What is Sacred is, uh, Sacred

[Fuel Coupe]

very good subject. Down here where I'm from we NEVER NEVER NEVER touch others models.

I have never had an incident where my models were broken or mishandled at a contest. Judges aren't allowed to touch either. I use stands with mirrors under mine so the undercarriage can be seen.if something is missed on my model while being judged I'm fine with it. I would rather my hard work survive a judging than have it mishandled.

Years ago we would do displays at the local mall to drum up new membership. that's when trouble began. more times than not children didn't try to pick up the models, It was generally the parents or adults that would mishandle them.

Generally we would just ask them to politely put down the model and then proceed to talk with them and put them at ease so's not to send them away with a bad impressing of modelers. It almost always worked...

[cruzn]

Wow Good subject...

I have had a bad experience with Judges at an IPMS show here Locally a few years ago.

The Local Chapter had a show/contest and I took a few Models and entered them.

I had a BOx Stock Build of a Dale Earnhardt Monte Carlo. It was declaed the way it was when he won the BrickYard 400.

So they prestented the awards.. I received second. Cool. at least I placed.

After the awrds were handed out I go to pack the Models up. I see the Hodd was setting besides the Car. When i Picked it up I see where someone had dropped the hood and the Paint had chipped off. I went to the shows co-ordinator and asked about this. He went and asked the ones that Judged the class. I could see some arms waving and such. i knew this was not good.

He came back to me and explained that when Looking at the Model one of the judges Picked it up and the Hood fell off, chipping it. I asked him why didn;t they tell me about it when it happened? he has No idea.

I also asked to see the Judging sheet for the Model. he went back to the Judegs and asked for the sheet. I heard they usually don;t do this But i wanted to see it.

In the Painiting area it was mrked for a chip. I lamost flew off the Handle at this Point. I raised My Voice and asked why was i dinged because of a Judges accident with My model.

I had everyones attention In the room at that Point. He mentioned that they were Not familiar with car Models and their issues with Hoods and doors.

Any way after that i put on My sheet that if anyone needs to look at or pick up the Model to call me for assistance.

I do this only at IPMS shows.

the car shows are cool about it. never had any problem with them

I direct a show within the Good Guys show here at the Kansas speedway.

the first year someone a grown Man Picked the Hood up off of a 8th scale Z-28

I said sternly please don't touch the Models.

Man this guy put it donw fast But carefully and then was so apologetic that he sdai it many times while Lookng at the rest of the Models.

after that I aske for a recevie some stantions and Poles so that there is at least an arms reach between the Models and the walkway.

it brings a piece of Mind. I also Have Placards all over that state don't touch the Models.

[LoneWolf15]

We went to a show in Morgantown.W.VA. several years ago . One of the local guys from Pgh. took 6 of the Johan Hearse kits and kit bashed them into one long limo ! He then took all of the custom interior parts that he scratch built and sent them out to be gold plated with 24 karat coating . To say the least , he had a small fortune wrapped up in this project . A short time after it was placed on the table , an ill behaved little brat decided to start pushing it back and forth on the table. This was not the first time he had done so , he had been admonished for this several times before. From the moment that he and his siblings had entered the door , they had been creating havoc, running up and down the show isles, banging into the show tables , attempting to touch the models, etc ! Grimm had finally had it ! He removed the limo from the table , put it away , and promptly gave the brat's father a piece of his mind concerning the children's behavior . The confrontation almost came to fisticuffs . The father told Grimm that if he did'nt want his models touched , he should suspend them on " sky hooks" , if they were so precious ! By this time , the father was surrounded by more then a few irate modelers . The club president stepped into the middle of all this and handled it like a pro . He pulled the father's entries from the show , and had the family escorted out of the show . He apologized to Grimm and the rest of the contestants for not handling the situation sooner . All of this could have been avoided simply by the parents controlling their kids.

I have had fellow contestants glue parts on their cars at the show table , reaching over top of the other contestants entries and had superglue dripped on my paint . Not a great disaster , I was able to sand and polish it out . Bottom line , it should have never happened . I always arrive early at the shows so I can put my cars down where I want them to be . More than a few times , I have come back to the tables later on to find my models have been moved . This irritates me to no end ! If you want a certain spot on the tables , be the first in the door ! I solved the problem with judges picking up my cars awhile back . All of my cars are on mirrors , the detail is plainly visible for all to see. No reason what so ever for anyone to touch them . I had a judge flip one of my hoods over with a pencil to make sure the bottom of the hood had been painted . The hood tumbled off the table, hit the floor , and the judge inadvertantly stepped on it , chipping the paint . Being that it was a custom mix , I could not replicate it to a perfect match with the rest of the body. Now , I use the mirrors to avoid this type of situation from occuring again . Too often , people are like a bull in the proverbial china shop at the tables . If a judge wants to look at a car , get the modeler that built it , and allow them to handle it . This removes all liability and any semblance of a recipe for disaster ! All in all , my fellow modelers , for the most part are careful and considerate of each others work at the shows . The fact that there are always a couple of boneheads in every facet of life is simply a given !

