Pick ups versus big rigs

[Railfreak78]

Hey guys at the last major competition I was at we had pick ups and suv's mixed in with tow trucks and 18-wheelers. Does that make any scense? Should we have a Pick up/ SUV section here so that trucks are not mixed in with Heavy trucks? Like a 1/2 ton Ford in the same spot as a 1996 Freightliner? Just me?

[Ben]

Hey guys at the last major competition I was at we had pick ups and suv's mixed in with tow trucks and 18-wheelers. Does that make any scense? Should we have a Pick up/ SUV section here so that trucks are not mixed in with Heavy trucks? Like a 1/2 ton Ford in the same spot as a 1996 Freightliner? Just me?

That's one of the things that irritates me about contests. They'll have fifty seven catagories for different military subjects but the the light commercial and heavy commercial all gets jammed together in one tiny area!

[Casey]

I don't know, but there are categories here which overlap, and a few categories which don't exist that would be helpful to have. I think the Scale Auto Forum is a bit better organized with regards to categories, since almost everyone know what goes into the "Race Cars" category, but if you're not building a Drag and NASCAR model, it gets lumped into the On the Workbench (OtW) section here.

Ditto if you're building a 1/16 scale big rig- it fits into the OtW, Big Boyz, and Truck categories. I don't understand why there's a separate section here for big scale kits, but why no section for small scale kits then, either. I don't see the need for segregating based on scale, but there must be some reason Gregg chose to do that.

Is the "Ask Model Cars" section for asking about the magazine, for asking writers and editors of MCM, for asking about mailing of your copy of the latest issue, or??? Are ALL model related questions supposed to be asked there? Seriously, I'm asking.

If someone has a specific question about some part from a kit or they want to know which wheels came in the original MPC '69 Camaro annual kit, where is the proper place to ask? It shouldn't be in the General section since it's a specific, not general, question, and it's kit related, but not a review, so it doesn't belong in the New Kit Reviews section. Maybe the New Kit Reviews section could be expanded/changed to include kit-specific questions, older kit reviews (or maybe just drop the "New"?), and kit-specific discussion and comments?

I would love to see the categories better organized, a few more categories added, and better definition of each category in the sub-category line.

Whew. I'm outta breath.

[Aaronw]

Contests categories are generally driven by the number of entrys, if they don't usually get a lot of trucks they will lump them together. It seems like most want at least 10-15 models to make up a new category, so if you are only getting 10-15 entries it doesn't make a lot of sense to split things up.

As far as here I agree the truck situation is a bit confusing, the truck forum is specifically for heavy duty trucks class 6-8. This leaves the smaller trucks in a weird limbo since they don't fit into the truck forum and even some of the moderators think they don't belong in general.

I'm not really in favor of having a forum segregated for every minor variation as it is at SA. Personally I'd prefer to see everything together or just a handful of broad categories.

I wouldn't suggest a light truck section though, as they easily fit into many car types depending on how they are built. Heavy trucks are clearly on their own just by their size and purpose, but light trucks share a lot with cars as they can be built as low riders, hot rods, muscle cars, working vehicles etc. Light commercial would be a good possibility that would include cars like taxis, ambulances and police cars as well as light trucks built to work. Those built in other styles really probably belong with cars of that style.

[Railfreak78]

Thanks for the input guys. I value all opinions. I was very confused where to put 2 of my trucks. I entered my Bronco in the stock class and one in a street class. Now here on the board I was Very confused as why a p/u lot was moved to big rigs. I was raised by a trucker and the only p/u thats a friend is a 4 wheeler with a cb More info is always good guys.

[RodneyBad]

I'd have to agree with ya too Brian.

A pick-up would go in a car category.

Unless it is built up as a Work truck then it would/should go

in light commercial.

In no why is a pick-up a big Rig or Truck.

I just guess that somebody just doesn't know the difference between a pick up and a truck

Eh Harry?

Maybe we need a Commercial Category?

[James Flowers]

What is the definition of a truck? A pickup is not a car. A Truck is a truck. Quit being a snob about it. You can not play in my sandbox because my truck is bigger than yours. What a bunch of silliness.

Edited May 3, 2010 by mustanglover1951

[midwest 1953]

A truck is a truck, you say... I don't care how they arrange this forum..Each thread is labelled and I can skip the pickups, if I don't to read about them..

Contests are a different story... entering a hotrod in the truck class, instead of the hotrod class, because there are"fewer entrants over there" is one of two complaints I have..

The other is having the people that judge the hotrod class judge the truck class too..

I have seen fully detailed half scratchbuilt tractor trailers passed over completely, for three early Ford trucks, that couldn't hold their own in the hotrod class...

I have even asked judges why they passed over large trucks,,, "Oh it's just an out-of-the box build," on the above said tractor trailer, that was fully detailed, with a mostly scratchbuilt trailer, that probably had 2-300 hours in it...

I have also seen cars that were built completely stock, but modified into a different version ( a 55 Ford Fordor comes to mind) passed over for hotrods...

what this works out to, is judges look at what they know, and what they like... and the otherthing is the contest i went to in St, Louis yesterday had two tractor-trailers, one box stock 32 chevy panel, and 4 other small trucks, two of which were hotrods, 10 years ago there would have been 10-15 class6-8 trucks there...the builders were there, just not the trucks....

none of the above were my models, i quit entering trophy contests, in about 1987.....

Solution? hotrods compete in there own class, big truck class is judged by the entrants, each gets two votes....

jim a.

[Railfreak78]

Great point! I have seen 18 wheelers that are jaw dropping and are often over looked due to people thinking that there is not much you can do to them. I know from groing up with truckers that it's a passion for most. A trucker can tell you things about a rig that is well matched to a passionate hot rodder.

[highway]

The former club I was a member of had a simple solution for the pickup versus big rig problem, separate classes for all. We put on a very successful show for over 15 years until the club folded, and everything was clearly divided on the class listings. Heavy commerical was for all vehicles over 1 ton, light commerical was for everything 1 ton and smaller, and MUST diplay commerical signage. Through the years, we did start having a few problems when sport trucks began getting popular with some pickups that didn't really fit a category like Custom or Factory Stock or the builders addressed the problems of putting their truck against 49 Mercs or muscle cars, so we added a Pickup category just for the non light commerical trucks. This worked well for us, I just would like to see other shows that would do the same.