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Alpharius wrote:That is AWESOME!

Not sure how I missed it/overlooked it until just now.

Seriously though - well done indeed!

Do you have any more pictures of your painted stuff you can share?

Not really. I have some pictures of a Necron character in my gallery, and some really bad pictures (looks less washed out and the blues are brighter IRL) of a Canoptek Spyder here (not finished, lacks some OSL): http://imgur.com/a/GrFOO#0

The Necrons aren't up to the same standard as I'm going to paint my CA for obvious reasons. Imagine using NMM on a 2000 pt army... I'm re-doing my Space Marines for the fiftyeleventh time now (I'm starting to like the look of them finally), so I'm going to start posting some of that as well in a while. I think I might go with NMM on them though. This was the first time trying it out, and it wasn't horribly difficult to get a decent result. So yeah, I'm juggling a lot at the same time, and as a consequence, nothing gets finished. Even though I'm not everly fond of contests, they do make me finish my stuff (for better or worse), so perhaps I need to participate in some more.

If you're hypothetically in the top 5, is it okay to reveal your entry.

You know, speaking hypothetically.

also, inanimate that is an awesome paintjob. Can't believe I missed that either.

In that hypothetical situation, I think I'd wait. Best not to give the judges any possible reason to disqualify you.

I would probably wait mate, I think the results will be up tomorrow in any case.

Don't worry Pacific, it's just hypothetical.


Just a curious observation on my part: I noticed that most of those who got high votes are at the first 20, and entries that I think would've placed higher (namely 28,35 and 39) were placed lower. So it got me thinking: has the number of entries affected the likeliness you'll get a vote based on how you were placed on the list? Maybe after the first twenty entries one sees it can only absorb so much information. Has anyone who has studied human attention span or whatever chime in? Obviously this is a layman speaking, but I'm just curious.

heartserenade wrote:Can't believe I missed that either.

My entry was obviously TO camouflaged to give you guys a fighting chance, but it backfired in my face.




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heartserenade wrote:Don't worry Pacific, it's just hypothetical.


Just a curious observation on my part: I noticed that most of those who got high votes are at the first 20, and entries that I think would've placed higher (namely 28,35 and 39) were placed lower. So it got me thinking: has the number of entries affected the likeliness you'll get a vote based on how you were placed on the list? Maybe after the first twenty entries one sees it can only absorb so much information. Has anyone who has studied human attention span or whatever chime in? Obviously this is a layman speaking, but I'm just curious.

I definitely think that being placed higher up has a lot to do with getting more attention from casual observers, but that couldn't have resulted in too many extra votes. The Oniwaban was #28 in the list and still got 126 votes, which I think is pretty much what it deserves. I think it's mainly a coincidence. But then again, you guys mentioning you didn't even notice my entry makes me wonder...

No idea, Aura's was 36, and apart from the washed out look the camera did on the cream leggings, and the fact you can't make out the arabian details she has on the leather, I thought it would have placed higher.

Like I said the voting thread, the one thing we have really learned from this, is we need a better camera, better light, and possably a better bacground.

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Like I said the voting thread, the one thing we have really learned from this, is we need a better camera, better light, and possably a better bacground.

Which is why I encourage everyone to enter - no one seems capable of learning this from previous competitions (myself included) - only by participating

I think I should do a tutorial:

How to Befriend a Professional Photographer and Convince Them It's a Good Idea to Take Photos of Your Work.


Seriously, I had photography classes in college and I still suck at it. If you know you suck at taking photos and you don't have the time to learn how to, having a friend/significant other/relative who knows photography more than you do really helps.

BTW - I guessed your entry incorrectly (it has been claimed by someone else) - so now I don't know if I beat you or not! I guess I only have another day to wait...

Well, to paraphrase a Dirty Harry quote:

I know what you're thinking. "Did he/she got more votes than me or not?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is Dakka Dakka, the most popular miniature wargaming forum in the world, and would show to everyone that I have beaten you, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

I'm still not 100% on my guess on your entry, so I also don't know if I have beaten you. We shall see, my friend... We shall see... *cue ominous music*


Unless your entry is Saladin, in which case you have beaten everyone hands down.

Mine is Señor Massacre... painted up like a Phantom from Mass Effect.

Humanity first!

That one was one of my favourites, loved the vivid colours on it!

Here's mine:



Tough competition! Im proud of this miniature but I think some paint chipping would have helped, and more detail on the base. But interesting that the Saladin has almost no detail on the base but is the top voted fig. Go figure!

I wonder if people become fickle when voting? Like, viewing something as an extremely detailed base as a gimmick, and therefore not vote for something minor that sets them off?

At any rate I'm gonna base a nomads force around this guy, with this color scheme. I was also trying some more experimental techniques such as weathering powders and a oil glaze over the red, which I got some comments on. Personally, I love the way it looks and I want to deviate from the standard Eavy Metal techniques.

