The F/F Scale Competition

by Jack Hagerty, LUNAR #002

Scale modeling is a kick. It's really fun to build a miniature version of your favorite "real" rocket and send it skyward. The more serious scale modelers build these mini Space Shuttles or Atlases for competition in official NAR contests. This requires you to do a little background research and come up with some "scale data" to base your design on, then build it to that data. The judges then compare the model to your scale data when evaluating the model.

The Scale competition has been in the doldrums somewhat lately. In case you haven't noticed, there haven't been a whole lot of exciting new designs flying this decade, and there are only so many variations on the Space Shuttle and Saturn V you can build!

There is a vast, untapped reservoir of neat designs that would be great to build, but would never be allowed in NAR competition, and those are the fictional space ships from movies, TV, books and other sources. As Peter Alway (the NAR's scale guru) put it, "The neatest rocket designs that ever were, never were."

So why doesn't NAR allow fictional designs? Simple. No one ever thought of it. The Scale event was set up in the 1960's to encourage modelers to create miniature versions of the full scale rockets that seemed to be tumbling off of the drawing boards nearly every week. The rules were specifically set up so that the scale data had to come from a real prototype ("prototype" in this case simply refers to the actual rocket that you are basing your model on, not that it was the experimental first attempt).

For the past few years people have been talking about creating a new variant of the Scale event which would use "non-real" (i.e. fictional) prototypes, just to liven things up a bit. This isn't hard, really, but it takes a bit of doing. First, someone has to come up with a proposed set of rules. Next, the rules have to be approved by the NAR's "Provisional Event Chairman." Then some trial events have to be flown. These are non-official versions of the event, run just to try out the rules and see how they work (but no points involved). Finally, the rules are updated based on the trial events and the Provisional Event Chairman declares it a "Provisional Event" which means that while it's still not completely official, it can now be flown for points to see how it works in the "real world."

Last summer at NARAM in Tucson, I volunteered (ulp!) to champion this cause. Peter Alway had a set of rules he'd worked up a few years back which I edited and sent to Ed LaCroix, the Provisional Event Chairman. Ed blessed them and said we can start running the trial events. Several clubs around the country are planning to run some, including us. At the beginning of the year I proposed to have the first one in March, but El you-know-what has pretty well kept us grounded. Right now, we're planning to have it in either April or May, which ever one is NOT the night launch.

This should be really fun. Everyone has a favorite Science Fiction or Futuristic rocket they'd like to model. Read through the rules here and put something together! Remember that part of the reason (the main part in my opinion) to do this is to research the rocket and learn more about it before building it. That's why the "Data Packet" is a required part of the entry. If you have a rocket in mind that you'd like to model but haven't a clue as to where to get info on it, give me a call. I've been compiling data on lots of these for my book, and would be happy to share it with you.

Here are the official, provisional rules for the new Science Fiction and Future Scale Competition. Let's crack those books and sharpen those X-Acto knives to give this thing a workout!

Science Fiction and Future Scale Competition
(F/F Scale)

1. Science Fiction and Future Scale Competition (F/F Scale) is a variation of Sport Scale. The purpose of this competition is to produce a flying replica of either a fictional or a seriously proposed, but unbuilt, rocket vehicle that exhibits maximum craftsmanship in construction, finish, and flight performance. F/F Scale competition differs from Sport Scale Competition (Rule 53) only in the nature of the prototype and accommodations for the consequent limitations in substantiation data.

2. Subjects excluded from this event:
   • Vehicles from unpublished fiction and amateur films.

   • Science fiction or futuristic designs published by model rocketry manufacturers, publications, or organizations specifically for flying model construction.

   • Science fiction themed rocket kits that do not appear in actual works of science fiction or rockets in generic science fiction illustrations.

   • Generic illustrations of a class of proposed vehicle rather than a specific program.

   • Real prototypes that appeared in science fiction, unless so modified that they could not be flown in Sport Scale.

   • Amateur rockets and missiles, except when the prototype is of obvious historical significance.

3. Entries that qualify for Plastic Model Conversion Competition under Rule 55 are specifically excluded from this event.

4. As with Sport Scale, the contestant must supply data to substantiate the model's adherence to scale in shape, color, and paint pattern. Data must derive from the work of science fiction or from a published serious proposal (a serious proposal is one by an established aerospace professional, institution or company).

   For fictional prototypes, photos and art extracted from the work of science fiction, or from advertising or publicity for the work are acceptable. Photos and drawings of props used in filming of works of science fiction are acceptable. If the original work did not depict the vehicle in color, colors of contemporary vehicles may be used to suggest a scheme consistent with the original work.

   For proposal prototypes, photos and drawings of models produced by the proposing companies or institutions are acceptable. If color or markings data is not available, the modeler may document markings for a similar design proposed or flown in the same era. Drawings or photographs depicting flying model kits are not adequate.

5. Scoring is in the same as in the Sport Scale event.

6. Weighting factor is the same as in the Sport Scale event.

Information date: March 10, 1998 lk