Hello folks! 

It’s certainly been a while since my last post. I can’t promise that these are going to become a more regular thing again but I can try and get a few more posts up here and there. If you’re really wanting to stay up to date with my projects and work then I recommend subscribing to ‘Listening to Paint Dry’ the podcast I do with my buddies Mike and Dan. We interview artists, sculptors and folks in the industry as well as just shooting the shit.

That’s not really what you’re here to read about though… This blog is really all about how to ‘scale model’ and particularly how to do better when entering the ReaperCon MSP Open – Ordinance category.

A little history – 

Bear with me, there is some context to all this that may help the understanding of what judges look for in a competition entry into the Ordinance category.

Many of you will have seen scale models on the shelves of your local Hobby store, they’re usually cars or military vehicles. These are injection molded plastic, a lot like Games Workshop models however they do have some design differences to them and as a result the assembly process is more delicate and often more complicated.

This style of model started being released to the public in the 1950s and 60s as plastic production techniques scaled and driven by the presence of WWII subjects in media supporting these subjects.[1] Early models were crude and people were constantly wanting to improve the accuracy and develop skills to improve the quality of their finished work. It wasn’t long before groups sprung up to share techniques and in particular the International Plastic Modellers Society (aka IPMS) which started in the UK in 1964 and soon spread to the US.[2] 

As the IPMS grew, they started gatherings and competitions to showcase people’s work. All throughout the focus has been on accuracy of the building of models that are representative of real world subjects. Because of this, there has always been more focus on the quality of the build (and historically – the accuracy of the painting Inc markings etc.)

Thankfully the ‘historic accuracy’ is no longer a requirement – If you want to paint up a rainbow Sherman tank, PLEASE DO! I’d love to see it and if it’s well executed, it’ll get judged accordingly. However, the focus on the calibre of the build, the precision and alignment of parts, cleanliness and assembly are all still very important.

There is no better source for what scale modellers look for in a well built model than IPMS (USA) Nationals Judging Sheet [3]

Sooo what do the judges at Reapercon actually look for?

Let’s start with the official contest rules:

Difficulty

The focus here is on the kit used. There a different degrees of difficulty when dealing with metal, injected plastic, resin or brass kits. Intricate detail that is part of the casting is simple to cope with, detail that is layered on is more difficult to construct.

Creativity

Much like the Painters division creativity can come into play with original color schemes, free hand designs and other elements painted onto the mini that were not part of the original sculpt. As historical vehicles may tend to follow set color schemes and designs, creativity may come in the modifications of the basic kit into something more “accurate”.

Workmanship

This reflects the technical execution of the non-painting efforts. It focuses on getting the vehicle ready to paint, removing mold lines, smoothing out pitted surfaces, seams that occur where parts come together are seamless and the sharpening of detail is precise.

Painting Skill

Painting skill is still the most important criteria. The neatness of detail and subtlety of shading go hand in hand with appropriate weathering for the vehicles environment.

Presentation/Overall Effect

The first part of the criteria is straight forward, concerning itself with base, groundwork and any other elements “presenting” the piece. The base and groundwork are not trivial considerations, poor basing and groundwork can undermine a positive impression of the model. Overall Effect is harder to define. It is recognition of the intangible aspect of modeling, that “feeling of life” which cannot be traced to any particular element of its construction, but is clearly evident when the piece is viewed as a whole. As such its nature can only be vague and slightly mysterious; ultimately it must remain very much a matter of personal reaction of the judges.

Ordinance Division

Difficulty	15%
Creativity	10%
Workmanship	30%
Painting Skill	35%
Presentation	10%

[4]

One thing that I would note about these percentages – we are not precisely scoring on these criteria – 12 for difficulty, 4 for creativity etc etc… (whilst this would be ideal, it would take far to long for the number of entries we review). Rather the manner in which we judge is to look to each of these criteria and weight our assessments of the piece accordingly. For example a piece that is incredibly creative (I’m looking at you Taco Truck entries) but struggle on workmanship (again layerlines on aforementioned Taco Trucks) – they will struggle to achieve a high grade, even with solid painting and other challenging elements.

For the purposes of this article, and for the intended audience – I think we can largely skip over the Difficulty, Creativity, Painting Skill and Presentation (although I will touch on these in part throughout this). My primary focus will be on the Workmanship aspect. Only for Open and Ordinance is this a major component and in the case of Open – workmanship is pretty clear cut as it reflects the calibre of the sculpting for the piece but what does this mean for Ordinance?

Workmanship

Let’s dive into this a little deeper. (Almost everything I write here can be seen with great reference pictures in the IPMS Judging guide – you may need to request access)

Workmanship in the context of Ordinance is all about the quality of construction – Scale Model kits often have more complex and sophisticated construction requirements than most subjects in our hobby – a 28mm figure, even a display bust often requires little to know assembly and so it can be a relatively minor consideration (this isn’t to say there is nothing to do in these cases, at the very least you should be diligently scraping any mold lines, filing down resin print layer lines etc). A scale model kit however is often constructed from dozens or even hundreds of parts all needing to be clipped from their sprue, cleaned and assembled with precision – even a Warhammer 40k tank, something often not considered to be a ‘scale model’ has these considerations. (I actually think they are often harder to prepare to high level due to the nature of the sculpts and casting, mold lines in particular can be very challenging to completely eliminate.)

