Thanks again for the kind words. I'm surprised more folks haven't built shuttles, but then again, most of the kits that are out leave a lot to be desired. Now that there are a bunch of aftermarket parts and decals for the space shuttle, I would expect some great work to be done.
For what it's worth, I've only entered the Columbia in one contest, last fall's Nordicon in Minneapolis. It didn't place. The winners in its category were a Gundum, a V-2 and an "Icarus" from
Planet of the Apes. I see why other "real space" modelers get discouraged when it comes to contests. It seems that more often than not, our stuff gets lumped in the "Space and Sci-Fi" category, as if something like the space shuttle actually belongs in the same category as a Gundam, or a piece of artillery (the V-2) or a vehicle from a sci-fi movie.
I don't build for contests, but I have a tough time with any outfit that thinks it makes sense to stick something like a space shuttle in the same category as those other things. The shuttle is a real vehicle with real references you can look up. You can look it up to see if the modeler has accurately represented the flexible insulation seals between the SSME gimbal mounts and the aft fuselage SSME fairings. You can look it up to see if the modeler has accurately represented the elevon hinge panels. So that belongs in the same category as a made-up Japanese robot suit? Or a spacecraft (and only part of a spaceship at that) from a sci-fi movie made in the 1960s? Or a WWII artillery shell that just happened to be propelled by a rocket motor instead of gunpowder?
It just didn't make sense to me and it kind of soured me on the whole deal. I've heard the argument that if there aren't enough "real space" entries then they have to be lumped in with the sci-fi stuff, but when you do that, you set up a pretty stupid competition. What would happen if the guys who built Me-109s woke up one morning and were told that their airplanes were going to be judged in the same category as Pontiac GTOs? Or if the guys who spend months researching the proper markings for a piece of German armor were told that their work was going to be judged in the same category as sailing ships? This is the very same deal. There is NO WAY in any rational competition and judging system that a space shuttle should be in the same category as a Gundam, and any judge who thinks there is is just daft.
Yes, I know it's largely about modeling skill and a badly puttied seam is a badly puttied seam, whether it's on a Panther tank or a Gundam or a P-51. But if that were truly the case, why have categories in the first place?