All,
I have judged several contests in the open type judging. One thing we make sure of is that the identity of the builder is not known to the judges, and if one of us has a model in the contest we either do not judge that category or at least not judge the model we entered. We are specifically instructed not to review the markings and paint, but only the model builder's techniques and the outcome. Are the wings square and even? Are the landing gear on the ground, and are they even? For ground vehicles, are all of the wheels on the ground like they are supposed to be? Are there any visible seams, and if so, are they consistent side to side? Are there any glue marks or finger prints? These are the types of things we judge for, and in theory there could be 100% gold or no medals at all given in a category. It just depends on the quality of the kits entered. Each kit is judged individually. Speaking personally, judging has opened my eyes to how to improve my model building, and has given me insight to how models I typically do not build should work. We do our best to be fair, and work in teams so as to gain a concensus between judges.
Two pieces of advice. First, get involved in judging a contest or 2 before you criticize too much. Look at how the judging works, and it may improve your capabilites. Second, I don't care how good you think a kit is, the judges are looking at the model with fresh eyes and may see something that familiarity with the kit may have covered up or the lighting in the exhibition hall emphasizes that the lighting on your bench does not. That sucks, but it is life. Try to learn from what was offered and take it as constructive critcism. This is not to say the judges are perfect, we are not. Sometimes mistakes happen, even though we try our best. This is a hobby and it is supposed to be fun. Chalk it up to having fun, and move on. Getting bent out of shape because the judges didn't agree with you about the quality of your work just destroys the fun for all.
One further thought about the weathering, it may be that the judges commented about that, but had seen something else that wasn't commented on that excluded the kit from medal contention. I know when we judge, we try to make comments on the card we use as to why we did what we did and we try to be complete. It may be that the judges you had were more rushed, and did not make all the comments they could have in the feedback.
Whew! Now, the pictures you show looks like you do beautiful work that you should be proud of. Without more detail shots, I will not venture to apply the judging criteria I discussed above, but just looking, they looked great.
Take care, and have fun.
John