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Gold, Silver, Bronze Award question for a local contest


Skjohn98

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What self-respecting craftsman would be expected to use unusable decals on a project he or she takes any pride in? What competent judge would do anything but wonder why any sane modeler would think 50 year old decals could be made to work? All such a requirement would accomplish is to discourage modelers from tackling interesting old kits because they could not possibly make the markings look good. The NCC has too much good sense to give that idea any thought. Nick 

P.S. Consider the impact on old kit sales. Why buy something you could not possibly decently finish? 

 

 

 

 

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Why would a self respecting contestant insist on building an old, outdated kit for a major contest and insist it be judged OOTB. talk about demanding special treatment. If he was truly skilled he would be prepared to revitalize the kit supplied decals.

Dak

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5 hours ago, Dakimbrell said:

Sorry, but it should be kit decals only. You want to compete with an antique kit, then use the old decals. Just my opinion.

Dak

If it's old enough, why not require hand painting (airbrushes weren't widespread yet) and the use of period brushes and glues? No more Revell Type-S cement? Testors was around back then!

 

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This thread has strayed from being a GSB discussion.

As previously pointed out a GSB contest will be unpredictable depending on the quality of the competition entries.

Ralph mentioned that generic GSB medallions would be the best option. They could be bought in bulk and used year on year pulling from stock until a stock top up is required. Probably the best option both flexibility and cost wise for any GSB contest.

Edited by noelsmith
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8 hours ago, jcorley said:

If it's old enough, why not require hand painting (airbrushes weren't widespread yet) and the use of period brushes and glues? No more Revell Type-S cement? Testors was around back then!

 

Painting markings would not be out of the box.

Dak

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2 hours ago, Dakimbrell said:

Painting markings would not be out of the box.

Dak

So, no painting? Bare plastic?

Do you need a photo ofan old Aurora model with raised lines and the instructions telling what colors to paint inside the lines?

 

And, yes, this discussion is now about OOB, not GSB ... seems to be a trend.

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Dak, How do you “revitalize” old, crinkled, yellowed, off register (and probably inaccurate) decals that either shatter when placed in water or don’t stick and don’t conform to surface detail? You must be the Dr. Froederich Frankenstein of decals. 
 

“More Solvaset, Igor!” 

Nick

 

 

 

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Some logistical drawbacks of buying generic medals are where do they get stored, and if a facility is found, how many are shipped every year to the host chapter and how many of each, and then, of course, the host has to ship any excess medals back for storage or possibly to the next host. If we could be assured that most winners are looking for the recognition and not necessarily a plaque or medal, we could just use certificates printed off by the host by type, G, S or B, as needed, but I can't see that as happening. 

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If you can’t fix the decals, perhaps that is not the model to build for OOTB. Would you choose a kit that the real thing had rigging, but was not mentioned in the instructions or seen in the box art?

As for painting, I was referring to the markings. Painting and glue while not included, are referenced in the instructions. Of course, some old kits did come with glue.

Overall, my point is that OOTB as practiced today is archaic and unnecessary. We would be better served creating classes for specific topics like a Bf-109 class and break it down into categories by scale. Judge oranges with oranges.

There are a number of models with which we could do this way.

Dak

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50 minutes ago, Ron Bell said:

Some logistical drawbacks of buying generic medals are where do they get stored...

Quite a few medals fit in the kind of cardboard box many of us already have stacked in our basement/attic/etc - they are a small part of the contest supplies our club officers already have stashed somewhere in their homes.

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On generic awards, a set design could be purchased by the host chapter and purchased from a specific source which gives the best price. No storage required. Just a thought.

Dan

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Certificates are generally regarded as small beer. We have only ever used them for “Honorable Mention” or other feel good awards. Most contest entrants I have discussed this matter with expect a substantive award for their registration money, along with the recognition. Nick

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I get 300 medals at a time from Mission Awards for our local shows, and that lasts for two or three years (depending on attendance, of course).  The package is smaller than a standard box of copier/printer paper.  Extrapolating that out, 1,000 awards would likely be two copier paper sized boxes.  If you stick with the current format, you use about 600 category (1st/2nd/3rd) awards at a National show, which means there will be maybe 400 surplus medals.  So we're back to something the size of a copier paper box as far as goes shipping/storage.

As far as how many awards should be purchased?  For a 1-2-3 show, this is easy--look at your historic numbers.  If your usage across the last three shows is 600 awards on average, buy twice or three times that. 

Make this a National office duty--the 2VP adds this to their Convention planning punch list:  "Verify number of category awards on hand, order more if needed".  It can be done at the conclusion of the current show, before the surplus gets shipped to the next host.  And if the margins are shaky, order more right then and there and have them drop shipped to the next hosts.

In 2016, we had some 60 plaques left over.  They are now sitting in my garage, collecting funk, since they are dated and themed and cannot be re-used (other than to pry the metal placard off and use the wood plaque as a base).  At $6 a pop, that's $360 that IPMS/USA paid out in that cannot be recouped--using standard awards, that money could be used for shipping costs.  And if you can't ship 600 medals (based on an order of 1,200 total--600 used at the current show, 600 left for the next one) for less than $360 bucks, you're using the wrong shipping company!

And it isn't as if other stuff doesn't get shipped from one host to the next from year to year anyway...
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Attached is an image of our medals.  They are 2" die-struck medals with antique finish.  You can get them with or without the ribbon.  Our last order was made in April 2020, and including shipping ($36, for the record), the total was $861.  $861/300=$2.87 per medal.

As Gil said, you can have a sheet of round Avery labels available so the entrant can record what the award was for.  In our first show, we actually made custom labels, as shown in the pics, and filled them out as part of the admin duties after judging.  It is labor intensive, though, so the next year we stuck the labels (again, customized for that show) to the medals and let the entrant fill them out.

Here is our source: 

Mission Awards, Inc.
2030 Tonawanda Lake RD
Grawn, MI 49637

E-mail: SALES@MISSIONAWARDS.COM

Phone : (866) 396-5481
Fax : 231-276-7682

I've worked with Tim, but anybody on their sales staff ought to be able to assist.
 

IMG_3119.JPG

IMG_3120.JPG

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Or American Generals for that matter.  Milley has 54 ribbons and devices if you count them (not including Spec Forces, Ranger, Combat Infantryman badges plusothers).

Most senior military leaders have many after a long career, no matter their nation. Would you rather them only have the new "I made it thru Boot Camp" ribbon? 

Was there a point beyond comparing IPMS members to enemies of the USA?spacer.png

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I wasn’t comparing anyone. I’ve truly thought it would be fun to wear awards at a show since some such as medals and medallions on ribbons are designed to be worn.

As most modelers know, WWII Germans wore their medals into combat and the Russians definitely liked the bling. Americans tend to go for simple ribbons which I find more tasteful in general—-no pun intended—-situations.

If we use awards which are designed to be worn, why not wear them. After all, many wear the contest pins to show they are “veterans”.

I personally prefer small awards like medallions that are easy to pack and display with the model in display cases.

Dak

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Don't know when the picture of the Russians was taken.  But, if it was long enough ago, and they were Soviets, they probably earned most of them.  The Soviets loved to hand out medals, but during the Great Patriotic War, the Russians who had only a few medals were often the ones who didn't make it.

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