Scale-Master

Well, considering Aris Pappas has designated himself chief judge for life, something that has just been brought to my attention, I see no possibility of a guarantee of integrity in the judging in that organization. Basically he is now a non model building (from multiple sources) dictator deciding the outcome of what used to be a very prestigious contest, which renders it a nearly useless contest in my view. But that may be giving him too much presumed authority, according to him, he saw nothing of much of what I was disappointed in at the contest. I guess it depends on if one believes him. And after my recent conversation with him, I think he will do whatever he wants no matter how unethical it looks, let alone is. After all, this is a guy who apparently tried to enter a drawing of a stick figure he scribbled out on some scratch paper in the Paper Figures (category #399) when he realized there were no entries in it. Sure fire 1st place win. Too bad registration had already closed. (For those of you who want to do some fact checking, you will not find category 399 in post-contest literature as categories with zero entries are removed from the list. But you can find it in the pre-registration info.) Thankfully the lady handling the registration denied him this folly. He claimed it was all in good fun. Shameful is more like it, the chief judge especially should be beyond reproach. Just talking about it as a prank is bad enough. (Yes, I have a sense of humor, just ask Gregg...) But actually trying to enter it? I have no doubts that he would have entered and accepted the prize if he had not been thwarted. Of course that is just my opinion, but I am basing it on my observations of his past actions and words to me.

I think I can shed some light on this. The cycle should not have beaten Steve's Nissan. But then when a contest is manipulated or rigged, everyone gets screwed and it casts doubt on all the decisions. The reason the winner of the Best Automotive award is ticked is because this motorcycle, built in only two weeks, beat this model of serious undertaking and two years, seven months hard work that has more scratchbuilding in it than the winner of the Scratchbuilding category. Where does this info come from? How do I know the cycle was not better than the Super Seven? How dare I impugn the Magnum? Because I am the builder of all three of the above models. I was also a judge for the beginning of the show, (judges are dismissed early if they earn a 1st place so they have no way of knowing the outcome of the contest). I have been a National IPMS judge for 17 years and was asked by the National automotive head judge to become the new National automotive head judge. So they must have thought I knew my stuff. Obviously I will not accept that "honor". It is a case of the head automotive judge, Terry Buschmann and the chief judge Aris Pappas making sure a car had no chance of winning Best Of Show again, especially not another Super Seven. ( IPMS Nats 2003 http://www.flagshipmodels.com/nats2003/Best_of_Awards.html ) Sadly there were at least five other automotive entries that should have been awarded Best Auto over that cycle, but any of them would have been competitive against the other Best Of's (Aircraft, Armor, Ships, etc.) that would compete for overall Best Of Show. The motorcycle was not up to that challenge. I'm not ticked because I didn't win Best Of Show, and I wish people who don't know the truth would stop passing that malicious rumor around. I'm ticked because I was not allowed to compete for it. And by the judges manipulating the awards as they did, they eliminated other viable models from the same competition. When I brought this to the attention of those two judges, they agreed the Super Seven was indeed the superior model, "but nothing could be done now". Commence "Operation Sweep Under Rug". Aris even had the audacity to tell me I should have brought it up earlier. Even though I was not present at that part of the judging. Really, how could I have known? I think Aris Pappas is a dishonest and incompetent judge. He should be dismissed, but the good ole boys are standing with him, much to the detriment to the society. When other builders expressed their discontent with his decision, he told them hit the road, they weren't wanted in the society. Ever wonder why IPMS membership is declining? Does he speak for all IPMS members? Why it should matter what subject wins a model competition is beyond me. And unfortunately since I did not have an answer to that question, Aris claims obviously there is nothing hokey going on. Politics won over modeling this time, too bad. Good thing I build for myself, not a bunch of wannbe politicians or control freaks, many who haven't built a model in a decade, but see fit to ignorantly, or dishonestly, (jury is still out on that), run a contest.

These are the first production decorated bodies of the new AFX H.O. scale GT40 MkII's. Yes, they are that clean, crisp and shiny.

This started out as a one piece Resilient Resins body. I cut out the hood and wheel wells and gave the body a good going over clean up including rescribing the panel lines. Also cut out and made new side vent panels. Headlight and taillight housings were made of brass and the lenses are from the parts bin. The engine is from a Ferrari 360 Modena, wired and modified for this application. The transaxle was replaced with a transmission and rear driveline. The basic interior and chassis are mostly scratchbuilt and supplemented with parts bin parts modified to fit (like the seat, steering wheel, control arms, exhaust system and part of the subframe). It does have a full dash, pedals, etc, but it's too dark for my camera to capture. The wheels are Tamiya wires. The camber in the rear suspension is intentional. I machined the mirror in aluminum. Testors Italian Red for the color. Decals from leftovers. Even has a Prancing horse in the mesh grille... WIP: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5680

Len is closer, it's the new AFX H.O. body. I'll post some pre-production or early production decorated units when I get a whole set.