Damn Cave, thats a nice model. Seeing that painted up makes me want it over the Szalamandra... outright wicked.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't like fancy bases on painting comps. Yours is simple, fits the model, and doesn't distract. Perfect. Same with Saladin. Nice and simple, the painting on the model should be the focus.

@Pacific - Thanks chief, I really liked your Jan. The greens were vibrant and the painting was nice and clean. I hope you put that effort into the rest of your Haqq, that army will be amazing!

Mine was the Knight of Montessa with the dodgy sword. I couldn't get a theme I like with it so gave up on that part a little It was very gratifying to see so many entries after all the work that went into getting this slice of forum.

That's a beautiful mini Cave_Dweller. It helps that the mini (IMO!) is one of the coolest in the game, but you've done a great job with it!
Can I ask how you did the yellow markings on the legs, and the cat on the arm? That's a really nice touch!

The voting business is a funny old thing. I didn't really see anything gimmicky, other than perhaps the mongoose on the base of one mini. I think the Saladin was probably easiest for most non-Infinity players to identify with, and as others have said it was a long list of entries. I wrote down all the numbers I voted for and went back to it to enter the votes, but how many people would bother with that? Far more likely that most people just scrolled down to the first one that looked like a professional job/photo, and said "that'll do".

This one was mine .... I knew that there would be entries that would surely outclass mine so i just added the fire to at least make it interesting and perhaps unique. I only did this for 2 days...I even thought it was disqualified or something for not making it to the selection initially. I was supposed to submit it collage type when i realized that I didn't have a program to compile the pics.

It was true about one comment on my source of light and rendition of shadows...but like I said the addition of the fire was a last minute thing and I didn't want to repaint the highlights and shadows anymore.




My goal now is to improve my painting skills to make it as clean and smooth as the others.

Pacific wrote:That's a beautiful mini Cave_Dweller. It helps that the mini (IMO!) is one of the coolest in the game, but you've done a great job with it!
Can I ask how you did the yellow markings on the legs, and the cat on the arm? That's a really nice touch!

The voting business is a funny old thing. I didn't really see anything gimmicky, other than perhaps the mongoose on the base of one mini. I think the Saladin was probably easiest for most non-Infinity players to identify with, and as others have said it was a long list of entries. I wrote down all the numbers I voted for and went back to it to enter the votes, but how many people would bother with that? Far more likely that most people just scrolled down to the first one that looked like a professional job/photo, and said "that'll do".

Hey thanks. The markings are decals from various other kits I've saved up. The cat is from a tamiya M1A1 Abrams kit, and the yellow markings are from an old ass Votoms armored trooper Japanese mech kit.

Your jannisary looks good, like those smooth greens on the shoulder pads.

@pointblank - That Mini was a lot of fun. I actually just painted up my own Naffatun the other night. I definitely liked the flames on the base.

Pointblank wrote:I was supposed to submit it collage type when i realized that I didn't have a program to compile the pics.

Next time I can help you with that. I'm a graphic designer by trade so I have all the relevant programs one would need to do montages and stuff. I can't take good photos, though: you're on your own on that one!

But there, if you need to do montages don't hesitate to ask. I don't know if it's allowed for contests though but for minis to be put on your gallery I would be happy to edit the photos and such.

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:@pointblank - That Mini was a lot of fun. I actually just painted up my own Naffatun the other night. I definitely liked the flames on the base.

Thanks! My initial plan was to make a snow camo Naffatun with melting Ice on the base....but since I only decided to join the last 2 days before the deadline, I didn't think i could pull it off...so just went with the fire which was simpler...but now i glad I did coz it looks more dramatic.

heartserenade wrote:

Pointblank wrote:I was supposed to submit it collage type when i realized that I didn't have a program to compile the pics.

Next time I can help you with that. I'm a graphic designer by trade so I have all the relevant programs one would need to do montages and stuff. I can't take good photos, though: you're on your own on that one!

But there, if you need to do montages don't hesitate to ask. I don't know if it's allowed for contests though but for minis to be put on your gallery I would be happy to edit the photos and such.

Thanks bro...will keep that in mind.



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Cave_Dweller wrote:Here's mine:


Tough competition! Im proud of this miniature but I think some paint chipping would have helped, and more detail on the base. But interesting that the Saladin has almost no detail on the base but is the top voted fig. Go figure!

I wonder if people become fickle when voting? Like, viewing something as an extremely detailed base as a gimmick, and therefore not vote for something minor that sets them off?

At any rate I'm gonna base a nomads force around this guy, with this color scheme. I was also trying some more experimental techniques such as weathering powders and a oil glaze over the red, which I got some comments on. Personally, I love the way it looks and I want to deviate from the standard Eavy Metal techniques.

Your models is actually painted very cool...If im playing nomads im getting me one of those.

For me ...with the Saladin...it's the face.....i couldn't paint me that face if i was given 20 Salandins with 20 tries.

