Late Breaking News for GSL XXII

Please check in here often for the latest information on the Twenty-Second GSL International Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention.  We will post new information and developments on GSL-XXII, along with the date(s) that news is posted so that you can keep track of when you last checked in.

News for GSL XXII

April 2008

Please note the following news about the upcoming Twenty-Second GSL Championship and Convention:

If you wish to learn about the day-to-day details about GSL-XXII, go here:

For information about the Classes for GSL-XXII, go here:

If you want to learn about how the GSL Championship is judged, go here:

If you want to know how you can become a sponsor or help with GSL, go here:

March 2008

We're pleased to offer the first update for the Twenty-Second GSL Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention. Please read the GSL Preview which offers the latest details on the next Championship. Note that some of the Class rules have been importantly modified: Box Plus now permits the use of any part recommended in the instruction sheet (e.g., the old AMT Styline kits); the rules for the two Commercial Classes have been clarified; the Common Kit specifies that either the AMT or Revell Camaro kit may be used; and the two Competition straight line Classes – Drag and Land Speed Record – have been substantially rewritten to make the classification of entries easier for contestants and the GSL judges).

We're planning for a terrific array of seminars and events to accompany the terrific competition, as well as two days of tours of the International Model Car Builders' Museum, the GSL Players, the Museum benefit auction, and a great Trade Show. Still at the same great facility – the Sheraton City Centre in downtown Salt Lake City – the next GSL Championship will continue the tradition of the best and most genial competition available anywhere in the world.

About the Group nine Class featuring the venerable AMT 1950 Ford convertible, most of the GSL Trustees will be competing in this popular-vote only Class, including past GSL Best of Show winners George Layton and Mark S. Gustavson

Note also that we no longer permit mail-in entries because of substantial damages that these models always suffer in transit. If you can't attend, please find a friend to bring your entry(ies) to GSL.

Because of the cost of doing so, the Championship no longer generally publishes the GSL Preview and the GSL Manual. These documents are available only online through this website.

We'll update the text on this website by early April but, until then, please refer to the GSL Preview for the latest/most correct information on the upcoming twenty-second GSL Championship.

September 2007

As detailed under the August 2007 date heading below, the Group 9 kit for GSL-XXII is the AMT 1950 Ford Convertible kit. To help you with some ideas if you wish to build a custom shoebox, you can go to Mark S. Gustavson's Custom Clinic site and check out a considerable quantity of photos of custom '49-51 Fords. Go here to check out the great pics posted there. Note that Mark S. Gustavson will be competing in the GSL-XXII Group 9 Class – he really likes shoebox Fords, and he's building a fresh custom shoebox model to compete in this Class. This is the first time since 1981 that Mark has competed in GSL! Keep in mind that the First through Fourth Place winners in this Class are selected by popular vote, and no model in the Group 9 Class can win any Master Award (therefore, Mark S. Gustavson will remain the chief judge for the juried Classes). If you want to compete with Mark, he'll meet you in this Class.

August 20, 2007

Date and Place: The GSL Trustees are pleased to announce that the Twenty-Second GSL International Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention will be presented April 30 through May 3, 2009 at the Salt Lake Sheraton City Centre Hotel (the same excellent place where GSL-XXI was held).

The overnight room prices have increased by just one dollar per night! Here are the details: All rooms are $92 base rent (1-4 person occupancy) plus room tax of 12.46% for an approximate per room cost of $103.50.

Plans are now underway for the Twenty-Second GSL Championship. We will again present the traditional range of competitive Classes, three days of seminars, two days of Museum tours, the Museum-benefit auction, the famed Trade Show, four days of renewed friendships and shared experiences, and the Awards Breakfast on Sunday morning, May 3. 

Changes to Classes: There will be a few changes to the Classes. First, the previous "open wheel" and "closed wheel" competition classes have been eliminated because those Class definitions created substantial ambiguities in model classification and judging. Those two Classes have been replaced with these Classes:

Competition: Drag. This Class is for scale models of vehicles intended exclusively for one-eighth and one-quarter mile straight line acceleration competition. Qualifying models may be of any vintage, style, or class, and must be built in accordance with the applicable 1:1 competition rules of a sanctioning organization (NHRA, UDRA, NDRA, etc.) for the vintage of the scale model depicted. Where the quality of two models is equivalent, preference will be given to models displaying information authenticating the technical details of the entry.

Competition: Landspeed Record This Class is for scale models of vehicles intended exclusively for landspeed records on the dry lakes (Muroc), Salt Flats (Bonneville), beaches (vintage Daytona) or in any other recognized setting or venue. Qualifying models may be of any vintage, style, or class, and must be built in accordance with the applicable competition of a sanctioning organization for the vintage of the scale model depicted. Where the quality of two models is equivalent, preference will be given to models displaying information authenticating the technical details of the entry.

The Common Kit Class will feature the AMT 2009 Camaro Kit. The Group 9 kit is the AMT 1950 Ford convertible.

A major change to the Class rules will be to Group 9. Not only have the Trustees identified the venerable AMT 1950 Ford Convertible kit as the subject matter, but the "rules" for this Class have been somewhat relaxed for the purpose of encouraging added participation and enjoyment. Additionally, the GSL Trustees will be themselves entering this Class (including the GSL Judges Mark S. Gustavson and Bob Wick) since the four winners in this Class are selected by popular vote (and not by GSL Judges) and because no Master Award winners can come out of this Class. Mark S. Gustavson will return to GSL competition for the first time since the first and second Championships. 

Here is the text for the GSL-XXII Group 9 Class. Read the text carefully to see how competition in this Class has been opened up:

The GROUP 9 Class is intended to revive and celebrate vintage building styles, to create a fun and challenging forum for builders, to present a low-key venue for creative and enthusiastic building, and to celebrate the way models were built in the "good old days." The GSLXXII GROUP 9 model is any issue of the AMT 1950 Ford Convertible kit. For this Class, the kit can be built in any style with the skills and craftsmanship that you have today, but constructed using materials and supplies (except adhesives and paints) available 30 or more years ago (1979 or earlier). There are just three additional limitations: no one-off machined or photo-etched parts not fashioned by the entrant, no aftermarket products available after 1979, and no resin bodies or resin body parts. Bare Metal Foil may be used because it became available in 1979.

Fourth through First Place Awards are selected by popular vote ballot, and announced as part of the Awards Presentation on Sunday morning. No entry in this Class is eligible for any Master Award. A model entered here may not also be entered in another Class, and an entrant may enter any number of models in this Class.

GSL OnLine:

In order to control the rapidly increasing costs of presenting GSL to the international modeling community, GSL Trustees have decided that we will no longer print the GSL Preview and the GSL Manual. In the past, printing and distributing these documents have cost the Championship nearly $3,000. With the rapid growth of internet community, and the fact that virtually everyone has internet access through a home computer, GSL will distribute the GSL Preview and the GSL Manual by PDF to our very large e-mail audience. 

You can receive GSL publications and regular updates via the Internet. In fact, we urge you to do so we can save money that can be used for other GSL activities. Here's how it works: Whenever GSL headquarters is ready to publish a document, you will be notified via e-mail. You can then download the document in Acrobat PDF format. To view an Acrobat document, you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader which is a free application available from Adobe Systems.

If you wish to sign up for e-mail notes about GSL-XXII, please go here, fill out the form, and submit it. 

GSL Videos: We are delighted to let you now that the International Model Car Builders' Museum has made available a series DVDs of selected seminars from GSL-XIX (2003) and GSL-XX (2005). These seminars are highly-informative, and you get to enjoy that presentations almost like you were at GSL. Note that the sound reproduction is better for the GSL-XX sessions because our sound equipment was much better at that event.

Please order by the number before the description of each DVD. Make out all checks and money orders to "International Model Car Builders' Museum" and mail to 10291 South 1300 East, PMB #131, Sandy, Utah 84094. Note that all DVDs are copyright GSL International Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention with all rights reserved. Please do not make unauthorized copies of these DVDs because that will just harm the Museum: Note that all proceeds (other than the cost of mailing) goes directly into the coffers of the International Model Car Builders' Museum which is the chief sponsor of the GSL International Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention.

Download Order Form

Here is a list of the DVDs presently available (with more to come from GSL-XXI!):

GSL XX (2005)

Price: Each Video is $11.95 plus $1.50 shipping for first DVD, $.50 additional, $2.50 max shipping for any number of GSL-XIX DVDs.

DVD1-XX
Scratchbuilding in Large Scale - Cummins

DVD2-XX
Concept Cars - Roger Yu

DVD3-XX
Diorama Construction - Miguel Barbosa
Epoxy Putty - Mike Good

DVD4-XX
Fashioning Panels from Brass - George Layton

DVD5-XX
How I Built the Virtue RSX - Bruce Owen

DVD6-XX
Mechanical & other Detailing - Mark Jones
Detailing Racing Cars - Stephen Miller

GSL XIX (2003)

Price: Each Video is $9.95 plus $1.50 shipping for first DVD, $.50 additional, $2.50 max shipping for any number of GSL-XIX DVDs.

DVD 1-XIX
More Simple Tips... Nichols & Devine
Model Car Mechanical Detailing - Mark Jones

DVD2-XIX
Model Car Photography- Doug Whyte
Thinking Outside the Box - Roger Yu

DVD3-XIX
Elementary Machining and Soldering – Augie Hiscano

DVD4-XIX
Scratchbuilding in Large Scale - Dave Cummins
1937 Ford Tapertail - Dave Cummins

DVD5-XIX
Etching Polishing and Plating - Bill Cunningham
Scratchbuilding in Metal - Tom Kirn

DVD6-XIX
Racing Car Wiring & Plumbing Fundamentals - Stephen Miller