jsimmons

That's why I suggested the scale restriction - the larger (and smaller) scale kits are more expensive, and the larger scale kits are easier to detail. I didn't think it would be fair - especially in the super-detail category - to put 1/16 cars up against 1/43 or even 1/24-1/25. To avoid the hassles involved with maintaining a multiple-scale sub-category, I thought one scale would make it easy and simple to understand. As far as the WIP thing, I think a WIP would skew people's vote, and the models would gain votes simply based on the amount of work that went into them, not to mention identifying the builder before voting takes place. We're only interested in the final product, not the path that was taken to get there (as far as voting is concerned). Like I said earlier, a WIP log would be more than welcomed AFTER the voting phase of the contest. This would serve two things - letting people know who built what, and seeing the WIP log.

I was thinking timelines more along the lines of 4-6 months. That would give time for most folks to build for at least the first two categories. For the super-detail guys, they would probably be chompin' at the bit to say SOMETHING to someone about what they're building, but if they want to enter this contest with the model, they can utter so much as a peep until after the contest they've entered. For instance, let's the next contest starts in June. Let's also say I started building my Grand Sport Corvette sometime in the same time frame for the super detail category. Chances are that I won't be able to finish it for the end of the June contest (let's face it, I work for a living and have other stuff to do as well, just like everyone else here). However, it's entirely possible to finish it in time to enter it in the January contest. The only caveat is that I can't mention it in any way/shape/form in the forums (or any other forums for that matter) during the entire time I'm building the car. The only time I can talk about it is AFTER the build phase of the contest for which I submitted it as an entry. So, as long as you haven't discussed your build in any way, the veil of anonymity is intact. If I do it right, it will require very little maintenance on my part. BTW, I was planning on retaining only the pictures of the winning entries so that disk space can be reclaimed.

File Location - Well, the location of the files is "yet to be determined". I certainly have the room on my web page, and I could easily use my skills/experience as a programmer to code a page that would allow submissions, and they could even be stored on my site since I have unlimited disk space/bandwidth available (and it's already paid for so no worries with respect to how much it's gonna cost. My vision is that each entrant can post up to five images (restricted to 800x600 pixels, and a file size that's no larger than 100-150K). Someone suggested more images, but for now, I'd like to keep it at five, at least for now. Which Picture is Used? All of the pics posted are presented. The only person involved in choosing them is the person that posts them. It will be physically impossible to post more pics than what is mandated as the maximum. Once the pictures are posted, the entry will receive an entry ID, and with that ID, the entrant will be able to modify/replace any pictures he's already posted right up until the build phase has expired. Number of Entries per builder - A builder can enter as many different cars as he wants. Selecting what category to enter a given model will be part of the picture upload process. Each car would be a different entry. He can enter multiple cars in the same category. Voting Procedure - I haven't quite worked out how voting would occur. I assume that poll entries in this forum can be links, so we could simply link to an entry's pictures, or maybe a thumbnail could be used as the poll description instead of text. This obviously has to be thought out some more. What do the winners get? - Scorn and/or admiration from their peers. There is no physical prize unless we want to try to get some sponsors lined up to donate kits, resin, paint, or some such thing like that. Maybe do like Trak does and put the winning models in a rotating banner at the top of the forum, or maybe a winners page in MCM. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing one of my models in a well-respected national magazine. Since it would only happen 2-3 times per year, I don't think that would put too much of a strain on companies that sell us stuff.

Yeah, and that's been discussed. The forum moderators will have to be ready/willing to step on people's necks when they act poorly. I guess this whole thing depends on whether or not the forum moderators want to have to deal with it. I guess fotki could be a good place to use for photos, but I have an unnatural distaste for free photo sites and really don't like creating accounts everywhere. I even pay for my own web hosting site. It has unlimited disk space and bandwidth, so if a place is needed, maybe I could host the pics there.

