Originally Posted by
vertical grimmace
For those of you with experience, what is the preferred 3 view format? The 3 view on one 8.5" x 11" page, or should the views be separated onto single pages for a larger view? I have always heard that the fewest sheets of paper the better. So I was thinking of having my 3 view on one page. But then I would not want to lose points because the detail would not be large enough. Or maybe I do not want the detail larger!
Here is my thought process on my last competition plane which was a Nieuport 11 and was campaigned for 3 years. I crashed it at the Hoosier Dawn Patrol last year, so it is no more. I participated at the Mint Julep, Scale Nationals all three years qualifying for the US Scale Masters each year and flying in the Masters once. The documentation was the same all 3 years.
It consisted of a direct scan from the Windsock Date Files of the 3 views (all 3 views on 1 page 8 1/2 by 11). I provided three copies of the 3 views to the judges. One stayed in my documentation book and one went to the color and markings judge and one went to the outline judge. All of these 3 views counted as only one sheet of the total allowable documentation per the AMA rule book.
For Color and Markings I used a color plate from the same Windsock Data file. This was used only to prove the color and markings and was not for anything else. This I tried to tell the judges each time because there were some differences between the 3 views and the color plate.
I had only one picture - a not too good picture from the data file and placed this on the cover sheet/builder of the model page which introduced my documentation. I never made any references on the 3 views or the color plate to this picture........I am not sure if the judges used it for proof of anything because of the photo quality, but rest assured if there were any discernible differences between that picture and the model, it would have shown in my static score.
I built my model using the 3 views as the guiding light for anything I did as I went along. My model outline matched as closely to the 3 views as I could build it. The color and markings were applied and again matched to the color plate as closely I could make it.
I think that my documentation packet was adequate per the rule book and met the minimum requirements. That being said, the more details which can be shown in your docs and reproduced on your model will enhance your score. The intent of the rule book is to provide a minimum requirement for documentation so as to establish a level playing field for competitors.
Enter into competition with this in mind and then after a year or two make up your own mind how far to go with your documentation.