Donn Yost

[FloridaBoy]

In 1970, I experienced probably the absolute worst nightmare any modeler could experience at a contest. I was 22, going to school, working at a job, had a girlfriend, surfing my brains out, playing tennis tournaments, caring for a car, and had a million things on my plate. While in Modern Politics class in college, a classmate named Bruce J. told me his father Norman J. owned the local dragstrip, and recently built a large convention center type building, and the grand opening was a hobby and craft show. He even gave me a poster and said if I did anything, I might either want to enter something or attend.

I was on the tail end of my building at the time, as it was becoming quite apparent the "Weird-Oh"s type street rods were becoming the vogue. My conventional street rods and customs were very aged and passe. But I had just finished my best models so far in my life - a sectioned and customized 40 Sedan, a 65 Buick Riviera, sectioned and shortened, and a 61 Galaxie Styline Kit, I sectioned, opened the doors, and hood, and added a motor and details. I put them all on one display stand at varying heights and it looked pretty good, even if I say so myself, and I was up against a lot of trendy cars.

The craft show was to be 10 days in duration. Friday to Sunday following a week. When I put my cars on the table, I checked security to ensure my cars were not to be bothered. I felt secure, but did manage to make the long drive everyday to check on first, the condition of the cars, and second, to see if and when they received any recognition.

That first Sunday, there was this huge trophy right next to my cars. I didn't win just first place in my division, but overall grand prize for the display, over crafts, ladies purses and such. Man, I was elated. At class Wednesday, Bruce told me they were closing early and advising the entrants to pick up their stuff so the building could be ready for the next event. Right after class, I booked it to the grounds to claim my cars, and they were stolen. The security guard didn't bother to check, there was a lot of confusion, and some of Ft. Lauderdale's finest citizens made off with my 3 best cars. I went ballistic, and went to the office to report the incident and submit a claim. The security guard with all brains in gear, " I wondered why they didn't take the trophy" duhhhhh. I heard he tried out for the Goofy part at Disney World and couldn't pass the mental test.

When I got to the office, I met Bruce's dad, who was a candidate for jerk of the year, and he doubted every thing I said, first there was no error, they turned the cars over to the right party, then I am submitting a fraudulent claim, (I asked for $50 which represented the actual parts and materials cost to do the cars) then just out and out kicked me out, and dared me to sue him. I did Norman one better. Sonny boy Bruce relied on me for my help to get him through this class, like my notes, outline of reading material, etc, and that stopped there. Bruce said, "But I will fail the course, and that means I will have a tough time getting to law school". He must have had a tough time getting into law school. Bruce did OK as he ended up running the grounds until they went bankrupt in the late eighties. I saw him at a pro wrestling match at the pavillion, and

told him about the cars, and he was just like his dad.

I never recovered my treasured cars. Never. However, I tried to duplicate them. I managed to get another '40 sedan and almost duplicate it, I did duplicate the Riviera which sits unfinished in a box, and I did find an unbuilt Styline in a surf shop rebuilt it to primer, and my second wife inadvertently threw it in the garbage cleaning the garage. There is a small part of me that never recovered from that loss. I immeidately retired from all competition, avoided entering contests until 1985 in an IPMS costest and have been super-cautious since. For months, I went to every contest in the state, as the body work was so unique to all three, I could ID it right on the spot. Never saw them.

This is why I am probably so sensitive to anyone even touching my models.

Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

[RodBurNeR]

Can't blame you there Ken. I would take someone to the ground for stealing mine. Stealing another modelers models is a NO NO and it's too bad that it does happen and for what?...take it home and put in a shoe box and feel guilty? take it home strip parts off you could have bought for a little of nothing? These theives ruin people's trust and interest. I will never understand what the point in stealing a model is. It's not like you can show it to anyone? It would eventually come to taking unidentifiable parts off and trashing the rest....how stupid.

Strange there are 1/25 car theives.

[FloridaBoy]

Tbolt and AWB,

Respectfully I must take issue with your comments about if we don't want to enter or display for fear of abuse, I think that is the wrong attitude. For sure, there is an assumed risk, but first all precautions should be taken, and second, all of us should watch each other's backs. My cars can be handled as they are prettty sturdy, but with outsiders you just don't know what is on the offender's hands, and all it takes is simple human consideration and empathy not to touch other's work.

I saw a contestant with glue, paint and grease on his hands pick up another's model and move it so he could table his. That is egregious. There is no call for that, no matter how anal others think, the majority of modelers first, want to display their work, and second, expect a certain amount of security for the models on the table.

One comment was if you don't want to take the chance, to not bring your models from home. I am surprised at that comment, for if we all kept our models at home, what would Model Cars have to show? Part of the community we share is the cammaderie and scuttlebutt at get-togethers, so what do we do, just bring ourselves and leave our cars at home and talk up what no one could see? I think not. A lot of the ideas shown are those who have brought cars to events and I sure don't see anything wrong with taking an assertive stance to offending touchers, handlers, and such. To be so passive would cost the hobby little by little in the long run.

