Summary of Regional Convention Contest Rules- Dec, 2004

This document is a general summary of rules applicable to Regional Conventions. The Regional Coordinator can provide additional information and guidance.

The Regional Coordinator is responsible for determining the procedures and timeframe used to award a Regional Convention to a host club.

A. ELIGIBILITY: Host clubs will establish rules that:

  1. Blocks entry of commercially built or pre-finished models, which do not require significant additional work by the modeler. The host chapter may, with the advice and consent of the Regional Coordinator, allow a category for pre-painted models.
  2. Allow for proxy entries with fee and procedures set by the host chapter.
  3. Requires the entry to be the sole work of the entrant, excepting club/group entries.
  4. Bars from competition models that have won a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place award in any National Convention contest. Previous award winners can be used as noted in collections, triathlon and group entries.
  5. Blocks entries that are considered by Contest officials to be inappropriate or offensive to generally acknowledged standards of taste and acceptability according to LOCAL standards. The IPMS Display rule regarding nudity will apply at all IPMS Regional Convention contests.
  6. Regional Convention hosts shall decide whether to accept winning entries from that year's National Convention contest for entry into a Regional contest.

B. JUNIORS: Host clubs will establish categories for young modelers that encourage their participation.

  1. Age: Junior division categories are limited to members 17 years and younger with Pre-teen categories for ages 12 years and under. Young modelers can select to compete “up” (in Adult categories) but not “down”.

C. JUDGING: The Chief Judge will exclude/remove from competition any entry considered by Contest officials to be inappropriate or offensive to generally acknowledged standards of taste and acceptability. The IPMS Display rule regarding nudity will apply at all Regional Conventions. It is suggested that:

  1. The Chief Judge must be chosen with the advice and consent of the Regional Coordinator, and must brief all judges regarding IPMS Rules and Regional procedures prior to judging.
  2. Judging teams will be composed of an odd number of judges, preferably representing different chapters. Strict impartiality will be observed.
  3. The No-Sweeps rule will be used at the Regional Conventions. (“No Sweeps” defined as an entrant being awarded no more than 2 awards in a category with two entrants, or no more than 1 award in a category with 3 or more entrants.)
  4. Anomalies in the judging process must be reported to the Regional Coordinator.

D. CONTEST DEFINITIONS:

  1. PLASTIC DEFINITION: The host chapter is encouraged to accept the broadest definition of “plastic” for competition purposes.
  2. COMPOSITION. Regardless of the medium or materials from which the model is constructed judging standards of finish, attention to detail, and authenticity will be the same.

E. AWARDS

  1. No awards associated with placement in a Regional Convention contest will have any intrinsic monetary value beyond the cost of their materials and production. Monetary awards, certificates and scholarships tied to placement in the contest are expressly prohibited.
  2. First, second, and third place awards will be offered in each category. OOB (Out of Box) awards can be added at the discretion of the host club. When offering OOB, the definition of OOB used at the national convention will be the standard.
  3. Additional awards may be presented at the discretion of the host chapter.
  4. All contest categories and rules must be submitted to the RC for approval prior to the event.
  5. The judging procedures used at the Regional Convention contest will be the same as that employed at the most recent National Convention. The standard at this time is a 3 member team awarding 3 to 4 placements within a given category.

F. CATEGORIES

  1. National definitions for OOB, scratch built, and dioramas will apply.
  2. Keeping in mind that Regional Hosts cannot offer all of the categories one finds at a national convention, the host club is expected to offer categories in the usual major model divisions, and using the descriptions found at the National Convention for model eligibility into those categories, including:
    1. Armor
    2. Automotives
    3. Aircraft
    4. Figures
    5. Spacecraft & Science Fiction
    6. Collections
    7. Ships
    8. Miscellaneous
    9. Juniors

G. OVERARCHING GUIDELINES:

  1. The Host Chapter of an IPMS/USA Regional Contest may not add or delete contest rules without the advice and consent of the Regional Coordinator.
  2. No liability for loss or damage to contest entries is assumed by IPMS, the Host Chapter, the convention hotel, or the contest judges.
  3. The Chief Judge, with the advice and consent of the Regional Coordinator, may modify rules to accommodate local circumstances. Every effort should be made to model the Regional Convention after the National Convention.

Region 1 Coordinator - Doug Hamilton
Northeast Region - CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT

Region 2 Coordinator - Tim Hortman
Mid-East Region - DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA (Eastern), VA

Region 3 Coordinator - Phil Hale
Southeast Region - AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN

Region 4 Coordinator - Kirk Ballash
Great Lakes Region - IN, KY, MI, OH, PA (Western), WV

Region 5 Coordinator – Mike George
Midwest Region - IA, IL, IN, MN, MO, NE, SD, WI

Region 6 Coordinator - John Vanek
Southwest Region - AR, KS, LA, OK, TX

Region 7 Coordinator - Michael Tsoumpas
Northwest Region - AK, ID, MT, ND, OR, WA

Region 8 Coordinator - Henry Blecha
Southern California Region - CA (Southern), NV (Southern)

Region 9 Coordinator - Chris Bucholtz
Far West Region - CA (Northern), NV (Northern)

Region 10 Coordinator - Don Kehrer
Rocky Mountain Region - AZ, CO, NM, UT

Region 11 Coordinator - Gil Hodges
Forida Peninsular Region - FL

IPMS/DLC- Dick Montgomery, DLC