JULY CHALLENGE

[guilford guy]

I dunno if I want to hack into my B&M hopper  :-\
hmmm 73$ of G scale
Very Nice weathering you guys

[MrKLUKE]

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[Nelson]

Since participation has waned in the last few months, this is the last of the challenges .. and I declare no winner.

I want to thank all of you that contributed your tallents to these monthly even, but it has become increasingly clear that the interest is no longer there. I look forward to seeing your models, when and if they are ready, without deadline or bodystyle choice.

Good job everyone .. and good luck ..

Wow, these have been some of my favorite threads, I'd really hate to see them end!

I would like to hear others ideas for increasing participation, but here are some of mine.

First, don't run them in the summer months. With outdoor activities in full swing, May thru Sept. don't have much time left for modeling for many of us.

Second, sometimes the car selection is too ambiguous. The contests are much better when everyone is doing the same car, it makes judging the entries less subjective.

Third, a currently available model (and decal set) needs to be used so that everyone can get one, and there needs to be enough lead time so they can be ordered and received with enough working time left for entries to be completed. (it takes weeks for some of our foreign members to get orders shipped)

Now for the caveat to the above, the only thing that has really kept me from entering is lack of a digital camera, so if you want another entry each month everyone can chip in and.... ;D

[quadk]

I would agree on the summer months Nelson. This last week is the first week since April that I have sat down to see what is even going on in the modeling world. There is just to much going on during the summer with everyone. I would suggest starting the challenge back up around Oct or Nov and run till maybe April or May. As far as the challenge cars go I did like it a lot better when everyone was doing the same car. There also shouldn't be any excuses on this car doesn't fit into my layout region or era as you could still participate then sell it on ebay or whatever. Even if it's a west coast car you still see them show every once in a while on the east coast and vise versa. I think that was the biggest problem as everyone wanted to do a car to fit into there era or layout. So I say whoever picks a car that is easily accesible (how ever you spell that word) for everyone and go with it NO EXCUSES!!! Just go with it and run it on your layout or sell it to someone!!

[cv_acr]

Second, sometimes the car selection is too ambiguous. The contests are much better when everyone is doing the same car, it makes judging the entries less subjective.

Third, a currently available model (and decal set) needs to be used so that everyone can get one, and there needs to be enough lead time so they can be ordered and received with enough working time left for entries to be completed. (it takes weeks for some of our foreign members to get orders shipped)

I agree. The contests/challenges were more interesting when there was something specific to go after, in order to try a certain type of weathering, or achieving a certain effect. "A boxcar" is a little too vague compared with trying to replicate the washed off paint of a SOO Line covered hopper. I think it was better when everyone tried to do a similar car instead of just something in an extremely broad category. By doing just "boxcar" or "hopper" as opposed to say "ex-NRUC CN patch job" you run out of variety of contests really fast. The trick is simply to choose something that can be modelled using an existing model, preferrably factory painted for those members that don't have the facilities to paint and decal it, but at the very least decals must be available so that the can be done.

[John]

We have discussed this among the staff, and will likely bring the challenges back this fall .. after school has started and the snow has started to hit the ground .. it will be more structured, and will require a specific model .. like before .. we will probably limit it to cars that are available in both HO and N .. Stay tuned ..

[Mile 1]

I'm glad to hear it.  I have wanted to participate in the last few but due to the demands on my time of a busy family summer, (not to mention work...playing with those R gauge trains really eats up your time) by the time I'm ready to start the project the challenge is over.  I also agree with those who have already posted in support of more specific challenges.  It sets the bar that much higher when you know that everyone else is going to be doing the same thing you are, and trying to do it better.  It forces you to really try and excel.  I hope to see the challenges back soon and hope to be able to participate in them as well..

Cheers

Adam

[bsoplinger]

My humble suggestion is to do them with a 2 month lead. That way its possible to get the model and the decals and still have time of more than a week to do the car. Its often been a scramble for me to get the car, decals and the last weekend of the month free to work on the car because I don't have the items I need before that.

I do like the idea of going back to a specific car or two (ie perhaps multiple pictures of different road numbers of the same type of car, same road).

[The Donkey]

Good to hear the "specific" car challenges will be back as the order of the
day come this fall.
Although the summer season isn't an issue for me as to weathering as a rule,
it CAN be when it's too hot & muggy, as I have no A/C-not conductive to
doing good work! (last week NO TRAIN CAR WORK got done due to the heat)
I AM a fan of the "specific" car challenges-IMO even if it isn't a car you would
model or weather by your own choosing, it brings out more in your talents &
capabilities, as to see if you can do "one of those." For example, maybe it's a
car you haven't had the chance (or interest) to do, a RR that you're not a fan
of, or even an era! There are a number of cars I haven't attempted yet, let
alone other eras (60's & before)-& DO look forward to trying my best with
what's thrown at me! (remember it's just that-a CHALLENGE!) If it's something
you can't use, throw it up on the 'Bay & see what happens!

A 2 month "window" does sound good to me IMO-in the challenge I entered
(in Feb) I had some difficulty getting the car in a reasonable amount of time,
& to get it done by the deadline, pushed me to the limit! (I had to push other
projects aside to get it done, along with other things, but I DID do it in time!)
It did give me an idea as to how I work under pressure, but prefer otherwise.
(KLUKE is the master of "under pressure" work-does GREAT work, & gets it in
just under the wire!)

Also it was mentioned availability of what's needed to replicate-that's a
MUST-it was once suggested as a challenge car a car that in N scale
was a hard to find collector's item-it was easy to find in HO, but more
than likely take more than 1 or 2 months to find in N, & even then
paying out the nose for possibly! So let's check on car, decal, &
whatever else necessary availability first! (as an example-working
on a car now that I have everything available to me except 1 decal
set which is on either backorder or unavailable right now-working on
the car until I get to the point I need it, then have to wait!)

Like I said, good to see the "old" format coming back-the "masses"
have spoken, & John has listened!

[Iain]

I also like the two months ahead idea.  I ordered the Feb challenge car early in the month and didn't receive it until March 1st. 

As to this month's challenge, I almost have a D&S hopper ready, but vehicular troubles prevented fruition of the project in time.