Welcome to Thunderdome. We have 14 awesome entries this time around. Now it's crunch time. Time for you to decide our winner.
If you want to refresh yourself about what the theme of the Painting Challenge was, you can re-read all about it here.
Public Voting lasts for 5 days. You can vote for all your favorite entries. Vote for as many or as few entries as you like!
The winner will then be announced a few days later, chosen from amongst the top 5 entries by a hand-picked panel of Dakka Painting Challenge judges.
All submissions are presented anonymously, so that no favorites can be played (so please do not post which image is yours, or you will be disqualified).
Remember that you can click on any of these images to get a better view of them (and zoom) in the dakka gallery.
You can vote for all your favorite entries. Vote for as many or as few entries as you like!
#7 is sort of a bummer, in that the display looks pretty cool, but because the photo is so dark, it is very difficult to make out the details.
I don't know if LEDs were used in the construction of the scene - that's what it looks like - but in my opinion they, or the lighting used, don't actually add anything to the diorama, and the entire thing would be better off with normal lighting and the absence of the LEDs / green hue. An otherwise really cool looking entry has been hindered by a poor light source.
Flu wrote:#7 is sort of a bummer, in that the display looks pretty cool, but because the photo is so dark, it is very difficult to make out the details.
I don't know if LEDs were used in the construction of the scene - that's what it looks like - but in my opinion they, or the lighting used, don't actually add anything to the diorama, and the entire thing would be better off with normal lighting and the absence of the LEDs / green hue. An otherwise really cool looking entry has been hindered by a poor light source.
I think you're talking about #6? Number 7 is the one with the thunderhammers.
I'm having trouble wrappIng my head around the resolution limitation of the submissions. What was the point of limiting the images to 1000x800 if the preview pics are all framed the same size and then we're given the option to click the image to zoom in for a more detailed view? I would have preferred submitting a much higher resolution image so the zoom in preview showed more detail, especially since so much detail is lost when creating the montage images. Just curious as to the reasoning.
heavybolter wrote:I'm having trouble wrappIng my head around the resolution limitation of the submissions. What was the point of limiting the images to 1000x800 if the preview pics are all framed the same size and then we're given the option to click the image to zoom in for a more detailed view? I would have preferred submitting a much higher resolution image so the zoom in preview showed more detail, especially since so much detail is lost when creating the montage images. Just curious as to the reasoning.
I think it's because of the programming of the Dakka Gallery page viewer thingamajig (let's call it DGPVT). Notice that you can't zoom in on the ones arranged vertically (7 and 13) but the ones arranged horizontally when displayed on the page are just slightly smaller than their actual size (800 x 640 as opposed to 1000x 800) so the DGPVT interprets it as something you can zoom into, but it makes it also possible to zoom into it much more closer although they're not meant to be viewed that upclose since, well, resolution and pixels and all.
Some of these might be potentially good but, alas, can't see how good they are due to not-so stellar photography and montage. Entry 11 looks good but with the montage and photography, I'm not sure what is happening. I also don't think it's necessary to put the top view of the models/diorama.
3 and 5 are painted well, I'd say. 6 might be well-painted too, but you can't see it because of the LED lighting effects. Sure it looks extremely cool, but it defeats the purpose of a painting competition if you don't see the paint job.
SlaveToDorkness wrote:
I'm curious why #7 is Templar on Templar though.
Might be betrayal... title might be a Star Wars reference of Obi-Wan versus Anakin so it implies two supposed allies duking it out because the one betrayed the other.
It can also be ritualistic combat, with the queen statue as judge. Or practice, maybe?
My money is on that the one who made this just opened a box of assault termies and he/she doesn't have fresh new models to use aside from those
Initially I was going to abstain fromvoting (I caught myself analysing and deconstructing the combats, and felt that many of these were poorly thought out)
Then I saw superman. Obviously my vote went to that, and it encouraged me to vote on a few others.
i guess it might bear worth mentioning that i assessed my vote on novelty, execution, and feel.