There are no judges. It's a people's choice/popular vote thing. Pictures of the finished model must be submitted *before* the end of the build phase, and when the build phase is completed, all of the submitted pictures are made available to be voted on by the general public. After a reasonable amount of time is allowed for voting, the voting is closed, and at that point, entrants can start owning up to the models they submitted, and posting their WIP log in the Workbench forums (if they so desire). They can also post their finished model pics in the Under Glass forum. I imagine a day or so after voting ends, winners will be announced. Only completed models can be submitted, and all pictures must be submitted by midnight (eastern time) of the last day of the build phase.

Well, given the proposed anonymous nature of the entries, there's really no way to enforce that. The only thing I can think of is at the point at which they upload their pictures, we make them click through a "don't be an ass-hat" screen before they upload their pics. I've been a programmer for over 30 years, and am fully aware that users ignore click-throughs (hell, I ignore them), but when someone acts like a jerk, we can at least point them to the click-through warning as evidence that they were informed of the rules, and that they chose to ignore them.

I seriously doubt that someone would enter a contest without trying to put their best effort into the model in question. Given the anonymous nature of submissions, the builder couldn't be asked to try to submit better pictures. I've seen some pretty poor shots on the forums (so out of focus that you couldn't tell by just looking what car was being presented - pictures I would NEVER post for a contest such as the one I suggested). People submitting entries would just have to be able to honestly evaluate whether their picture(s) would be good enough for other people to be able to vote on. As long as they use decent lighting, the picture will be in focus (or reasonably close to it). I honestly don't see the problem, given that it's a people's choice kind of contest. BTW, I'm certainly not an experienced photographer (nor even slightly interested in learning more than I already know about the subject), but I seem to be able to get semi-decent shots of everything I take a picture of. It ain't rocket surgery to simply observe that better light results in a better picture. To get better light, shoot outside - not in direct sunlight on real hot days, but outside none the less. As for the snide comments, bruised egos, etc, this *is* the internet, and a certain amount of that kind of behavior is (sadly) to be expected. I have no solution to suggest. This reason alone is enough to put me off a little. I don't act that way, and it never really occurs to me that anyone else would - until it happens.

If the model came with it, you can use it. I have a Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport Corvette that comes with PE in the box, so that would be allowed in Box-stock. You can't add anything that didn't come with/in the box, except paint, filler (with the intent of fixing defects or filling seams in the body), and glue, of course. By the current interpretation of the rules, you can do anything you want to the kit except add outside parts/material. This means that you can chop, channel, lower, raise, narrow a car, but you can't use any outside material on the model, which almost eliminates chopping, channeling, and narrowing, unless you feel like you can use the sprue material - or even the box itself - to your advantage in these areas (the sprue and box can be considered to be part of the kit). The spirit of Box Stock is to build the model as the manufacturer intended it, but in actual practice, I ca see people getting REAL creative. Your lack of ability as a builder can be effectively camouflaged by your lack of skill with a camera. Actually, since it would have used a people's choice voting system (as opposed to actual judging), you never know what people will vote for.

Well, the Mach 1 kit has a hole in the hood for the shaker scoop, and the Boss 429 2-in-1 (don't know about the special edition) has a hole in the hood. I have a Boss 302 I assembled almost 25 years ago. I wish they'd come out with a 69 Mustang...

@highway - There's no reason to get all twisted over the scale restriction. I suppose if there are just pictures without any accompanying description of any kind, nobody would know what scale it was unless the builder broke the rules and talked about their entry before the winners were announced. I therefore concede the point. @everyone - I thought I had put in the rules that it was a popular vote (people's choice) kind of contest, but I don't see it up there. That was the intent, and the reason for the restriction of talking about your entry - to avoid people knowing before hand what model they were going to vote for because of who built it, how much work went into it, or at this point, what scale it was. @everyone again - I figured a contest would be fun, especially for folks that don't have local clubs or can't get to meetings, shows, or contests. What push-back I've seen so far indicates that tempers would flare, feelings would be hurt, rules would be broken (unintentionally or otherwise) and in general, nothing good would come of this idea. Consider the idea dropped.

