Today, after more than 40 years (off and on) in the hobby, I entered my first model contest. It was held at the local Hobbytown store. My Italeri Steyr Tractor took Second place in the senior armor catagory.
An interesting note here is that third place was taken by another steyr tractor. First place by a Sherman piled with sandbags. 2 out of 3 awards in the armor catagory had no weapons displayed at all. Well, I suppose the 55 gal drums could be used as bombs.

Hearty Congratulations Chuck!

Gunnie

Congrats Chuck!!!




Huge molotov cocktails huh? :-)

Congrats! I scored a second place today with my first armor model at my local Hobbytown contest. There was a lot more armor there than anything else, I was quite supprised. I am in Fresno, CA. where did you win?

It makes me very happy to see people who have returned to the hobby, or are new to the hobby be rewarded in this way. :-) I have very strong opinions on the subject of model competitions (Ah I hear you say here we go again!!) Seriously, I think it's great when you are awarded a prize but I think the following elements should be observed:

1. In the event of a prize win I always retire the piece. I may put it in for exhibition, but every dog has his day. In this way you leave the doors open to someone else.

2. This is particularly true in the case of a Gold/1st/-and/ or- Best of show award. Truthfully how many medals do you relly need to know a piece is good?

3. I always try to prepare a new piece for every competition I attend. Whether it wins of not isn't important. It is the sharing of techniques and ideas that counts.

4. I'm honest with myself. I feel disappointment if my work gets overlooked, but I am pleased for the guy who got one up. I try to see what I can do better next time around.

It isn't because we build small that we have to think small! :-) Have fun with what you do. The medals are the exchange for hard work and research, and sometimes others find you've done a good job too. Congrats to you Charles keep up the good work. BTW The Steyr kit is very sharp. Why don't you post a photo of yours?

Cheers

Chuck, Congrats on the win! :-)

Drew, Congrats to you too! :-)

Are we going to get to see some pics of these winner?

Congratulations for the results, Drew and Chuck.
Keep up the good work!

Yes, congragulations to you both!

Thanks guys. I was pretty amazed that I placed at all. But it sure feels good.

Drew: Congrats to you! It's nice to share the feeling with a fellow Armorama member. I entered the contest in Grand Forks North Dakota.

Captain Jack: I agree with your take on contests. I told my wife when I was building for this one that I would only do this once, just to say I had done it. But I just may try a diorama for the fall contest. I have 2 pics of the Steyr Tractor on my website. Saves space here.

http://hometown.aol.com/cfbush2000

Thanks again for the kind words guys.

Chuck,
Great idea about posting on personal websites to save space. Also it is good to participate, and I think it great that you are striving for an even more amitious entry this time around. THAT is the positive side of a competition. Motivation, skill and determination = success. Best of luck. If I can help in any way give a shout.

James

Uhh ohh! Sounds like someone iscatching a cold, or flu, or some kind of bug ...lol :-)

I never knew what a Steyr Tractor was till I saw it on your site Chuck. Dang! (not much of a German armor fan)Great job on the model Chuck. It looks really good.

Congratulations Charles! Good work sir, had a looksee over at your site. The Steyr came out very nice. It's always nice to get an 'atta-boy' every once in a while doesn't it?
I also like the M106A1, plus the GMC Ambulance (wish you had a bigger picture of that).
My final input here is about telling your wife you are only doing this 'once'. Now that you know you can build medal quality material you can't very well stop now can you........?

A hearty congratulations to you too Andrew! Was your entry the Sherman I saw? Nice job on that piece, really nice. As I told Charles above, you can't stop now can you? Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, say no more......

Tread.

Tread,
thanks for the nice words about my site. I need to take some new pics of some of the models. I've got a better camera now, so in the near future I'll get a larger pic of the Ambulance up there.

I just went to your site and saw your winner. I am glad you where in North Dakota and not Fresno because I wouldn't have beaten your model from what I see . Thats some really great work. I think you would have done even better than 2nd at the competition here, you must have had some tougher competition.

Captain Jack,

Thanks for the advice. I agree with it. I am going to put the model up somewhere with the plaque. To be honest I was shocked that I did win anything and almost didn't enter because I had a few mistakes on the model. I may just be to hard on myself but thats how I feel. My main goal was to meet some local model builders and I figured the best way to do it was a show. The whole thing was a lot of fun. I would encourage others to go to them as much as possible. It was my first one and I have heard a lot of bad things about shows but I think you can get out of them what you want. I went to have fun and meet some more poeple and did just that. I was invited to join a national and local club and got some good advice (not as good as I get here). Thats exactly the kind of thing I was looking for when I went, I just happened to also bring home a little hardware. I am going to vary careful not to get wrapped up in winning or placing. But I will admit I have been bitten by a little bug

Anyway, thanks for the praise and friendship. And way to go Chuck, your model is awsome.

Andrew
thank you for your kind words, but I've seen your Sherman and it is excellent.
I like what you said about not getting too wrapped up in winning contests. I went for the same reason you did. And I met a guy who had some outstanding models there. He was really interesting to talk to. When you live in a very rural area it can be hard to find other modelers. This site has been one of the high points of getting back into the hobby for me.
Keep up the great work. I'm sure you haven't built your last winner. :-)

Congratulations to you too Drew!

Gunnie

Hi Charles
Very nice site man!
The GMC Ambulance looks great, I do have one from Italeri, I'm planning to make one used by the brazilian forces during WWII in Italy.
How many kits did you lost in the flood?
Bye

Paulo,
Thanks.
I lost about 100 unbuilt kits, a couple of dozen built-up, and most of my tools and supplies. The stuff was stored in the basment in cardboard boxes. A lesson learned. My modeling room is now in the attic.
The Italeri kit you have is a re-pop of the Peerless kit I used. A really nice kit. You'll have fun building it. Post some pics when you're done. It's always interesting to see a fellow modeler's work.

Congrats to the both of you. I pick up an Honorable Mention for my 1/144 scale F4-F Luftwaffe Phantom II in Knoxville, TN. last week-end.

Penny - no - you did great! Congratulations to you too!

Just keep the "contest thing" in the right perspective - your award meant what a bunch of guys and gals thought about your model one weekend ago. Next week, it'll be different. No biggie! Keep building and always have fun!

Gunnie

Way to go Penny. I don't think I could do justice to a smaller scale model. My skills aren't there yet. Have you posted a picture anywhere?

Good work guys and gals... I'm proud of you... :-) Keep up the good work.

I remember some years ago when I was much younger ( ), I entered some models in a national contest here in Croatia. I got some awards (well, if there are no entries in a figure group but mine...), but nevertheless the feeling just wasn't right. Too many people just waiting to criticize the models.. Have you noticed that most of the critics never built a model? Go figure that...

Mario M.

Congrats to you too Penny. Great to hear it from the guys and gals here! :-)

Thanks guys. I don't have a pic of the Phantom anywhere yet. I also have a P-38 and a F-15 in 1/144 scale also. Maybe I can get a pic of the three in one photo.