I liked 'Loyalist Vs. Traitor', 'I Have the High Ground' and 'Superman'. And only two of those look like fight scenes where the figures work together but all are painted well.
I have to say my issue with a number of these is that they are not particularly dynamic, the scene is rather static particularly when two figures are just standard based miniatures placed near each other. 'Showdown on Kronus' is interesting, it might be good, but it's too dark to comment on the quality of painting.
To be honest, the "duel" category of Golden Demon is my least favourite anyway.
I really love all these, i dont wanna vote as i feel i would be cheating the other entries if i didnt vote for every single one, sooo much awesome here, i am however here, so i gonna take my time and make a desicion and vote for only 1 :(
Congratulations everyone! Especially to heartserenade - Dakka's obviously most popular choice - and also to Decaius for the nail biting battle for second...
Well, I blame it on poor photography, so all is fine
I *thought* that might have been yours When everyone's impressive, no one is? I think most of us have a thing or two to learn about photography and presentation though... first comp's always the hardest I guess
I just want to take a minute to congratulate everyone who entered the contest. Obviously we had entrants of all different skill levels. I have a lot of admiration for anyone who enters any kind of contest that is to be critiqued on the internet. The net can be an unforgiving place sometimes.
I am hoping to get the thumbs up to run some more of these in the future. I would like to see a few contests a year. I am hopeful that all our entrants will give it another go.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Arakasi wrote:Hmmm... yes - my tally still seems to be going up too...
I'm not sure why the poll hasnt ended. I grabbed a screen shot of the results just in case.
Just because the system is still allowing you to vote doesn't mean you should.
My thanks goes to everyone who voted for me. In truth I really don't have that much confidence in my entry, this being my first painting/diorama competition and all plus you get wonderful entries submitted by Arakasi, Decaius and SlaveToDorkness. They have submitted wonderful pieces and I felt honored to be pitted against such work.
For those who asked: it's supposedly a story of betrayal. I guess I should've put that somewhere on the title, but starsdawn is correct: it's a reference to the Skywalker-Kenobi duel. Maybe it should've been "You cannot win, Brother Alphonse! I Have the High Ground!"
Anyway for those interested I'm typing up a P&M blog as we speak! I'm just a bit distracted today because I got my tooth extracted and I'm in a haze of pain and I'm waiting for the painkillers to kick in.
Looking forward to your P&M blog! I'll probably wait until the final judging before putting mine up - but there is only so much you can convey in a title - the rest lies on the minis themselves...
Funnily enough, mine was supposed to be a reference to the Sith-Young Kenobi duel
Good luck! I don't think anyone will be surprised if you win the final judging!
I think I'm not up to making a P&M blog anyway, seeing that my brain is going "PAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAIN", repeating like telephone left unattended. Might as well wait for the final judging, too.
MrMerlin, I KNEW that was yours! I viewed your gallery and figured your Orks are very much similar to the ones in your entry.
And the statue on mine is a factory defect Harry Potter piece. If you look closely you can see the defects, and it lights up at random... and I'm sure it's not supposed to do that since it had a switch at the bottom. I had to wait for it to run out of battery before taking photos because the electric blue light ruins everything! I got it from a street vendor for like 20 PHP (half a US dollar), not knowing it was from Harry Potter until I saw my sister watching the first movie, and it connected.
Special thanks to my long-time friend Jin for helping me take photos. Check out Jin's work if you're interested in cosplay, anime, manga, photography or just art in general!
heartserenade wrote:Hope I win for the final judging! v (^____^) v
My thanks goes to everyone who voted for me. In truth I really don't have that much confidence in my entry, this being my first painting/diorama competition and all plus you get wonderful entries submitted by Arakasi, Decaius and SlaveToDorkness. They have submitted wonderful pieces and I felt honored to be pitted against such work.
