Since 2017, the National Airfix Aeronautical Model Engineering Competition has been managed using a custom-built web-based software.
The aim was to reduce the manual paperwork and spreadsheet wrangling involved with judging and scoring of the entries.
Being a software developer by trade, I was able to employ my day-job skill set into solving this problem.
Originally hosted on the SprueCutters.com servers, the System was relocated into its own home when the airfixcup.com domain was registered in 2018.
The System was well-received by Participants and Judges alike.
In 2020, the Event was held Online due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Hobby Bounties also organised many smaller events, all of which were hosted on Facebook.
Whilst convenient, there were some drawbacks to hosting these events on Facebook.
Not every modeller has (or wants) a Facebook account.
Judging the entries became a tedious task because all entries were lumped together under the “discussions” tab of the event page; with no categorisation.
Additionally, the judges had no place to note the scores under each judging-criteria. Therefore, I decided to revamp the System to handle multiple online events.
Thankfully, I was able to get some time off work, and after 36 hours of coding (over one week), I was able to update the System with these enhancements :
I trust that this System will continue to facilitate the running of future events, including ones conducted in-real-life, once the restrictions are lifted.
I am glad (and honoured) to be able to contribute to this hobby and to the community.