Brandon Padgett, 9, hasn't seen much of his father in the past three years. David Padgett, a military policeman, has had multiple deployments and is currently stationed with the U.S. Army in Iraq.

There's a possibility that before he again sees his son in person, he'll see him in an Old Navy television commercial.

Brandon is among the top contenders in Old Navy's national search for a new "modelquin" -- the mannequin-like figures, based on flesh-and-blood models, that perform in the company's ads. His mother, Ashley, entered him at the Old Navy store in East Anchorage a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to see him rank as high as eighth in standings.

So was Brandon, a lifelong Alaskan who attends third grade at Ursa Minor Elementary School on Fort Richardson. "I didn't think I took a really good picture," he said. "I thought I'd be in last place."

The winner of the Super Modelquin Super Search Contest is determined by the amount of points each contestant receives. Participants photos are posted at the contest Web site, IWannaBeSuper.com. Brandon is shown in a green Old Navy hoodie with one elbow propped against a store mannequin.

The public is asked to check out the gallery of hopeful models and assign points to their favorites. Finalists in three categories will vie with each other for the top prize, which is $100,000 and a role in an upcoming commercial.

"I don't know what we'd do with $100,000," said Ashley Padgett, who, in her husband's absence, is single- handedly managing a family that includes 5-month-old Adalyn and 6-year-old Alivia.

Voting will continue through March 3 and members of the public can "vote" once each day at the online site. "It only takes about one minute," said Ashley.

Brandon's direct link at the site is http://bit.ly/9GNa2l.

Thousands of hopefuls have entered this contest. Checking the ever-fluctuating numbers just before press time, Brandon was in 9th place with 21,978 points. The first place contender at the moment had nearly 39,000 points.

If the modeling thing doesn't work out, Brandon has a fallback career in mind. He thinks he'd like to be in construction or an engineer.

With Dad on distant duty, Brandon's the one that Ashley turns to whenever the family gets something that requires assembly. "He's good at it," she said.

"I love to build things," said Brandon. "It's what I was made to do."