Armorama is sponsoring a "Best Featured" Competition for all Feature Articles published on the Homepage from July 1st through September 30th, 2007.

Competition Duration: Competition will cover all Feature Articles submitted by registered Armorama users and published on the Homepage from July 1st to September 30th, 2007.

Terms and Conditions:
1) To be considered a valid eligblie entry, the Feature Article must be a minimum of 500 words and accompanied by a minimum of 10 photos or more. The author of the Feature Article must be a registered Armorama user. Entries must be submitted via the Kitmaker Network Resoultion Center directly or by email at support(at)armorama.com.

2) Submitted Articles must be selected for publication by Armorama staff and appear on the Homepage within the Competition Duration to be eligible. All submitted entries will be considered for publication but are not guaranteed to appear on the Homepage and thus be eligible for the Competition.

3) Eligbile Feature Articles must not have been previously published on Armorama and may deal with any model relevant topic such as techniques, build stories, dioramas, step-by-steps, etc. so long as they meet the requirements outlined in #1 above.

4) Competition is open to all registered Armorama users. Armorama or Kitmaker Staff members are not eligible to participate and any of their Feature Articles published during the Competition Duration will be excluded from the Competition.

5) At the end of the Competition, eligible Features will be submitted to the general Armorama member population for vote on their choice of Feature. The top 3 vote winners will be awarded the First through Third Place prizes.

6) A panel will review all of the eligible articles and select the Grand Prize winner. Should the Grand Prize winner also be one of the top 3 vote winners, the next highest vote winner will automatically be selected for the applicable prize in their place.

Grand Prize
A brand new edition of R. P. Hunnicutt's Sherman : A History of the American Medium Tank

First Place:
Choice of DML kit #6252 Tiger I Initial Production 3-in-1 or Cyberhobby kit #6327 Tauchpanzer IV Ausf D 5-in-1

Second Place:
Choice of Tristar kit #35015 Pzkpfw IV Ausf D or DML kit #6253 Tiger I Late Production 3-in-1

Third Place:
Choice of AFV Club kit #35053 M3A3 Stuart Light Tank or Tamiya kit#35235 Steyr Type1500A Kommandeurwagen with Lion Roar PE.

If you have comments or questions on the Competition, please post them here.

Bill---congrats on your idea, and kudo's for your generosity. Deserves a well done I believe.

Steve

Thanks for that Steve.

Jim

Much appreciated Steve. Since the vast majority of our content is user-submitted, the idea of a competition seemed a natural one. We already have a contest format for photo-only type submissions through the Dragon Model of the Month but it's been a while since a competition was held for Feature articles, which is an area we always need new content from the users.

I know we've got a great crowd of talented builders here and I'm looking forward to seeing them contribute their work as part of the competition. It isn't rocket science to write up a 500 word article, the Editorial Staff will work with the authors on editing and arrangement as needed to get them published. I'm sure there are some excellent summertime projects going on out there that would make for some great articles (just count the number of Blog posts active in the past week or so, it's the tip of the iceberg), so here's everyone's chance to contribute to what makes Armorama great by being an active part of the community and compete for a shot at some prizes all at the same time.

Hey guys!

I am really liking this idea! A lot. Now that I'm out of school (at least for a quarter), I may (said VERY loosely) be able to do something. Finally. It may not fit as it's a tank with an AM turret and some additional mods, but NO paint. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing more build articles...they are both enlightening and enjoyable....and one can never stop learning from other builders.

Hmmmmm.........M3A3? Be nice to see that one, once won, turned into a "feature." Yep.

And, I'm with Steve on that: "A well-done" Sir.....this will indeed be a good thing! Thank you.

Mike

p.s. no comment to the "naysaying." Yet.

I am me, and me said it.

Mike,

Doesn't have to be a full build, it can be a "how-to" or SBS just on updates or accuratizing a particular kit, a techniques demonstration, or something similar. 500 words and photos is the minimum requirement, the subject matter is up to the author so long as it's model related.

Great Idea, Bill!

And what a better way to begin a career in content submissions for Armorama?! If you enjoy writing, have a digi camera, and are a modeler (which we all are now, aren't we? ), sharing your knowledge in step-by-step features, full build articles, or a tips and technique feature is an essential part to our existence here at KitMaker, as this is a user driven website, folks...so what are ye waiting for? Grab yer pencils and paper, and give it a go!
~Gunny

Nice idea Bill, especially since the site was founded under the simple idea of "the membership helping the membership by sharing our knowledge and skills". Not a policy of "only for the elected elite" that appeared for a while. Nice to see a return of a grass roots policy.

Talk about timing!
Firstly ... great inititive Bill, and also what an incentive for features ... I hope plenty take up the challenge, because at the end up ... its a win/win for both site and readership.
I am already in progress with the Tarawa Sherman article which was coming in anyway .. but now Ive got to get me finger out and get the article finished!!

