Well, what can I say. I know that I put in a lot of time and effort on this piece, and I am very pleased with how it came out.
I tried many new things with this, not least making a large piece of terrain. Small pieces, I have done. Large models, I have done. But I approached this like I do any of my models and built it up piece by piece.
Not everything went to plan, and I had to modify or fix things as I went. There are things I would change or improve, but overall I'm happy with it.
Thanks firstly to OMN for running this round, judging all the pieces (which is harder than it looks from the outside), and presenting all of us with a nice challenge for the theme. I'm sure you had everyone scratching their heads with what to build and how best to represent the theme.
And thanks to everyone that voted for the community favourite, and especially those that voted for me. I am blown away at the margin that my piece won by.
Congratulations to both Cam' and
MT for your podium finishes. They are both well deserved.
Well done to everyone that took part, new- and old- hands at the hobby, you all produced great work and should be proud.
Those of you that made something over the space of a few days, made 2 or 3 attempts at a piece, or had to contend with real life (good, bad or just time-consuming), I salute you all.
So, some quick feedback from me (as it comes, I'm not spending hours looking at close ups this time):
ChrisWhite: That is a nice, little piece of terrain. It's a great effort considering you have used your entire paint collection on it, I probably used more paints just making my concrete look just right
Nice idea using the can in a cardboard tube, as it makes it look like a lined or dual layer pressure tank. Good use of parts overall.
Always good to see sprue getting some use.
The fence could have done with being made to look longer than one section. Where it is there, it looks like it is only one section and two posts. I came upon this same problem with my wall. I just extended it as close to the edges of the base as I could (and I have plans for possibly extending it in the future). For your fence it's a bit more tricky, maybe going for 3 posts and having the outer 2 right at the edge of the base... Or, moving what you have there over to one edge and then extending the netting to the other edge but then leaving it broken, laying on the ground.
Tekthorin: I do love how real the concrete looks on your model, material and painting. The design is nice and I like how old it looks.
It could have used something to break up the grass round the back though. At the front you have the rocks, but round the back it looks a bit plain and clean. The trees do help, but maybe some patches of longer grass, a dead patch, some more rocks, or some mud/dirt showing would have helped give it a bit more interest.
GawdamSumbish: I've heard about using those tin dish things for craters, but your's has sold me on their use. It is a very realistic looking crater. The bomb also looks good. Nice use of parts and I like the painting all over, including the green spill.
The crater could maybe have been a little deeper in the middle compared to outside, but I appreciate that it's not possible to do this on something that can be placed on a flat surface. That adaptability (as I mentioned in my post in the voting thread) is a definite plus over my cumbersome base that requires a whole table to fit together as a jig-saw. Maybe just rouding the bottom of the pit would work better than a flat bottom... Something to think about.
trollmeat: It's a great idea, and it's nice to have a story to go with the piece. Good use of parts. Nice grubby painting.
I think though, that your presentation has harmed your entry a little. The writing seems to overpower the photos, rather than working with them. Some of the photos could have benefited from better, less harsh, lighting.
Also, the framing of your photos could be improved, as the terrain piece is often missing a bit and we don't get a good look at the whole piece from the front/back/side. As this competition is about the terrain, that's what we want to see... in addition to the fun angles with posed models.
Anvildude: Considering the time you did that in, that's very good work. Hopefully you continue with it now that you have the luxury of time.
Good idea, Like the use of the keyboard keys (something I'm going to have to remember).
EyeamRai : Again, another first time, trying something new entry. Keep at the sculpting, it does get easier with practice. Nice story to the piece also.
The painting of the stones is fairly good and gives a nice "stone" look. The bases though could do with a bit more variation in shading/tone. They are a bit too "this is some green next to some brown" (not to sound too harsh). Try some dark washes and then some lighter dry-brushing on both the grass and the mud. That's pretty much all I do on my grass and mud.
And blur the edges where the grass meets the mud, the delineation is a bit too stark.
Camkierhi: Well, I've sung your praises over on the voting thread. I know you didn't have all the time you wanted on this and there is therefore more work to be done on it. So there are a few rough edges and I'm sure you know where they are.
However, what you have done is great. Your freehand has really improved and things like the happy moon on the front of the blimp is excellent.
Lots of little details all over the piece, and we all know what I think about little details.
Great job on it, and I hope you come back to it when you have the time.
monkeytroll: Like Cam (and a few of the others really), you ran out of time to get it to the level you wanted and I also look forward to seeing you finish it off.
The story of your piece is what I really like. Such an everyday occurrence, transported into the future world.
The design of the buildings, surroundings and the car...thing, are all very nice. Those robots are the perfect choice also.
And now...
You are all dying to know what the next round will be...
I do have an idea, and it's harking back to how these contests started; with a material, rather than a theme, as a limitation.
And no it won't be sprue.
Although I may add that as a bonus point...
It needs a little massaging and the post will take me a little while to write up. But when it's ready I'll post a link in here and we can all start from scratch all over again...
I'll be back.
And thanks again.
// inmygravenimage - Dr H is a model to us all 
