Modelmartin

Perhaps a tad cynical, there, Mark! The trophy hunters are out there but they are the minority, for sure. I have been entering, running, judging and having fun at contests since '79. I have definitely run across some trophy hounds but the overwhelming majority of model builders just like participating and showing off their stuff!

Very nice! Wheels look great.

I got all of his Mini conversions and the Porsche 356 Abarth, teh fiat based Abarths and 2 Phantom Corsairs. I did not get around to getting the Deusenbergs which I regret. I wish he had finished the Porsche America roadster and 356/1 and the 550 spyder. I heard that he sold all of his stuff to someone else in South Africa. It was second hand news - don't know if it was true. Like they say about resin - get it now because it may be unavailable shortly. I have been on both sides of that situation.

I think you might be thinking of Replica class. Different contests will use different names for classes. If I see the word stock I assume it is factory AND replica, stock. Small point, carry on.

Very nicely done! I got to see a Miura in person at a show a few years ago and really give it the once over up close. It was a religious experience. One of the very coolest cars on the planet!

The power! Mwahahahahaha!

Is that why he hits you all the time?

Typically there are only one or two models at any contest that are Best in Show worthy. Best of show judging only occasionnally is difficult. Harry, you still crack me up with your contest phobia! Try it man! It isn't so bad. Are you afraid of winning?

That is unique. A working style build of the Deluxe Microbus! That would sort of be like a Rolls Royce taxicab! Cool build.

It isn't a bad idea in theory but I don't know if you could find that many people to be impartial.

Give me a break, "dude"! "He started it" - you sound like you are eight years old.

At an IPMS regional they wanted me to judge armor models! Ha! Like I would do that to armor builders. I refused.

The wire wheels say model to me. The sit of the car is funny , too.

Ahem!!! Jairus, Harry. I thought we were not going to engage in these conversations anymore, were we?

With a little searching you can find very thin wood veneers. I found some that are .005 inch think!! Most are a little thicker like .020 and up. Nothing looks like wood like wood. The french decal maker Virages made a great burlwood decal. I have a little bit of that left. I need to loan it to my ALPS guy one of these days.

Aside from issues of the sensibilities of flying the Enola Guy around, if it did crash you are losing a significant historical artifact that can not be replaced. It is best left on the ground.

I have judged many shows over many years. From little club contests to IPMS regionals. I plan to judge many more in the future.

Interesting! I was having a hard time with this one so I did a little looksee on the web. It's a Simca that got rebadged when Chrysler took over the Rootes group. The Simca has ties to Fiat and later took over the French Ford manufacturing subsidiary!! Simca was taken over by Chrysler and folded into the Rootes Group when they were also bought out. Odd footnote to that is that the Sunbeam Tiger was now a Chrysler product and they had to warranty a Ford engine in the Tiger! A tangled web was woven by all the different takeovers and overseas subsidiaries that were undertaken. The parentage of this car is very murky! The GTX you pictured was also called Simca Esplanada GTX! Without spending too much time on it I would guess that this car is a Hillman in origin. Hillman was part of Rootes group and built fairly good cars. I did a quicky search on Google and found Hillmans with a similar roofline. The car has its origins in the late 50s. That was a good one, Harry. Keep them coming. Here is the 1964 version.

That is cool. She is beautiful and classy. I don't care for the Hooter Girl thing. Leering in public is very declasse' (tacky!) If you need to leer - go online, folks!!

The Squadron putties are just glazing compound meant for thin section scratch filling duties. It is a thick lacquer primer. I use it fairly often with good results. I have some fine bondo putty which I use only when I am thickening up cross sections of bodies I will be casting in resin. I don't use it for anything else. I still love the Miliput. You can make anything out of it. I handle 95 %of my putty needs with the Miliput and the Squadron.

Try a week! When I went to Harrah's Auto Collection a few(cough) years ago they had a speedster brass era car there which I think was a Simplex. It had 4 spares mounted on the back! I had also read about the short life of tires and the completely routine punctures that had to be fixed, sometimes on every outing. But back then automobiling was a recreational activity for the wealthy. Thanks for the history, Art. Since I do build brass era stuff the info is useful.

There are a lot of good thoughts on this thread. Some of them jogged my memory banks and I thought I would present a few more. At our NNL North show we always make sure each Junior who participates gets a kit from the door prize stash. They get a 1st through third trophies and we are pretty confrontational about "stage mom" dads and their models. There isn't much of a problem with it at NNL shows. It is more of a contest issue. I have noticed that some shows have a negative approach to judging and some have a positive approach. Basically that means some look for what's wrong and some look for what was done well. I way prefer the positive approach. I HATE judging systems that ignore what the builder started with. If you have equal models but one started as a Tamiya and the other started as a Pyro kit it is obvious to me that the one starting as a Pyro had more work done and it was a greater accomplishment. Most smaller IPMS shows I have gone to use what I call the "County Fair" judging where they hand out so many gold, silver, and bronze awards. I don't like it. It is a contest so award the best. Spreading the gold is ultimately unproductive. It annoys the better builders and I don't know that the people who pick up some of the spread-out gold are really that pleased with it. I know that when I bring some table filler to a show and get a plaque for it, I could not care less about it. I don't care for the idea of the degree of difficulty judging system. It opens up a whole new can of worms and to me it almost negates the idea of a competition to see which model is best. Most contests have an out of box category anyway. The competition in that is almost as hot as the regular categories. I say simplify, not complicate. The best judging I have ever seen in an almost impossible situation was in the early 80s in Milwaukee. At one of the late Mike Dunn's Milwaukee Miniature Motors swap meets, he decided to have a contest. He advertised in the flyers and ads and lined up John Ostrenga and Dan Jansen to be judges. John and Dan showed up at the appointed time and were presented with a table full of models from 1/43rd to 1/12, all types of subjects, from trucks, customs, oval track, drag racing, GP moto, etc....and...trophies and plaques for 1st through 10th place with no category breakdowns!!! When they were done judging and the awards were handed out everyone was unaminous that it was judged perfectly. I could not have disagreed about any of the placings. I think I was 3rd or 4th with my Tamiya Kwakasaki GP bike. It was amazing. Dan and John are both outstanding model builders and were very fair and knowledgable. This shows how critical good judges are in the process. I was at GSL #2(I think) and Mark G. was competing with "The Merc". The judging system had some organisational flaws in it and many of Mark's fellow club members were judging too(as was I). When it was all said and done Mark won almost everything that could be won by a custom. He was quite embarassed about it and I believe that was the last time he competed at GSL. In all fairness, most of the awards he won were deserved. Best engine was not, however(GRRR!) GSL has had some quirky things happen occassionally over the years but by and large it is well run and well judged. The thing that most people should know if they are competing and want to win is what the contest is like, who judges it, and then build for that contest! My parting thought here is that contests are activities run by humans and we all know how perfectly humans do everything, RIGHT!!!!

I use Miliput which is popular with the figure and armor guys. It is a 2 part epoxy and works real nice and is carvable and machinable even when it is cured. I can't build without it! Bonus is you get quite a bit more for the buck than the Tamiya putty.

To be serious for a mere moment, the thing I would like to see more of at a contest is more people competing. The thing I would like to have changed is to have more knowledgable judges which is a perennial problem. No one can know everything they need to know and too many people decline to be judges. I almost always offer to judge, more people should. Ok, seriousness is over.

Open it, Man!