FloridaBoy

Zinn, I prefer to refer to you by your last name as that is my way of showing disrespect. I could care less about your "challenge" which to everyone on this thread is a veiled attempt to set me up, with me reacting like a little puppy to your whims, of which you demonstrate colossal ignorance. I do not make excuses, I find other means, which I am doing now. To you, showing a model car on this forum is the testament of a man, and gives you the right to attack others, and you call me a taint to the hobby. I even "challenged" you to contact Model Car Garage and find out about me, for you don't even know who I am, but willing to make assumptions all over the place. I am not going to ask Gregg to make available more MB space for me, as that would take time. What I plan to do today is to get those god d$#%$#%#mn photos downloaded just to shut you and your ilk up. I don't attack people unless attacked first. If in the unfortunate situation we inadvertently meet at a major contest, pardon me in advance I refuse to shake your hand, or even acknowledge your presence. I would prefer if possible to keep your %^^%$%#$ mouth shut and that goes to your butt boy Sauber. Right this minute I am working off my fotki.com album page, which only has part of my finished and works in progress. Should you wish to critique it, I don't give a ######, to quote Jack Nicholson. Frankly, I am a little grateful as you and Sauber gave me quite a clear picture about the putrid state of model cars -- which is if you disagree with me, I will attack you in person. Very Jerry Springerlike. With my background, I learned to deal with bottom dwellers is to get at the bottom of the ditch and deal with them. I am quitting this mess, and leaving this forum for as long as I want, to get rid of the taint of model car culture you have contributed to. So, Gregg, excuse me for my ire, it was he who opened the window. Zinn, be careful when making assumptions about people's character, you are so far off -- you are nominated for the Andy Dick School of Psychoanalysts. As soon as I can get these pictures not for you, but in spite of you, and I never back down from a do able dare, you are sort of "got" because I manned up to show my stuff, and if you blast it, or have your butt boys do it, it puts your integrity in question, which I have done, to show you have a vendetta against anything you say about my work or me. It is you who dug your own hole, which is where you belong. Gregg, please close this thread when I post my pictures. I know you and Harrypri as moderators are watching and monitoring this closely. It felt good to get mad and raise the blood, as it is done on a somewhat private thread, and would never occur on the floor of a model car event, at least on my behalf. It is a very sad state of affairs when a guy who intends to improve the local model car environment by exposing cheating which is designed to keep the bad boys honest, but then someone has to resort to a personal attack on page 4 after everything was going OK. I was warned earlier via emails by several people on this forum about other certain people ready to pounce on someone who dares to express and opinion. I am enjoying the adrenaline rush from being angry with you, but really disappointed with the rest of the forum that so many supported or rationalized cheating or breaking rules. That is the real reason I am done, not some petty syncophants. My love for the hobby continues despite the culture around here, and on some parts of this forum, and I will continue to build alone like I have during the bleak periods of model car history down here, which if not addressed sometime soon, will most assuredly occur again. I've been there twice and see the same factors again, only this time I am well stocked in kits and supplies to occupy me for the rest of my life. Just remember, every time you hear of a contest being cancelled, or a hobby shop closing, just hear my words in the background to the tune of the movie theme "Memories", me saying, "I told you so". Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Zinn and Sauber Again to continue to personally criticize me is unacceptable and is tainting the intent of this post. You are attempting to divert the direction by engaging in a bline personal attack on a person who has the testicles to bring this to a point. Attack the one with an opinion, and Zinn, your little saying at the end of your posts bely your true attitude. You cloak a personal attack by standing behind your right to voice an opinion. Yes, I do have a chip on my shoulder which I am proud of, as I stand up against things and practices I consider immoral, and cheating is still immoral the last time I checked, I do not need anger management as I never abuse or destroy things, and the most I do is offend those apathetics with my opinons and observations/facts which brought them to the forefront. As for being old, yep, I find myself a little more irascible, because I just don't walk on eggshells like when I was younger and trying to fit in. Now I would rather be right than be popular, and the honor is standing up for the conviction rather than cower behind the more easier route, and it is fashionable to attack the instigator. I am a member of fotki and photobucket, but my photos of some of my work are in fotki. But after an evening of thinking about it, why am I going to work just because a couple of yokels challenged me? Frankly, I wouldn't cross the street to piss on either of your shoes. God, that felt good. I am already in the process of putting all of the fotki pictures on my facebook website where it can be accessed and this forum or magazine doesn't have to do anything to increase my MB attachment space. Besides putting my pictures in my facebook site would allow my sons and his college roommates to see my work, where there was considerable interest, where I have more motivation to please a small percentage of syncopants on this forum. As for throwing a contest, this forum has been an educator. I sincerely brought this topic up to clean house a little by giving you all some awareness, and when you see it address it, and it will work little by little for more attendance and hopefuly in contests. But as usual on this forum, which has happened twice to me, I get personally attacked for an issue I stand up for by a very small minded person who has no ability to inarticulate an intelligent responseoe and finds it easy to generate a personal attack on the initiator, just like a little old lady at a bridge game spreading gossip. I will have my all of my photos posted on facebook by Saturday at the latest, and since you are so eager, you can just access my page and browse. If you attack me there, my "friends" will have suitable responses. Yhe real tragedy here is the alarmingly higher percentage of those who are either apathetic, or militantly apathetic by just digging its head in the sand, or those who condone cheating, or rationalize it. If the model car building population is anything like that percentage on this forum, I would be wasting my time on any effort to organize a contest. I will now go and wretch about the state of this hobby. Most of you are making great builds and I encourage you to continue, just stock up on kits, as I am seeing 1971 all over again. There will be no contest, which ain't any big deal as there aren't any apparently planned at this time. A cheater/organizer ruined this area. So Sauber and Zinn, if you treat others at contests like you treat some, you are part of the problem rather than the solution. I could care less proving myself to either or any of you, so Saturday you can see my work on facebook, and Sunday have fun ripping it apart. Now you have power. As for me, I am fed up with a large percentage of people since the personal attack, and the general apathetic attitude. You can criticize my ideas any day of the week, but to go after me with a boguy pshchological evaluation without the benefit of any degree, have fun. As for me, I will be gone from this forum for a while until at least I finish wretching. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Goes for you too, Zinn. Maybe you guys can talk MCM into giving me more attachment space, and I will be a posting fool. After all, all I am is a bitter old man who blames my problems on others......lol. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Sauber, The fact that you criticized me personally when I stick to an issue tells us you either have little content or confidence in your convictions and ability to make a point. Second, if you check closer, this was not a complaint as you label, but a stand against a practice that is becoming rampant among us, and reading the replies, it is rampant and is turning people off and away by the hordes. I had convictions and courage to bring it to a head, and my subtitle said this was not for the faint hearted, which obviously some of the posters her fall into that category. My goal is that people will notice when it is happening, and bring light to the contest organizers, and just by the fear of discovery, it will tend to clean up an otherwise dirty contest. Next, instead of making vague generalities, if you review my posts and replies you will see that 99.9% are either tips, help in techniques, assistance in the history of kits or the hobby itself, or just helping out other modelers, which I have done for years, and will continue to do so. Now, addressing the bitter old man stuff, first let me know that the remark is not acceptable to me, and it is for sure we will never be friends. If you want to see what kind of person I am, just email Bob Kuronow at Model Car Garage, who founded and runs the company what he thinks of me. He will tell you I am anything like you describe. You need to bone up on your character evaluation. I do have a chip on my shoulder, admittedly, as that goes back to my ancestry. Last, I do not need to respond to your petty challenges, simply because I am prevented by MB space to post any more photos on this forum. Right now under "attachments", I have used 1.24 of 1.95MB space and the last time I tried to post one photo it rejected me, and this was the second time, so I just gave up. I use my persistence energy only when it matters. Frankly I have been told off much better than here. You obviously have little regard or respect for the people who have been in this hobby for so long, or you have made it personal with me, so obviously you didn't read my tips on how to disagree without creating resentment on harrypri's last post. When you have worked so much in this hobby as I have, or Treehugger has or others veterans on this forum, you younger guys should afford the older ones respect because we have been there in thick and thin, putting up with the ups and downs, and still have that enthusiasm. I sure hope you evaluate your own resentment toward others in the future not for the people, but what they have become - seasoned veterans. If you want to see my work, you can PM me through the forum with your email address, and I will reply with attached photos of my old work and present projects. I could care less of your opinions as I have already anticipated them judging from your tone on this thread. Once sent, I can guarantee you will never hear from me again. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Dingo, I had several nasty incidents over the years in model car contests, but had faith back then and still to a degree now. One of the most memorable was the end of my win streak. I had just entered at a large local hobby shop in Ft Lauderdale by the beach my absolute best car, a sectioned 50 Ford Convertible, with lots of custom work, operating doors, and a polished white pearl paint job. I went back to the shop for the results and to retrieve my "winner", which to me and basically the consensus of window lookers, should have killed everything else there. Nothing. But when I picked up my car, the owner sternly advised me he was punishing me for building too good of a car, to give someone else a chance, and his approach to judging, against the entry sheet was to take age as a consideration in the reward of the car. For example, a 15 year old building an above average car would be judged above a 19 year old who had the experience to do better. When I showed him the judging criteria, he basically told me "that I had won enough", and even resented such a good model, even though I bought the kit and supplies from him. Word got around, as he scolded me in public, and frankly all I was going to do is never enter his contest again. I didn't, and a friend stole on of my cars from my display case and entered it, greedy for hardware. I retrieved it with my friend, who confessed to the deed, and again the hobby shop owner scolded me for being in on it. He had one contest afterwards, and it attracted all of 20 cars, and never had one again. When he went out of business, he was pretty down and out, and bitter, and it was my pleasure to help him out by buying his entire model car and supply inventory 10cents on the dollar. He was grateful and so was I to see a rat get his deserves. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I would venture a guess that it is the car in "Grease". To me it looks like a 46-48 Merc, but using a Revell 48 Ford Convertible will be a good kit to start with, but you will need to fabricate the grille, headlights and decals/trim. It is a neat car to model....I never thunk to build one. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I live in South Florida, and have painted cars in just about every type of climate environment. The only problem I ever had was with humidity and heat, which made the paint prone to run a little or bubble. Painting in a basement could result in some dust particles on the finish, which are removed in part or whole by a polishing system and rubbing out the car. I built quite an elaborate paint booth for my garage, and still encountered a dust spot now and then, no matter how many precautions I took. I now use my workroom inside my spare bedroom and my paint booth with a fan and vent to the outside, and to date haven't had any problems. Last January it got a little cold in the daytime at 20 degrees but it was bone dry and the paint came out crisp and clean. My spare bedroom is generally closed off when I am not working in it, so I would guess that the interior temp at time of paint was in the thirties. To me, the greatest enemies of applying paint are sunlight or lack of light, dust, humidity, rainy conditions outside, fans, space and portable heaters close by, and heat. Avoiding these would give you the results you desire I would guess. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Mustang, Because cheating is accepted by the masses does not make it right. Because others accept it and participate in it are not rational reasons to let it go. Take a look at our culture, cheating does occur until someone says "enough!!!" and people get caught, like Bernie Madoff, like AIG, like steroids, like the NBA ref cheating, like Bill Belechik of the Patriots cheating, and the numerous NCAA violations, and the invention of playback cameras to keep referees in check, are good signs that our culture is willing to deal with cheaters. The problem is that it is very uncomfortable pointing the finger at cheaters, because the cheater is usually very proficient in looking innocent or ignorant, and making the finger pointer look like a troublemaker, so we don't bother. Too many in pre-war Europe didn't want to do anything about it either. Loosening the moral fiber whether we participate or not hurts us all, and I will stand by that as I have witnessed this occurrence for 49 years. Second, again, I do not agree at all with the opinion that entering a motor in a model built by a professional is OK even if stated. How does one judge if the same pro built 2 engines in the same category? How does one judge workmanship if done by others? Personally I love those motors, as I have seen them on display but I would only display a model with outsider's assistance. How would you feel if you entered a car if you toiled over a model for months, to be killed on the table by a guy who outsourced the engine, paint, body work, and interior? Ain't right at all in my book. Last, I may as well bring it up. It used to be rampant, and now it is rare, but still happens. What do you do to a modeler who "inadvertently" damages another competitor's model on the table? I have seen guys "by accident" let their kids play with other cars, break doors and trunks, break off wheels, which is nothing less that despicable behavior in my book. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

harrypri I've been thinking about it, seriously. I have been on contest committees which conceived and held a contest from soup to nuts, and of course I would never think of entering my own contest. I have some very good things on my side, like friends, a very viable hosting place (my retirement community has a large rec room tables and parking and would be happy to rent it out to me). some good start up ideas, and I think a good judging system. My location is in the absolute central part of Broward/Dade/Palm Beach, has hotels nearby, plenty of parking, and things to do for others. I am 3 minutes off I-95 and you can get to my place within 30 minutes from any spot in the 3 counties. There are 3 hobby shops I have relationships with. It is possible, and demanding, and possibly after the holiday season, I will commence it. If there are any guys within driving distance of Ft Lauderdale on this forum, I would welcome their participation. I like the Ridler Award format, a panel of judges views the candidate cars, assigns a "Best 8" then takes a very close inspection to award one of a few cars awards. This takes the heat off one judge who judges a field of cars. I would do my best to make meaningful awards, as I have have seen some plaques with pictures of their autos photoshopped on them, special recognition, swap meet, auction, gravity drags, quick builds and so on. There are two remaining problems, first locating a committed dedicated team to help organize, and money, that is in the form of sponsorship. It is do-able, but the big question is can I start it off? Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Model Car Contests, as I have mentioned in posts before, is more than the judging, competition and hardware. I haven't seriously entered a model car contest in a long time, except for a little intra-club ha-ha for a plaque with a cartoon on it. Contests are those in which anyone whether they compete or not, learn and absorb new ideas, designs, techniques, colors, and a lot if they pay close attention. Second, they usually have a swap meet which guys sell a lot of discontinued kits, or even current kits at discounted prices. I picked up an old AMT 59 Ford 3in1 Galaxie Hardtop to replace one my exwife inadvertently threw out years ago. That made the contest worthwhile. As for the hassle of the politics, we all have different ways of dealing with it, and I am sensing a lot of skepticism on behalf of a lot of guys regarding the aspect of competing. True, we are submitting art forms to compete against each other, but it is like comparing apples to oranges, and really there is no resolve. Do you give more points to a guy who opens a door and does an average job overall, over a guy who didn't take the chance? Everyone seems to have an opinion, but there is no answer. I love display tables and primer tables for they are models from purists, but again, it is the competition that brought this hobby from the doldrums in the early eighties, after a long hiatus of non activity. There is a place for competition, even if we don't personally accept it. Contests are a foundation for an area's model car activity. Even if you don't belong to a club, there is patronage at hobby shops, having a few friends, to stay connected. Contests give a geographical area an identity. Look at Toledo and Salt Lake, Birmingham, and they all provide an impression on us about the quality modeling going on there. Last, models like to be recognized, and the best ways are through exposure at contests and magazine features. A unshown model is like hanging a Picasso in a closet. I am no show off, but I like to show off my cars, like the comments about them, even the critiques and questions. The absolute best time I had in a long time was giving a seminar on opening doors and making quick hinges, again done at a contest,which I did not enter. Right now I am not entering in this state because a guy is "gunning for me" who has a dastardly vendetta to "knock off" Willaman on the judges table, and he is a known cheater. So my cars are geared for other venues outside the state next year and entering out of curiosity just to see if I can regain some of the old juices. I always loved competition in everything in my life, from surfing, Hobie Cat sailing, model cars, model railroading, and tennis. It just brings the life contained in me. I spend a lot of time interacting with my models during the build period which is fun, and get a real hoot out of fabrication of custom work or detailing, but down the line would like to show off what I did. That is just me. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I could not segue in my remarks about women in model car building and contests. To me, to have a womens category is condescending. Down here, the absolute best club that ever existed was the Treasure Coast Scale Auto Society (TCSAS) which boasted 50 members had several fabulous contests, helped restore the Cushenberry 40 Ford Matador, and had several builders of national and magazine feature calibre. It shown bright but burnt out for a multiude of reasons. One of the guys always brought his girlfriend Dixie, who was a shy and real looker, and basically made home in the background, that is until our first contest, and she put down about 7 cars which were among the best seen. She was the best foiler I have seen even to today, not a wrinkle, and could foil a name sideplate. She competed against the men, and was very successful, and if she were put in her own category, which she didn't want, she would have been quite alone. In 1994, TCSAS flew in Augie and Pat Covert to appear at the annual contest, which featured about 500 cars, and hers stood out in Factory Stock and Street Machine classes, and both guys said her work was superior. I believe in Junior category as I believe in that with time and diligence you get better. so a 16 year old kid just didn't have the time, in many cases that a 50 years old man does. Granted this is still a male dominated hobby, and a "powder puff" division is demeaning to those concerned. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I discarded all of the meaningless trophies, that is those that were awarded more for politics and less than achievement, and kept the meaningful ones. I display all of the meaningful trophies in my dining room shelves, and my cars in the hutch. Our family tradition was that we display our trophies, incluing the tennis trophies, running trophies my ex wife won, basketball and cheerleading trophies my children won over the years. It is not for ego, but for memories and validation of our efforts. For example one of the trophies I discarded was a model car trophy in an IPMS contest in which my 4 entries were the only ones entered. When I put them down, I anticipated competition, and none happened, and down here cars are basically ignored and I won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in that category. Useless, out.......... My favorite trophy is a tennis doubles trophy in the City Championships where I worked and teamed with the #1 player in the state, a UM graduate with a win over Borg. He carried me, but once the opponents realized who he was, they focused on me, and I held up, although the match went to midnight, hard fought, and provided a great memory. My favorite model car trophies were my very first, won in 1961, which inspired me to strive to branch out my technique, validate my present workmanship. My second favorite are my 3 Pactra "Pegasus" trophies, 2 senior and 1 paint from 64-65. I met Augie Hiscano and even got to see his special entry, which had real oil in the crankcase in 1964. To me, trophies are not testimonies to my excellence as all it takes is one scroll on Work in Progress and Finished Under Glass on this forum I realize where I stand. Added to that are some of those links you guys hooked me up with and I bookmarked. All are inspirational and reflect top state of the art work. Trophies are accolades, and like everything else, if too much value is placed on them, or if you infer you are the best because you won one, just open up one of the cars shown on this forum. There is always someone better. For example, in 94 I finished a chopped AMT 49 Merc after 2 months on the bench, and thought I was hot stuff. Then I saw Fred Grumke's Mercs, including the Hirohata Merc he did for the Museum put me right where I belonged. