[Starship Modeler's 18th on-line modeling contest: To the Moon]


Starship Modeler is proud to announce the start of our eighteenth online modeling contest. This one commemorates the 40th anniversary of humanity's first landing on Earth's moon. Anything fitting the theme of 'Going to the (a) moon' (as explained below) is eligible. Figures, hardware, vehicles and/or a combination are all eligible, if they meet the rest of the criteria in the rules (read on).

Sponsors | Contest Rules | Contest Entries | Voting Page

There will be three categories: Kits,Scratchbuilds and Dioramas. Each of these categories will have three "Popular Vote" awards plus an Editors' Choice award.

Judging/voting will be done by the Starship Modeler readership, just as in the past. Every reader gets a single Popular Vote in each category. A simple (free) registration form must be filled out to qualify voters and prevent ballot stuffing. Once placed, you may change your votes but you can not vote a second time.

The deadline for entries is July 27, 2009 (one week after the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the moon). The voting feature will be activated the next day. However, please get your entries in as soon as possible. Lots of last minute entries means delays in getting the voting feature up and running. A five dollar fee is required for each contest entry (to offset event and site expenses - primarily the purchase of plaques for the top finishers). You may submit entries in advance of payment, but they will not be posted to the site until we receive the contest fee. Payment may be made via PayPal, by credit card or check/money order in US funds made out to "Starship Modeler". Send your payment to: Starship Modeler, PO Box 549, Lake Villa, IL 60046 (USA).

Please read the full Contest Rules below for further details.

Contest Rules

Awards will be given in three categories:

  • Box Stock/Limited Conversion: A model built from a commercially available kit (it may be out of production). Your kit can be lighted and/or super-detailed, but it must be recognizable as a commercially available kit. Aftermarket and scratchbuilt additions (accurizing kits, cockpit details, photoetc, etc.) may be used as long as the bulk of the model came from a commercially available kit.

  • Scratchbuilt: A model built primarily from scratch or kitbashed from other components.

  • Diorama: Any model incorporated into a display with other models, figures, etc. that tells a story or presents a snapshot of an activity.

1) Eligibility. For the purposes of this contest, entries must depict a figure, vehicle, piece of hardware or activity (or multiples of these) directly involved or associated with going to the moon, or being on, in, over or under the moon. Though the main focus of this contest is Earth's moon, in the spirit of exploration any moon will also be acceptable. Your descriptive text MUST provide clear reason why the entry meets the criteria.

Examples of eligible entries include, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, the following:

  • Any figure, vehicle, hardware or activity associated with past, current or future voyages to Earth's moon - real or proposed - from the Apollo program (and the programs that directly led to it) to NASA's plans for the future. Examples: Apollo 11, Apollo 1, LEM's, Flying Bedsteads, Rovers, Alan Shepard hitting golf balls, ETS, CEV, LSAM, lunar science stations.
  • Any figure, vehicle, hardware or activity associated with fictional voyages to the moon or life on the moon. Examples: Cavorite Sphere, Le Voyage dans la lune, Rocketship Gallileo, Hong Kong Luna, Jackson Town Free Luna, Selenites, Cat-Women of the Moon, Dick Tracy and his Space Coupe, Eagle Transporters.
  • Any real or fictional figure, vehicle, hardware or activity associated with past, current or future voyages to any moon - real or proposed. Example: Cassini exploring Europa.

We'll even accept anything up to (and including) models of the Honeymooners (One of these days, Alice .....) and the Rev. Sun Yung Moon.

For more examples and clarification, please see the Discussion Board.

  • We have no desire to nit-pick what "is" or "isn't" science fiction or what belongs in the contest. As long as you can plausibly describe your entry as fitting the theme of the contest in some fashion, we'll allow it in the contest.

  • Entries can be spaceships, shuttles, fliers, mecha, submarines, automobiles, figures, prop replicas -- it doesn't matter. Entries may be constructed from any materials. They must otherwise meet the eligibility rules.

  • If any doubt exists as to whether a design is eligible, Starship Modeler staff will ask for documentation proving the design meets contest criteria. All decisions of the Starship Modeler staff are final.

    2) For the purposes of this contest, Dioramas are defined as any collection of models and/or figures that tells a story, or presents a snapshot in time. Simply adding one or more figures to a model will not qualify it for this category; neither will adding a scenic base. It must be placed in an environment/context, and some sense of action or activity must be conveyed.

