What happened to the AFM guys judging the contest?

[snake_pliskin68]

Rusty Nail said: I just think it's cool I have my own drink!

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A grasshopper goes into a bar. The bartender looks over at him and says, " Hey! We have a drink named after you!". The grasshopper looks back at him and says, "Really?!? You have a drink named Erving??".

Ba-doom ching!

[raydrz]

"rusty nail": dave hodge's favorite name of all time

[tay666]

I don't know much about Jason...I'm in the dark about A LOT of stuff. I don't really have the time to be on the up and up . . .

And unfortunately most people are in the dark when it comes to many of the less desirable in our hobby.
Which is why I am willing to give the WF staff and crew the benefit of the doubt on this issue.
They are busy doing all the work to make the show happen, while holding down real jobs, and taking care of families and life. I am sure that very few of them have any kind of deep knowledge of the who's-who in this hobby. (hell, I deal with this stuff way too often and I still need help sometimes remembering who did what to whom.)
And Jason can talk a good talk. He's taken in lots of people. That's how he has managed to stick around all these years. After he wears out his welcome with one group, he drifts away to another group until he is all but forgotten from the original one and tries to slide back in again.

In before the lock.

Shouldn't get locked.........it's been pretty civil. I'm even behaving................I think!!! LOL
SJ

Correct.
I knew it was going to be a hot-button issue when it first came up. Took a bit to get a head of steam, but it stayed civil.
I also knew that everyone was curious and that itch wouldn't go away until it was scratched.

I am glad Drew stepped in and gave us the official word. (thank you)

And it sounds plausible enough. It's one of the first things that came to my mind when I noticed the AFM guys weren't doing it. I didn't think they had an issue with them judging. After all, they've been doing a hellofajob for years now. I heard they were just trying something new.
Of course this got my own mind wandering on 2 different trains of thought.
First was - well, it makes sense. The contest keeps growing. To keep trying to do things the way they always have was probably getting cumbersome. (mind you, I have no insight into exactly how the judging actually worked. I have vague ideas of the system used from previous discussions on here, but no real details)
I do know that the judging took a considerable amount of time. (that is a lot of kits to inspect).
My other train of thought was - holy crap! They are going to experiment with the premier contest for our kind of kits
What if it goes wrong? What if it doesn't stack up? Where did they find a whole new crew of judges?

From what I've heard so far, my fears were unfounded. The sky didn't fall. People weren't wailing after the awards ceremony. Award totals seem a bit high. But many feel that the quality of entries was also much higher this year.
I'll know for sure myself next year. When I actually have some kits done to enter.

[Scott Johansen]

Alright I just reread ALL of my posts and I don't see where I am doing anything but giving my opinion on something IF (I will say it again....IF) it happened that way. Drew came on here and has assured everyone that wasn't the case. So I guess it's case closed. I wasn't going to post again until it got back to me that I was "bitching and complaining". Hmmmmmmmmmm I guess that's what having an opinion that doesn't go along with someone else's is? I would love for that person to confront me here or privately that tried to cause trouble between a good friend of mine and myself. It didn't work!! I will finish this by saying the following. John, Drew, and the rest of the contest staff as well as the entire Wonderfest staff no doubt work their asses off to put on a great show year after year. NONE of my comments were meant or should be taken as a slight otherwise!! They do a great job. As with anything nobody agrees on everything but that doesn't mean people can't get along and debate things. It just ticks me off that someone tried to cause some crap. I hope that person is man/woman enough to own up to what they did and apologize. I for one will apologize to any contestant that took anything I said as a "slight" as well as to anyone on the WF staff that did so. NONE of this was meant to do that at all. Someone asked a question and I answered with some speculation. When others had a different opinion we debated civilly until someone tried to twist my words into more than they were. As for the Jason Gares question.....I received an answer but it's not my place to post that information. House building starts Friday!!! Maybe I'll actually build a kit for next year's show!!

SJ

[Graybeard]

I found a couple of odd things about the contest but I have been sworn to keep my mouth shut cause it always gets me in a pickle lol
And wouldn't change anything anyway.

