The release of the new Dakka (in 2007) prompted the return of a classic Dakka tradition: The Dakka Painting Challenge! For those who aren't familiar, these are basically bite-sized painting or modeling competitions that challenge Dakka users to paint and/or convert a model in a short time span (typically around a month) to see who can do the best job. This can be a great way to challenge yourself to take on a project you wouldn't normally bother to do, and if your model is cool enough you might even win a prize!

Typically, entries go through a period of public voting to whittle them down to a final 5, which are then voted on by a panel of private judges to come up with the overall winner(s).

Check out pics of all the winner(s) and runners-up from every Dakka Painting Challenge and get inspired! Always keep an eye out for the next Challenge in our Painting and Modeling forum and show us all what you're really made of!

Dakka Painting Challenge #1: God Bless the Infantry August 2007	Dakka Painting Challenge #2: Oi! Whose Da Best!? March 2008	Dakka Painting Challenge #3: Old School August 2008
Our armies would be nothing without the blasted infantry so we paid homage to the fine models that make up the core of our hobby! In other words, the theme was just to paint up a regular 'ole infantry model the best you possibly could.	Its all 'bout those big baddies that we love so much. Contestants picked their favorite Ork, Orc, Troll, Ogre, Ogryn, Barbarian or other big, mean and nasty model, and gave 'im some paint!	Pick an old model from your collection, or just go out and buy an old model that's been gathering dust on the shelves of your friendly local gaming store, and do it justice: finally give it the paint job it deserved all those years ago!
Dakka Painting Challenge #4: Bump in the Night October 2008	Dakka Painting Challenge #5: Jungle Warfare March 2009	Dakka Painting Challenge #6: Nitty Gritty Armor October 2009
With Halloween looming, the challenge was to create the absolute creepiest model you could think of! Break out the pallid flesh paints and test out the blood effects on all those ghosts, ghouls, zombies, demons, vampires or any other scary looking model in your collection.	Just in time for St. Patty's Day, paint up one of the many jungle fighters from the big wide galaxy. It could be a sniper stalking through the bush or a camouflaged alien monster ready to pounce and tear the weak to shreds. War is hell, and hell is in the Jungles!	Pick a vehicle and make it look real and used! Dakkaites were challenged to use all the weathering techniques they'd wanted to try years but never quite had the right project for: blast damage, paint chipping, rust, mud, dirt, dust, jet exhaust, etc.
Dakka Painting Challenge #7: Dakka Killteam Kompetition February 2011	Dakka Painting Challenge #8: Welcome to Thunderdome! February 2012	Dakka Painting Challenge #9: To INFINITY & Beyond! April 2012
Paint the coolest looking single Deathwatch Space Marine or even an entire Deathwatch kill team if you're really ambitious! The Deathwatch use advanced and often experimental weapons to achieve their goal of destroying the vile Xenos threat that plagues the empire of mankind.	Whether it's Luke vs. Vader or Gandalf battling against the Balrog, duels stir the emotions like no other fight. Intense, personal and usually destined to settle a grudge. Although two men enter, only one will leave! Paint up two models and have them face off in some thematically exciting fashion!	Infinity is a 28mm metal miniatures game that simulates combat and special operations in a sci-fi environment with Manga aesthetics. Infinity miniatures are characterized by high quality, incredible detail, the dynamism of their postures and their futuristic aesthetic...in other words, the perfect subjects for a Painting Challenge.
Dakka Painting Challenge #10: Merry Malifaux Festivities! December 2012	Dakka Painting Challenge #11: Two Tickets To Paradiso June 2013
Entrants were challenged to let the yule tide wash over them and dress their favorite Malifaux model up in the best holiday theme they could muster. It could be a holiday tree, a santa themed suit, or a snowball fight, but If it was holiday or winter themed, then it was perfect!	Entrants were challenged with somehow incorporating the harsh terrain of Infinity's Paradiso expansion along with their model to capture the struggle of living and fighting on Paradiso.