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Obstacles slow me down, mostly figger it out time...... I am in final stages of a favored model and ran into an obstacle which will hold me up, like fitting a rolling front wheel under the fender of a 40 Ford, yet still look lowered and have the stance I want. I expected it to be ready for paint tomorrow, but nooooooooo....................... But I have another project which occupies less passion and enthusiasm just because it turned out ugly, but it suits me because I have completed most of the work, and getting close to paint. I had just a couple of little things to do, like fabricate an EFI system, valve covers, and interior decorative inside panels for my car, which I call "The Hybrid", a combo AMT 40 Willys couple and AMT 40 Ford fenders, which fit, and so far is going along smoothly. I was sort of hoping that the fabrication would hold me up but it went smoothly, so it will be painted tomorrow. One car I wanted to finish, and couldn't, and another one I didn't really care about practically put itself together. That isn't that bad a night, but in my book not the goal I intended. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

There was a remotely available 1/24-1/25 manufacturer which made incredibly detailed kits and parts. The manufacturer was named Eldon, and they produced a series of street rod kits, and to my knowledge a really overdetailed series of spare motors. a la AMT and Revell. The Eldon offering among others is the 427 Ford side oiler with a 3 carb set up, which went down to the block heads, cams, and cranks. It was all chrome, and sort of meets the description on this post. I still have 2 left, one still in the shrink pack with instructions on the back. These kits also came in other types and I got them from a hobby shop that specialized in carrying model car kits and supplies only. The owner I think was using his shop to stock his personal builds. Talk about heaven it was only a mile from my house at my building peak, and hosted about 5 contests per year. He also displayed my cars, offered me some free kits and parts as my cars tended to generate interest, so he said. One of the cars he gave me which got lost over the years was a T "Milk Wagon' with the 427 motor and it was a total hard build but an incredible finish. These models were so dubious that I never saw an Eldon model anywhere else, kit or finished. I am out of attachment space. If someone will email me, I will reply with a photo of the kit attached and you can post it. Talk about unexpected finds.......when looking for some kits, I found a box with my old stash of Revell spare parts, including several Spare Parts motors, some AMT Parts Paks, incluidng motors and grilles, and I am in pig heaven. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Guys, Regarding the "toys" comments, I have mixed feelings. If one were to see the time and diligence put in to my model building, (hopefully very soon) ever since the early sixties, it would be quite apparent it is not trivialized, and now with only so much time left on this planet, time spent on any model is now even MORE important. My models are a part/extension of me, an expression of my perception of creativity, and a very viable means of spending time alone or even when ill, it gives me solace. On the other hand, I have as recently as 2005 laid on a Emergency Room Table with a congestive heart failure, heard my own "code blue" called in, and then even declared dead by one attending nurse which I heard, but one doctor said "keep trying" and the defribrillator brought me back to full consciousness. I heard them declare me dead and was explained later that my brain didn't die but my heart did. From that perspective, I have a new lease on life, and trying to make it worthwhile in everything I do. In the big picture of life, my car is a collection of metal, leather, rubber and plastic which gets me places, my bed is a place to sleep and my pastimes are "toys" so to speak, because it is not worth it as I have seen to get into fistfights at contests over a trivial point of disagreement. I love building model cars and always will, and until I can't do it anymore, I will probably spend my last minute of being able to move sanding down a fender. If some of you young'uns out there are still in it for 20 - 50 years like some of us here on the forum, you have the long term committment and dedication to be as irascible as we are. All I am asking for is that the model car contests held here be dedicated to fairness and follow through. This problem down here causing decline based on my conversations with many is primarily attributable to one or two people, who run things now. All they have to know is that it is going on, rather than be in denial. I sure hope I have the strength to do my part in the months to come, and know I have to crawl before I walk, and walk before I run. Take a close look at the past five years of Model Car Magazine (and others) and you can see the great attributes and characteristics of this great hobby - even to the point of photography, writing and editing, fabrication of just about every kind of material, research and ingesting history. Only model railroading comes close, well at least in my book. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman khart talks about his pet peeve, in which he is miffed at club members entering their own contest, for obvious reasons. Down here, if that would have happened at the last contest I attended, the grand total entry would be 40 cars from a sister club. This contest was highly publicized and got only 3 or 4 lone wolves. Heck, there are no hobby shops left to leave pamphlets............. Now it seems the typcial builder buys a model discounted at Wally World or Michaels, airbrushes his own paint concoction, and enters a contest on hearsay and rarely pamphlets or ads in papers. We are losing our connection, too.

