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MikeMoore

IPMS/USA Member
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Everything posted by MikeMoore

  1. Actually, I do. I think it looks great. And great scratch work there. Nice job! Mike
  2. You bring a not unexpected look at the situation Chris. For several years I've heard much the same thing through the grape vine. That being that the car guys don't like the way IPMS judges, category set ups aside. I've heard time and again that their emphasis is on the final finish while IPMS judges are nit pickers. I do have a couple of questions for you. First, how are cars judged by SCMA? Is it what I've heard referred to as NLL where it's essentially a popular favorite based on votes from the attendees? And second, how would we integrate the two judging styles? At a local level, it's really pretty easy. You do like you described and let each genre be judged as they wish. But what do you do when you get to the Nationals? Every class has a best of selected, and then those are all compared to each other to find a best in show. What's going to happen when a near perfect aircraft, SciFi, armor, figure, etc, is compared to the best automotive, which upon examination by the head judges, is found to have a flawless gloss finish, but also those ejector pin marks under the hood and seams visible? It seems to me that in that kind of scenario, the car will always lose, even if it's got the vote of the head car judge. So we don't end up with a best in show car for years and years, and the car guys are back to saying IPMS is biased against them. As I say, at a local level, judging things as you wish doesn't stir up too much. But at something like the Nationals, I think the judging all has to be as consistent as possible so that all the best of's can be equitably compared and a best in show fairly selected. Mike
  3. Hi Tim, I find your comment about not having enough judges to be an interesting one. Where do you think those judges come from? Where do you think all the aircraft and armor judges come from? Quite simply, they come from the modelers themselves. If there aren't enough car judges at the IPMS Nationals, the car guys have to look from within, and more of them need to step up and start judging. I will say that my experience with contests in the South is that while there are car modelers entering the show, there generally are very few willing to judge. This year at our show in Chattanooga we really had a hard time. We had a good number of automotive entries, but despite repeated pleas over the PA, and virtually begging among the tables, we just couldn't find more than 3 guys willing to judge. Honestly, I really feel like the car guys got the short end of that stick, but I have a hard time feeling guilty about it. I even got an email after the show from a guy who had come a pretty good distance for the show. While he did have a couple valid comments about a couple of the aspects of our judging system not being applied correctly by the car judges, he also kind of stunned me. He admitted that he knew we were short of judges, and were making repeated announcements to that effect, and then added that he was head judge for his club's show. It honestly took me a day to calm down enough to reply. I'm not quite sure how a guy with that judging experience hears all the pleas we made for car judges, sits on the sidelines, and then steps up to complain about the car judging. I won't argue that the car guys don't seem to be well understood by IPMS. I don't build cars, so I can't really comment on the category structure, but I can say that our club is open to anyone who builds models and that whenever we run across a guy who builds cars we almost beg them to join us. So far it really hasn't happened. But they are more than welcome. As for the judging and judges part, I have a hard time sympathizing. My experience is that the car modelers seem very reluctant to step up and judge. I'm sure others have different experiences, but not me. And if you're interested, our show next year will be Jan 11-12 at the Chattanooga Convention Center...right across the hall from the World of Wheels show. No promises, but we're going to try to get our show entrants discounted admission to the WoW show. Come on and visit Chattanooga and get a car modeling and car show experience in one weekend! Mike
  4. That looks great Keith! I'll look forward to seeing it in person sometime. That is, if you ever make it to a show this year! Mike
  5. That looks great Chris. I just picked one of those up. Now all I have to do is figure out how to actually paint a figure and I'll be ready to dive in! Mike
  6. Hey Chris, as usual, that looks really nice! I really like the beat up hat and the beard. And I'd agree with you, Vallejo is a pretty delicate paint. Besides minimum contact, the other key to Vallejo seems to be a good primer. Mike
  7. Of COURSE I know you're ribbing me...just like I am you. Don't worry too much about accurate dihedral. As long as there is some, and it's symmetrical, you'll be fine. Legends, like many resin companies can indeed be hit and miss. Google should be your friend as far as the wing guns and brake lines go. Or, tell me which variant it is you're building, and I can probably manage to scan some pictures for you.
  8. Tell me about it. Three bays of double flying wires, PLUS the booms. I'm not sure what I was thinking.... Aw, com'on Mark, the reference I used for the build was from Tankograd for crying out loud. The only speculative aspect of the model is that the exterior is "unfinished". In other words, the body is in bare wood and the front ARMORED panel is in bare metal. As far as finishing your P-40 in a Sky Captain scheme and entering it in the Hypothetical category, go for it! Nothing in the terms of the DDD precludes a hypothetical build. Only that you build an aircraft for entry, and I build an armor piece for entry...
  9. Nope you didn't miss anything. I've already done my armor entry in the Double Dog Dare. Granted, I still have to replace the wheels with more appropriate smooth balloon types, but that's an easy fix, so essentially, the Aerosan is done. And before you start yipping about it not having treads, I seem to recall that wheeled vehicles used by military forces are entered as armor at IPMS events. Now, I am HOPING to also have a T-34 done for Nats, but that's going to be a long shot... :Smile-tongue:
  10. Dude...I mean Duke...you are a mad man! 600 built models and that's just ARMOR???? Congrats x2. Oh, and I believe that T-34 turret you refer it as cast is actually PRESSED! I think they had a 5000 ton press at the Formchaka plant and they used it to press the turret shells. Which I find incredible. Mike
  11. Two I have to do: 1) 1/72 Mustang for a group entry in Orlando 2) WnW Fe2B early And then there are a couple that I have to FINISH that started last year, and a few more that will need to get done this year, but those two are the MUST builds this year.