For those who asked: it's supposedly a story of betrayal. I guess I should've put that somewhere on the title, but starsdawn is correct: it's a reference to the Skywalker-Kenobi duel. Maybe it should've been "You cannot win, Brother Alphonse! I Have the High Ground!"
Anyway for those interested I'm typing up a P&M blog as we speak! I'm just a bit distracted today because I got my tooth extracted and I'm in a haze of pain and I'm waiting for the painkillers to kick in.
Again, thank you everyone! Here's to hoping I win this!
Thanks for the mention, Hearts. Glad to see someone appreciated it. lol
I blame Crappy pics and a lack of montage-fu!!!
Although if I'm going to blame crap pics I find it hard to explain the Kronos one getting almost twice the votes as mine. lol I guess it's the atmosphere and to hell with any thought of painting. lol I'd love to see that one with straight photography, Ouze.
I voted for the Grot vs. Grot one. Loved it!
Maybe next time have a single vote to maybe lessen the gap between high and low?
Would it be cool to post our additional pics in this thread?
Well ever since the beginning of this contest I have marked you as a potential rival after viewing your gallery. And your work is indeed well-painted, although I do agree that the photography needs work since I can't discern what's happening to the marine. If this contest was not about duels and about single miniatures that flying man of yours would've beaten me in votes, no questions asked.
I'd have loved to have done better, but I really enjoyed the challenge of trying something different and Kudos to the winners, some very impressive painting and photography skills on display
I'd like to briefly talk about my entry "Showdown on Kronus", since at least 2 people asked about it.
I wasn't sure what I was going to for this contest, but I knew I wanted to enter it. Age of Egos had let me add some stuff onto one of his FW orders, and it came much sooner then I expected it to come - in time for the contest. See, in addition to being an average-at-best painter, I'm also a very slow one, and this was my biggest project yet - essentially 4 models in less than a month.
The dreadnought was totally straightfoward. I built it as an Ironclad base, but with generic options since I have extra weapons to field it as a vanilla dread. As with my previous mechs, I added a LED inside for a glowing eye. Hilariously, I forgot to turn the switch off when I was done taking the pictures, and so inadvertently learned how long the battery would last - at least 15 hours, since it was still on the next day (and indeed, still works now).
The Warboss I did as a Goff, but with a Evil Suns warbike, since in my mob I imagine he would simply take the fastest (reddest) one. The bike was an easy build, and I did what I could with the Boss. I did no real conversion work to this.
The base was a bit of foamcore, with a obelisk I built out of sheet styrene. I built up the bottom layers with plaster of paris and zierterdes, which is I suspect just plaster of paris and vermiculite. I used some chinese resin skulls at the bottom of a crater made from wire mesh and plaster strips. After I primed and painted it, I did the obelisk in a high gloss to emphasize it's otherworldliness. I also drilled a hole in the bottom of the pit, and added a SMD LED to it and a battery. After that, I filled the pit halfway with clear resin tinted green.
Spoiler:
This all was done more or less about 3 days before the deadline. I had a bunch of things to do over the next few days, so I was pretty pressed for time. I don't consider myself a very strong painter but have done well with "gimmicky" things like LED lighting. I've used it in the past successfully to do some shots that got fairly goodratings. This is where I miscalculated quite badly. In my fully lighted shot, it was very difficult to see the LED lighting, so I decided to turn down the room lights and add an artificial light to each side (just a green LED soldered onto a battery holder, a ghetto flashlight kinda).
This is why I submitted an extremely dark image to a painting contest - because I misunderstood why my previous entries in this vein had done well. My other lighted entries used fancy LED lighting, but the image was nowhere near as dark as my contest entry. Additionally, and critically, people had context for those images; as part of a larger gallery they could clearly see what they were looking at. There was absolutely no such context here, I submitted a dark, hard to see image.