To both Jarius and Harry, First of all, I am deeply honored and grateful that you reviewed my post, and took the time to a reply and your responded. I strongly believe in model car contests for a multitude of reasons, and have a deep sorrow witnessing its decline in this area, although I am not sure about other areas. I have been to western North Carolina and western Pennsylvania and obaserved the hobby is thriving there, but here we seem to have more resources, availability, denseness of population and still no viable major contests which represent our area in the last years. I would love to man up and have a contest worthy of this area, but I have not the charisma, leadership, energy, health required to do so at this time. I believe in contests as long as they are viable and just, because they not only promote the hobby from without, but elevate the hobby from within, for the long term it gives modelers the chance to connect in real terms which is sort of what we do on this forum, but we don't meet. Jarius, I have read of yours and Gregg's exploits when you take field trips to selected contests around the US, and hopefully you can see the benefit. I was brought up to not stand back with the rest of the sheep, but to take a stand when wrongs are committed and do whatever I can to be part of the solution rather than the problem. This has gotten me both in trouble and also been rewarding. I have had some success when I confronted known cheaters, bit they still operate behind my back when I am not preent. When one participated in other contests, without me there, he went back to the old habits. Overall, I still attend model car contests whenever they within driving distance, and do not compete, rather I just display my old Pactra winners and trophies, sell off my old kits, hold a seminar, display my new work, or even on occasions, judge. For example, back in the seventies, just about everyone wrote off surfing contests as too commercial, but the sport declined. Only when the aspect of competition arose again, the spirit of compettng brought about advancement in the sport, as well as exposure in mainstream America. If we all allowed cheating and other or inappropriate behavior continue unchecked, it will escalate and continue to discourage potential modelers. The Palm Beach/Broward/Miami Dade Couny metropolitan area, which boasts a conglomerate population of over 5 million has way too few hobby shops and fewer local contests. As you both know, this is the area that once spawned Augie Hiscano, Bob Kuronow and several other notable contributors to the hobby as well as some darn nice models. I think to put my head in the sand and recluse would only lead this area to fester in its decline. Hopefully by making some aware of the problem, particularly those who have the ability to make changes, and hold events, and if those very people listen to at least one word of what I have to say, based on years of observation and direct experience, hopefully positive changes and awareness will come about and encourage growth in the hobby down here. All will benefit, including hobby shops, internet mail order providers, aftermarket producers, and even me, as I do not want to return to those dark days of the early seventies again where no model kits could be found anywhere. I have no self interest here, except to ensure I have plenty of resources to obtain new kits, tools, supplies and most of all to connect with other modelers to share techniques, workmanship points, valuable information and inspiration to try something new. Also, when you reach my age, there is this unkonwn drive to pass down the legacy over the years to others as I have leaned myself. It sounds corny, but what the #@$#@#@ I really do not care. Right now I live in the Boca Raton Deerfield Beach area which is very dense in population, and the closest hobby shop with model cars is 40 miles from here. When I moved here in 1988, there were about 4 hobby shops, and one of them specialized only in plastic models. I am not only spouting off, I am doing what I can to improve the hobby by articulating my observations of mine and others, and with awareness hopefully some attention will be given and progress will come back. Although I would live to hold my own contest, I offer myself to assist with everything I have. I hope this addersses your comments directly. I still love contests, and the most part every contestant is on the up and up, it is those few "bad apples" who operate in their own self interest that spoil it for everyone else. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Bob, Zoom Zoom First, I can see how some people can read my treatise and come up with that I am a mercenary. I asked only for reimbursement for gasoline expenses, and a place to sleep, even it it is a chair, and I would feed myself. I live on a fixed income, and am willing to donate the time and energy needed to at least provide my judging system, and expect nothing in return except for my outright out of pocket expenses for gas and tolls. It ain't about the money, and anyone who knows me can testify to that. Second, I am no celebrity by any means, and to infer that is unfair by any description of the word. I am offering work and the objective judging system I have edited over the years. Even you can recognize the value of a fully impartial judge not local nor knowing anyone. All I would ask to maintain the integrity of the contest is that I don't judge NASCAR autos as I know ZERO about them. Second, with regard to removing my comment for a deal, please read the above, and I will wrest on my integrity I have earned down here over the years. I am well aware of the budgets of clubs and asking only for the money for gas and tolls, which amount to about $100. which to me is pure actual reimbursement, and I am still absorbing my live, dress and eat expenses during the contest. Frankly, I don't think the hobby is where it could get an out of town judge. I will not withdraw my comment, for it is thought through and made as a genuine offer to help anyone as my offer is my guarantee of impartiality and integrity. Third, NNL's are more impartial, but less detailed. Down here, NNL judging is defined by the audience and contestants voting on a car ususally from afar. They are not allowed to inspect cars closely or touch them, and often our club talked about entering a slammer with a shiny paint job and/or a novel approach to get the win, despite not seeing detailing, workmanship, attention to reality, and so on. I think the best approach is done by a team of judges, all who inspect a car at the same time, as done in the Ridler Award or Oakland Roadster Show. Or as an alternate, one judge comes up with a finalist or two out of his assigned cars, then a winner or winners are selected from the group. Better than individual judging or audience participants judging. The way NNLs are presented down here in South Florida make me sick. Just paint a car red, shine it up and go. I am not denigrating past winners down here as many many deserved models won, but I have seen very questionable tactics. One rampant example of localism was Wayne Stevenn's 48 Chev custom which won its