Okay, I don’t know why but my post came out all packed into one paragraph instead of easy to read individual lines. What am I doing wrong?
Okay, problem solved.
Very nice summary! It goes a level deeper than just reading the judging rules, which is essentially what I was looking for. I can see that building contest models could push you out of your “fun zone” but I think it’s also possible that seeing the results of building to a different set of priorities might alter how you build just for fun. Anyhow, it’s a different aspect of the hobby and worth experiencing, I think.
Even if you are building to compete just at the level of your local IPMS Chapter monthly meeting, and not regional or national level, it will push your building skills up and up as long as you use the critiques that you recieve. It has with me.
I have a question as I’ve never been to a model contest: Do the judges pick up the models and examine them or are they limited to only what they can see as it sits on the table? Thanks…
A judge is allowed to pick up a model if it is needed for judging.
But, even though it is allowed, judges will do everything they can to avoid picking one up. When you put your model on a display base, it is a great idea to add a note on your entry form that lays next to, saying the model is not attached to the base, or that it is.
Since the IPMS rule is that picking up is allowed,we pretty much have to accept that it could one day happen. If my model is picked up, I have no basis to protest, if I am told the contest is using IPMS rules, and it is posted on the IPMS site,it falls under the “I gave permission by entering the contest”
In addition to what Tarn said, you may request that your entry not be picked up. That may put you at a disadvantage if you are up against an equal entry. On the other hand, it could give you advantage over a model that has lesser work on the bottom. For example, two cars are equal wheels to roof. If you pick one up and it has open seams on the engine/tranny, that one will likely be eliminared because the errors can be seen, where the same errors are not visible on the one not picked up. If the car that is picked up has no errors and is well detailed under the chassis, it would likely get the nod over the one that could not be fully examined.
That is often why you will see a model displayed on top of a small mirror. It allows any underside work to be seen without any handling of the model.
Saw one guy do this with a car missing the drive shaft from transmission to the differential!
… or the guy with the beautifully done F-15. Top notch assembly, consistently detailed. Good presentation. He thought it was a sure winner.
It didn’t place. He grabbed up a judge and asked what was wrong. Why did I not win? The judge took him over to his entry and had the guy sight down the nose. There was a wad of tissue paper masking left in one of the intakes. Head slap!
You may know where the flaws are, but look at your entry critically like a judge would
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
[Y]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.
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.