Showcase Challenge 2027
"Beauties and the Beasts"
PLUS Special Category
"STAR WARS - 50th Anniversary"
CLICK ON THE BELOW IMAGES FOR MORE INFORMATION - OR READ ADDITIONAL CONTENT BELOW THE IMAGES
THE BEAUTIES AND THE BEASTS
Every year the WASMEX Showcase Challenge encourages modelers to step outside their normal category, explore new techniques and challenge themselves creatively.
For 2027 we invite builders to explore two opposite worlds:
The Beauties — celebrating perfection, light and brilliance - more here
The Beasts — celebrating destruction, decay and storytelling - more here
PLUS a Special Category to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of STAR WARS - more here
Read below for the background of "Beauties and the Beasts"
These categories stand at opposite ends of a model's journey. One represents a subject at its absolute peak — polished, pristine and captivating. The other represents the end of that journey — wrecked, abandoned, destroyed and unable to continue.
Builders are encouraged to think beyond traditional subjects and interpret the theme creatively across all modelling genres including aircraft, military vehicles, civilian vehicles, ships, science fiction, Gundam, figures, busts, fantasy subjects, railway subjects and original creations.
The challenge is not simply to build a model.
The challenge is to tell a story.
GENERAL ELIGIBILITY
• Entries may be based on real-world, fictional, alternate-history or original subjects.
• Any scale, genre or material is acceptable.
• Kit-built, scratch-built, heavily modified and kit-bashed entries are all welcome.
• Individual models or full dioramas may be entered.
• The Showcase Challenge category is judged independently from standard competition classes.
• The Chief Judge reserves the right to determine category eligibility where interpretation is required. Decisions are final.
HYBRID AND BORDERLINE CASES
Some entries may combine characteristics of both categories.
Examples may include:
• A vehicle shown before and after destruction
• Split-scene concepts
• Paired displays
• Sequential storytelling
• Mirror-image presentations
These approaches are welcome.
However, the builder must clearly identify whether the entry is being entered as a Beauty or as a Beast.
The dominant visual theme and overall presentation will determine final category placement.
STRETCH YOUR IMAGINATION
Think beyond traditional aircraft and armor subjects.
Beauty can exist in polished surfaces, reflected light and perfect presentation.
Beasts can exist in wreckage, ruins, forgotten machinery and stories of what happened after the end.
Consider:
"What did this subject look like at its absolute peak?"
or
"What did it look like after everything went wrong?"
Most importantly:
Have fun, challenge yourself and create something memorable.
To ensure eligibility please choose a subject which clearly falls within these criteria.
If you wish to build a model that you believe ‘fits the intention of the challenge’ but falls outside the strict letter of the eligibility guidelines or if in any doubt at all, then please contact [email protected] who will discuss with the chief judge for a final determination.
Please also note that if you choose a subject which is not visibly & obviously associated with the above we may request documentation to prove how it fits within the theme.