class at Salt Lake, lose out to the out of the box Legion model. Fourth, even though you don't build for the hardware, I would assume you like the rest of us, build at contest level. Personally, I enjoy the attention my models get from my peers despite winning or not, as I try to raise my own personal bar each car. But I also build cars to my own style, and often they are not politically correct, but reflect my taste and mood. Ever since 1962 I have never been that conventional, and have had both positive and negative response to my work, and listen to every word and digest it. That is the value of contests for me. My days of going for the gold are long past me, and I am trying to prove to myself that I still have a few good cars still inside me at my advanced age. My models have won and been in mags, but the real reward is when people see my non-competitve cars on display from the past and recognize them. Even more, my son is looking at my work when I was his age and wants to compete with "Old Dad", and he will get my support and assistance. Non=metal rewards are worth a lot more to me now. Bob, if I raised some suspicions, I would rather not travel just to judge a contest, as I am old, have health issues, and medical needs sometimes, and the trouble to travel is very inconvenient. And if someone from rather far away takes me up on my offer, I know as the date approaches, I will start to regret it, but if I can be of assistance to maintain or restore the image of integrity to a contest, that prevails over my inconvenience. I would rather stay in the comfort zone of my own home and build any day of the week. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I’m bringing up a delicate point in our hobby subculture since we are approaching our “building season†in which many of us, including me, are building cars for the spring contests. We contest veterans have been privy to periodic outright cheating behaviors and to date not much has been discussed or covered on this forum, at least to my knowledge. Our country has become so obsessed with victory and winning, it often overlooks that a win using fair play is more important, secondary to “winning is the only thingâ€. We interpret this by taking vicious short cuts to take home the hardware. I sure don't remember Vince Lombardi cheating to get a Super Bowl. Only hard work. And it isn’t only in model cars, of course, look at all of our major sports, with cheating occurring in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA and even professional tennis and so on. We have become win junkies just to achieve respect, flame or glory. I have been competing in model car contests since 1961 and it seems the basic rules have not changed, such as like impartial judges fairly, build your own cars, enter cars in the right category, list the work done on entry sheets accurately and so on. I have been witness to cheating since my first contest. Even I have been guilty of cheating by association, not in model cars, but in competitive tennis, where my doubles partner hooked an opponent on a call winning the match and tournament. I unknowingly backed him up all the way. Later, after some feedback, I went back and checked the mark again to discover me wrong, and it sickened me, and I didn’t accept the trophy or played with him again. I couldn’t. I am no prude. But by fact, I supported the cheat and deceit. Deep down, I realized he was a hardware hound, looking for the cheap win. Lesson learned. I gave him both tainted trophies/ To me the mark of a true man is winning on a level playing field. Over the last 10 years in model cars cheating has become so rampant, it is ridiculous, and more acceptable. I have seen many blatant examples of one guy building for another, painting cars, detailing engines, stuffing votes in audience participant judging boxes, favoritism in judging, agendas, positioning cars on tables, even sabotage and so on. What this practice relies on is the general apathy of everyone concerned, and the cloak of doubt. The most colossal cheat occurred a few years ago in a National Contest from a couple down here in South Florida, a “kid†from Hialeah, Fl won Marc Gustavson’s photo custom car contest, junior category in a magazine and the entire model was built by his father. We detected it when the father/son duo tried to enter it at our local contest, and after some routine questions, both admitted to the father building the car on behalf of his son. The Svengali father was an incredible rat it turned out, another example of a hardware hound, looking for cheap glory. At our contest, we disqualified both father and son, but several people around us were not outraged, as the general population said it was an inevitable and now routine occurrence. Have we really learned to accept this outrageous behavior? To me, cheating incorporates a lot of other despicable behaviors, including lying, stealing, laziness, and dishonesty. Frankly, I will never condone it no matter what the social consequences are. Below, you can find some of the examples of cheating I have seen over the years…… 1. One good builder doing another’s work, which ranges from the motor, detailing, body work, paint to even the entire model. This does not include use of aftermarket products in which the owner/builder contributes the work product to the model. Another is a contestant hiring a commission builder to build a "phantom" model for him, on the sly. 2. Entering models in the “gray area†in categories. This is a somewhat sophisticated approach when the entry knows the cars to be entered and uses his own discretion to enter his car against supposedly weaker competition. 3. Inaccurate description of work, For example, I have seen modelers take credit for opening the trunk and adding hinges to an AMT 49 Merc. An unsuspecting judge will award body work points to a factory provided feature. 4. Using pre-painted bodies and taking credit for the paint job. 5. Entering a specialist’s motor or chassis detail to the entry built by the contestant. 6. Judge’s ignorance, agenda, biases. preferences, pre-formed opinions, attitudes, knowledge of contest cars and contestants, and inappropriate use of his discretion. 