This is pretty much old news for modeling enthusiasts but I guess late is better than never. The past weekend the Rahmi Koç Museum housed the Scale Model Club’s first modeling competition which will be held every year in concord with IPMS events. This year’s estimates show that over 150 modelers with close to 700 different models were displayed. Find out more on the event, the winners, and my humble entry after the jump (warning, image heavy post).
After a week of heavy work at the office and frantic efforts to get the Heldrake to the competition, I found myself cruising calmly through Istanbul towards the museum grounds, with the model safely secured in a shoe box (well it’s a lot more innocent compared to what people carry in shoe boxes these days). Entry to the event and parking was free, with a quick gesture towards my model I was let in through security with no problems. And once inside, the looks change drastically.
Once inside, I quickly registered my model for entry and strode towards the display gallery. Even early in the morning the place was quite busy, scale modelers trying to either put together complex models for display or discussing which category would best reflect their entry.
By the time we hit midday when new entries were prohibited, there were so many models that required assembly of new tables! A quick trip to the local IKEA and some solidarity and the new tables were bustling with models of all kinds. After a quick session of rearranging models according to subcategories, the hobbyists were let inside along with some enthusiasts from the public. Check out below the different categories and the models that caught my eye.
Aircraft
I realize now that most of the pictures I took are in the propeller and pre-1950’s category, but these were pretty much the best among a throng of models.
Tanks
Again, very difficult to decide among so many great looking models, these entries stood out the most. One qualm about the categories I had was that there was no distinction between diorama models and stand-alones. This would be a recurring thing among other categories, including the one I competed in.
Ships
The models in this category were very diverse, including galleons and warships from the World War era. As I am no ship expert, I photographed the ones that I found the most appealing.
Science Fiction
This was originally what I thought my category would be, but I’m glad I did not compete with the models on display here. Here’s why:
Dioramas
This was probably the best part for me to review, because there were absolutely brilliant ideas in the category. Be it civilian or military related, they all portrayed such realistic scenes that selecting one or two favorites was very, very difficult. Check out the ones I thought were the greatest among great models:
Figures
Now on to something I can comment on critically! There were quite a few models in this category, especially one that is dominated by real-life figures of land and air vehicles, so such a high amount of turnout was very pleasing. It was also very surprising to see that a lot of Citadel models were on display. However, I cannot say the same about the categorization of models, especially in my category. Overall, the larger, diorama type models were quite beautiful, whereas smaller, unit sized entries required a bit more work on them. The main sub-categories were Sci-fi/Fantasy figure models (where I competed), busts, single figurines and larger scale figures with dioramas. The photos will speak for themselves, but let me just note here that comparing a default pose Heldrake with diorama small-scale models was a bit off. There was another dragon right next to my model, so I assume our models just did not have enough contenders in their category.
I have one last picture I want to show here just because I really like the idea of the category and the model was very nicely executed. Here’s a Ghostbuster-mobile!
Who’re you gonna call?
Obviously this is not the complete tally of all the models but this covers pretty much the best among them. In the afternoon the judging of models began. Without a solid jury, the hobbyists were given score cards to assign points for models outside the ones they’re competing. So, I had to fill out about 30 or so categories with my favorite models. With 2 hours left to closing time, it would be no surprise to say that all went to hell with people trying to finish quickly and leave before traffic settled in! This is a point where next year’s competition could use a little more polishing.
Without further ado, here are the winners of each category I could get my hands on (or rather, my camera arm):
A few closing comments:
- The turnout was fantastic. Over 150 hobbyists, close to 700 models. For this reason a lot more space will be needed next year.
- Categorization was a complete mess. This definitely has to be revamped to accommodate unusual models.
- Some categories were dominated by 1-2 modelers that competed with themselves. This resulted in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners to be the same in many categories. Perhaps a limitation can be brought to how many models can be registered per category.
- Tied with the category chaos, the diorama models should really not compete with regular, standalone models. Besides, creating a large diorama pops the model out a lot more than the ones that stand toe to toe with others.
- Scoring took a total of 2 hours. In this interval 150 people moved around tables, over each other and sadly, over some models to appraise them. I myself was exhausted by the end that I couldn’t take a ton of time scoring models.
Well, there you have it. It was actually quite an event that allowed me to meet some of the most friendly guys out there in the community, not realizing that they’re veterans of many years! As an example, the guy I mistook for the museum photographer who commented on my model (thanks for the praises by the way!) turned out to be the winner of the ships category! Just makes you feel humbled to be among such talented people who come together for a common hobby really. And on top of all of that, I got a LOT of ideas and references from the entries, which is always great. Even though I didn’t get high scores I learned a ton.
Now that the competition is over, I can focus on the concurrent projects with a little more leisure. See you on the next post, probably on the Dreadknight!
Filed under: Chat, Review, Special Occasion Tagged: black legion, chaos, chaos space marines, community, flyer, heldrake, miniature hobby, painting, photography, realistic, scale model, scenery, showcase, special occasion, warhammer40k