Here is my entry with "normal" lighting:
Spoiler:
If I could do my entry over again, I would do things differently. I was aware that you could submit more than one image and have the organizer pick the best, but after attaching both my entry and the image above, I would up removing the above image and sending it. I don't have a good reason why, it just was a snap decision.
Now, if you would not mind me indulging just a little bit more, I'd like to post some pictures of my Warboss from my entry. I bet you couldn't even tell what the unit was because it was so dark, and I worked so hard on this model I sort of feel like leaving what I showed you already is an injustice to a proud Ork.
Spoiler:
I really enjoyed participating in this contest, and look forward to taking part in future contests as well. This is the first one I've ever entered of any kind. Some of the work was really terrific, and I was really blown away by the Superman vs Doomsday image - by my book, it was the best entry in here and did a terrific job of matching the theme. Thanks to everyone for posting, and to Inquistor Lewis and Yak for organizing it.
Even with extremely poor lighting you still made it into the top 5! Though now that we can see your entry more clearly, you may have given heartserenade a run for top spot with proper (or even just better) lighting...
It was certainly an ambitious entry just on size of models entered. (I deliberately went with something smaller because I am also a slow painter - though I did end up finishing a week early...)
I have a suspicion Superman vs Doomsday may have suffered a little from not being 40K (even though there was no requirement for that) - for those who actually voted on the images in the Dakka Gallery, it did a *lot* better.
Honestly, I kinda liked the Superman diorama when it came to painting, and the poses really do look like they're fighting (sorry fellas but most works look like two models just placed beside each other, which Howard a Treesong already pointed out). It is telling a story, just like what a diorama should do.
What I didn't like was the sculpt, particularly Superman's face. So there.
starsdawn wrote:Honestly, I kinda liked the Superman diorama when it came to painting, and the poses really do look like they're fighting (sorry fellas but most works look like two models just placed beside each other, which Howard a Treesong already pointed out). It is telling a story, just like what a diorama should do.
What I didn't like was the sculpt, particularly Superman's face. So there.
I just want to thank everyone who voted for my piece and address this comment. Yes the sculpt on the face was the only thing I had real trouble with. I switched mediums towards the end from Sculpey to an epoxy putty and it didn't let me get the feel of the face correctly. I spent about 4 hours trying to get it right but it's something i mean to fix later(shave off the face and sculpt it over). The entire piece was hand made over a period of two weeks using about a pound of sculpey clay, adding new parts and rebaking it for every addition. In total It took about 30 hours to complete including the airbrush and hand painting work. It is a massive piece, standing over 200mm at its highest point, so in no way should it be considered a "miniature".
I do have to say I was highly disappointed and disheartened that it did not fair better in the voting. I still feel the resolution limit was a hindrance for anyone doing montage photos, but I really thought more people would have appreciate the subject, the work that went into it and the dynamic feel of the piece. It was a gamble to do a non 40k piece yes, since I felt the freedom of not being limited to a single universe would have attracted something other than GW after GW pieces. I could have easily slapped two of my hundreds of unpainted GW minis onto a piece of mdf and if I decide to invest time in another contest I probably will since that's what everyone is into. But for this I wanted to go outside the box and stretch my skills. It has gotten me back into sculpting though so I may work on a large piece again soon or make some kind of large HQ piece.
So all in all a very satisfying yet disappointing experience over all. Again, thanks to those who voted and congratulations to the Top 5.
Here are some more detailed images and one for scale:
I also felt that the resolution was a hindrance, but I didn't think so until it came time to actually submit my image, when I realized that 1000x800 is actually pretty small, I'm used to posting pictures that are either 1600 or 1900 wide. It would be a big help in future contests if we could have a higher pixel limit because it would allow for better looking montages. I know people had speculated on why the resolution was so small but there was no official answer as of yet; I presume it's not just a number picked out of a hat. Perhaps we can check with Legoburner on this prior to the next image.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
heavybolter wrote:Showing scale against a space marine...