Bill great idea and very generous of yourself. That said the site use to run a competition to win osprey books do they not support our site any longer? As it seems these would be very suitable awards for this type of competition.

I think this is an excellent way to encourage members to share their knowledge and techniques... I am seriously considering cranking up the ol' camera and keyboard myself...right after I finish redoing my photo set-up... thanks Bill.

Frank, Jim, looking forward to your submissions! I'm sure there are others out there with a project hanging fire that can use this, hopefully, as a little bit of extra motivation to finish one up and send it in.

CMOT,

The Osprey Challenge competition was all about being able to answer trivia questions related to various topics and not about Features or finished models. It was discontinued some months ago but might be worth reviving in a new form that's geared towards mor than just being in the right timezone and knowing the right factoids and sending them in by email.

Weekly bump to spread the word on the Latest Posts page.

Some simple tips to help those interested in submitting Features and participating in this competition:

1) Use the highest possible resolution on your photos (most cameras have variable settings such as low, medium, high, very high, etc.). Don't worry about file size, we can always edit them down. JPEG images are fine, please do not send in RAW or TIFF images.

2) Please don't edit, crop, or color manipulate your images before sending them in. Send them just as the camera took them whenever possible. JPEG images in particular suffer "loss" in quality every time they are saved due to the way they are compressed, so the closer the photo is to the original from the camera, the better. Cropping your images before sending them in often produces odd-sized images and limits the ability for further editing/adjustment.

3) Check your photos for clarity and focus. If taking close-up shots, please use the macro setting (the little flower icon) to get things in focus. If your camera doesn't have a macro setting, get a clear overall shot at the highest possible resolution and we can always edit a closeup out of them if you indicate that in your submission. Remember that something that looks in focus on your camera viewscreen may be very different when viewed on a monitor at high resolution.

4) Use a plain background whenever possible. White or blue poster boards make for excellent backdrops that can be taken down when not in use and easily stored. For WIP shots, using your workbench is ok if you've got a good background such as a cutting mat to use as a backdrop.

5) Try to use uniform lighting if possible. Harsh direct light from a single source tends to create a lot of shadows and distort the colors. Don't use a flash for the same reasons. Natural sunlight is good as well but difficult to manage/control because, well, it's natural.

6) Send a PM if you have issues with either the NRC or email attachments when sending in your submission. The NRC has a limit of 5MB on total file attachments for a single ticket or email however you can always send in multiple emails or tickets with additional files.

7) In your text write-up document, refer to the photos by filename you've also supplied if they need to be in a certain order to go with the write-up. Please also use your software supplied spell checker to help reduce spelling errors before sending in your text.

8) Suggest a title for your article and be sure to include your First and Last Name so we can credit you properly when published.

9) Verify that your article meets the minimum requirement of 500 words before sending in. Most word processing software include a Word Count feature that can help you in this regard.

10) Please don't upload your photos to Photobucket or gallery software and request that we download them from that source vs. sending them in by email or the NRC. See 2) above as it produces the same effect. Most gallery software will compress the image for web viewing and to save on storage space and downloading them back again can cause distortion and poor quality on the finished photos.

Many thanks to those who've participated so far by sending in their Feature submissions! For those considering submitting, there's still plenty of time to take the plunge! Contest runs until Sept. 30th.

This is a very good way to gett more people interested in submitting. There ar people who are hidden writers that just don't know it yet. Onyl wish I had tie to devote to such a noble casue.

I would like to raise the prize ante a bit and add a "Grand Prize" to the mix.

A brand new edition of R. P. Hunnicutt's Sherman : A History of the American Medium Tank.

This prize was donated by Dave O'Meara for use in a contest such as this several months back. This seemed like the best contest to add it to as it will obviously be a book desired by many AFV modelers.

Thanks Dave!

Cheers,
Jim

A very nice addition indeed, thanks Jim and Dave for adding it to the mix.

The Terms and Conditions as well as the Prize listings have been updated to reflect the latest changes to the Contest. Please see #6 in the original post for modifications.

Weekly bump reminder that this contest is ongoing and runs until Sept. 30th.

Hats off to you Bill.

This man has been a star, furthermore, he has an inspirational amount of patience, which he displayed to me yet again by helping to get my 'Cosmetic Damage' feature up and running.

Really appreciate it Bill, you're a creadit to the site.

Stuart

Thanks for the vote of confidence Stuart, just doing my job.

Bill,
This is probably were I should point out that you were promoted to "Senior Editor" recently.

You have been doing an outstanding job these past several months. Thanks much and hopefully you won't get burned out by all the work here on top of your...err... other life?

Cheers,
Jim