SPA Modeler

Went to the show yesterday. Vendors were great. I was head judge for the Sci-Fi category which included Gundam, Star Wars, Etc. I judged everything in that category with the exception of my two entries. We changed to the GSB system (gold, silver, bronze) and it's based on points. I like this system because you're competing against yourself and a standard and not against everyone else in that category. While the system is cool, the judges were very inconsistent. Some were very nice while others were brutal. One sub-category in aircraft for example had a lot of medals while several of the 1/48 scale aircraft sub-categories got hardly any. One of my biggest complaints is when the judges gig you for "inconsistent weathering". WHAT? Because everything in the world weathers exactly the same. One guy had an Israeli F-15I Strike Eagle and he got gigged for that. Really a jet in the desert is going to weather consistently all over the jet.

I entered the AT-ST, a unpainted Gundam (there's a category for that), and the two Super Hornets. I got gold for the AT-ST and bronze for the Gundam. The Super Hornets, well, one got an honorable mention (the worst of the two with a small crack in the canopy) and the other got nothing.

Here's a link to the show album.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBoPwG

Congratulations!

Congratulations Mike

Thanks guys!

Bravo on the awards!

Congrats on the medals, Mike. I never entered any of my builds at Syrcon because of the unknown attitude from the judges. Some tend to favor certain builders/members than unknown builders. So yeah, the other reason judges can be pretty anal on what’s correct or wrong. Rivet counters….

Congrats on the bling.

Well done Mike!

Thanks guys!

I'm not really that bent out of shape about the Super Hornets, I just wanted to know how one with a crack and debris on the canopy beats out one that I didn't really have any major flaws (that I could see anyway). But we move on. I did get to meet Rob Booth (was IPMS Secretary) and Cliff Herring (did a Ma.K with Plastic Posse Podcast easter eggs all over it) face to face. I have some really nice guys in our local IPMS so we all had a good time.