A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: COMPETITIONS, JUDGES AND PICKING UP MODELS…

30th September 2025

A half and half day that had me spending time with Liz and my grandson and then in the studio painting one of Mini Craft Collections amazing ejection seats. Coffee was drunk, Pom Bears were eaten and sunshine enjoyed. I even managed to price up the dry cleaning of my distinctly dusty Harrington jacket (that way as a result of all of the work we had done earlier this year…) so I can finally wear what is, after all, one of my favourite items of clothing.

I began the day with a post on the Book Of Faces, discussing the alarming trend of judges seeing fit to pick up models, barehanded, during competitions. A photo had been posted of said judges, one of whom is seen holding the model above his head whilst the other examines it, flashlight in hand. It is, as you may imagine, an alarming image that anyone who builds models is likely to bristle at.

Let me make something clear as a former judge who’s judged at many of the most prestigious shows on the circuit: there is never a need to do this. Judges should under no circumstances pick a model up to examine it. If you feel the need to look underneath, find another way. Use a dental mirror, use the light and drop down to eye level. Do not pick it up.

Honestly, I find this such common sense, I find it inconceivable that it needs to be repeated. Let’s take the image from this morning. We had a car class in which the model being judged was held aloft. It was finished, I assume to a high standard, in gloss black, a colour that is notorious for showing up even the smallest blemish and yet here we had a judge holding it without gloves. Do you honestly think that wouldn’t have left fingerprints?

But let’s move away from the finish for a while and consider the possibility of damage to the detail. Again, I’m assuming the model was well built, so how much chance would there be to repair it without that repair being apparent should the judge break something during judging? Slim? None?

Modellers work incredibly hard to create miniatures to the best of their ability and I’m sure are rightly proud of their achievements once done. Their work is therefore precious and deserving of care when on display. Just because you are judging their work, doesn’t mean you can sidestep that care by picking up their model just so you can look underneath it! I’m sure that the average judge would be unhappy if someone picked up their work, so why not offer the same courtesy to a competitor?

This is not the first time this has been discussed and I’m convinced it won’t be the last. Until we have a blanket do bit touch rule in completions, this nonsense will continue to be a topic of conversation. I can only speak from experience of not ever touching another modeller’s work unless given permission (being an editor who often took pictures of authors’ work this was part of the job) that I would be incandescent if I’d seen one of my models being handled in that way and so I am sure would many other modellers whose work has found its way into competitions the world over.

See you tomorrow.