My Contest entries

[Neo]

Well guys time to get some feed back

i had 2 entries in the contest this year and surprisingly the one that got more votes is the one i spend the less time on!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE
These model are hand painted with Humbrol enamel. my airbrus setup is incomplete :-\

So here they are. Comments and critiques welcomed (i have to win next year so critique away ;D)

For the all open
Hasegawa 1/48 F-18
jasmine decals
unknown resin seat

on this pic you can actually see the tail# on the wing gloss coat !!

Please excuse thedust particle that landed while the photo was taken!

For the car category (this one got more votes for about 1/30 time spent working on it)
Now this is my first car ever
Revel germany GT350 OOB
Scratch built: spark plug wires, seat belts (3 point driver standard passenger)

Can wait for next year

thanks again SMA for organizing this contest

Cheers

Neo

 

[ShutterAce]

Ok Neo,

The biggest problem I see is that the background in your pics is too dark. Yep, that's it. There's a reason the mags use white or light blue backgrounds. Dark backgrounds hide detail and bright colors will actually tint the model. Both of those things are not good. As far as the models go they look fine to me. So, just remember it's as much a photo contest as it is a model contest.

Oh, and try not to take it so serious. I hope you had some fun. I came in last and had a blast. ;D

HTH

 

[Neo]

Thanks for the tips

il go get some white backgroud sheets i had light blue one but they made the colors on the blue angels look off

So, just remember it's as much a photo contest as it is a model contest

Hummm so now i have an excuse to buy a new camera!!!

And off course i did have fun that why a build models contest are just a little extra ;D

Thanks

Neo

 

[Quaralane]

Both builds look really good, Neo.
And, if it makes you feel better, I like the Blue Angel one more.
One thing to take into consideration here was that the "All Open" category was PACKED with quality entires. It was easier for a build to get lost in the tallies

And I know the feeling about the "smallest time" factor. Of my four, the one that I spent the least time on, was the Yamato. It got the most votes of any of my builds.

 

[Grendels]

I think that Quarlane got it right, the blue angels kit is great. It just got lost in all of the other entries. You did well with that mustang.

Also, a lighter background for the photos would help some as well.

 

[13aceofspades13]

the mustangs sweet!

 

[schweinhund227]

So! U need to Win? Hummm! Ok!

The jet! With over 50 entries in the All open Cat. It was like buying a Loto ticket. Sorry!

Some sort of Subdivision will probalbly need to be put in place next year?? It's only going to become worse..... If the contest keeps on growing ? And I bet! It will.....

Be realist and go back to the listing and look at what you were going against ! Tough choices.... And too many kits! Hard to know what you were to come up against since those entries only became visible at voting time!

The Stang! Some photos are not fully focused! So if push came to shove.... That would have been a "cut off" reason for me! I can't evaluate or quantify what I can't see!

Being a car fan... at model shows. I go for a high gloss finish, Very hard to get with Hand painting!
Without numerous wet sanding and polishing.....

I am not going to make friends here but I don't fully agree with having Rusted vehicles competing with prestine street cars!..... That too, should be another sub class! If enough participants enters!

And there were over 15 cars! So.... Take my words with a grain of salt.... It was a friendly competition after all.... Keep your chin up! And carry on!

I hope you complete your Air brush system by next Spring. It should help you greatly and remember..... Don't give up!

Norm.






Nice, bright, "focused" close-ups helps!

 

[Neo]

Thanks Guys

Thats a good point that i didn't consider for the Blue Angels is that there where a LOTS OF GREAT KITS in the all open

The Stang got a little dusty before it when to the photo shoot it was actually packed into moving boxes prior and right after that shoot !

Im person that mustang as a real nice mirror look on it just as the blue angel(that you can see the tail number reflecting on the wing from the gloss)
Im actually really impressed by the Stang result in its category

Im only posting this up not to cry about my results but to see what didnt work so i get better.
No feedback makes it hard to improve

What comes up most is
* Dark background NO-Go
* Need better Picture quality
* Try to enter in the right category (the blue got started before so had no choice)

As mentionned the FUN PART is to BUILD the contest is just a little extra to show off 8)

Thanks again guy you comment are constructive!!

Keep em coming

Cheers

Neo

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Neo,

I dont want to appear to be argumentative but a dark background can work. Look at the first place winner of the sc-fi category. I shot that on a black background and it looks fine. Many magazine editors require white backgrounds mainly because it is the easiest to edit into a block of text as well as being easy on the eyes and not harsh contrasts on the pages but white can be difficult to work with and takes some getting used to when photographing.Photo editing software of some sort is a good idea and will help with whatever color you choose. There are free ones on the web that work fairly well.

The all open category is tough, you could be competing against a build that took a year to build and won gold in the advanced category at a model show. Thats just the chance one takes in that category, last years winner took years to build and it was truly a work of art.

