1

A Theme
There must be a unified theme that brings the scene together. For example, a module built around all the aspects of a cattle farm and the barns, fields, fences, terrain and foliage that are appropriate for it. A collection of buildings helter skelter won't do the trick.

10

2

No Weak Spots
There can be no weak points or areas of omission. Did you paint the skyboard solid blue or stick on a Walthers background complete with wrinkles? Is the exposed benchwork neatly painted? Did you handle problem areas such as the intersection of the skyboard with the tabletop well? Are there any areas where the scenery isn't quite up to snuff? Does the highway really look like a road?

10

3

99.9% Finished
The module must actually be finished (almost doesn't count). Have you added lighting, figures, lines on roads, chrome paint to cars, barrels, debris, enough trees, underbrush? It is understood that a railway is never truly finished, but it should be state of the art.

20

4

Logical Scenery
The scene must look plausible. Does your four-lane highway suddenly become a dead end street? Does the roaring river spill into a tiny pond with no visible or suggested outlet? Are all of the structures, figures and accessories appropriate to the scene? Are all elements of the scene appropriate and suggestive of a particular era?

10

5

Weather It
Virtually everything needs weathering. Starting with the ties, rails and ballast, and continuing across the module, bright colors must be toned down. Weathering brings the elements together. An occasional bright spot should be justified by its newness.

10

6

Focal Points
There should be mini-scenes that attract our attention and praise. For example, watermelons in the garden and a tractor in the midst of cutting a crop. Find some focal points that will attract the attention of the viewers and then go full out with the details. Bridges often serve as focal points. Exciting scenes include items such as a building on fire with all kinds of fire fighting equipment; the scene of a traffic accident involving a bear (ursa major) and a car surrounded by a collection of rescue equipment. Animation can be a major plus here, if done within the context of the overall scene.

15

7

Get Vertical!
Flat tables never make it. Try to recall a truly outstanding module that was built on a sheet of plywood and looked it. Do mountains rise sharply out of plywood plains? Winning modules have plenty of vertical separation. A highway ducking under or climbing over the tracks can add immensely to the effect of a scene. Over the years there have been some great modules where the trains ran well above the lowest areas of the scenery. Two favorites were built on the same theme of a railroad following a river gorge around a sweeping turn. They were both done on inside corners with transition modules on the ends.

15

8

Tree Details
Trees have to be realistic. Did you plant your forest with bumpy chenille? Or did you take the time to spray the trees a more realistic color, shape them, and add ground foam? Are your other trees clumps of lichen or semi-transparent with visible major branches?

10

9

Be Creative
Be innovative. Does your talent break new ground? Are you taking us where man has never gone before? If so, you may come up with a winner. For example, there is an attention getting model that features level upon level of tracks going all the way down to the floor.

15

10

Show Us Your Stuff
Show us that you have talent. Is there any scratch building, kit-bashing, tree growing, rock casting or other not-out-of-the-box modeling evident on the module? Would you deserve to win a prize if you purchased a huge, custom-built factory building and placed it on the module?

10