Pointblank wrote:
Thanks! My initial plan was to make a snow camo Naffatun with melting Ice on the base....but since I only decided to join the last 2 days before the deadline, I didn't think i could pull it off...so just went with the fire which was simpler...but now i glad I did coz it looks more dramatic.

I like that idea. I typically have snow on the bases of my guys, but I figure I'll leave it off of the two Naffatuns I have... snow wouldn't stand a chance around them!

I actually just now posted the one I painted up over the weeked on my plog.

Mine's the second Myrmidon Officer (#40, I think), which actually got the fewest votes of any! Do I get a wooden spoon? Or a donation to the Buy Ian A Lightbox Fund?

Lightboxes are pretty easy to make. I just made mine with white Gina cloth, bristol board, some glue gun and extra foam boards. The lights I use are desktop lamps and such. I believe there's a lot of very helpful tutorials out there how to make cheap lightboxes. Having a nice camera, on the other hand...

You can make a lightbox pretty easy but if your unwiling ebay has a good one for 30 quid.

On topic, hopefully there will be another one of these so I can maybe enter my Scots.

Saladin certainly one of the best looking models out them all

Its a little late now guys but I really wish you could have waited to post and talk about your entries, and again I wish you would have done so in the official thread (here's the link if you want to check out the winners):

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/90/449488.page#4307785


The reason for this is fairly simple: There's a limited time frame where people are interested to come check out the painting challenge winners and during that time people are more interested in hearing anything about the entries...what you did that worked or didn't work, etc. So its great to have all that conversation in that main thread, and similarly there's a reason I like to hold off posting the user names for each entry until the winners are announced: because it builds a little bit of anticipation and then when we have winners announced everyone can gather in that thread, talk about who did what, etc, etc, etc.

So its no huge deal, but please in the future try to hold off talking about your entries until after the winners are announced for the challenge. I know everybody wants to talk about their entries so its hard to wait, but there is a reason behind the rhyme.


Anyway, thanks again for all the great entries!


Oh, and there's literally no reason you shouldn't be able to either buy or make a lightbox or equivalent. Check out my article about the myths of mini photography here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Debunking_the_Myths_of_Miniature_Photography

This is my entry, the Nomad Hellcat with HMG. I had this model prepared and primed before the contest and that was the reason for selecting it. I went with plan to make the Nomad's colors nice and harmonious and then have the weapons and base bring some contrast to the entry, which worked up to certain level. I paid attention to getting smooth blending and nice color transitions. The base was made to balance the fig as the original pose is looking too much down for my taste and the new base was done to fix this.

In the end I'm quite pleased with both the end result and my place in the results. It would have been nice to get some free hand mixed in the wings or other armored areas, but I didn't have time to try it out. Without it the fig doesn't have the pop that would be required to place in a competition with this level of entries.

thank for your votes - critics


i'm happy to have joined but i'm really sorry for the overall result. I have received some bad comments so i can't say it's a good or bad work.
Maybe the photo was taken too much near, dunno what hasn't worked.
I tried to use a "soft" painting style but it seems to be too much blurred.
She also has lot of little gems i did but they are too small to be seen. A real shame.
Sorry and good job to all

zoddozoddo wrote:
thank for your votes - critics


i'm happy to have joined but i'm really sorry for the overall result. I have received some bad comments so i can't say it's a good or bad work.
Maybe the photo was taken too much near, dunno what hasn't worked.
I tried to use a "soft" painting style but it seems to be too much blurred.
She also has lot of little gems i did but they are too small to be seen. A real shame.
Sorry and good job to all

First off, again I really wish you guys would post your commentary and any additional pics in the official thread instead of here (hint, hint ):

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/90/449488.page#4307785


But as for your entry, I don't think 4th place in public voting and mere percentage points away from being 3rd place in judged voting in a field of 42 entries is anything to be ashamed of!

I think part of painting in a challenge like this is to realize the limitations of the medium and play to those strengths. I think the models that finished above you tended to have more stark colors that really accentuate the model even in photographed form, whereas although I imagine your model is terrifically blended if I could see it in real life, is just not something I can truly appreciate given the photos we have to work with.

Obviously in a perfect world we could allow a bunch of really high quality pictures for every entry, but the reality is that to allow a multitude of entrants and to allow everyone's entry to be voted on in a single thread then we need to restrict everybody to a single photo. So knowing that, its kind of something you can plan for and work into your design process if your goal is really to focus on winning.

The only other thing that I can say as being someone who did some of the final judging is that overall I personally don't think the colors you chose for the model: the main turquoise vs. purple didn't really compliment each other in a pleasing fashion to my eye and the little muted red & green sections didn't really help this problem out.

I think that's always something you have to worry about when the two main colors on the model aren't specifically complimentary colors for each other.

So I do think your photo was a good size and distance from your model, although it does seem like maybe it could have been lit perhaps slightly better, although at the end of the day for me as I said before the color choices would have made it really hard for me to pick as my top choice no matter what the photos looked like.