@DRG - By competing, you improve your skills. Besides, many times (as we've all seen in your standard contests), the people's choice winners aren't necessarily the "best" models. @khart - Yeah, I'm aware that some people simply can't take a decent picture, no matter how fancy their camera is. My best advice to them is go outside to take the pictures in a shady spot in the middle of the day. Using natural daylight is the best/cheapest way to get the camera to focus accurately. Since this would be a photo-only contest, the photo would be the only way to present the car. That's the nature of the internet beast. @highway - I suggested the 1/24-1/25 restriction because it puts the BUILDERS on a level playing field. I'm aware of he quality of the models in other scales, but let's face it, the 1/24-1/25 is where the least expensive kits are. Entering a 1/6 scale model against cars half that size is not equitable (in my eyes), and having people ohh/ahh over a 1/43 scale model simply because it's a 1/43 scale model also wouldn't be fair. To make it easy on everyone, I suggested this scale restriction. @harry P - I think I addressed the photo thing in my reply to khart. It simply can't be helped. The photo quantity/size are just to keep things sane for display on a web page. @diymirage - Like I stated in the proposed rules, most of this stuff would be based on the assumption that most people want to play fair. With no prizes at stake, cheating wouldn't get you anything at all (except maybe the scorn of your peers when they found out that you did). Given the nature of what amounts to an internet contests, we simply have to learn to trust people to do the right thing. As to the WIP issue, you would be allowed to post your WIP log AFTER the contest winners were announced. It would still be just as applicable and a joy for everyone to see. @foxer - The idea is to have a solid unchanging set of rules (unlike the rather fluid nature of the community builds), and to give people what I think is a reasonable time frame for building a quality model. I think making it a "contest" helps to focus the builder on exactly what he/she has to do. @Donnie Boger - I've never seen the Trak or Drastic Plastic web sites, but wouldn't it be kinda wrong to do the same thing here that you guys are doing over there? I certainly wouldn't want to call it "Model of the Month" - y'all are already using that.

I know we have the community build stuff going on, but I think the aim there is to get people to build something - anything - on a fairly regular basis. It's also remiscient of the wild west where you never know when the rules are going to change. Given the way things are nowadays regarding model building, not all of us have a local club that we can be part of, and some of us are - well - just too remotely located or busy to attent meetings or participate in contests that we have to drive to. What I think would be a neat idea would be to have a tri-annual or semi-annual Forum contest, where everyone has four (or six) months to build a kit and submit up to five pictures of their entry. Keep in mind that I'm just throwing around ideas. 0) Each entry would be placed in a one of these general categories: Box stock - you can't use anything that didn't come in the box/kit except paint, glue, and BMF. Kit bash - must be comprised of parts from multiple kits (at least two). Can include after-market tires/wheels, engines, resin, etc.evergreen/plas-truct. The only exception is that no photo-etch is allowed. Super detail - the more detailed the better, so anything goes. It doesn't matter if the car is real or fantasy, but the detail has to be there to win. 1) Each contest category would have a theme, so one might be muscle cars, another might be race cars, or euro-cars, hot-rods, trucks, lead-sleds, 4x4, apocalyptic, etc. This will change for each contest so that everyone gets to build their favorite kind of model. Another kind of theme would be a "run-what-ya-brung" thing, where any kind of model is acceptable as long as it fits the restrictions of the entered category. 2) ALL builds will be 1/24 or 1/25. Nothing bigger or smaller would be accepted for entry. This is so that everyone is on the same playing field as far as available components and costs are conerned. 3) All entries must be new builds or at the very most, in-progress (as opposed to being completed) at the time the contest started. This would be an honest-Abe aspect of the contest. 4) To avoid favoritism (friends voting for friends just because they're friends), photos of finished models will be uploaded to a contest upload site, where they will be held until the contest is officialy expired. At that time, all photos will be published at the same time for public voting. Voting will be concluded after a reasonable period of time (x weeks, x days, whatever is deemed appropriate). Again, this is an honest-Abe aspect where people are expected to not talk about their contest entry to ANYONE. 5) Photo submissions will be restricted to a reasonable resolution and file size (800x600 no larger than 100k in size), and the photo contents and quality will be at the sole discretion/ability of the builder. No retouching or resizing will be done, and over-sized photos would be rejected as inappropriate. Photos would be uploaded in a ZIP file with no inidication as to who the builder is. 6) If someone intends on participating in a given contest, he/she may indicate that they are participating, but CANNOT say ANYTHING about what they are building (to avoid the favoritism angle). (See Rule 5). This means anything you're building that's been already discussed or seen (in the form of WIP or under glass) in the forums is not eligible for entry into a contest. 7) Once winners have been determined, pictures of the winning entries will be published without names attached. At that point - and ONLY at that point - the builder can identify himself. 8) The next contest would start immediately after the prior one expires (and before winners for the prior contest are announced). Maybe we could even convince MCM to do a photo spread on the top finishers in the contests. (Are they watching? ) Remember, this is just something I have bouncing around in my little brain box.