    3) You may enter as many models as you like. Each entry must be accompanied by a $5 entry fee. All payment must be made via PayPal, by credit card (VISA or MasterCard), check or money order for US dollars, made out to "Starship Modeler". Send payment to: Starship Modeler, PO Box 549, Lake Villa, IL 60046 (USA).

    4) All entries must be received by midnight (CST - GMT -6.00) JJuly 27, 2009. Judging will take place between for approximately 10 days afterward. Voting will be performed online by members of the Starship Modeler readership, as well as the staff for Editors' Choice awards. Starship Modeler staff and relatives are not excluded from the entering the competition but cannot win any of the prizes. All judging is final. The Starship Modeler staff will determine the winner in cases of a tie.

    5) Entries must include:

  • Your name
  • Your postal and e-mail address
  • Contest fee
  • Model description, including how you built the model. Fictional historical overviews are fine, especially where they justify the entry as meeting the theme of the contest, but we'd rather hear what went into making the model. Long monographs covering every action in which the ship may have ever partcipated will be ruthlessly edited.
  • At least six pictures. Three of the pictures should be a front view, top view, and side view. The remaining images are optional and can be used to show off specific details or just to shoot the model from some of its more attractive angles. If more than six pictures are sent, the Starship Modeler staff reserves the right to chose which, if any, additional images to include. You can send your submissions via eMail, or if you are unable to scan your photos, just mail them to: Starship Modeler, PO Box 549, Lake Villa, IL 60046 (USA). Photos WILL NOT be returned unless a properly posted SASE is included. All entries will be posted, as long as they meet these Contest Rules.

    6) You can include as little, or as much, of a "back story" explaining the timeline from which your model springs. Lengthy stories will be set apart as a separate link. Please also include some descriptive text on how you built your model! Remember - this is a model contest, not a writer's symposium; tell us about the model.

    7) Do not add or subtract detail from your submissions, digitally or otherwise. i.e., do not add starry backgrounds or laser fire. All photos should depict the model, showing off its features and workmanship. We suggest you photograph the model in natural light against a plain, monochromatic background for best results. Scans should be done AT LEAST 100% (200% is better) image size, and at 72 ppi. Do not send images with greater density than 72 ppi, as it dramatically increases download time and we're going to downsample them anyway.

    8) Awards will be delivered by mail and sent out within one month of completion of judging.... more or less, depending on how organized we are this time around.

    9) Starship Modeler reserves the right not to post images that are deemed distasteful. We're not going to be prudish, but all images should be presented in a tasteful manner. Any hull/nose/wing art, and the like, should forswear the depiction of genitalia, for instance. Think: "Would I show this to my mother?"

    10) In the Stock category, detail sets such as aftermarket lighting kits or decals are allowed. While such extra detail could increase your chances to win, quality and creativity of the work is still a major factor in judging.

    11) Entries can be models which were completed prior to the contest, but can not be ones that have been previously published anywhere on Starship Modeler.

    12 We use Windows machines with Photoshop and the other usual suspects loaded. This means we can take almost anything you want to send - but for the love of all that is holy, Mac users please PLEASE don't make us jump through hoops to decode your esoteric files. Come to think of it, don't anyone else make us jump through hoops either. Send your text description as a text file or a Word document or in the body of your eMail. Send your pictures as JPGs, PNGs or GIFs (JPG is the preferred format). Do not, under any circumstances, send us your pictures as part of a Word file or your whole submission as a PDF. That's just asking for trouble. And by "trouble" we mean "rejecting the submission while drawing cartoon mustaches on all your pictures".

    13) Starship Modeler reserves the right to reject any entry we feel does not meet the guidelines published here, or the underlying spirit of our contest. Don't make us go there.

    If you have any questions about these rules or other contest details, please ask us by dropping a note, or use the postal address given above.

    Contestants: make sure we have your mailing address!

    A link will bring you to the Vote Page, once it becomes active after July 21, 2009.

    • Starship Modeler will provide plaques for the first three places in each category, as well as Editor's Choice.

    BLAP! Models has generously provided kit prizes for all categories:

    [Proudly Sponsored by BLAP! Models]

    You can see kits and other great hobby offerings, at BLAP! Models' website.

    Other companies or individuals interested in sponsoring this contest should contact the Starship Modeler staff.



    Copyright Notes:

    These pages are intended strictly for personal use of those who appreciate the hard work, intelligence, artistry, and effort that go into making real and fictional spacecraft. This site is not intended to infringe on the intellectual properties of any copyright holders. Please address concerns, questions, and any notices we may have inadvertently missed to site administration for resolution.



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    This page was last updated 14 April 2009. © 2009 Starship Modeler