It is my understanding that they need to be that size to be able to run on the front page. Not sure exactly where I picked up that piece of info.
heavybolter, your piece was my favorite of them all. I thought you really embraced the rules of the contest. I was glad to see something not 40k based included in the competition.
I would be interested in running some more of these competitions. I am hoping to organize another over the summer months. If picture sizes can't change, would being able to include a second picture help? I'm not sure why the rule is for a single picture. I am assuming it is to keep the processing as simple as possible for the organizer. Personally I would be fine adding a second picture to each entry if it is permissible.
That's actually a great idea - perhaps the first one could be the single best picture you can take, and the second image, maybe optional, could be a collage of different angles, closeups of points of interest.
In truth, I had trouble with the 800x1000 limit as well. There are so many details I would like to show, like the scratch-built shield, the shoulder pads and the freehand writing and crosses on the armor and feet. But then again, as graphic artists we were trained to work under the constraints of what the client wants/needs, so I guess it worked into my advantage. I agree that a diorama should tell a story as well: that is why I wanted to get my models look like they really are in the middle of fighting, and I want the viewer to ask who will swing first? What's the story behind two allies dueling?
I agree with having two photos: one main image and the other for montages. It would really help in showcasing everyone's work.
And OMG SlaveToDorkness, that is indeed a superb piece. It really needed a montage so that the audience can see what was happening. Any detail shots on what happened to the Space Marine's face?
Ouze, that's a superbly painted ork biker! My only problem with your work is that they didn't look like they were fighting.... but still! It would take me one whole month just to paint an ork like that.
I would be posting additional photos as well, especially the missing detail pieces when I get hold of my friend who helped me took the photos (my friend owns the camera so I need to get them first before posting).
The reason for the size limit is because I wouldn't have stood a chance against those better pics!
@heavybolter: That is *so* much more impressive in your additional pics! I had *no* idea it was so large, or even custom sculpted (a credit to your sculpting ability, or my lack of knowledge of non GW minis, probably both!). Don't be disheartened. It was a painting competition, not a modelling/sculpting one - so you put a *lot* of effort into originality...
Looking forward to the next one - hopefully the theme won't be too complicated for me to complete on time
Hearts, the space marine's face is totally encompassed by the Raptor Lord's talon. I could barely paint it! The whole thing had to be pinned together before painting so it was a real pain to work on. Glad you like it though. I may get some better shots of it next time I have the camera out.
Well seeing how many others are posting different pictures to give everyone a better idea of what they had going, I figured I'd do the same. My biggest problem was more my camera than the size of the picture allowed. It really doesn't capture the details as much as I'd like and my lighting really washes out a lot of my highlights, shading, and blending. Oh well. lol.
I think what we can learn from this is that presentation of the work is just as important. If it is presented in a professional-looking manner, it would greatly help your case. Proper cropping, lighting, arrangement of the montage photos, suitable backgrounds, etc.
Hey guys, just letting you know that we're doing the finals judging and should have the actual prize winner announcement ready to go within a day or so.
Thanks for all the great entries!
Edit: Oh, and as for only allowing a single picture, I think that definitely worked better when we were doing only a single model, but these mini-dioramas have a lot more going on than usual so it probably would have been good to make an exception in this challenge. In normal single-model challenges though having only a single picture makes things a whole lot easier for the person running the competition to deal with.
But definitely a lesson learned for the future if we do a more involved challenge, we probably should adjust the limitations on pics.
Arakasi wrote:Congratulations everyone! Especially to heartserenade - Dakka's obviously most popular choice - and also to Decaius for the nail biting battle for second...
Now for the final judging...
Yes, that was a nail biter! Congrats to you all!
My favourite has to be " Purity Vs. Corruption" by Vitruvian XVII
Glad to see everyone getting along so well with this competition. Very good sports, every single one of you. It's nice to see positive interactions.
