Model Forum / General / Models / August 2005

    Laudable thought, if misplaced.  By that, I mean what are the
criteria for your judging methods?  If a club invites you, you'll have
to judge per their directive, yes?  If they want judging per a set
standard, you'll have to adapt to it.  If they want historical accuracy
considered, can your judges do that?  If they want strictly construction
methods and finishing judged, can you do that?  1,2,3, OOB or
Gold/Silver/Bronze?  How many judges will you need on hand?
    There is much to be considered - though consider them you should.  The
organization should be completely intertwined with the judging method as
the organization alone determines what the models will be judged
by/against.  If you develop a cadre of judges who know fit-and-finish,
can they be counted on to judge historical accuracy - credibly?  Lots to
flesh-out here...
    As my boss likes to say:  "Well, good luck with that."  ;-)

Frank Kranick

Stretch, I belonged to a car club for a number of years, we put on a model
contest at our car show each year, when the club found out I built models I
inherited the contest...lol. Well I built it up over the years from 10/15
entries to 50/70 each year.
I was a judge and had to find others to help me (no easy task!). I found a
couple of guys that would help out each year, I arranged for free entry to
the car show for them, dance pass for the Sat. night dance, 1 meal free each
day and all cokes free.
Needless to say, they showed up every time!...lol.
I also had to come up with prizes and really nice trophys. I also did door
prizes like the big guys and the rest of the show.
Since this contest went hand in hand with a car show we created a set of
standards; (rules as it were and these were handed out at each show)
1.Believable?
2.Engine...Detailed?
3.Interior....Detailed?
4.Fit/Finish
5.Paint
6.and for Junior Div. obvious that (dad) did it? If it was highly obvious
that dad did it, junior got disqualified and dad was told why!
Each of 1-5 had a 5 point spread. 1 being lowest and 5 highest.
We did have a category called Fantasy, where No.1 didn't apply so we added
Uniqueness to replace that.
3 age groups;
Junior....12 and under, believe me, the really young ones got cut a lot of
slack for encouragement. I wanted them to learn and have fun, but at the
same time do it themselves.
Teen......18 - 13
Adult......19 and up.
I had these categories; Stock, Rod, Custom, Competition, Truck, and Fantasy,
each had an explanation of what fit each category.
Each division had First through Third Place Trophies.
We also had a "Peoples Choice" where car show entrants picked which they
liked in all three divisions.

Stretch, don't know if this helps, but this is what I did.
Your idea is a good one, good luck with it.

Mike G.
Former member of A.C. Tumbleweeds

The discussions here about judging have seriously kept me out of
competition.  From the start, a competiton that relies on judging is
subjective.  There have been many stories of favoritism, prefered styles,
etc.  A couple ideas that come to mind about this-

1. A known modler being granted preference based on previous work or
success. (Granted, if it still looks like junk this won't help.  But if it
becomes close, who gets the benefit)

2. Current fads of style.  Whether it's preshading or inking panel lines.
Just because I don't think it looks right, but don't follow the point
gaining standard of the year, should I be docked points?

Yes, these examples might be based on some sour experiences, and I have not
competed.  But if this is keepeing me out of trying, how many others are in
the same boat?  I model for the fun of it, but would love to see how I doing
compared to others and have a fare shot.

I think (and I agree this may be out of ignorance so enlighten me so I know
the truth) that a standard of judging be adopted, am accreditation system be
established and yes, maybe a "club" that can be called on for this.  This
could benefit in a number of ways-

1. If there is an obvious breach of the judging curicula, the fellow judges
can sanction the "offender."  Some form of grievence would be etablished,
but competitors who abuse this would be known.

2. It establishes an independit pool of judges who have no gain in who wins.

3. The judging corps does not have to be one national club.  But by being
genuinly fair, honest, and good, will gain the reputation which will bring
them to many competions.  Whether its a little get together, a car show, or
major meet.

OK... too much writing takes the fun away.  It shouldn't even be a problemn,
but if we are talking about it, and not for the first time, there might need
to be a new approach.

Finally, someone please, talk me out of this and convince me to start
putting my work up for critique so I can speak from experience.

Rich Cox
--------------------------------------------------------------
À la gloire éternelle de l'infanterie...
miroite le nommé de RodgerYoung.

[[[ about forming a judging club/class ]]]

This sounds good "in theory", but has little merit in the real world.
Like others have said, judging is totally subjective.  It is based on
personal preferences, no matter how many "judges" claim they are being
objective.  This is no big deal....as it is just a quality of being a
real live human being.  Three judges could score a set of entries on
one day....and look at them the very next day, and score them totally
differently.  Day one's results are no more, or no less, valid than day
two's.  Remember, model building in an *art* as much as it is
"engineering", and appreciation of *art* is 100% subjective.

Stretch,
As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to have to burst your bubble.  A
judging club would not go very far, especially with the requirements you
are placing on the contest holders.  You have to remember one thing - you
see a kit at a vendor's table and you know that the kit is well worth the
$10.00 that the sticker says (he originally paid $25.00 for it), yet you
offer the guy $5.00.  By nature, modelers are a cheap bunch when it comes
to contests, and organizers are the same - after all, they are modelers.
Do you really think that they will let you and a bunch of judges they don't
know walk in for free and eat for free.  You know how much money they would
not be making by doing that?

If your club does all of the judging, you are going to need about 20 to 25
judges, maybe more.  At about $5 per judge at the door that's $75, then the
food is another $75, that is $150.  A club sponsoring a contest can buy
about 5 trophy packages at $50 per package.  They can get a bunch of
discounted kits at the local hobby shops (their sponsors) for the door
prizes.  You can buy about 1,000 flyers for about that much money.  And
there are a bunch of other things a club can do with $150 for a contest
instead of paying for judges and feeding them.

That was the economic aspect of the matter.  The resentment that will be
felt by the local judges and judges from other clubs is priceless.  You can
be sure that they will not participate in future activities from that/those
clubs.

But there is a plus to all of this.  The one thing that one can do is
volunteer to be an at-large judge at different events within your state or
Region.  I live in Austin, Texas (where else would anyone want to be) (IPMS
Region 6), and I travel to San Antonio to assist with their judging.  I
have also traveled (driven) to Beaumont, TX; Norman, Oklahoma; and
Louisiana (forgot the name of the town) to do the same.  I did not expect
to get any freebies, just the satisfaction of assisting other clubs achieve
their goals of putting on a good show and have fun.  One thing, be the best
judge you can be, be honest, fair and objective when judging.  Only you
know how good, great you are - judge like you are trying to select the best
model of the ones you have made in the last couple of years.  Not an easy
task.  If you do that, you will earn the respect of other judges and
eventually and with time, you will be called upon to participate in the
judging their contests.

You can go it alone, or car pool.  For me the average trip comes out to
about $200 for an over-niter (that includes gas, food and hotel) and about
$50 if I come drive back the same day.  I don't want to mention how much
the purchases come out to because that is a story for another time.  I have
met some rally good guys and made some good friends over the years.

Sooooo, having said this, I think the best way to go would be to be an
at-large judge and do some traveling.  It is a beautiful country this land
or ours.

Ray
Austin, Texas
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