Think you have what it takes to design a model car? Apply here.

[Ace-Garageguy]

This is a design contest put on by one of the first-string producers of prototype and low-volume injection-molded parts. They're offering up to $250,000 in company services to get a new idea off the ground. Contest and rules here...

http://www.protolabs.com/coolidea.aspx

Though it's really targeting industrial / product designers, I don't see any reason why a really nice, injection-molded short-run of an otherwise unavailable model shouldn't qualify. Maybe a chance to change the modeling world a little...who knows?

Edited July 25, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[MAGNUM4342]

Looks like a cool promotion. Wish I could do CAD.

Edited July 25, 2013 by MAGNUM4342

[JunkPile]

NOPE. I just BUILD model cars. I'll leave THIS one to the EXPERTS

[Eshaver]

Gee, with all the critics here , there oughtta be a kazillion who think this would be their dream job !

[JM485]

Darn, if this contest was a few years later I would have a chance. I'm hoping to get a mechanical engineering degree after starting college next year.

[slusher]

No way l could do it. l still get frustrated just building..

[Austin T]

Gee, with all the critics here , there oughtta be a kazillion who think this would be their dream job !

I know the exact few your thinking of. I'd love to see some people re design a kit that's already out but as accurately as possible and then see how it flops because only a few are that dedicated enough to buy that kit vs the already out one that satisfies most everyone.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Gee, with all the critics here , there oughtta be a kazillion who think this would be their dream job !

Well, I'll have to admit to being one of the critics of folks who don't seem to be able to measure and divide by 25 accurately enough to produce two engines in kits of current cars that SHOULD BE IDENTICAL, but are almost 1/4" different in length (not a SCALE 1/4"...a REAL 1/4"), when measuring accurately and dividing by 25 is what they're being paid to do.

And if I had time, I'd certainly take this bait...but I'm having enough trouble just getting paid for work I do correctly already anyway.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

Darn, if this contest was a few years later I would have a chance. I'm hoping to get a mechanical engineering degree after starting college next year.

Well then, keep this one in mind. It runs every year, and you don't have to be a degreed engineer to participate. It's already closed for 2013 (I got my entry in on the last day) but it will be back for 2014. http://contest.techbriefs.com/

[Jeremy Jon]

Looks interesting Bill

My digital design ability isn't strong enough for that (yet) but looks intriguing, the emphasis seems - from the quick read I did - to be on "fresh & innovative product ideas"

I certainly would make good use of $250K of Protomold services!

[niteowl7710]

I know the exact few your thinking of. I'd love to see some people re design a kit that's already out but as accurately as possible and then see how it flops because only a few are that dedicated enough to buy that kit vs the already out one that satisfies most everyone.

Funny I think if someone (Revell, Moebius, et al) were willing to redesign a new tool for the '68 Camaro, '69 Firebird, or '69 Chevelle (all old AMT/MPC tools that are "already out") , they would be anything but flops.

Let's also not forget Revell is on the 3rd try for the Hemi Cuda since they keep swinging and missing...

But heck beyond that, Gregg, Harry, Casey; I petition the management of this board for the closing of the Kit Review section. I mean why should anyone even bother to review kits here anymore when if you DARE to point out the issues with the kit a lynch mob of people humming Bobby McFarrin's one-hit wonder begin to immediately light torches and gather their pitchforks. I mean what possible value is there in reviewing a kit around here when Revell could for all intents and purposes put a mish-mash of airplane and tank parts into the box of the upcoming Mercury Wagon and there'd still be a loud contingent of people who would just be happy that they even got the kit in the first place and when tell everyone to FIX ALL THE ERRORS AND JUST BUILD!

I was very "invested" in the Mustang LX, I was also very "invested" in the Lindberg Dodge Charger Police kit. By "invested", I mean I really wanted these kits, I had plans, I had dreams, I couldn't wait for them to come out. Yet the both have problems I consider "offensively easy to have been fixed before manufacturing" which disappointed me greatly. Yet I don't run around here unable to see the forest for the trees, blinded by my desire to have kit xyz over-rule all logic and ability to see it's just not that great a kit in the end.

It's ironic to me that the people who seem to want to public flog the people who do dare to review a kit, to put forth a clear and honest opinion of what is right and wrong with a kit are often screamed at by people that "IT'S JUST PLASTIC!!!!" Yes, I agree, it's just plastic, why does my critiquing it to allow for an informed and well thought out purchase cause you so much emotional anguish? I will never "just be happy" that any manufacturer brings forth a kit, anymore than I will be "just be happy" that the lights turn on, water flows and farmers grow food. It's what these people and business do, that's why the exist.

