07-15-2011, 07:30 AM
ocalicreek Wrote:Another thing is just what Jack mentioned - they have gone to visit a layout only to discover the modeler already meets the MMR status!To me this somehow doesn't seem right. Was he working towards the MMR title when he did all the work? No? Then why should you hand him the title? Who does that benefit - him, or the NMRA? If the program is there to help you acheive, then how did it help him if he wasn't building all those models with the program in mind?
IN this case, Fred's 'bottom line' falls away. What happens when the modeler's self-imposed rules meet or surpass the outside organization's rules without realizing it?
Galen
I think the answer here lies in the answer to the question of "What is the purpose of the achievement program?" If the modeler's work already exceeds the requirements of the achievement program and he is rewarded with mmr when he wasn't really planing to do so, does it really make any difference? If the achievement program is like a race (Daytona 500, for instance). I can go to Daytona and drive as fast as I want to on the track, but I don't win the Daytona 500 if I don't do it when NASCAR is running the race. The achievement program is not time driven. It is intended as a measurement of a modelers skills in many facets of the hobby. Whether one is specifically going for the mmr or achieves it when the committee comes by to judge one aspect and discovers that the modeler has already done what is required is really irrelevant. The issue is recognizing the skill level of the modeler. I think that was the intended purpose of the achievement program. The issue is "Did the modeler do the work, or did someone else do it for him?" If he did the work and meets the criteria, he deserves the certificates.