Oh I have built a couple Tamiya birds already. I just don’t have any of their Jugs due to pricing. But after seeing this I will certainly be on the lookout for one at a good price. And since nobody else makes a M in 1/48 it is a good excuse…[;)]
Oh and I already have an AM sheet for Jugs that just happens to have a M on there…[whstl]
And as good as those are the '47 is that much better. I agree though that the pricing is a little annoying for a WW2 bird…
Great job and I love that Tamiya kit!
Funny you should say that. I entered this turkey into the rigged a Cleveland Model Show earlier in the month and it didn’t win jack squat. Sore loser you may say? Absolutely!.., especially since all of the model club members tend to run away with most of the awards. I’m not really a conspiracy theorist, but it can’t be a coincidence that the model club member who won first place in the “out of the box” catergory didn’t even have his instructions with the kit which are required per IPMS rules…Ha! Happy thoughts…
Sorry, I couldn’t resist…the venting continues…
Joe
I feel your pain, bro! I entered a couple of models that I was sure would be prize winners in our local annual contest this year and two of my finest models didn’t get anything.
Now, last year, I entered 5 models and got four 1st places, one 2nd place (that one was competing against one of those 1st placers) and 3 Best out of Box awards…in the 1/48 modern jets category which is fairly competitive. I honestly don’t say this to brag but rather to show that I know what it takes to win a 1st place prize…like I’m stating my credentials.
So this year, when I set my 2 models on the table and saw the competition I thought I had it wrapped up by a mile…and so did most other people.
Now there was one guy in this particular category who flawed his wing up, noted it on his entry form (he blamed it on the car ride over), and still got 1st place! So now all you have to do is note your flaws on the entry form and blame it on the car ride? It was so strange. I mean it really was a head scratcher. And the 2nd place winner was about as plain jane as they get.
In this case I think the judges were really rushed for time and just picked their 3 favorites or something. It was a record turnout this year so there were alot more planes to look at. When the awards were handed out many people were shaking their heads and saying “WTF!” and “I can’t believe you didn’t get anything!” But I was good and I didn’t complain. I still think its important to respect the judges. I didn’t want to be “that guy.”
And I’m not trying to disrespect those guys who did get the awards. Their builds were nice. But the reality is that the judges got it wrong…at least in this particular category. The other categories seemed correct, though.
Thanks Fly-n-hi. I’ve been stewing over this for a few weeks now, so its nice to get another perspective. Its also nice to vent a bit. One of my former bosses used to describe me as “tragically competitive”. I suppose he’s not far off but I have mellowed with age. I have very little respect for the so-called judges, who are of course members of the local IPMS chapter (shocker). After overhearing some of these conversations between the judges I’m at the point where I might want to actually be “that guy”. You see, they bring their models to their monthly meetings so they all know who built what, and judge accordingly. There’s also a little flap that can be lifted to show the modeler’s name. You don’t have to be a genius to figure this out. I know, pay the fee, join the club, then reap the rewards…lol.
I unfortunately build 1/48 Prop which is the most popular category. To be fair, its the most popular category and there is usually some fine work in there. With this in mind, I entered my P-51C Berlin Express and this build. I checked all the things the pen light police look for and thought for sure one of the two would place. I then switched strategies and entered the out of the box category with my Eduard Spitfire IX…well…swing and a miss on all of them. Then my suspicions seemed to be confirmed when the aforementioned club member took first place in this category without instructions. Well laddy friggin da!. Here’s a thought, if you make rules how about going by them…
Ahhhhh…I feel better now. This all said, just by my stubborn nature, I’ll probably try again next year against my better judgement. Or perhaps I will just go get a root canal for the fun of it.
Joe
Wow, so…. there’s someone in the greater Cleveland area with a better build than that? Yeah, right.
Having never entered a model competition myself, I suspect that the nature of subjective judging is a recipe for cronyism.
Lemme tell ya, you can build one mean model Joe!!! Nice!
It’s all politics, sadly. You did a really nice job…
Makes me wonder if those judges were looking at the same models we are. Your work is outstanding Joe. Sometimes though, it does goes the opposite way. In the late 90’s I entered a local IPMS show, my sole entry being a 1/48 Hasegawa Macchi Folgore. It was a good day for my little 202, taking best in category, best aircraft, and a best-in-show. Some of the ‘locals’, who I considered buds (silly me), were less than thrilled, basically saying “congrats, but don’t ever enter our show again”. Fortunately, they were the minority - most thought the awards were well-deserved.
Thanks for the kind words guys. Reasoned, apparently there are several better modelers. There were a lot of 1/48 single prop entries, so they chose to divide them up into sub catergories (inline, radial). I had a 1 in 6 shot and still got da shaft…[:@]. Even my wife, who knows nothing about models or much less a model show, noticed the favortism. I think I’m done with the model show for a while. if I do decide to compete again, perhaps I’ll pull the fire alarm at the award presentation…[;)]. The local Fire Department might not get the humor though…
Joe
Maybe you should be a judge next year and use their standards![6]
The politics is why I gave up contests over 15 years ago. Now I enjoy modeling more because I’m not worried about what someone else will think.