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Contest models that got skunked - show 'em!


Jantrix

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.....When I set out to build a contest-quality model, I put my heart and soul into it. I'll make pages of notes, find reference material, amass all components and raw material and put my best effort into the build. If (I realize that) I mess something up, I'll do it again until I get it "right". It works for me, but it's a lot like work.

Hmmmmm.....sounds like the way I end up doing EVERYTHING. No wonder it always seems like work.

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Hmmmmm.....sounds like the way I end up doing EVERYTHING. No wonder it always seems like work.

All too often lately, that's how a lot of my stuff goes. I have a simple idea for a nice, easy, fun build, which eventually turns far more complex than I thought it would. Could this be an obsession or a compulsion?

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I totally respect those who build for contests, but I quit building models to try and win contests a long time ago. These days, I build stuff to please myself and I enjoy building a lot more now.

Nice job on the Cougar BTW. It's a neat piece and I'd be happy to have it on much shelf. I wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks very much. I enjoyed building it and am pleased with the results of my work. But I want you to know that I don't build with contests in mind. I never build this or that because it might do well at a contest. One look in my album will prove that. The most frequent comment I get at contests is, "Ive never seen one of those before." I build what I want ........................ but I built it with the care and quality that could win an award. That idea keeps me improving as a builder. And isn't that the whole point? Not to mention it gets me out and meeting you fine folks.

What an interesting topic!

Here's one that always seemed unappreciated to me. I had so much fun building this one because its such an oddball. Who ever heard of making a street machine from a 4dr Plymouth police car??

Michael, it's a great looking model and that two tone looks perfect.

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Michael, that is killer! I love the color combo, and the modern HEMI really is a great touch, keep trying, it'll hit the right judges sooner or later!

Rob, I've sat here and looked at that Cougar since this thread started, and if it was mine, I'd add a pinstripe down the sides following the body lines. A bright red, grabber blue, or sublime green would really set it off, getting it some more attention and possibly a win!

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I built this one about 12 years ago. It was my first custom in at least a decade. I used the venerable AMT '49 Merc kit. It has a complete tuck and roll interior I made from Evergreen half round. Window cranks I scratched from beads and wire. I custom mixed flocking to match for the carpet. The engine was transplanted from a Ford Pickup as was the rear end. You can see the body mods.

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Paint is airbrushed MM Enamel, Black and Turquoise polished with Novus. There is no clear on this one. Never got a mention in any show it was entered in. Still it was a huge fun build for me.

G

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"One man's meat is another man's poison." How many models that got skunked at a contest was the talk of the town at another contest? I guess it depends on the company you're in. I use contests as a measure of where I'm at and how much further I need to go vs. how much further I care to go. Contests are my chance to bring and brag. Otherwise I'm pretty much just pullin' for the good door prize.

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Contests are not an exact science and the best models don't always win.

You can't really take it personally, it comes down

to the judges decision on that day, another day

would probably yeild another decision. Build for

yourself, if you are Happy that's all that counts.

Your model looks Great, maybe it will win next time... B)

I second this notion

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think this is why I haven't bothered with any contests yet. I build for me, mostly. If the guys at the model car club like them too, great. I'm really not interested in taking home awards. But each build gets a little better than the last, and I always try new stuff on each one, so maybe one day I'll try a contest.

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I realize contests are judged, unfortunately, by the Human Being species so take it all with a grain of salt. I don't feel I build to a level that will place in a contest but if I'm going to a non-NNL show I will usually put something in just to participate and show.

In my younger days, 14 in 1960, I entered a '36 Ford into a contest at the local hobby shop. To my amazement it placer 2nd in the class ... and no adult/minor separation back then. So I started on a build of a '40 Ford Sedan JUST to compete in next year's contest. I did everything I could to lower it, as was the big thing then in the 1:1 custom world ... radically chopped, channeled and sectioned with tiny 13" wheels. It scaled out to 48" high. The bodywork was extensive using Cushenbery's El Matador as inspiration. The final painting started just days before the contest and was my first attempt with Candy Apple paint. The result was pretty disgusting with dark blobs where it ran and pooled at the lower body edges. There were many new things I tried ... striped corduroy upholstery, full wiring, opened doors with working handles, rotating bucket seats.

I was at Boy Scout Camp when it came time to pick it up and see if I had placed anywhere in my second model contest, so my Dad picked it up alone. I was astounded it placed First In the Custom Class ... with that abysmal paint job. I figured all the mods and bodywork over rode the paint. But, I was floored when my Dad said it was up for Best In Show and only lost because they said it was "un-roadable", NOT because the paint sucked! LOW as it'll GO was the thing at the time in 1:1 contests! I would have been much happier if they just said the paint lost it for me .... HUMANS! :lol:

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Edited by Foxer
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An incident happened at a local model show around here at the end of last year. I entered a model in the Curbside Class. When I put my model on the table, there was another model already there of a Lowrider style build that had an opening hood with fully detailed engine compartment, opening doors, and opening trunk. It clearly did NOT belong in the Curbside Class. I mentioned it to a member of the host club who said that they would look into it. Later on I was told that since it was fairly late in the day, and, since it was Peoples Choice balloting (NNL Style) that it was too late to move the model and to try to get everyone who already cast their ballots to recast them. That model won the Curbside Class. (I also noticed that the person whose model it was, had a large entourage of people with him, who obviously voted for his model.)

