I was looking at these great tanks from the Petacula competition, my eye caught on one of the entries mark out of box , does this mean absolutly no modification , take for exemple the barrel for the canon for say i could make a small hole to give the look of a metal one would that be considered an illegal modification. No i am not ready for this but very curious.
IPMS rules for out of the box prohibits the use of aftermarket goodies with the possible exception of decals. However, you can modify the kit parts within the rules. Drilling out the cannon barrel from the kit would be OK, replacing it with a brass AM part would not. Modifying the kit tracks would be allowed, replacing them with AM tracks would not, and so on.
Regards, Rick
The whole OOB designation is sketchy, IMHO. It was invented for aircraft modellers who wanted to paint rather than detail their kits. While possible for armor, I don’t think it suits the genre well. Aircraft focus on form, color and markings. AFVs and artillery focus on weathering & finish but also attention to detail.
I recently entered an IPMS hosted event and I was disappointed that they wouldn’t allow me to enter my auto as OOB, though the only thing I had added were a few wires to the engine.
Most of the IPMS clubs near me require that the instructions be entered along with the model for judging. When they mean out of the box they mean it in the strictest sense.
Erik
The local IPMS chapter here has an occasional “OOB” contest which has a twist. All materials that come in the box, including the box, can be used. So if you are adding stretched sprue wires or antennas, paper belts from instruction sheet, etc. it will work.
But yes, at most places OOB rules limit what is on the kit, to what is in the kit box when purchased, including decals. With some makers of kits such as Eduard and Dragon including oodles of brass, resin, and other such goodies, this has blurred the lines quite a bit.
I confess I’m not up on the current IPMS rules, but I know there was a lot of conversation a couple of years ago about banning the multi media kits from OOB competition.
Regards, Rick
^^^^ Exactly. People should clearly admit that OOB is meant to be a model painter’s category. If I finish a multimedia kit and check off “OOB” then it’s clearly a stab at trying to get another award.
I’m not saying do away with OOB but people and shows should use it for its original intent: to allow painters to not have to compete against the “full builders”. I’m not saying one is better than the other but when a “full builder” tries to shoe-horn his/her model into an OOB status, it defeats the purpose.
I’m pretty sure frenchman is talking about the photos I took at the 2010 Model Expo in Petaluma, CA that I went to yesterday. Its funny that this thread is all about OOB since the theme of yesterday’s show was “Out Of the Box”!! But not in the same sense as the usual OOB meaning…what they meant was just getting the kit “out of the box” and building it!! I must admit I Iike their OOB better!!