I even paint the bottom of the boots! Why? Well, it helps seal the paint all around... if I leave the bottom unpainted, then the edge of the paint my eventually dry up and flake off when I dust with my aircan.

As for letters on the bottom of the tanks, i hit them with the dremel tool and a soft burr head. Then i sand out the rough spots and paint.

Do you enjoy smoothing seams,filling,etc.,etc.,etc.,....?I have to admit I cheat more and more as I grow old and mellow. I'm doing this for fun,right? So do what you like. Some days I just don't feel like smoothing that unseen seam .As for those guys with the mirrors,I have a few suggestions of how they could put those mirrors to good use.......looking for cat toys under the couch.....checking for pimples on their backs,......stirring soup... JOCK

If a tree falls in the woods does it make a noise if no one is around to hear it.........

Judges, hmm, that implies doing something that you have to do as opposed to what you want to do.

Since my Daddy was a US Navy Chief Petty Officer and spent far too much time at San Diego's USN Training Facility as a Drill instructor and Division CPO, you bet I paint everything, he would expect nothing less and drilled that in at an early age, early morning inspections at age 5 with a quarter to test out the rack making prowess of the junior son sort of says it all.

But since I am making a scale model of something and it can be turned upside down, I go so far as to fill in holes, remove maker's lettering, and detail it as best as my references will allow, after that it is just a matter of figuring out where the most abuse would happen to add a litte in the field customization to suit the vehicle's planned site of use, besides it's an extra set of steps that allows me to play with it just a little longer.

There, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hi guys In the British Army theirs an old saying "if it moves salute it ,if it dont move paint it "i paint everything #:-) :-)

Well, Jock, if you're building strictly for yourself and plan to show it only on the shelf or in a non competitive setting, forget the "guys with mirrors". However, if you are going to compete, you know if it's good, it's going to be scrutinized and if you want to place in a contest, you have to go the full distance. Back in my running days, if I wanted to finish a marathon, I didn't stop my training runs at 5 miles and expect to be able to do 26 on race day. If you want to be in the running for an award, you have to put in the work and know that model will be looked at very closely if there are other contenders. :-) Bottom line, if you don't want your model gone over with the proverbial fine tooth comb, don't enter it in competition.

No... wasn't Talal. Another guy from Patriot Chapter who moved south to become a "dirt doctor".

I am much more of a "No penlights, No mirrors allowed for judging" kinda puke, because judging at that level, while it may be ok at, say, AMPS, just encourages lots of good modelers to NOT come back. Being anal is one thing, for your own self-satisfaction, but implying that something is not good/worthy of award because work was not done on what was not meant to be seen is a little over the top.

I prefer the Shep Paine approach to modelling...have your own kind of fun.

That would be Dave! I admired his work a great deal.

I am not implying that a model is not worthy of an award if the builder has not "done on what was not meant to be seen", I am stating it outright. If there are two models done equally well on five of six sides, and one builder has cleaned off the "Italeri" from the bottom, while the other has not, the higher award goes to the model with the cleaned bottom. I wouldn't disqalify the Italeri still on the bottom, but that one's partially finished. The guy who drops out of the mile race after 3 laps doesn't get a gold medal, no matter how fast he ran for 3/4 of a mile. It's competition, not a trophy sale.




Yes, have fun, I hope we all do. But when you put your model on the table to be judged, expect it to be judged for the work and skill that went into it. I've been judging at the local and regional level for nearly 20 years and I can't count the number of times the judging teams I've been on have had to seriously scrutinize two models to determine the better of the two. Sometimes it's between two builders and sometimes between two models by the same guy. There's only one first place (unless you have an open system like AMPS and some of the figure shows) so you really do have to get down to the minute errors or omissions at times. I'd like nothing better than to be able to walk up and look at 20 models in a class and say, "Okay, 1, 2, 3, 4." Or "3 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze and 2 HM", but it just doesn't play out that way. :-)

Every little part gets it paint. Though it can't be seen, at least I know it is there, and that's the most important.

well AJ, I guess we just approach the whole contest scene from different views. I have been judging for the last 6 years or so, mainly IPMS stuff, and I have to say that while it canbe very hard to judge a single first and second place, I have never once seen a judge, nor have I myself, had to resort to looking under the tank.

I know the penlight crowd are the same way, but I suppose at IPMS, were the plane seems to abound far more than armor, you need one to see into the "front Office". I have always had a special dislike for them too, and have actually seen Shep Paine take penlights away from judges, which I thought was pretty cool.

I suppose it is just a matter of how one wants to judge. I am not necessarily saying that my way is correct, or that a more "detail Oriented" form of judging is correct. I only know that the more anal the judges get with how they judge, ie taking out instruments, the fewer people show up the following years. Maybe not at shows like AMPS, where things are MEANT to be anal, but it really hurts local IPMS or other shows. I do not go to AMPS, nor do I plan to, because I do not think I would be welcome...I do not really care if a kit is EXACT as long as it looks good, adn I do not think any of my work would stand up to the personal tastes of the judges, or their calipers...my loss, but there it is.

Oh my, off on a rant...

just to show you that I do somewhat talk out of both sides of my mouth, I do paint all surfaces at least once with a base coat. But I still keep interior parts out if I button a tank up...

I guess I'm a rat because I vary rarely paint the entire underside of the vehicle. Most of my stuff ends up in dioramas anyway so the bottoms are hidden even from the penlights. For a contest model, from now on, the bottom gets painted. Never thought about it as betraying but you're right, more of these kits are coming out with undersidedetail. So, I'm doing a Academy Start, and the underside is painted. Thanks for setting me straight, I always wondered why I never won a place in a contest even though I felt i had domne a better job. I have sen the penlights out here in Dallas