More broadly, if I'm not devastated beyond words that a kit I've wanted for years was a disappointment to me, why are you so upset when you had no intention of buying and building one in the first place?

[kalbert]

Um... because there's more to a kit review than some know it all finding faults to try and bolster his expert opinion of himself.. You know, things like what parts are in the box? Customizing options? What's on the decal sheet? Which tires are included? How was the general fit and finish?

[Mike Kucaba]

Um... because there's more to a kit review than some know it all finding faults to try and bolster his expert opinion of himself.. You know, things like what parts are in the box? Customizing options? What's on the decal sheet? Which tires are included? How was the general fit and finish?

That pretty much sums it up for me too. I get tired of the "resumes" posted here also.

[JunkPile]

That pretty much sums it up for me too. I get tired of the "resumes" posted here also.

But I really am a EXPERT !

Edited July 26, 2013 by JunkPile

[DrKerry]

0

Edited July 27, 2013 by DrKerry

[Draggon]

It would be neat to have someone team up with Jeff Allison.

[johnbuzzed]

No, I don't have the abilities or time to design a model. But I know what I want (and what I hope to find) in a NEW, never-before-issued kit:

Fidelity to the real, actual, full-size subject in shape, dimensions and proportions- there is plenty of reference material to be found for the designers and engineers to use. Overall accurate details without a lot of tiny, fiddly, flash-encrusted parts. Parts that fit together well without a lot of (re)work. Plans/instructions with no errors that don't need an engineering degree to decipher. Nice, clean chrome; nice, thin clear plastic windows. Thin, opaque decals that are of the correct colors, patterns and dimensions and respond well to water. A couple of building options, like wheels and tires, headers, induction, scoops/spoilers/body components. And, not just the same ol' same ol' subjects.

We're getting a lot of the above, but not always in the same new kit. Consistency counts.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Hey Draggon...I'd buy a dozen of those Jeff Allison kits if they were available. Man, cool stuff.

And guys, I really didn't intend to open another can of worms about scale fidelity and all that. It's been dead-horsed already, I've been partly to blame, so let's move on.

[charlie8575]

Given some of my potential business interests (this contest is open to companies, too), I'm seriously toying with giving this a whirl for next year.

We'll see what happens.

Proto-Mold, from their reputation, is an excellent company to deal with, so production would also be done well.

Thanks for finding this, Bill.

Charlie Larkin

[johnbuzzed]

Hey Draggon...I'd buy a dozen of those Jeff Allison kits if they were available. Man, cool stuff.

And guys, I really didn't intend to open another can of worms about scale fidelity and all that. It's been dead-horsed already, I've been partly to blame, so let's move on.

Okey-dokey !!!

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Oh Good Lord...

"Experts" and "resumes" now?

**EDIT**

Actually, let's take this down a couple notches, boil it down to what I see as facts, but would invite anybody to dispute with examples of their own.

Both sides of the never-ending kit criticism flap accuse each other of superior attitudes and bolstering opinions of themselves.

Objectors to criticism point straight to the criticism itself, but the fact is, you generally have to go out of your way to infer that from most of the criticism typical of this and other forums. If anyone can point to criticism with even a flavor of the critic doing it just to build himself up, you're more than welcome to quote it.

Critics, on the other had, can point right at the whole "Real Modeler/Kit Assembler" argument. Self-aggrandizing is not only self-evident to the whole premise, it's essential: "REAL" modelers correct the problems, but critics are a lesser breed, complaining about problems only because they can't fix them.

By the way, Steve Boutte has been very frank about about the problems with the drip moldings and front door frame contours in Revell's '50 Oldsmobile. He did this model from AMT's '49 Merc without ANY filler:

Come again on that "real modeler" thing?

Both sides have accused each other of trolling. Again, objectors point swami-like to the criticism itself, generally imputing to the critic poster the motive of trashing a kit purely with intentions to rile everyone up - another aggressive inference of usually questionable substantiation.

The ground's a wee muddier here for the other side too - but when critics are dredged up in a conversation that has NOTHING to do with critics in the first place, it's hard to imagine a reason other than baiting and agitating, two key hallmarks of trolling.

Like posts #35 & 36 in this thread:

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74961&page=2

or like post #4 in this one:

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68830&page=1

And in case anybody needs a reminder, it wasn't a critic who first bent THIS discussion in such a way as to make my post topical.

These are but a few examples of the sadly typical balance of reason between the two sides.

John B. here put it PERFECTLY. That's all any critic is really after, no matter how any objector tries to paint it.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Chuck Kourouklis