If I get the thumbs up to do more competitions I will think them through more thoroughly. I also should not have released the names until the official announcement. Kind of anti climatic. Sorry about that. Just as you are looking to grow in your abilities, I am looking to grow in mine. The next competition will be thought out a bit different.
Again, congratulations to everyone involved. You all win in my book.
Yay! Looking forward to more competitions in the future! Win or lose, you get to have objective feedback on your work. And you get an excuse to paint-up models to boot (the two terminators are now sitting nicely on my TH/SS unit).
inquisitorlewis, I think you did a fine job on this contest and would love it if you will hold future competitions just as good as this one.
Also Decaius, never told you I do love your work best of all. That guy pointing the guy just screams "I'm threatening you to drop that weapon!" on his face.
So the finals judging for this Dakka Painting Challenge has been completed and winners have been selected from amongst the five finalists chosen by the public voting.
A great big thanks to everyone who took the time and effort to participate...this was definitely one of the more challenging challenges we've done and it was fantastic to still get a great number of entries.
Although we originally announced that only 3 people would be getting a prize, our sponsor for the challenge miniwargaming.com was so blown away by all the amazing entries that we have been able to give away prizes to ALL the five finalists plus a best 'runner-up' category as well. Not to mention the prizes are considerably larger than originally announced!
So a huge thanks goes out again to miniwargaming.com for their tremendous generosity towards the Dakka community. Make sure you check out their site the next time you're interested in buying anything miniature game related.
But without further adieu, let's get onto announcing the winners shall we!
As always, you can click on the images below to see larger versions of them in the Dakka gallery. Winners will be notified via PM as to how to claim their prize.
1st place ($150 gift certificate) - I Have the High Ground by heartserenade
2nd place ($80 gift certificate) - Grot Wars, Oiler vs. Orderly by Arakasi
3rd place ($60 gift certificate) - Loyalist vs. Traitor, an IG Diorama by Decaius
4th place ($50 gift certificate) - Showdown on Kronus by Ouze
5th place ($40 gift certificate) - Fear Denies Faith by Kavika0311
Best Runner-up ($20 gift certificate) - Superman vs. Doomsday by heavybolter
Congrats to all the winners and thanks also to Dakkanaut inquisitorlewis who did all the legwork of collecting and posting the images for the challenge.
See you all again at the next Dakka Painting Challenge!
Big thanks to DakkaDakka, yakface, inquisitorlewis, miniwargaming.com, heartserenade, Decaius, Ouze, Kavika0311, heavybolter, Vitruvian XVII, SlaveToDorkness, Shado.Raith, MrMerlin, RIChYc, Haranos, Ecstasy in Service and AegisFate - this wouldn't have been possible without you!
Roll on the next DakkaDakka Painting Competition I say! Hope to see more Dakkanauts there!
This puts a smile on my face, despite my toothache.
Oh boy, still can't believe I won! Thank you for all the people who voted for me, and congratulations to the others. It's good to see that heavybolter also got something: in my opinion he should also be on one of the finalists! And wow, thank you miniwargaming.com for increasing the prize!
I'll post a P&M Blog as soon as I'm not busy. Thank you again! I don't exactly know what to do with $150 worth of GC, actually... Maybe I can use it to buy something for the next challenge!
This was a really fun challenge. It was my first challenge on dakkadakka and actually one of the reasons I became a registered member. The dakkadakka community is one of the best I've been able to find on the internet. It's large and chock full of talented members who are more than willing to share their experience. Thank you to everyone who voted for me, and thanks to inquisitorlewis and yakface for organizing this, I'll definitely be sticking around here and working on upping my game.
Wow! thank you all for the recognition and especially to Miniwargaming.com and the judges for expanding on the prizes. I was greatly surprised to see the pm in my mailbox saying I won something. I also appreciate all the positive feedback I've received on my work.Thanks again to all.
)
I really enjoyed competing and look forward to the next chance to 
