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Things that make you fume


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Duke,

That is why I really wish we had a Judges sheet!!!! I know we will never be able to have the time to do that, but it would be so useful sometimes. That is why I like our club meetings. They all know it's mine.....and don't mind telling me what's wrong!

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Confession: I've eavesdropped in/around my model at my first shows. I was SO curious to hear what people would say about how I did, and honestly, expected more honest comments. I've since stopped that behavior since, well, it's annoying.

 

I learned a long time ago to not make any comments, other than genuinely positive ones, when viewing models. Hoverers generally are not appreciative. They are often defensive and sometimes hostile. Once it got to the "step outside" point.

 

So my approach has become, "If you can't say something nice about......".

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I concur. If I am just passing through the rows and making small talk, I'll offer up the obligatory "tastes great, less filling" comments. You never know who is listening in or if the guy you're shooting the breeze with is the builder. Much like looking at a forum post, if something catches my eye and I want to know more about the subject or technique, I'll ask. If not, I'll leave it alone.

 

Just too many fragile egos to tempt fate.

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Why don't we just give everyone a prize and be done with it? :smiley24:

 

Kevin, I don't think that's what we're saying. It's one thing to complement a modeler's work, then offer sincere criticism in the nicest way possible. It's another to blow smoke up their backside. Most people genuinely appreciate a little bit of nit picking to make them better, but it's NEVER pleasant to run into the occasional person who claims to, but does not take an honest assessment very well. I don't want to go to a model show where I'm supposed to be relaxing and enjoying a hobby and deal with drama. Now, if I know the guy or note that he's actually looking for help, I'll offer him the same sort of comments that I'd hope someone gives me.

 

Our opinions as participants should have no bearing on the judging process. I've never known a judge to offer any comments on a build until after the awards were announced to avoid a perception of bias. Honestly, not sure why some people think trying to talk to every judge about a build will influence their opinion one way or another.

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Concerning photos of models on the web, I find they either make my models look much better than they are, hiding flaws in assembly, alignment, finish, etc, or much worse. When I do close-ups, I have found stupid simple mistakes that I missed but got highlighted in a picture. So, a photo might make a model look much better or worse than it is.

 

As to feedback at a show, I think it's best to exercise common courtesy. Remember our members have varying motivations for being in the hobby. For some, the contest room is an arena of competition, for some a showplace of workmanship or maybe even just a chance to get out of the basement and see that there are "others like me". People have feelings and varying emotional investment in their work, so I am always careful about what I say and to whom. Some really want criticism, but others just want validation. I don't mean ego stroking, although there is some of that. Some just need to be told "hey, nice job".

Edited by Ron Bell
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Interesting reading these post. I too along with most enjoy feedback on my models, both good & bad. It helps me improve and enjoy the hobby more. I judge a lot both in AMPS and IPMS. In AMPS you are with three other people at a table looking over a model in a seperate area. So comments made are not a problem usually that can be herd by the modeler. But at IPMS events, unless the contest room is closed, usually the team is judging while the room is full. I have been on teams that some members of the juding team will loudly speek their mind on every model so the person on the other side can here. I usually gentally poke that person and tell them to keep it down. Not only does it make our team look like idiots, but it is disrespectful to others.

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Chris Graeter..you know my opinion on your event....you guys put on a great show, and your judging was excellent with no issues with judges voices carrying. You responded to the one small thing I mentioned quickly and I'm sure that was an oversight more than anything. I am my fellow club members are looking forward to next year!

 

At the club I'm a member of's event....the first thing usually mentioned at the judge's meeting is BE RESPECTFUL in any criticism you have. Keep your voice so only the other judges can hear you, and if you hear another judge badmouthing an entrant, report it immediately to the line judge.

 

I think the main issue with people getting hurt feelings boils down to how criticism is given....

 

Would someone rather hear, "Your paint is all wrong, too many runs, and orange peel in different spots...it looked like you rushed it." or, "I noticed a few sports that need attention, would you like to know what they are?"

 

When a sentence starts with "you lost because", it's downhill from there. If it starts, "We found some issues, would you like to know what they were?" you have a good base to start with.

 

That said, there are some people you can NEVER please. ;)

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EXACTLY, Kevin. If we had the number of judges/time, I'd love to see score cards for a build with pluses and minuses given. Of course, THAT would be rather time consuming and difficult.

 

 

 

 

Trying to get back on topic:

 

- Messed up washes. I hate it when I do this.

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Yup, I have the day off tomorrow, and it's Dentist, hardware store, mow the lawn....I might get an hour in there, but am sure something else will come up.

