Reading all that I'm afraid you have no idea where i'm coming from; Has little or nothing to do with competition events or not.
The misuse of the Term "Scale" is SO rampant with our hobby. If we look at the definitions of both terms we find:
" Scale, Ratio between the dimensions of a representation and those of the object." source; Websters newworld dictionary 2nd edition
Up and Down Scales of standard model rockets are OK examples. 3X up, 2X down it's a measured ratio. 1: 73.3 of an the original Mercury-Atlas, Absoluetely Yes Thats SCALE. a BT-55 repersentation Merc-Atlas? not unless there is a scale developed for it. There has to be Craftsmanship..with Measurable accuracy.
" Conversion: A change from one belief,condition,doctrine,opinion or religion to another." Same source.
When we look at "many" of the so called Scale models presented in our forums we find they only LOOSELY, curdly if you will, following the outline of the original prototype vehicle. Not even close to "Scale". ie Estes Bullpup, Jayhawk, Honest John and so on. semi-scale YES... Scale; not even close. Scale modelers generally spend more time researching the size of the machine screw heads that hold the fins on a vehicle then it takes many to build the semi-scale offerings they often speak of a "Scale". Scale is a very closely defined repersentation of specific rounds or flights of a given subject. Sorry I'm a bit of a purest when it comes to Scale modeling. Many think anything that sort of looks like the original is a scale model. Again Semi-Scale, Stand-off Scale, Sure...but Scale?...nope; I just can't group them all together. Craftsmanship is in the precision of the DETAILS as well as the General outline and/or general construction.
Where as in PMC: We don't even worry about the "Scale"... 1/144th, 1/72nd, 1/48th 1/32nd etc it just doesn't matter, any one of them will do. We're starting from a "semi-scale" of a mass produced vehicle who's general outlines is roughly the same. Manufactured as a static reprersentation of this general type vehicle be it Plane, boat, Car or what-have-you, Our interest is Changing it's configuration ONLY ENOUGH for it to fly, and only that which is necessary for safe & somewhat stable flight. Can we add things to the model... ONLY if they are inlcuded in the kit or visable on the box art. In PMC were not perfecting the SCALE of the model rather making it flyable.
Very Clear and easy to see differences. Scale and PMC are completely different animals.