  12. Heck, I know some people (names withheld to protect the guilty) who consider a bar or two on the warning strip a badge of honor. Sort of like the old Meteor Productions "Black List"! And don't worry Aldrich, we all KNOW about you.....
  13. even worse than just a propeller...it's powered by a...wait for it...AIRPLANE engine! And IF, I say IF everything works out right, the stars come into alignment, honey don't come up with too many do's, job stays somewhat slow, my "lawn" guy comes back this year, and various and sundry other occurrences (as the case may be) do/and or don't arise, I'm hoping to have a T-34 done in time for Orlando. Would that save any of my TreadHead points?
  14. Very nice Keith...missed you in the 'noog last month...
  15. So sorry Senor Aldrich...As much as I would love to go by 007, I am in fact 04. 007 is a MUCH more talented fellow name of Sam Morgan, aka Twisted Brother. And, I'd beg to differ. The NKL-26 is in fact armored!
  16. Ah...many thanks Mr. Aldrich! Looks like I'll probably do the coveralls in a couple different shades of gray. Mike
  17. I'm about wrapped up on a Trumpeter Aerosan NKL-26 with a twist....I'm doing it on wheels as it was trialed in the summer of 1942. Anyone know what color the coveralls would have been that the guys crewing it would have been wearing? Based on the pictures I've seen of the things in use in winter and the tanker helmets the crews were wearing, I don't figure it would be too big a stretch to assume the guys trialing it in the summer would have been wearing tanker's summer coveralls. I've seen references for three colors, black, blue and khaki. Thanks Mike
  18. Congrats on what must have been a great show Gil! Maybe next year I'll be able to get there! Mike
  19. That's ok Keith, we all had fun calling you names in your absence. Perhaps I'll get to trip you in Atlanta at the Figure/AMPS show? Mike
  20. Thanks David. It would have been nice to see you down here, but I'm hoping to make it up to your show in May. Perhaps then! Mike
  21. Hey Gil (and any others who are curious), Overall it went very well. With a couple of well founded exceptions, and more than likely a few unfounded exceptions, everyone in attendance seemed to have a great day. We made some changes to how we did things in registration and in judging that made things move along much more smoothly. Numbers were down from last year, but I'd chalk that up to two things: The number of entrants was down by about 1/3 at about 60 vs almost 90 last year. Much of that decline I'd attribute to the weather. While we didn't have even a remote possibility of snow, we did have some atrocious weather in the form of some nasty storm cells that rolled through the area in the morning. I'm not sure a good solid rain would have kept many folks home, given what was rolling through, I think it did hurt us some. The model count was down by about 1/2 at about 250 vs 497 last year. Obviously some of that is due to the lower number of entrants, and some of it is due to the fact that a lot of folks pretty much emptied their display cases last year, and couldn't do so this year as we limited the entries to models we hadn't seen in Chattanooga before. On the up side, the vending area was bigger and very active this year. We had Dean's Hobby Stop, Larry's Legions, CRM, Free Time, and Horner's Hobbies all make the trip this year, and all said they'd come back next year. In addition, several of the folks I talked to were blown away by the vending opportunities. If the above guys do come back, and we get a couple of guys that made it last year but had to skip this year, there is a good chance we could be approaching 100 tables next year. The one area I think we fell down on was the car judging. We had a couple of good car modelers who did their best to get the job done, but we also had a couple of folks just wander off, never to return (and having looked at one of those individuals sheets, his disappearance can only be considered a good thing). The end result of not being able to round up enough folks to judge cars is that I do believe the car modelers got the short end of the stick as far as judging goes. Somehow we need to figure out how to avoid that next year, and I can only hope that the car modelers will give us a chance to sort it out and give us another try next year. Mike
  22. Oh GREAT...another armor kit I'm going to be compelled to buy, but probably never build.............
  23. Many thanks Mark. And just to put your mind to rest, I will make sure that either Dave or I get photo coverage off to you for the website! Mike
  24. Just a heads up that the Chattanooga Scale Modelers will be hosting our second annual show this Saturday the 21st. Last year we had a show that exceeded everyone's expectations. More than 80 entrants, 497 models on the tables and 60 vendor tables. This year the buzz is building, the pre registrations are rolling in, and we've got 77 vendor tables sold (sold out there!). So it looks like it's shaping up to be another great show. The location is the East Brainerd Church of Christ, 7745 East Brainerd Rd. Directions, schedule, registration forms ($3 discount for pre registration extended to Thursday the 19th), and format are all available on our website: http://www.chattanoo...lemodelers.com/ Or, you can email me at: maxwinthrop@yahoo.com Mike Moore
  25. While I always enjoy seeing Daniel's work, I have to say I'm not a fan of the "Spanish School". I very much appreciate the work, skill, and yes, artistry that Daniel puts into his models. I just don't personally care for the artificial highlights that in my opinion tend to be the primary characteristic of the Spanish School. Everything seems to have an overdone black border around it to highlight it. I would prefer to lose track of some of that detail in order to be a little closer to authenticity. That said, I've heard it said that modeling is more about representation than replication. And in that sense, the Spanish School is no less valid than whatever it is that I do. And there is no question that it leads to visually striking models. I'll look at them all day long and appreciate all the work that went into them and hopefully learn a lot as I do. Mike
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