"I'm coming out of the Booth"!!!! ;D
First...I keep writing stuff and more posts keep posting in!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D And I for one would love to be sitting at the bench v.s. typing away her and now!!
OK then~
Hey fellas!!
Been quiet on this for a while. (I am sure some might like it that way :
) This has remained civil...for the moment anyway! Thank you for that!
Been pondering for while here whether to post or not. Been staying out of it, allowing the full expression of the opinions of all individuals, as it should be.
First let me start by saying how incredibly flattered I am that I could not only be included in a group of individuals as well respected as Ken and Chris and others that are considered "masters", but let's not forget that I am included in a group of individuals know as the HERD, right here on SMA to!!! No bigger or smaller than anyone else here.
I feel there is a tremendous amount of talent within these walls and Scott has created one of the best places on the .net to come here and relax, enjoy and most of all PARTICIPATE. I said that one a bit loud because I feel that we all have the right to participate... noobe to Grand Poo-pah!!!
I spent the better part of my morning anxiously tapping on the keys then backspaced right back to square one! Why I have is the only disturbing part.
I have read people wanting to not enter because they feel they are throwing their money away, why enter because they would not have a chance...so on and so on.
Let me respond with this....
Before the SMA BSC, I ran across Scratchmod's forum which led me to here. I decided to join after seeing some really great builders and the friendly atmosphere within this community. True, i think I joined rather close to the BSC. Did I join for the contest???? Take a look at my post count and build logs and I think that question is answered!
Next I would venture to mention that before entering anything into the BSC, I have never entered any model in any contest.....EVER! 8) Am I proud??/ Heck yeah!! Humbled?? Most friggin' definitely. Not for one moment did I think that I had a chance of winning this contest. Possibly at one point I thought maybe the auto, but I was still on the fence with that after seeing the competition!!!
I had the absolute pleasure of talking with Scott G yesterday afternoon a trade show! I told him I was excited to see him post the 3 videos for the results of the contest. I sat painstakingly throughout the entire 45 minutes or so of video only to have my flippin' jaw hit the desk in front of me. I must have
cliqued back in the video, 3 or 4 times!! I still did not believe that something that I made was judged by my peers as being the BOS!!! Humbled and ecstatic I still am thankful for the win!! It never dawned to me what I had won actually until I received an e-mail from Scott congratulating me and in a lighthearted manner mentioning that I would be having a bunch of cool stuff hitting my door step soon!! Then It sunk in!!! Mostly how freaking incredibly lucky I must have been!!!
With that....
Does this contest or anything else for that matter, need reform??...most definitely. There is always a way to improve on everything!! Do I know how to make changes to make ALL parties involved happy? most certainly not. Civil discussion like this are certainly a path in the right direction. Remember though, in the end the SMA BSC will go on and the final say lies with the fury dude,North of the border to me, wearing the bright orange tuque and hopefully not a matching pair of speedos to go with it!!
I would submit to say that whether you are new or old to the hobby and you aspire to be truly good at what you like to do....give everything you have into it! Ask questions, read blogs...build, Build, BUILD!!!! The more you build the more you learn. The more you learn the more ideas come to mind.
If asked to sit out the contest, would I??? Yup! Because I respect Scott and his Staff at SMA. Would I contribute by paying an entry fee, submitting models and building....Yup!!! Graciously opting out of all voting...sure. Is it right? Not sure. I think that Rob said it right with saying "I would love to compete against people like A. Wilder or Mig, even tho I know I don't stand a chance"... That would be a cool run for the money Rob. But seriously that is a great opportunity to try to hit that so-called "Bar" that is being coveted!! If because I won BOS on my first time out of the gate, I am asked to be in a certain category over another...so be it! So the Orange Topped Man has speakith it, so it shall be!! :
I think that individuals that enter, should be required to have a build log. Not only does it show progress of the build it brings in cohesiveness to the contest and is just plain FUN watching. I think it was touched on about "secrets" of how some people are doing things. Sorry if I laugh..... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D, OK, out of my system. Here is the thing about secrets in modeling..........there are NONE!!
99.9876387% of all techniques are a google away!!! That remaining less than 1%...Ken can try and keep from us, but, I will figure it out!!
Ask if you don't know!!! Someone will always answer!!!
Let me touch on a word.....F-U-N!!! 3 letters when put together spell out what this hobby should be all about! If you are not having fun at it no matter what you do or try....you may want to consider quitting.
I can tell you that building for me is for, well, for ME! If someone someday wishes to buy something of mine, not they are for sale...which they are not (yet :-X) or whether they ask me to build something for them on commission...awesome!! If they don't.....who cares? ((((LOL))))!!
I think that one HUGE part is feeling when it comes to building, not just mine though . I will leave you with this quote from a person I consider to be a friend. I have never met him and we do not converses often but our paths do cross here on this forum sometimes.
From Myke:
and I quote...
"I'm really not sure what to say here. This is proper art! It mimics real life so well. Just looking at it I can smell old truck, and tackle box. I can picture an evening with the mosquitoes buzzing around and hear the crickets chirping and feel breezes off the nearby lake. I can feel the ballcap on my head, and grease and mud under my fingernails, and a days worth of summer sweat on my neck, and I'm going fishing with my dad. " -
http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/forum/index.php/topic,2465.msg35137.html#msg35137
I am incredibly humbled and blessed, still to this day by this. To have been able to invoke an emotional response like this from something I have created. Let me remind you folks...first contest, crappy Revell F-250, some glue and paint along with a whole bunch of the best conversation while build I have ever had or seen!!! Thanks again Myke!!
Now, after all this ranting that I have contributed to this discussion, I ask myself some questions....
Do I feel better now? Felt fine before!
Do I feel segregated a bit now? Sure!
Will I stop what I like to do? Nope!!
Bigger and Better!!!!!! Look out!! ;D
So excuse me when I say....If you want it, go for it!!! I somehow did! :
Thanks Scott and the rest of the SMA Staff! And especially thank you to the HERD!!
Respectfully,
Where's my coat??
I need to go build something!!!