Re: Gray area for anyone [TANKS]

[Frank Pittelli <frank-at-rctankcombat.com>]

sasquevaneach-at-aim.com wrote:
> I suppose it's the difference between a SCALE model and a scale
> MODEL.

I've been involved in R/C warship combat, R/C tank combat and R/C 
schooner racing for 18 years now and the "scale issue" comes up 
periodically in every hobby.  There is, and will always be, a contingent 
of people who think that hyper-realism is the most important part and 
they often try to push that view into the rules.  Naturally, there is 
another contingent who simply want to "compete" and they don't see the 
need to adhere to scale at all.  Fortunately, both of these groups are 
on the ends of the spectrum, with a solid majority in the middle.

In all three hobbies, we've learned that the rules need to be designed 
first and foremost for "fun", then "fairness", and finally for "scale" 
(we don't want moon-rovers driving around the battlefield!!).  If you 
make it too hard for rookies to build their first vehicle, they won't. 
So, flat wooden wheels, missing details, slightly-off dimensions are all 
OK.  If, however, a building trend begins to emerge that threatens the 
"fairness" aspect (such as everyone running around with unrealistically 
short barrels or monster truck style suspensions), then you'll start to 
see rules to rein that in.

As Steve said, "if it looks like XXX from 10 feet away" then it is scale 
enough.  Ironically, that's exactly what happened right after the first 
ever battle between Will's Panther and my Tiger.  A passing stranger 
walked up to us while the tanks were about 20 feet away and he said 
something like "what's going on here ... that looks like a Panther and a 
Tiger battling each other".  Since neither Will or I have ever been 
known for excessive scale details (that's an understatement), we 
considered his statement proof that we met the scale goal.  More 
importantly, after he learned we were actually shooting paintballs, the 
stranger never asked any more questions about "scale", he was way more 
concerned with how everything worked and how he could participate.

        Frank "Make It Work" Pittelli