entry form so we wound up having to lift up the model to pull out the form to read the entrants name.
Another thing to note is that out of all the entrants of models built 'out of box', 40-50 entrants, only two included the instruction sheets-books as required.
Overall I enjoyed the experience and look forward to judging another contest. Three tools I plan to have with me are a flashlight, a dental mirror and a laser pointer.

Aw ! C'mon T.S.

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

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

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. 

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

The 1st thing to do is not build a model for the Judges .Be creative and make sure you cover the basics and have fun.I.P.M.S rules and other Micky Mouse ethics are confusing.Let your 1st contest be a see what happens event and learn as you go.Look at other models and see what can you do for the next event .Never exhaust your self on working on a single project to satisfy a judge or beat anyone's prodject.Thats what's killing the hobby.Compete and enjoy.I my self compete .I win and I loose and still have fun.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.

Scratch building and super detailing will win all the time.Collect plastic sheet of all measurements and model parts for detail .Invest in a small hand cutting and grinding tool.Also study good reference material which will help you succeed in the best display.My example would be a 1/48 scale c-130 Hercules with all four engines open and a scratch interior with open radar and flaps.I have such a model .Good luck .Take care.

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. 

Anyone can touch my 1/48 C-130 even you.See you in Hampton MR.Patriot."GO HAWKS"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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