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Love both of those, Guys!
and now for the rest of my crappy pics!



Mooooar!

Hearts, thanks that totally makes me feel better now!

Oh man, I'd sure love to se all those entries together on a table!

I love how everyones further photos are miles better than the ones we chose. We could all definitely learn from this!

Vitruvian XVII wrote:I love how everyones further photos are miles better than the ones we chose. We could all definitely learn from this!

Yeah... seeing mine against some others made me:

But yours is good! Those extra photos raise its level from cool to awesome!

Thanks man. I loved yours even before I could see all of it clearly.

Oh well! So when's the next one?!

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:





Showing scale against a space marine...

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...

Jesus Christ. That's incredible.

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).

And yes, more competitions please!

How many entrants are ctually happy about their photos?
I second the idea of two images being allowed!

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

Well I didn't get to many votes but the photo looked pretty bad actually, making the collage hurt the quality, oh well better luck next time.

I do agree with the first placer though, his entry was awesome and deserved winning.

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.

I voted for the guardsmen who is about to die. Just the concept alone gives it bonus points in my book. Also this was before your added pic.

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.

I agree with heatserenade, you did a very good job, lewis!

My favs were "Fear denies faith" and the Superman one!

Thank you very much, heartserenade! :-)

Thanks everyone for the votes and aswell as everyone else, should have taken better pics with a lightbox.

Cheers Daecius! Everyones entry was awesome tbf.

@Yak: Yeah i def would appreciate larger pic sizes for this kind of entry. It proved a real struggle trying to get everything seen.

Have to say that the Superman scene is incredible. There was no appreciation of size in the original pictures, I thought they were 30-40mm.

So? Whos the winner now? My guess'd be either "I have the high ground" or "Loyalist vs. Traitor"

Exciting it is.. My guess is heartserenades entry,,,

Considering his triple the second entry i'd say it's a lock...lol