Hi all, I’ve attended exactly one IPMS contest in the last 30 years and noticed something that concerns me as someone who plans to enter in the future…
To weather or not?
The IPMS judge I spoke with said they give no extra credit for weathering, though they had a place on the entry form to identify if the intent was was weathered or new from the factory, which seemed to contradict his statement. Why ask if it doesn’t matter?
I noticed the kits, in this case aircraft, that won, were mostly not weathered, so that made me think it is actually a handicap, no mater what the judge said.
I generally don’t weather my models for contests. Most of my ship models are “static displays” like the way you’d see a model of something on a shelf or a person’s desk, etc. in a company office or a trade show.
I’ve always heard that IPMS judges do not like weathered models. I do not know if this is true or not. It’s similar to the “rumor” that the IPMS is an aircraft centered organization.
If you putting your model in a diorama or vignette,well it has to be weathered to match the setting,and an overly muddy or weathered model looks a little out of place on its own.You have to find a nice balance.
I think it is likely that, though not official, there is a bias against weathering, especially heavy weathering on aircraft. They are institutionally about exacting standards and perfection and weathering is more of an art form that is quite subjective unless you are exactly representing a specific real life subject.
I did that with my OA-4M and it could be judged as overly weathered unless you put the reference photo up right next to it and only then can you get the idea of what I
was going for.
I enjoy the process of weathering more than I expected it turns out. I’ve never built a diorama, but I want to. The thing about contests is, dioramas are usually in their own category, so you can’t submit an aircraft in a diorama and have it judged as an aircraft. I get it with tanks, mud and dirt make a lot of sense. For aircraft, especially the USMC and Navy aircraft that I build, it is more about wear and tear which adds depth and realism in my opinion. Very few Navy/Marine aircraft are pristine very long.
BUT if the judges have a bias against it, I need to take that account on kits that I plan to enter.
Here is a better option, don’t worry about what the judges want/look for. Model for yourself and be happy with it. I don’t build anything with how the judges will see it in mind.
Probably good advice. That is what I have been doing but I’m coming back after 30 years and I wanted to enter at least a few kits like I did long ago. Back then we didn’t really weather aircraft so this is all new to me and I’m enjoying the weathering process. I just didn’t want it to unofficially disqualify the entry if there was a bias against it.
One solution is to make a few kits that look brand new, like a Blue Angles or Thunderbirds that would have zero weathering.