There are a lot of types of offenses I have seen at contests over the years, which include cheating, moving cars to enhance views, undermining cars, talking down others work and so on. To take a stance and not do anything else is to me the apathetic way out, and the bad guys will take over until there are no contests left. We contestants know we are taking some risk, but we want unnecessary risk to be as close to eliminated as much as possible.

I've said this before, I have seen a time when model cars were almost taken out of existence at least down here, and it is a dark lonely world, and do not want to see that ever again.

Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

[E St. Kruiser50]

Sounds like RANTS AND RAVES to me .

Maybe this topic should be moved there where it's more appropriate, for those who want to read this kinda stuff.

I painted my dads H.O. train solid black when I was four and I bet nobody cares

Edited November 19, 2008 by Treehugger Dave

[Robert]

Tbolt and AWB,

Respectfully I must take issue with your comments about if we don't want to enter or display for fear of abuse, I think that is the wrong attitude. For sure, there is an assumed risk, but first all precautions should be taken, and second, all of us should watch each other's backs. My cars can be handled as they are prettty sturdy, but with outsiders you just don't know what is on the offender's hands, and all it takes is simple human consideration and empathy not to touch other's work.

I saw a contestant with glue, paint and grease on his hands pick up another's model and move it so he could table his. That is egregious. There is no call for that, no matter how anal others think, the majority of modelers first, want to display their work, and second, expect a certain amount of security for the models on the table.

One comment was if you don't want to take the chance, to not bring your models from home. I am surprised at that comment, for if we all kept our models at home, what would Model Cars have to show? Part of the community we share is the cammaderie and scuttlebutt at get-togethers, so what do we do, just bring ourselves and leave our cars at home and talk up what no one could see? I think not. A lot of the ideas shown are those who have brought cars to events and I sure don't see anything wrong with taking an assertive stance to offending touchers, handlers, and such. To be so passive would cost the hobby little by little in the long run.

There are a lot of types of offenses I have seen at contests over the years, which include cheating, moving cars to enhance views, undermining cars, talking down others work and so on. To take a stance and not do anything else is to me the apathetic way out, and the bad guys will take over until there are no contests left. We contestants know we are taking some risk, but we want unnecessary risk to be as close to eliminated as much as possible.

I've said this before, I have seen a time when model cars were almost taken out of existence at least down here, and it is a dark lonely world, and do not want to see that ever again.

Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

I agree with you on this one. Although I'm not a good enough builder to enter contests, and to be honest, I've never attended one, but, I do attend auto shows and have done so for about 40 years. I was taught, as a child, this little rule, "Look, but don't touch." I don't think anyone has a right to pick up a model at a show, no more than one should touch an automobile on display at an auto show. I don't understand why this is an issue. I can't believe people are that rude and bold as to handle someone's entry. I guess I'm old school, but I have respect for anyone’s craft and respect and to me the best way to show respect is to apply that simple rule, "Look, but don't touch".

[randx0]

my kids are the ones at the contest with their hands deep in their pockets 2 to 3 feet from the tables.

[RodBurNeR]

I was just saying that i understand where you come from. I am not afraid, i go to shows all the time and have a blast!

[LoneWolf15]

Sounds like RANTS AND RAVES to me .

Maybe this topic should be moved there where it's more appropriate, for those who want to read this kinda stuff.

I painted my dads H.O. train solid black when I was four and I bet nobody cares

It was just a general discussion , not a rant or a rave , and besides , you commented on it . As for painting your father's trains black , thank God you had such a loving and tolerant parent , I'd have beat you your behind black and blue all the way back to the point it that would have taken you three more years to reach the age of five ! But then again , that is old school !

Donn Yost

[FloridaBoy]

This topic did not start as a rant or rave, but all of us, including me, probably felt the pain of damage, theft, or intruders touching and vented. Maybe emotions got a little raw because we DO have fun building, and take our art and craft pretty seriously, because of the time and effort it took to reach our respective points.

I have seen models at contests which shouldn't be handled, and when I judge as I said before, many contestants ask me not to touch their cars, so I don't, it gets judge on what I am able to see based on the guidelines of the entrant.

I also have seen, and learned from guys who can really take the effort of reinforcing a model using finishes, adhesives, underbody reinforcements, structural enhancements, etc, and likewise the entrant shows me how durable the model it. Case in point: Augie Hiscano displayed his over the years winners at one of our contests, and I was an entrant and an official, guarding the tables, and he Invited me to handle his cars. I did one, but felt very intimidated, but do remember it felt as strongly built as a die cast model. I know the level of details dictates the handleability, but we should pay strict attention to adhesives first, and take a tool box to shows. That's all.

My best history is past me, and no longer active in competition, I just display. My intention is to pass on some of the experiences good and bad to this forum and defend my point. My two favorite hobbies seem to be in some state of decline, and since I have seen this before, want to help others so we can enhance the hobby and grow it like it deserves. I have no other agenda.

Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman