What to Judges look for Part 2

I asked Barry Numerick who the Bf-109 whiz.  Barry constantly wins at local, regional and National level with amazing BF-109. If you look at my model tips you will most of his techniques.  Below is his reply.  No magic just perfect construction.


 what do judges look for? There is a seminar at every National convention on this topic. But in essence it comes down t only one thing: the basics. If you can build a straight model, fill seams, apply decals without silvering and paint decently, you have a shot at placing at the Nats! I can't tell you how many models are disqualified due to the inability of many modelers to do just that. I first heard this in 1980 from the president of the Washington DC IPMS chapter, soon after I joined IPMS. I though this couldn't be right; detailing or some sort of modeling magic must play a part. But after judging at the Nationals for 21 years, I can say it isn't. The first things a judging team looks for are basic mistakes. This will eliminate half of the entries at least. Then we get down to comparing the models to each other. The lighting in most contest rooms is not good enough to do a serious evaluation, so flashlights are necessary; often just to see the interior and cockpit details. One final thought, accuracy is very far down the list of judging criteria. A judging team cannot be knowledgable about all of the models they judge, so the modeler is given the benefit of the doubt in most cases. I hope this helps.

All the best,

Barry