Now I'm not complaining because MY model didn't win in Curbside (I took a First Place Award in Replica Stock, a First Place Award in Custom, and Best In Show). My point is that the Lowrider model did NOT belong in the Curbside Class. I'm thinking that the builder looked over the entries in Custom Class and didn't feel that his model would win there, so he put it in the Curbside Class where none of the other models had the detail that his did.

I've seen the same at some of the shows in our area. They bring as many friends as they can so they can "stuff the ballot box". I would just as soon win honestly or not at all. Let the trophy whores do what they do, I'll continue to build what I like and go to the shows that are run well, by people who run as fair a show as they can. If I win , that's great, if not, I still like the experience.

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Michael,

your 4Dr Policecar blows me away! Wow! Can i cach up this idea for a gluebomb in my stash? Thats amazing and a really really good idea.

For my own, i didn't take on contest. i build for my own to have fun and relax in this great hobby we share.

When i search the web for contests in your states, i often think :"...could i have a chance?". It doesn't matter for me. If only one of the visiters takes a look, perhaps make some photos and ask some questions, i am on the winning side. that all counts for me.

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If only one of the visiters takes a look, perhaps make some photos and ask some questions, i am on the winning side. that all counts for me.

I agree with Dominik. Though I visit every Show/Contest I can, the most important thing for me is to see what other guys have built, get new tips, tricks or something. And I bring my models if someone likes to see them. Sometimes I win, that's nice, sometimes I don't, but that's not the thing I'm after. Of course it's fun to win something, but more fun is to meet friends and see other's builds.

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I build, therefore I am! I build to satisfy the voices in my head. And some of my odd friends, some of which march to the beat of a different drummer, and some of them refuse to march at all.

If I was out to please everyone I'd be building red Corvettes. Ooops, I did build one.. it's red under all the rust!

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I build, therefore I am! I build to satisfy the voices in my head. And some of my odd friends, some of which march to the beat of a different drummer, and some of them refuse to march at all.

If I was out to please everyone I'd be building red Corvettes. Ooops, I did build one.. it's red under all the rust!

*lol*...you also hear the vioces in your head...

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many years ago, i used to enter our local (sort of national) model show here in australia, i had attended a few before i entered and thought some of my models were at least as good as some on the tables. i never expected to win as making one small modification (de-chroming, different wheels etc and every car i build has something done to it) was enuf to put you into 'modified', fair enuf, those are thr rules but it puts you up against guys using a hundred bucks worth of photo-etch and billet, so as i said, i never expected to win.

what i didn'r expect was for other competitors to re-arrange the models to get theirs into better positions on the table after turning up 5 minutes before entries closed

what i didn't expect was for my models to have parts broken off them whilst displayed or being judged (this happened two years in a row)

what i didn't expect was to hear the (2)winners of one particular class laughing between themselves about 'why do these losers bother turning up, they never stood a chance against us?' (though i did wonder how they managed to build one model between the two of them if one was holding the other one's hand the whole time......)

as a result, not only do i not enter shows anymore, i don't even bother going, they apparently don't want or need my sort of 'loser' to help them pat themselves on their collective backs

after typing the above i've just wandered into the toy room and had a look at some of my builds and remembered why i build what i do...for me.

its exactly the same as my 1:1 motorbikes, some people hate what i do to bikes (acid green and black zebra stripes anyone?) but i'm doing it for me

i hope i don't come across as bitter and twisted, i just realised that the show scene ain't for me, good luck to those that do go for it

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Frankly you do sound bitter. And I really can't blame you considering your experience. However I think you are losing out on some great times interacting with fellow builders and seeing some great work. Find a new contest, a new club. Don't let a couple of bad experiences keep you from enjoying the social aspects of this hobby.

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as a result, not only do i not enter shows anymore, i don't even bother going, they apparently don't want or need my sort of 'loser' to help them pat themselves on their collective backs

that's a shame. I go to shows to meet people, look at the models and buy things. I don't even enter contests anymore, but may put a model or two on the table just to participate. There is another style of show called the "NNL" which is a non-competitive meet where everyone is free to display their work in a non-confrontational environment. I don't know where in Australia you are, but a couple of my mates in Perth run the "Super Saturday" show there, and knowing them as I do (both have been to my house in the USA) I can't imagine their show being anything but quality!

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