With a little difference. This one has a Mazda RX-7 Turbo Rotary engine. Resin tires and Minilites. Mazda R1 engine from a Tamiya kit with some added details...

Here are some early production shots of a project I have been working on. Nothing I've done personally is reflected in these photos, I've only been doing the graphic work for the decorations, but I thought some of you might like to see a raw molding that shows the detail of this new body. There is even screen mesh detailing in the rear panel.

The Cruisin' For A Cure Model Car Contest is just around the corner, this coming Saturday the 22nd of September. Held again at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. We are in Building 10, easy to find. Main site link: http://www.cruisinforacure.com/ Model Car Contest within link: http://www.cruisinforacure.com/model_car_contest.htm Categories are listed there. We will award the winners with trophies AND kits as well as some other cool goodies. There may even be some added Special awards as we do most years. You'll just have to come and see... No cost for the Model Contest, just the entry donation at the gate for the real cars show. Not affiliated with any other Model Contest, so if you've never been here before, you can bring anything you have built, even if it is a past winner at another show. Contact me if you have questions. Hope to see a bunch of you there! ScaleMaster@aol.com

Fisher Pattern Model, (resin kit). An OOB build with some specific details and in the style the owner wanted. W.I.P. link: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5812

Phew, that was a fast build! I like these fun projects, especially when I can finish them in a short time. I will definitely build another of each of these, probably more than just one each. Great kits, highly recommended, especially for OOB builders like these are. And here it is next to the first "Flamin' Falcon". W.I.P. Link: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7003

It is really coming along... This one's taking less time than the last one, even with all the painting.

Another practice run for flamage. Even kept the factory blue paint as a base. Tamiya lacquers again...

Can't seem to stay away from these Hayabusa kits. Plus it is so much more fun to start a new kit than to finish one of the twenty plus models I already have under construction... This one is the Yoshimura X1. Had to play with a flame scheme on this one too. Just another OOB build, with a bit of extra painting. Here are some in progress shots. First I prepped and painted the body panels. Mostly Tamiya lacquers, freehand airbrushing and some stenciling for definition, over a gold base coat. The engine received some "special" color treatments too. The wheels are Mica Red with Dullcote over a gold base. Up on it's wheels... A close up of the flame design in the front fender...

Been playing around with painting some flames. First one is all done with blues. It's about 1/43rd scale, (die cast), something simple to test the effect. Mostly Tamiya lacquers with a little Deltron from my real car touch up stash. Decanted and airbrushed of course...

Had fun even with the paint issue. Decided on a vinyl top, what says 70's more than a vinyl top? Well, maybe the color. License plate wording is tied to the color. All in all, a nice little model.

All my Fisher kits are molded in a tan resin. Is your's grey resin? Or is that a shiny primer? Just curious...

Thanks! Is that shift gate a metal or photE.part? It is the kit supplied resin part with the kit supplied PE part on top. They suggest using one or the other, but I thought both looked best.

The interior and chassis are almost done, wanted to take a few pictures of the bottom before mounting the skid plates that cover up most of the details. Even much of the engine is obscured by the package shelf/engine cover that goes under the rear window.

The interior is mostly done. Lots of fun playing with textures in this one for the seat cloth and wrinkle finish on the dash. The texture on the dash photographs very different from what it looks like in person. No decal was provided for the steering wheel, yet it is shown in the instructions. I know, I could have made one, but I decided just to hand paint the stallion, just for kicks...

Yes, keep the spoiler. It fits with the rest of styling. Always liked the 60s and 70s era of factory concept and dream cars, this one really is of that style. You must finish it!

Guess my rebellious side is coming out... I found red, yellow, silver and white ones, even a few different shades of blue.

The engine went together in a matter of minutes, but that was with hours of prep and painting done well in advance... As for the finish on the header, it's to replicate Aluma-Cote. It was popular before we went to the ceramic Jet-Hot type coatings...

Hi Simon, I used to use oven cleaner, (still do for enamels and chrome removal), it worked on everything, and when sealed to keep the fumes in as you mentioned, it works quickly. But the Tamiya lacquers are impervious to it. And thanks!

Now I have pretty much everything painted. It should build into the main sub-assemblies pretty quickly...

I would have done it in blue, (hey, most people who know me know how much I like blue), but I already have a blue Alpine in my collection. I wanted something loud and from the 70's looking. White was another color I was toying with, but it was too polite for the look I was going for. Other than the short learning curve I had to go through to learn how to use the Tamiya TS paints, I've had very good luck with them. And the colors available are great. I've always been an airbrusher, these are the first paints worthy of being used from the can for bodies, but I still rely on my airbrushes for most finishes.