I am glad y'all had a pretty good time and congrats on the awards you did get. The time with friends and fellow modelers is the high point of any show anyway.
Although I have judged some AMPS events (only 2), I feel the same way y'all do about the pen light. There was a judge on the other judging team that immediately went for the light on every model they judged. I can understand that some things might be hard to see (like something in the shadows in the interior) but since you are not really competing against anyone in AMPS, just having your modeling skills assessed based on your skill level, I don't think so much emphasis should be placed on things you cannot see with the naked eye.
IPMS judges sometimes do that, too. A couple of years ago I was at a local show with the M113 with the Recoilless Rifle on it that I eventually used for my "Breakfast In the Boonies" diorama. Those of you who have seen it know all of the details that I put into it and that it represents an actual vehicle. Out of the other armor models that it was competing against, it was actually one of the better models there...to the naked eye. When I talked to some of the judges afterwards I asked what could be done better on it. One of them took out a pen light at showed me a very faint seam line on the underside of the barrel of the recoilless rifle that can't even be seen from any angle a normal viewer would be able to view it from. All of the extra detailing I did on the interior and backdating I did to the exterior did not balance out or surpass the unseen-by-the-normal viewer seam line under the barrel. Then the following year, it was in the diorama that won first place, best diorama, and best Vietnam subject. Things that make you go hmmm. Now when I go to a show I really don't care if I win anything. I just go to show my work and hopefully someone will like it or be inspired to do something similar. Don't get me wrong, if I win something, I do appreciate it, but it is not my main reason for going anymore.
Cheers,
James