 

Another....getting a part stuck to ME, not the model...you can't even throw it in anger! :)

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That's a good one Kevin! Another one for me is when I can't find a part until days/weeks/months later and it was in almost the exact place I had lost it!

 

And then there's the time I have parts 'tweezerpult' into Oblivion just after I've added glue to them.

 

I also hate when a part has a stepped edge (such as the edge of a landing gear door) and the sprue gate covers both 'steps'. That is really tough to clean out and make look good.

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Another....getting a part stuck to ME, not the model...you can't even throw it in anger! :)

 

Oh My God this happen to me the other night. I was using CA glue and glued my fingers to the part and the model. Nothing like yelling to your teenage daughter to bring you some of her nail polish remover.... :drillsergeant:

Edited by 802chrisg
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I think CA glue does that on purpose. It sees the part you're holding, sees where you want it to do and then promptly goes to your finger! Oh, and how come when you want it to tack instantly to hold that delicate part in that odd position you just got it in, it takes 30-60 seconds or more to tack, yet if it only just lightly brushes your finger, it's instantly glued to your eye lid when you scratch it a half hour later! Personally, I don't call it Superglue, I call it "Stupidglue".

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I have used a lot of Bare Metal Foil and similar adhesive foil products over the years. My frustrations come when the foil sticks to my knife, my fingers, the backing sheet, and anything else in reach . . . but will not stick to the model! The burnished foil pops right off! This most frequently happens to me with black foil and gold foil.

 

Also, the static attraction that causes a loose foil end that is supposed to be placed precisely to suck the foil end down in the wrong place, out of alignment, and stick there. And how about the loose hair strand or dust mite that sticks to the glue side before you even get it down, and then you do not notice it until you burnish the dust lump in permanently? I've wasted any number of foil pieces for these reasons.

 

Ed

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The Carpet Monster!!!!!! I have cleaned the man cave floor as I am going on Vaction starting Friday. When I get home tonight it will get fully vacuumed. The canister will be emptied and I will sort through the debris as I am missing a much needed PE handle (why they did not mold these on is beyond me). It fell off over three days ago and if it is not found in the debris, my T-34T will not have any smoke canisters on it's rear! Or I will have to figure a way to pull the other three off and make the handles myself so they all look the same.

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Hey Mark! I'll adopt your carpet monster IF you, in turn, take possesion of the black hole under my bench! The floor LOOKS like concrete....but I've had parts completely disappear; most of the time forever, and at other times reappearing after a suspension in time in the wormhole that goes who knows where and doubles back. :smiley29:

 

I think that what happens is that it goes to an alternate universe where my evil twin (now THERE'S a thought for ya! :smiley8: ) is also building a model. Since he's building the same model (though the Luftwaffe won the Battle of Britain in his world history) he simply keeps what I drop! :mad: Unfortunately, he drops his parts FAR less often than I drop mine! :smiley7:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Show of hands judging where fellow judges could be 'swayed' by someone with a forceful personality.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I encountered one today. I have a long-dormant shelf queen in the form of a 1/72 Heller EC-121D Warning Star waiting for its first coat of primer to cover the kit's blue and white plastic. I reached this stage years ago but had to backtrack when the nose weights inside the sealed fuselage broke loose and rattled all the way to the tail as I turned the model to work on it. I cut a rectangular hole in the bottom behind the nose wheel well, retrieved the weights, remounted the weights, and closed up and finished the hole with the same plastic plug I had cut out. After all that I lost interest and set the whole kit aside for other projects.

 

Today was a very nice day, low 70s and no wind or humidity, and I was looking for something to do. I picked up the EC-121D to clean the accumulated dust off of it with the intention of getting past the blocking point by using some rattle can primer on it outdoors. Of course, as I was cleaning the underside of a wing with the model upside down, all the weights broke loose again and clattered about the entire fuselage. With a sigh of frustration, I stopped right there and put the model back on the shelf in its old space to wait for another couple of years until I can cut it open again and restrain the loose weights a second time.

 

This is my own fault, and that's what makes me fume!

 

Ed

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I encountered one today. I have a long-dormant shelf queen in the form of a 1/72 Heller EC-121D Warning Star waiting for its first coat of primer to cover the kit's blue and white plastic. I reached this stage years ago but had to backtrack when the nose weights inside the sealed fuselage broke loose and rattled all the way to the tail as I turned the model to work on it. I cut a rectangular hole in the bottom behind the nose wheel well, retrieved the weights, remounted the weights, and closed up and finished the hole with the same plastic plug I had cut out. After all that I lost interest and set the whole kit aside for other projects.