Mold lines

These are formed from where the two (or more) parts of the mold join. This interface can wear down quickly, resulting in a gap that plastic can squeeze into as it’s injected leaving a visible line. Even more visible can be mold slip where the two halves of the mold don’t quite align correctly resulting in one half being offset from the other – a fault that often requires a great deal of work to clean. mold slip is thankfully quite rare in newer plastic models however it does still happen and is more frequent in resin/metal molds.

Nub marks

When clipping off sprue (or even gates) from resin/plastic/metal models there is often a mark left on the surface of the model. To minimise this, most scale models will use the smallest possible contact area between the sprue and the part (note that Games Workshop rarely bothers with this nicety). Even with the finest of contact areas, some work is needed to create a flush finish. The removal of these nub marks can prove challenging – incautious clipping can result in the cut going below the intended surface of the model causing a divot. The best approach is to clip a millimeter or two above the surface of the model and then sanding away the excess to get a flush finish. The undoubted masters of this process are the Gunpla builders (Gundam Model Kit builders) – they often do not paint over the coloured plastic of the model and as such any defect at all resulting from the nub mark remains visible on the finished model. For an in depth guide on this process I recommend this blog post.

Glue marks and seams

Although arguably two separate topics, they occur from the same process and are remedied in the same way. This can be a complicated topic and there are different approaches to this depending on the material and the means of gluing but broadly speaking there are a few steps I recommend:

1. DRY FIT – test assemble the model without glue first! If the model is intended to be ‘push fit’; remove the interference fit points first as they will likely cause a gap in the finished assembly – it is better to use glue instead to ensure a perfect fit.
2. Once you are sure of the fit, use your chosen glue to ensure a good seal around the join with minimal glue squeezing out. This is far from a simple process and requires a lot of practice to perfect. My preference is to use ‘spue goo’ for plastic models, a thick superglue for resin / metal models. (Pinning metal / larger / heavier parts is also highly recommended.)
3. Once you’re done with all that – there is still more work to do! Any remaining gaps (which may not even present themselves until a primer layer is laid down) need to be filled. I generally prefer milliput, sometimes thinned with some water or isopropyl alcohol to fill these gaps. Generally you want the final form to be a little proud of the intended surface… which takes us to…
4. Sanding down the excess glue / filler etc down until the finish is perfectly smooth and flush.
   • But what about panel lines? Ah well – these should of course be rescribed! (Rivet marks should also be reapplied)
5. Rinse and repeat… for every, single, part… Simple!

One of the things that is quite different from figures etc is that the stages of assembly and painting are often circular where some parts need to be painted before assembly and then other parts after assembly etc. This takes some adjustment to the approach to completing pieces.

Different category focuses

Difficulty rears it’s head in this section. Different types of model have different challenges but some will be generally easier and some will show challenges in different ways. Here are a few of the top lines for different styles of plastic kits and others:

• Automobiles – Some kits have engines and under the hood detailing, some do not. If it’s visible – it should be well finished. Regardless of the kit – if it is meant to be in good condition then the finish should be smooth and pristine. This means any uneveness in the surface of the plastic from casting (sink marks and the like) need to be filled and sanded smooth, the paint should be laid down in thin even coats (I highly recommend an airbrush) and a smooth gloss finish should be used to finish. For weathered vehicles – the weathering should be realistic and appropriate for the context of the piece. Wheels should be square and aligned, sit evenly on the table (or base).
• Armour (aka Tanks / Artillery and the like) should, similarly to automotive, be built square and with the wheels/tracks correctly aligned. Weathering (if present) should be accurate to what would cause it including paint wear, smoke staining etc. If the interiors are visible (eg if hatches are open) then they should be detailed and painted.
• Aircraft often show seam lines along the two halves of the aircraft body, and the roots of the wing. The interiors of most aircraft are visible and should be painted prior to final assembly. Alignment is especially important for aircraft with wings even and level, landing gear square and even, under-wing ordinance straight etc etc. Lots of parts where misalignment can be very visible.
• Ships are generally at a smaller scale making the level of detailing somewhat different than that of larger scale figures. There is often chain and rigging that should hang correctly for the real ‘weight’ of the part. Fine railings and details that can easily be deformed.
• Gundam kits come with precoloured plastic. In gundam focused contests (such as GBWC) there are generally still expectations of the models being painted. Although they can look good without paint, they still, at minimum, require panel lining to define the model, but remember that for ReaperCon – 35% of the judging consideration remains painting! Gunpla kits are also built to articulate but there is no need to retain this functionality.
• Resin kits – sanding resin releases toxic dust and I suggest wearing a mask and working outside. Additionally the molds are prone to slip and prominent seams requiring more cleanup work than plastic kits.
• Metal kits – often these have fewer parts and can lack sharpness in casting relatively. This can be a challenge for mechanical subjects that tend to precision and sharpness. Removal of mold lines, sanding sharp and scribing can address this. Assembly can also be a challenge as the extra weight makes joints weak and prone to breaking (pinning is your friend – two pins per joint where possible).
• 3D Prints – whether they are resin or filament – these are generally great looking but require minimal assembly. This can result in a lower consideration for difficulty but it does not mean there is nothing required for workmanship – every single print line / layer line should be removed or filled perfectly. 

– Raggy, signing out