Ohhhhh... Boss 302 (finally, a hood without holes. ) McEwan Dragster 56 Chevy Sedan Fillipinetti Daytona Coupe

He's a Bad Mother Fu... Shut your mouth! ...just talkn' 'bout Shaft! Dang! - you guys beat me to it.

Well, I was about to head out and buy a new bottle of it, but before I left, I snipped off the end of the needle, and used an exacto knife to open the end back up, and I now have normal flow.

I have a bottle of Faller's Super Expert - it comes in an orange bottle with a long needle-like dispensing tip. I went to use some last night, and discovered that the bottle refuses to let any glu through the tip, thus rendering an almost complete bottle almost useless. This glue is pretty expensive, so I'd hate to throw it in the garbage. Here are my questions: 0) Is there any way to clear the tip? 1) If the answer to the first question is "no", I was thinking of using a now empty Testors paint bottle to drain the Faller's bottle into, and just use a toothpick as an applicator. Opinions? Thoughts? Ideas?

Try Mike's Decals. I just got some waterslides from him (enough for 5 cars on one sheet) for a couple of nascar cars I'm going to rebuild. I used to have those PE templates too, but I've managed to lose them.

To make it more interesting, all four models should be of the same car (various model years should be acceptable just to keep it more interesting to the builder).

When are you going to put those on your web site (versus facebook)?

Did you try Mike's Decals? EDIT - Nevermind - they have it listed, but it's shown as being "sold out". Maybe you can find someone to make you a set of the primaries and numbers, and use JNJ for fender decals.

Can you please arrange to take better pictures. It's almost impossible to see what you're doing.

This is actually one car of a two-car set I built for my dad - the 1985 Budweiser Monte Carlo team cars. I found a place called Mike's Decals that actually has a set of powerslide decals for both cars, so i ordered them for the eventual restoration project. Of course, I could just go ahead and start with new kits, which might be a better idea so I don't have to fight with removing the old paint and glue...

I have a Nascar model I did some 20 years ago with Testors rattle can enamels (including a clear coat). It's two-tone red/white, and the white is way past being white. Do I have to strip the car all the way down to bring the white back to being white, or is there a quicker (decal-preserving) fix?

I'm setting up my web page at a new web hosting site, and would be happy to include a link to anyone elses car-model-related web site/fotki page that also lives in the San Antonio area. I can also start/maintain a newsletter page on the site for San Antonio modelers to keep everyone else update on what they're doing and related info. I hope to have the page online in a week or two. So, if you are in the San Antonio area (within an hour's drive of downtown), let me know throu a PM here and provide the link to your page.

I don't know much about drag racing (I'm mostly a Le Mans/Nascar/Trans Am kinda guy). What class of drag racing would a car like this fit into? What determines your class? This car is a Le mans racer, not based on any stock-bodied car, and will be rear-engine (or mid-engine if you want to split hairs). I'd like to keep the scale in 1/24, but there aren't a lot of engine choices that I'm aware off (in kits, or as resin) with regards to that scale. Even the Ross engines are 1/25 scale. I plan on putting the driver's eat on the ceterline of the car (like a rail dragster) because I don't need a hump for the transmission or driveshaft. I was also planning on using the Glidden Boss 429 because it's "convenient", but if that is the wrong engoine for the class this car would likely be entered in, I would have to at least scrap the use of the tunnel ram and carbs, and then find/fabricate a 1/24-inch intake system for it that would be more appropriate. I'm open to ideas/suggestions.