[smithdl69]

I entered six things and came away with 2 bronze and 1 merit so I think it is safe to say not everything got an award the numbers can be deceiving as a lot of the Gold award winners also won the "special" awards which makes sense given the quality of their work. I've been going since the beginning and this is the first time I have ever entered a model contest of any kind. Not sure if I would do it again. It's fun showing things off, not sure how much I like the idea of being "judged." To me Wonderfest and garage kits in general is more about "art" rather than the a traditional IPMS show which is more about "engineering" i.e. the kit was one scale foot off out of the mold did the modeler correct it?

So how do you judge art? I may love it and you may hate it. I had things that I thought would at least get a merit that received nothing and other things that I didn't expect anything for that received a bronze. I think whoever is a judge has a rough time with this type of show. If something is really creative, but is B- on the finish does that get an award? For some "yes" for others "no." I would rather seem something interesting over the same figure built again and again in the same way, but that's my way of looking at it.

[Stormheart]

Smithdl69 wrote:

So how do you judge art? I may love it and you may hate it.

I agree art can be very subjective...at least to the casual viewer. I'm far from being any kind of expert. I finally got off the sidelines and entered the contest this year. Out of six pieces, I brought home one Silver Award. I'm very proud of that, but I obviously still have a lot to learn. In the case of judging models, I think there are some standards that can be judged fairly, and can be applied over a large variety of kits. Things such as: how smoothly did the modeler blend his/her tones between highlights and shadows, how well did the modeler use color theory to unify his/her paint scheme, is there detail on the model that the modeller failed to accentuate, are there air bubbles or mold lines that the modeller failed to clean up, did the modeller add anything to the kit or just build it as it came? I'm sure there's more, but these come to mind first. Judging must be an extremely difficult and mostly thankless job, but I think there are criteria you can use to justify your decisions that go beyond "do I love it, or hate it." At least, that's my opinion.

[shakey dave 187]

Smithdl69 and stormheart i agree with both of you. Especially at this moment it really does seem to be a thankless job, especially with peiple who've never even entered the contest before.
Scott the only apology I can give you is that I'm sorry you havent painted a kit since Bush 1 was in office and haven't brought abuild to share with us in the contest.
.....and yes boo i will now break thy balls until you deliver.

[Scott Johansen]

Smithdl69 and stormheart i agree with both of you. Especially at this moment it really does seem to be a thankless job, especially with peiple who've never even entered the contest before.
Scott the only apology I can give you is that I'm sorry you havent painted a kit since Bush 1 was in office and haven't brought abuild to share with us in the contest.
.....and yes boo i will now break thy balls until you deliver.

Actually Clinton was still in office!!! LOL I'm waiting for the ever elusive Mint in Box category!!!

SJ

[shakey dave 187]

Smithdl69 and stormheart i agree with both of you. Especially at this moment it really does seem to be a thankless job, especially with peiple who've never even entered the contest before.
Scott the only apology I can give you is that I'm sorry you havent painted a kit since Bush 1 was in office and haven't brought abuild to share with us in the contest.
.....and yes boo i will now break thy balls until you deliver.

Actually Clinton was still in office!!! LOL I'm waiting for the ever elusive Mint in Box category!!!

SJ

....and at the rate things are going Clinton will be in office again!
Everthings falling into place for your web of victory, i see it now. You only been biding your time!!

[Scott Johansen]

Smithdl69 and stormheart i agree with both of you. Especially at this moment it really does seem to be a thankless job, especially with peiple who've never even entered the contest before.
Scott the only apology I can give you is that I'm sorry you havent painted a kit since Bush 1 was in office and haven't brought abuild to share with us in the contest.
.....and yes boo i will now break thy balls until you deliver.

Actually Clinton was still in office!!! LOL I'm waiting for the ever elusive Mint in Box category!!!

SJ

....and at the rate things are going Clinton will be in office again!
Everthings falling into place for your web of victory, i see it now. You only been biding your time!!

You're on to me ya sneaky bastard!!!

[tay666]

He's gotta do something with the paint he won in the raffle at WF.

[Drew_666]

correction to John Davis' email

samcro316@twc.com

[raydrz]

MODERATOR NOTE: Jason Walker's interesting post was granted a life of it's own...you can tune in to that discussion here: http://theclubhouse1.net/phpBB3/viewtop ... 7#p1335587

ok continue on...live long and prosper