 

Today was a very nice day, low 70s and no wind or humidity, and I was looking for something to do. I picked up the EC-121D to clean the accumulated dust off of it with the intention of getting past the blocking point by using some rattle can primer on it outdoors. Of course, as I was cleaning the underside of a wing with the model upside down, all the weights broke loose again and clattered about the entire fuselage. With a sigh of frustration, I stopped right there and put the model back on the shelf in its old space to wait for another couple of years until I can cut it open again and restrain the loose weights a second time.

 

This is my own fault, and that's what makes me fume!

 

Ed

These sort of things just blow the top of my head off. I learned to pin things that are dissimilar materials. Different expansion rates will make glue fail every time. Drill a hole through the nose and the weights the size of some evergreen styrene rod and run it through both sides of the fuselage with the weights in the middle then trim off the ends and sand it flush. Problem solved.

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Guest PetrolGator

Bad instructions or no instructions.

 

I tend to super detail. I've run across a number of aftermarket sets (and sometimes kits) that have absolutely terrible and inaccurate instructions. I have, on occasion, asked for clarification from a company and been told to pick up reference material to better understand how that flat piece of PE is actually a complex radar. Essentially, I have to shell out more cash to pick up what is often a rare book or drawing so I can fix their problem.

 

I have two ships boxed that I just gave up on due to this. I'm sure I could figure out the PE and where it goes, but I just got frustrated.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Inaccurate Tamiya models getting a free pass... Their recent Il-2 or Fi-156 for instance...

 

The worst though is moulded-in assymetries: Monogram's B-29 had a flaw in the right fuselage mould (right from the start in 1977) so they bored out the right fuselage to polish it out... Now the kit is "swollen" on the right side. You can see that by the wing stubs which are still the same depth to the centerline: They stick out less on the right side... The fuselage steel mould's tail is also warped under heat treatment, so the fin tilts to the left as does the top rear turret bases compared to the front ones... The entire tail is warped out of alignment, and it has nothing to do with the de-moulding of the plastic...

 

A much more recent example shows troubles are never really far away: Hasegawa's 1/48th FW-190A-5/6/7/8/9 series have fuselage issues and the main wings warped, because the right wing sits lower than the left on all the ten I owned: Also the right wing has a different angle of attack (higher), and the wing tips show a lot more top if you don't carve them down and try to twist the wing front down... Fin is tilted to the left as well... Mind you, this is the exact same across ten kits of various variants, boxings and vintages...

 

Great kit (gear angle setting is great), great canopy, but lousy symmetry...

 

All the 1/48th P-38s have symmetry troubles as well (less so Monogram's 50 year old kit!)

 

Gaston

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Inaccurate Tamiya models getting a free pass... Their recent Il-2 or Fi-156 for instance...

 

 

 

Heh. In the model ship world, we hear about how Trumpeter is the Great Satan, due to accuracy issues. I just purchased a 1/700 Tamiya USS Hammann (Sims class) for the same cost as a 1+1 Dragon destroyer. The thing had NO port holes, NO hatches, and NO detail what so ever. The hull was nice, yes, but that's it. Honestly, it's a great make and take model or a long term project for someone to super detail to just make it passable.

 

Thankfully, I have good eyes, hands, and a HUGE photo etch repository. Nonetheless, frustrating.

 

Tamiya's been slacking recently, IMO, and badly.

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  • 4 weeks later...

People that think good paint work(and nothing else) makes a prize winning model.

 

People who think "scratch built" means an automatic prize.

 

Judges that don't know some cars have toe in\toe out and caster\camber.

 

Judges that don't read documentation. At least skim it over.

 

 

 

+10 on all of those!

 

Gaston

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Bad instructions or no instructions.

 

I tend to super detail. I've run across a number of aftermarket sets (and sometimes kits) that have absolutely terrible and inaccurate instructions. I have, on occasion, asked for clarification from a company and been told to pick up reference material to better understand how that flat piece of PE is actually a complex radar. Essentially, I have to shell out more cash to pick up what is often a rare book or drawing so I can fix their problem.

 

I have two ships boxed that I just gave up on due to this. I'm sure I could figure out the PE and where it goes, but I just got frustrated.

 

Amen on the ships, brah. I have a couple that I purchased as an intro for shipbuilding. After hours of examination, I cannot figure out how to fold the PE. And, for a couple of the smaller ships, there are absolutely no instructions on where to put the PE. Or what the PE is supposed to represent.

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