This from David's Model Page. David is an excellent modeler. Here is what he has to said
The real reason your model didn’t win is because model judging is an inherently subjective business rules or not.
You might not have won because your model was legitimately bad, or at least not as good as other models entered. But it’s equally likely you didn’t win because the third judge from the lefts’s dad flew one of the aircraft modelled so prefers that, or hates German aircraft because Germany lost, or knows the builder and understands the extra work it took to create a diamond tread pattern from scratch...
IPMS judging introduces a particular bias towards focusing on assembly and alignment issues to the exclusion of other considerations but you’ll still see locals among the medals at most shows because that is how we all roll.
IPMS judging is designed to ensure you spend your time looking at individual trees and never consider the beauty of the damn Forrest. It explains how shiny P-47s and dead boring OD Shermans win gold, when models either side that demonstrate some appreciation of scale realism don’t because a pitot was slightly misaligned or the rudder was modelled deflected but the builder forget to move the pedals to reflect this, or the stowage on the Panzer would have prevented the crew clearing for action quickly so obvs it would not have been there.
As someone who formerly cared about comps, I get the satisfaction that comes from medaling but if you think that medal is an objective assessment of quality you’re kidding yourself. The best you can hope for is to consistently build and finish to a high standard and enjoy yourself and the experience, some days your fastidious attention to alignment and seams and realistic portrayal of the subject will pay off. Other days a shiny P-47 that looks like a toy will win regardless because reasons...