7. Inappropriate voting practices, such as stuffing ballot boxes on audience participation judging, making deals when voting, etc. 8. Organization assigning judges at random, or within the organization, or from the constestant pool, only not within the category. The list is endless. If there is a general rule, there will be breakers. The breakers hide under the cloak of apathy, cowardice, accuser’s fear of proof, ignorance, and “hey, it’s only model cars, so what's the big dealâ€. It is a big deal, as I have seen clubs disband, groups infight and break up, and reputations ruined over discovery of these practices. I have been a judge at several contests, and have always strived to be fair and impartial, but even I have bias, which sometimes predudice my points assigned to a model. For example, if I find a mold mark. sink mark or glue smudge, beware!!! But one night, I personally judged over 160 cars all night, which included assigning point values and a small written narrative. At the end, I talked to each disgruntled loser and discussed his entry. Even then, I found myself wrong on occasion, just because it was a new kit and didn’t know it. I also recognized some cars of people I knew, and tried to fight bias, either positive or negative, but the bias was there. I won't even get into the exhaustion factor. Another bias is my basic laziness. I can almost forecast the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finisher on any table without going through the hoops, and dread judging an inferior model. What keeps me doing it is the non-placing model builder is more important to the hobby and us all, for he is the future of our hobby, and his continuing improvement and development assures success and growth in the hobby for years. What is the solution? Right now the circumstances seem to be beyond us. To assign an unbiased judge or judges who doesn’t enter, but knows how to build are hard to find, and if they are good enough to judge, they are probably entered. The community is too small for perfect unbiased judging. The IPMS has a very effective 100 point judging system designed for each category of cars, which I am trying to scan in and put on this forum to be used in the future. Hopefully, it will start to inspire clubs, organizations, and groups to do their best to incorporate as much objectivity in their contests for the future, and promote strong competition which advances the hobby. What is needed is an objective system and teeth for follow through. Any discovery should be handled with privacy of all parties, dignity, and justice. It is imperative because most people are fair and go by the rules, but are vulnerable to the cheat veterans who taint the impression of an otherwise great model car contest. A contest is more than a competition, but sometimes it is the competition that ruins the legacy of an event. I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. If anyone in the South is conducting a contest, and has a home to put me up, and pay for the driving expenses, I will offer myself as a very unbiased judge PRO BONO, and feed myself. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

You spend a few bucks on a discontinuted kit, wait for a rainy night to get it started, only to discover the body warped, parts missing and the tires are melded into other parts. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I watched the series but had zero passion for it since the strike and free agency. What baseball and football are now are city hosts to a bunch of vagabonds who change colors every couple of years but the one prevading color is green. To me it is equally at fault by both the owners and players, and now probably unavoidable. Maybe everyone won on the deal, except the fans. When I was a kid every player in the little league wanted to grow up to play baseball in the majors. Now the kids from my son's little league all want to get to the majors where the real money is. Here we are complaining about 15 bucks a kit, and these guys are earning millions for a 3 hour workday, 162 days per year. The Yankees proved it this year, and a few years ago, Joe Robbie made a point by buying a baseball team that won the series, sold the championship team and the new buyer recaptured his investment selling off the players. And we watch this. I don't stamp sucker on my forehead anymore. I watch a few playoff games and a couple of series games. On the "Best ###### Baseball Bloopers" one of the segments was Manny Ramirez flubbing a ball in the outfield, tripping on his feet, and rolling on the ball, losing it, or Jose Canseco getting beaned on the forehead trying to field a routine fly ball. And they get millions for this? I will always love baseball, but not respect the major leagues today. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

Typical South Florida retirement home parking lot. You go, Century Village!!!! Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

whasis model car buildin stuff?

Awwwww, give the guy a break, He is just being friends by showing us his new toy. Besides he cleaned up and tuned the litttle bike, and if he is anything like me, it was from skills, taste and confidence used from building models. I am not a real strong advocate of "Off topic" topics, and inserts, but I have a lot of model car friends and we do NOT talk on models every conversation but the cammaderie leads to somewhat obtusely related stuff, such as this, or past experience in driving, home accomodations for working on models, people we know, etc. Where I would draw a line on off topic is politics, religion, and culture. But then again, that is just me. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

mookie, Welcome to the forum, I am sure you will find it a nice place to talk, share, learn and just hang out online sometimes. This is one place even an old codger like me learns something new everyday. When we learn from others, we tend to want to share more with others. So in the threads that follow on this topic, we will if I know these guys reach out and try to help out and try to inspire you and encourage you to improve your resources and building expertise, as this forum has done for me. First with regard for tools. You mentioned you had an Xacto knife and super glue, which means you have access to a place that carries supplies. Hopefully, I would like to see you get started in your own place. If you have a mother, or wife or girlfriend, encourage her to give up her fingernail filing sticks, those big wide styrofoam backed and take some old toothbrushes to clean them free of sanding particles. Second, I am sure you can get sandpaper and of all types from regular to extra fine, and even some 600 grit to 1200 grit wet/dry type. Nest along the way, I am assuming there is no hobby shop, but hopefuly at a Home Depot or Lowe's, each have a large household spray paint selection from primer to suede finish for interiors and gloss paints, either in RustOleum or other brands. For about $15 more added to the cost of a kit, you can produce a very nice clean professionally looking model, and as you see what can be done here and in your own personal improvement, you will obtain more and more supplies, materials, tools and techniques little by little. Just trying to help without pushing too much on you. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I just had a sobering moment yesterday........I was browsing throught the new Michael's just opened in town, and looking at the model aisle, and this mother and kid are at the other end. As I go to leave, the mother said to her kid, "Brian, let this elderly gentleman by" and pulled him out of the center aisle so I could pass easily. I wanted to say to the kid, "Hey kid, I was checking out your mom" but her remark took every bit of the wind out of my sails. Now, how do I explain myself to the younger generation that this guy isn't into AARP, but AMT, R-M and MPC. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman For those who think Florida is a name from the olden times when it was ruled by Spain, it is really an appreviation. F rustrated, L ost, O ld R etired, I diots, D riving A round