Modelling competitions - you have to laugh...

[lumpulus]

Where do I start about poorly run shows?

First and foremost, bad judging is the worst part. As the original poster discovered, other people's thought processes can be totally different than what you might expect, especially when the Club hosting the contest is primarily a milirary club. In the case of the R8 being DQed at first, at least they discovered it and let you back in.


The way judges are chosen at any contest needs to be carefully watched, but the main problem is finding IMPARTIAL Judges, who can look at a piece fairly and work with other judges to find the best models on the table.

The system my club uses, is 3 judges per category. We first look at all the models to determine if any one builder has more than one entry, as we have a "no sweeps" policy, and determine, if there are any "doubles" or more, which moddel of that builder's is the best, and then judge only that model. I've seen this cause problems though, but it's the most logical way to deal with multiple entries.

Then each judge individually picks his own choices for 1st thru 3rd, only then do we put our heads together to compare notes. If our choices match, we are done, if not we debate and discuss until we mutually agree on awards, if not democracy takes over and we vote.

After we fill out the judging form, we turn it over to the line judge, who is well respected judge with many years of experience in whatever field(Cars, Armor, Aircraft) the models were in. He or she checks the results and if satisfied, turns the sheet over to the head judge, who also checks the results.

This system isn't perfect, but it's about as close as you can get to it.

I think the most important thing is to get good judges, which is sometimes difficult because they are volunteers. You need to watch for people that I like to call, "little Napoleons", that are volunteering for all the wrong reasons.

[Veyron]

Judged contests are passe, long live the NNL!

[lumpulus]

Hey Veyron, good to see you.

I couldn't disagree more about the NNL type show.

It's a popularity contest, nothing more.

[Veyron]

All contests do is open the door for a lot of bickering and hurt feeliings, seen it happen hundreds of times.

Too many trophy hunters show up EXPECTING to win and win they don't they do their best to slam the contest and give it a bad reputation.

NNL's go much smoother and the trophies won are much more satisfying, besides who needs another trophy anyway.

[ONEBADMK8]

Bunch of politics, especially in larger or Club run Competitions. Idiots!

[lumpulus]

Originally Posted by Veyron

All contests do is open the door for a lot of bickering and hurt feeliings, seen it happen hundreds of times.

Too many trophy hunters show up EXPECTING to win and win they don't they do their best to slam the contest and give it a bad reputation.

NNL's go much smoother and the trophies won are much more satisfying, besides who needs another trophy anyway.

I agree with you about the "who needs another trophy part"

I could panel my workshop walls. I use some of the older ones for bases for my current projects.

NNL shows are just as prone to bad feelings as regular shows, if you ask me.

The internet has virtually squelched all the old badmouthing of shows just because some idiot who thought he should win didn't. You're always going to have a "complainer" at each and every show, so taking steps to minimize that by certifying judges is the right step to take.

After all, these are model CONTESTS, so someone has to lose.
No one can argue when the best model on the table wins, as long as the judging is done well.

The NNL contests are too "Hot Rod" specific for my tastes, with Willy's Gassers and 42 Fords always placing over other stuff that is better.
The most popular just goes down to which Model Club has the most members there.

[willimo]

Long live the contests you go to just to hang out with friends and acquaintances and check out their modles while sharing your own with them. Everything else is just icing on the cake. Report cards would be nice though....