Hola,

Was thinking the other day about how the judges will judge the different pieces. As there are more then one judge there has to be some set criteria for each judge to go by. So my question is what are these criterias?

Anders,
You can have all the criteria you want, but things like "I like it" are hard to outline. Judging art is not like judging a science exam. I'm affraid a set of outlined judging criteria will coax some into another direction than what their heart says, and that some junior modelers will be scared off. Both side effects would be a pity... ?
Everything in daily life is measured and outlined. I like my hobby to steer away from that. My modeling is one of the few things in life where we can really be ourselves.
Just gut feeling talking here. If the judges prefer outlined criteria, I won't let my sleep for that.


(:-)

The thing that will kill a dio for me faster than anything else is an inconsistent story line. A few years ago, I saw a dio of a Euro street scene. Thre were Germans working on a Bf 109 on the lowest level. On the street level, a squad of yanks was attacking German ground troops who were fighting back. In the building in the background, officers of the Weermacht were dining peacefully. Each section was technically very good. But when you looked at the whole, the scene didn't work.
There was a 120mm dio in another discussion group in the summer of 2001. It featured elaborate ground work, threatening Mongols and heroic defenders, all in dark colors. At the center, was Verlinden's warrior woman at rest, a blond nude, with no reaction to the action around here. Both her affect and here light color distracted me from the artistic merit of the rest of the display.
Another dio last year showed an M-8 having crashed through a stone wall and landed upside down. Several Germans were loking at it. I immediately questioned how the M-8 had flipped in such a short distance, how it had broken through a wall with no damage to its front end and why all the external gear was still in place. While every idividual element was very nicely executed, the story was weak.
Ultimately, a good diorama needs to combine elements of good model building and good story telling. You should be able to look at it and know what's happening immedialtely.

I fully agree with you here Al... and in addition to that : Jan, I couldn't have said it better !!

So it's GOT to have a consistent storyline, but it's the overall picture that counts for me. And if the jury wants to use the explicit criteria....... like Jan, it's no problemo for me either.

Judge it the way you want....I had tons of fun building it already, so the mission is already a succes, though I havn't even finished it jet.

Same here, Danny. This "campaign" just came at the right moment, and it is one of the most fun modeling things I ever did. I look forward to see the entries. Thanks to this campaign, I did something out of WWII (German!) which I wouldn't have done otherwise. It forced me to do something with snow, too. Interesting experience !

This feels like something we can continue to do on Armorama. Several campaigns throughout the year, so everyone can do the things he likes to do.

We could do campaigns in
- different eras : WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War, Modern US, WWI, free era (flintstones?),...
- different nature elements : containing snow, ice, water, trees, grass,...
- different manmade elements : buildings, ruins, roads, bridges, ...
- different elements the dio HAS to contain : an animal, a statue, a civilian, a bell tower, ...
- different subjects : mail call, vehicle repair, loading a vehicle, lunchtime,...

How 'bout this suggestion : the winners of the first campaign can choose the content guidelines of the next, picking the elements ?

Hey Everyone,
I was thinking about the Campaign judging also. I jumped in because there was no pressure and it was a participation thing. So as far as the judging criteria I don't know if it would a good thing to let that out of the bag early. I think it would sway people into building to the judge and not to thier creativity.

My other thought and I'd like to hear your opinion. I have seen so many different ideas and creative outlets that I won't see just one winner. What do you think of doing an informal pole kind of a thread. Similar to the one done on the Number and Types of Aircraft shot down in Desert Storm recently, or to the User of the Month deal. Have nominiees for things like
- Most creative scene - ie - Kids Tree Hut
- Most creative story line - Christmas Alone
- Best build review - Fausts photos and posts
- Best sculpted figure - Anders kneeling guy
- Most creative use of household objects - Hardys cup as a water tank
- Cheapest - Fausts $2 version
- Most detailed
The list could go on. Maybe if it's ok with Jim Ken and Keith - I'll compile the Top 10 catagories from this thread and then we can do a review or nomination process after the "official judging has been done."

What do

Hola!
Interesting thread this has become.
When I posted this question I meant like what "scores" would be put on different aspects of the dio.

Such as

Painting and finishing 1-10
Story Line and how its followed in the models 1-10
Assembly 1-10
Buildings 1-10
etc etc

I was not wanting to scare anyone off, and I have a hard time beliveing that it WOULD scare anyone off to know these things, whatever they may be. It was simply a thing I was wondering about. And yes I think there SHOULD be a set criteria for all models, if not, then how can each entry be judged fairly and with same perspective?
Im not all that gungho about the competition part, more for the fun of doing it and see what everybody comes up with, but it was insisted to be a competition and therefor I want to know the judging criteria, just like you would for IPMS or any other show.

As for people changing their topics or whatever they are doin to suit the criteria is irrelevant, since every model or dio you do will contain assembly, paint and finish, a story line and a way of showing this storyline through the model.
Make sense?

Since we are limited in the number of photos, maybe there should be a checklist of the items the judges would specifically like to see for judging. Something like:

1. Overall scene
2. Figure closeup
3. Window closeup

I am only a mediocre modeler, but I am an awful photographer. Any guidance would be greatly appreciaed.

Patrick

As a judge for the contest, I will tell you some of what attracts my eye towards higher scores...

First and foremost "how well do you convey your story"... do I get a full sense of the scene you are trying to portray? This would include the overall content, and the sense of mood (desparation, relaxing, anxiety, humor, etc.) you are trying to get across. I call it "connecting"... if your diorama connects well, then you get a good score.

I certainly look for the level of content and detail.. how much effort to add realism was put into the scene... if it illicits a "Gee Whiz" or "Wow" you have a winner. A great example is from a book I saw on Dioramas that had a picture of an old farmhouse... nicely done and realistic, but what really floored me was when I noticed a clearly identifiable "coke bottle" near the fence post... Not Pepsi, or NEHI Orange... you could tell it was "Coca Cola".... WOW! And there were "nail holes and rust stains" on the wood planks... an over there - hey, it's an old newspaper folded up on an aging rocking chair...

Other examples would be what I call "completion".... things like shoulder slings on a rifle, or eyebrows on a face... simple things, but they indicate a close eye for detail and realism. These are the things that make a 8 become a 10 to me.

Someone correctly stated earlier, it is hard to quantify "what I like"... but detail and finish go a long way in influencing me. The longer you hold my interest, the better the job you have done, and the better your score will be.

Other things I look for are quality of work (clean seems, appropriate colors, sense of scale, clean joins, etc).

I am NOT personally a stickler for "minutea" in terms of accuracy - although other judges may be... if the rank insignia is located a little too high on the shoulder, or the scope on your sniper rifle is the wrong design, I don't even consider it. I'm similar in my view of "is it the exact color "... the exact pantone match of FeldGrau is not a priority to me... but I also don't expect to see "lavendar and mauve" for a great coat either! Instead, i look to see if you can see folds and shadows, and if things like buttons, patches, and insignia have been detailed... it won't kill your score if it isn't, but you might only get a 8 or 9 when this could have given you a 10.

This is certainly not "all" of my criteria, but it will give you a sense of at least how *I* judge a diorama.