Brooks803
Member
Roller Ball / Fountain Pen Using Commercial Component Set
Rules:
Pen must be a capped roller ball / fountain pen, made by you after 7/1/2014, using a commercially available component set and either (A) a commercially available pen blank or (B) a pen blank you made yourself from raw materials where your personal work represents the majority of the work required to create the blank. You may not customize / substitute the pen components in any way and you must use all the supplied components in the set. Make sure you read "Definitions" and the FAQ below.
The pen may only be entered in this contest. It can't be entered in any other IAP contest past, present or future. It can't have been shown anywhere prior to entry in this contest. It may not be shown anywhere during the contest without explicit approval of the contest chair.
You may enter more than one pen in this contest, but any pen entered must comply with the restrictions in the prior paragraph. In simple terms, one contest per pen. All pens submitted must have been made solely by the person submitting them. No team efforts or helping hands allowed.
Any pen determined to not comply with the contest rules and / or the spirit of the contest will not be accepted. This determination will be at the sole discretion of the contest chair.
Contest rules may be amended, clarified, changed, supplemented, deleted or whatever at any time at the sole discretion of the contest chair
Contest opens for entry on 8/1/2014 and closes for entry on Monday 8/18/2014 at 10pm EST. If there are adequate entries, there will be an Eliminator Poll where each member of the IAP will be allowed to choose three pens for advancement to the finals. The top 5 vote getters will be in the Finals Poll. Each member of the IAP will get one vote in the finals poll for their choice of best pen. Ties for the awarding of prizes will be decided based on entry date. The pen entered earliest wins a tie.
Definitions:
"Commercially Available" means anybody can buy one like yours today from a vendor (IAP or not) and they could have bought it the day the contest was announced.
"Component Set" means all the parts (excluding the pen blank) needed to make a pen, which have been packaged and sold as a single item. Also known as a "Kit".
"Kit" a package of pen parts sold as a single item that, combined with a separately sourced pen blank, gives you all the components you need to make a pen.
FAQ:
Q: Can I have someone make a custom blank for me and use that? A: NO.
Q: Can I buy a one of a kind blank and use that? A: NO
Q: No two resin blanks or pieces of wood are the same. Does that make them custom? A: No. Variations in poured resin color patterns and natural wood variations are expected and not customization.
Q: Can someone give me a custom / one of a kind blank and I use that? A:NO
Q: Can I make a custom blank myself and use that? A: YES.
Q: Do I have to do all the work on a custom blank myself? A: YES
Q: Does that mean nobody else can help with my custom blank? A: YES
Q: Can I mix parts from different component sets? A: NO
Q: Do I have to use all the parts in my component set? A: YES
Q: Can I substitute upgrade parts (e.g. nibs / refills)? A: NO
Q: I bought a pen kit 10 years ago and nobody sells them anymore. Can I use it? A: NO
Q: I bought a blingless kit. Can I add the bling. A: NO. (Use as sold or use another kit.)
Q: Can I assemble my own component set from different parts I buy? A: NO
How To Enter:
Take 4 pictures of your pen as detailed below. All pictures must be taken with the pen on either a plain piece of white paper or a plain piece of black paper. No props are allowed. The pen must be the only thing in the picture (besides the background black or white paper). Resizing and cropping are allowed. Adjustments to make the picture "true to life" are allowed (e.g. color balance or exposure adjustment), but should be minimal. Adjustments to hide things or make the pen look like something it is not are not allowed. If there is dust or flaws visible in the picture then (a) retake the pictures after removing the dust / fixing the flaw (real world, not photoshop flaw removal) or (b) submit as is. Contest chair reserves the right to crop / resize photos to bring them into compliance with contest guidelines.
Picture 1: The pen must be capped and horizontal on the paper with the cap to the left and the body to the right. The clip must be at the bottom. The pen should fill the picture frame and the picture should be 960 pixels wide by about 400 pixels tall. This picture allows the community to evaluate the total composition of the pen.
Picture 2: Same as picture 1 except the clip must be at the top. This allows the community to see what the other side looks like. (if you chose a kit that doesn't use a clip, then pictures 1 and 2 should show opposite sides of the pen) Don't reorient the cap / body on multi-start thread pens between pictures 1 and 2. We want to see both sides of both parts.
Picture 3: Pen oriented to focus on cap couplers, center band and section. The picture should be 960 pixels wide and no more than 960 pixels tall. This allows the community to evaluate the fit and finish at the cap couplers.
Picture 4: Pens oriented to focus on finials. The picture should be 960 pixels wide and no more than 960 pixels tall. This allows the community to evaluate the fit and finish at the finials.
All pictures should be submitted as jpg files with enough compression to keep each file size under 256KB. Email your 4 entry pictures and the required information (see below) to IAPcontest2014@gmail.com. If you are submitting more than one pen, each pen must be submitted separately. The following information is required:
• The name and source of the commercially available component set
• The name and source of any commercially available blank used and / or a brief description of any blank you made (e.g. materials used, process).
• An Artist / Artisan / Craftsman / Pen Maker statement (If you call yourself something else not in this list, pretend your title is in the list.). This is your chance to sell your pen to the voters. 200 word limit.
• Your IAP user name and your real name.
Prize winners may additionally be required to submit a mailing address for prize delivery.
All emails submitted during the contest will be retained by me until the contest ends. After the contest is completed I will delete all emails I have received as well as the email account used for this contest. I will not retain or share email addresses with anyone.
Any questions or comments? Send an email to the above address, send a PM to Brooks803 or post a reply to this thread.
Prizes
First Place - $50 Gift certificate from The Classic Nib, and $50 gift certificate through IAP
Second place - $30 Gift Certificate from Robutacion
Third place - Blanks and pen kits from Karl_99
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