As to Norms point, rusty cars competing with shiney cars, its a no win situation for us. If we start drawing lines, where do we stop? We could easily spend weeks debating every possibility of finish/type/class/style/era/design/purpose etc. And end up with 200 categories and 185 entries amd then everyone will be a 1st place winner. Unless Scott gets his crystal ball back up and running, we dont know how many entries there will be in what categories until near the end so until then we will have to continue keeping it as simple as possible.

Your mustang got a lot of votes because it was a good model. I would suggest you stand proud of what you accomplished, it was a tough competition. Just stay the course and keep building, you can only get better.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

As to Norms point, rusty cars competing with shiney cars, its a no win situation for us. If we start drawing lines, where do we stop? We could easily spend weeks debating every possibility of finish/type/class/style/era/design/purpose etc. And end up with 200 categories and 185 entries amd then everyone will be a 1st place winner. Unless Scott gets his crystal ball back up and running, we dont know how many entries there will be in what categories until near the end so until then we will have to continue keeping it as simple as possible.

Yes, and then we may as well call ourselves IPMS SMA if we let it get that far.

 

[noname]

I agree with ScaleModelMadman. I've seen a black background work well, also a grey background.

I also feel that a rusty vehicle is fine in with the shiny ones. I will say that people do dig beat vehicles. People appreciate the nice shiny one but the rusty ones add alot of character that may possibly appeal to a broader audience. I pretty much new that TRM would win because he spent alot of time on the details and the build had alot of character. It appealed to more people than the same truck in new condition probably would have. My truck had character too but I didn't go the extra mile that TRM did.

 

[spud]

i think i voted on the car.. cant remember but it was right there. to me it looks good. as for what color to use as a bg White is a good starting point an everyone as A4 paper laying around. i would try a few colors to see what works best, but you cant realy go wrong with white

 

[Neo]

Whoa !! This has drifted a little off topic ....


But in a way he is right ,in a rude way(schweinhund227) but i didnt want to go into the context of the contest .. Just wanted some feedback so i can improve for next year.

(i need to know what pushes your buttons and exploit it muhahahaah ;D ) just kidding

But this has been constructive i like it when people really say what they think.

Thanks to all for the tips and suggestions

Cheers

Neo

 

[schweinhund227]

Well... I Feel better ! NOW ! LOL sorry to have pulled a few feathers... :

Its seem to be an "endorsed act" here… to delete unpopular posts!!!
Expurgation is not making it better!

:-X

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Previously posted replies have now been move to their own thread.

Lets stay on topic here guys and answer the OP's questions.

 

[Centurion]

hey Neo

What I see are the things I struggle with in a kit.

1. aircraft kits need the panel lines to show, try pre shading and weathering. its the difference between your kit looking like a toy instead of a scale reproduction.
Your aircraft kit is well balanced and put together, your painting is crisp and shinny, this is the same for your car kit.

2. painting, I can see the paint brush streaks on both kits, it looks too thick and washes out detail.
one remedy for this in a hand painted model is 10 layers of very thin paint, gradualy building up to the thickness/shade you want.

hope this helps
Centurion

 

[schweinhund227]

hey Neo

What I see are the things I struggle with in a kit.

1. aircraft kits need the panel lines to show, try pre shading and weathering. its the difference between your kit looking like a toy instead of a scale reproduction.
Your aircraft kit is well balanced and put together, your painting is crisp and shinny, this is the same for your car kit.

2. painting, I can see the paint brush streaks on both kits, it looks too thick and washes out detail.
one remedy for this in a hand painted model is 10 layers of very thin paint, gradualy building up to the thickness/shade you want.

hope this helps
Centurion

I don't want to disagree with you Centurion.... But the blue Angles F-18's are some of the best maintained and pampered A/C in the world.... So, weathering is held to an absolute minimum...
which makes it a "hard subject" to model and replicate back in a realistic finish...
But the hand painting points you brought up are really useful...... Not many people still hand paint!

 

[Centurion]

@Neo

let me clearify:

scale model reproduction might required that you highlight your nuts and bolts silver......to show the detail to the eye. They are not really silver in real life. its just to help perception. I can clearly see the panel lines on the wings of the aircraft in the picture, how u replicate this to the model is the trick. let me know what works I got a 1/48 typhoon im scared to paint.

Centurion

 

[ModelMakerMike]

I like both entries.
I think I may personally like the Blue Angel better.
It is very true that the "All Open" category was stacked with incredible builds. I knew once I saw them, my entries didn't really stand a chance.
As far as the shiny new car vs. the beat to death ol' clunker, it totally depends on the execution of the kit.
I have seen pix on-line and in mags. that looked just like a real full size car, and they were painted like they had a $20,00 show car paint job.
If I would have seen anything in the entries that looked quite like that, it would have gotten my vote. I went with the stuff that looked more "real" to me. And in the small town where I live the old klunkers nailed it! ;D
In the diorama categories, I voted for the entries that "told" a story, or had some definite co-hesion to it.
I think that maybe your photos are a bit dark, and I think that was a big hold back for my stuff as well.
Good stuff though, and I am looking forward to what you bring next time!
;D