HERK

The detail on that piece is amazing. And at 72nd too... WOW.

But, and I know this is going to start another war, the panel lines were WAY to prominent. I have seen MANY -130's and most recently too in the gray. The lines while dirty, and abundant "staining" is evident, are not that conspicuous on the real thing. To be sure... you can see some lines on this bird, but I think highlighting them, or concentrating them only where there is more dust, dirt, smoke, etc. On a 1/72..... just too much. And it really draws away from the rest of the work, which as I said, is magnificent.

I am not criticizing an individual. I just see this and it exemplifies a point I have seen others equally espouse. This is just another example of the herd, is the kind of thing keeping me outing of wanting to compete, and the continuing march toward blueprints. IMHO. Discuss.....

-Rich

Agreed. The panel lines are overemphasised to the point of being grotesque, and they are pin-sharp! Rather than trying to look like the real thing, this looks like a line drawing or flight sim graphic.

Do I understand you to say that this style of finish is expected in competitions? Since it won a National contest, I have to assume so. Competitions's not for me, then, even if I could build to that standard.

This seems to be going in the opposite way from "scale colour". Is it now IPMS policy for competition entries to look like, well, models?

Your not kidding !! Like to see it upi close.

Thats an understatement !!!!!!!!!!

Hate to say it, but those incredible accented panel lines totally ruin the model !!! Turned a beautiful build job into a junk looking model. What a shame.......

I almost wonder if he has seen ANY real C 130's.

(personally I use a very fine mechanical pencil to draw in panel lines, and I sharpen the point every couple of lines/passes to keep it as fine as possible)

AM

Wow, I didnt pay attention, that won a contest at the national level ??? I can only assume politics, and or ignorance were at work there.

Makes me feel good about not entering ANY contests, or for that matter, joining the national IPMS......

AM

I agree with these comments. When I first saw it I thought what a shame-beautiful work ruined by those ridiculously accented panel lines. Seems to be the technique de jour for the past few years in aircraft modeling. Looks like a cartoon of an ac-130. Tried to post to HS forums...actually been trying for a long time to post to HS forums (this would have been my first critique) but can never get a responce to my applications.

Mike T

Scroll up, over the picture is the title:

Atlanta IPMS Nationals Winner AC-130H Hercules

by John Vojtech

Those panel lines are weird. It's almost as weird that nobody is defending the panel-line fetish. Where, oh where is the champion of the gonzo panel line!?!

Forget the panel lines!!

Look at the rest of the work done on this outstanding model.

Perhaps the judges determined that the rest of the work done on this fantastic model was enough to overcome whatever negative points the weathering might have caused. On the close-up pictures the details are just very impressive.

Norm

This seems to be the trend among contest judges. They expect a model to look more like a cartoon characature then a real aircraft. As for the comment about "politics and ignorance", that's another bag of worms entirely. I was at the region 2 convention recently where a model with an unpainted cockpit won a medal.

Bill Shuey

And the tendency to over weather is another thing. I remember a Maryland NG crew chief commenting about a model that if he ever let his aircraft get that cruddy the CO would have his --- roasted and fed to the dogs.

Bill Shuey

I totally agree that the model was amazing. And deserves all acolades. The work, even on this big thing, in 1/72 is AMAZING. I can still only dream of achieving that level. But it would have been more authentic without the heavy lines. The rest of the thing looks factory new.

I have brought this up only as an example of a trend that as I see it, is begining to go a little crazy.

I'm certainly not knocking the guy's effort, but man, those lines make it look like it's made from bricks!

There was a funny bit in FSM about the 8th Air Force "orders" about proper weathering and emphasis of panels lines--and the resulting models, which looked liked they'd been parked in a soot factory. And a few years ago this issue came up in one of the similarly-named British models mags. The original author, a painter, pointed out how ridiculously overscale much of the weathering and fading he'd seen on models was, based on his own observations of actual aircraft. The responses admitted that he was right, but that heavy weathering and fading just looked cooler, and was harder to do, and thus a better gauge of skill, no matter how unrealistic.

Yeah. In-f'n-creadible...

Double agreed. Over-forced, and over-stated for the scale, and with respect to reality.

A fine building job, and a "fine-looking" non-representitive finish. One more reason I don't particularly care for contests...

Yeah - that, and my current pet-peeve: over-weathered U-boats. I haven't seen any pics looking as "salty" as most modelers are doing them, and I doubt that they ever got that crusty given a) the rate at which they were sunk, b) the average patrol was only 14 days at sea, and c) they had to be maintained to withstand the pressure of the depths to which they dove.

:(..............

Thats ok, I have seen a Tamiya He 219 win with seams showing and gold (!!!) exhausts. Saw a Hase F 18 with a hand painted anti glare shield win also. (ie; all brush strokes showing, uneven edge) These were local events.

Needless to say I got very jaded, VERY fast.

AM

"Yeah - that, and my current pet-peeve: over-weathered U-boats. I haven't seen any pics looking as "salty" as most modelers are doing them, and I doubt that they ever got that crusty given a) the rate at which they were sunk, b) the average patrol was only 14 days at sea, and c) they had to be maintained to withstand the pressure of the depths to which they dove."

There are some paintings by German war artists, not hard to find, showing U-boats returning from patrol--normal rust streaks and wear and tear, but not the four-years-at-sea we've been getting. Mind you, those paintings don't show the smell . . .