LoneWolf15

Never thought about it till this came up . Shots were being taken for the next MCM calendar . Come to think of it , maybe Greg has them .

I was there with Greg at Toledo watching Doug work his magic . Unreal what that man does with a camera ! Wish I had the shots he took of my models that day !

D , That was the downfall of the builders market on eBay . People paid big bucks for photo touched garbage . Folks became gunshy about buying and the market just bottomed out !

Skip , I do ! Each show varies , good , bad , or in between those two points ! They are a great way to meet other modelers , hang out with your buddies , pick up a tip or two , and add to the ever expanding stash at a good price . The good shows know what they're doing , the rules are set in stone with no variation ! They run smooth as silk and a pleasure to attend . Others are still learning and evolving , they will get there soon enough . The bad , they simply fade away , run into the ground by bias and stupidity ! One of the best times on the planet are the NNL events . They are simply a huge show case of tremendous talent . The vending areas are enormous and chockful of all the toys that one could imagine ! I encourage show attendance whenever I can , especially the NNL East ! It is a wonderful experience for each and every modeler .

The Buckeye Club overcame all of those obstacles ! Guess who does the judging ? Your fellow contestants ! Each modeler is given a sheet and must pick a 1st , 2nd , and 3rd place for each and every class . No exceptions , if you compete , you must also judge ! All of the first place winners are then placed in the running for the Best Of Show award . This is the only category that the club has anything to do with , judging wise ! It works ! Who are you going to complain to if you feel that you were cheated ? , all of your fellow contestants ? Naaaahhh ! Lmao !

Here's one for you , Plowboy ! Best Paint award is down to myself and a guy I only knew to speak to at the shows . He wins , problem being ? His Cobra body wasn't painted , it was just the factory blue molded body , polished to hell and back ! He tried to give me the award at the end if the show , I wouldn't take it . I told him he'd earned that one , and promptly burst out laughing ! Mad ? Nope ! I made a good friend that day because of it . Now , it's a big joke between the two of us , it leads to the type of banter that can't be discussed on a public forum ! Lol ! A father , mother , daughter trio , moving up and down the tables . Dad points at each model asks her what she thinks of it . Comments like "ugly" , " stupid " , " dumb" just poured out of the little one's mouth . Were they merely looking at the models ? Uh Uh ! They were the judges for the street rod class ! Lmao !

A replica stock model can be done on any subject . As far as I'm concerned , it is the toughest class that exists , especially at the GSL . Every single nut , bolt , wire , spring , etc , had best be in it's place and you have to have the photos and documentation to prove it . As far as I'm concerned , John Teresi is from another galaxy , forget the planet ! His work along with a few others , Mark Jones , to name one , is so far beyond the mere mortal's , it is mind boggling ! Do I think they're nuts , absolutely ! But the consistent body of work is just plain staggering to my mind . Lol ! The Bentley is merely a replica stock build , but it is one of the finest that I have ever seen in my life !

Here is an example of what Mark was referring to ... Street machine class , a pro street RoadRunner takes a first place in the category . This automatically puts the car into the running for Best Of Show . When the results were announced for Best Of Show , a car that had placed 3rd in the street machine category was proclaimed the winner . The car was an average build , a little glue on the glass , orange pealed paint , and a visible thumbprint in the left rear quarter . When questioned , the judges stated that the car had scratch built headers made from solder , and that put it up over the top ! How does a model finish third in it' s category , and then garner a Best Of Show award ? Beats me ! But , these are the situations that do occur on occasion at the shows . I am in agreement with Mark on the finish post also . We just went over the topic on what defines a clean build last week . Like it or not , a smooth finish is part of a clean build ! All the detail and scratch building in the world cannot save a build if the paint work looks like it was done with a handful of raisins ! Struggle with paint ? Work at it ! It's not that difficult . Smooth paint work , color choice , and prep work all go hand in hand here . Each are equally important and a part of a clean build process .

Not the engine ! Oil pan , exhaust pipes , etc , yes ! You need to have a bit more of a separation between curbside and slammer , other than the interior . True story , friend enters a build of mine in a show , puts it in the curbside class under my name . Hood is glued down ! Judges state the car can't be entered into the curbside as it had exhaust and motor detail underneath . My buddy took the car outside , yanked off the hood , pulled out the engine block and yanked off the exhaust . He glued the hood back in place and the car took first place in the class and won Best Paint overall . Made no sense to me . Other shows , the detail is expected , they all differ !

Not in my book ! The T- bird has a custom paint job , that is all that I saw . I know nothing of the car , hence my first question . If you take your Nomad to the GSL , enter it in the replica stock class along with the documentation of all that you did on the the build , you'd do well ! Enter it into the custom class ? I don't think it would do as well .

Harry , No argument from me ! Difference being , I read the rules , others ? Weellllll evidently not ! While we're on this subject ..... Here is one of my pet peeves ! The curbside category . Some shows insist that there will be no motor , exhaust , frame detail , etc ! Now , if you look at a vehicle sitting at the curb , in a lot , etc , and you bend down to look , all of the aforementioned are visible , correct ? As far as I'm concerned , a true curbside has everything but an open hood ! Es Verdad ?

Darin , Not familiar with the T- bird , does it have body mods ? It definitely has a custom paint job ! Given the time period , and it appears to have a lowered suspension , I'd say yes ! By the way , love your work on the Nomad !

Harry , You are correct ! Many contests are very specific as to what is allowed / required for the classes . I have seen builds passed over for being placed in the wrong category . Some , for example , being placed in the pro street category without having treaded tires . Do I agree ? Nope ? Is it the rules ? Yep ! Therefore , one must adhere to the rules or suffer the consequences !

Although it has custom body work , you said it yourself , Darin , it's a replica ! Replica stock , street machine , yes , custom , no !

Truer words have never been spoken ! Lol !

The # 3 car could go in any of the three classes. Box stock , that's a given ! Regular stock car class ? Sure ! I have a sneaking suspicion that you're going to get your backside handed to you , though ! Box stock race category ? Your chances are as good as the next guy's .

Almost all builds built box stock are placed in said category by their builders . Usually , this particular class has the most entries . It's very rare to see a box stock placed in any of the other classes . Simply put , the builders know that when push comes to shove , they won't be able to compete with the detail on the other builds . There have been cases where a box stock has actually won Best Of Show , that however is very rare ! A ' 49 Merc coming out of the box from Revell is a custom body with a chopped top and additional custom parts . Technically , it is therefore a custom kit from the factory . Now , take that Merc as a fully detailed build and put it in the custom class . Say it comes up against a fully detailed , chopped top , AMT ' 49 Ford with radical body mods and killer paint . Everything about the Ford build is done to the 9 th degree , the Merc loses ! It should all come down to the execution of each and every build . If the Ford has a so so paint job , maybe a few marks in the bodywork , whatever , and the Merc is flawless , it's a whole different story . Merc wins ! Most shows reserve the right to move cars to different classes should there be a question as to where a particular build belongs . I've yet to have seen a kit such as the Merc moved out of a custom class due to the fact that it's a " factory" custom .

Gray ? What's that ? You meant silver or white , correct ? Don't care what color it comes in , as long as it continues to grow ! Too many bald jokes would be comin' my way , believe me , I dished enough out ! Kathie says it makes me look distinguished ! I say that's like trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear !

Hmmm , I wonder why ? Lol !

Nope ! 6 years left of 14 to 16 hour days , 4 or 5 days a week ! It's all good , it's not like I have't done it my whole life , right ? Lol ! Now , if the DVDs would sell like I thought they would , I could retire to the islands , fishin' the pilons and drink my Green Label each day . Lmao !