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As always, you can vote for as many or as few entries as you like, for any reason. Quality of paintwork, the effort on show, the interpretation of the theme or anything else that catches your eye. Feedback in this thread or on the entrants’ blog/gallery pages is also very welcome, and many of the images here link through to the Dakka gallery if you want to rate them over there as well.

Nevelon - Librarian and Farseer

Jadenim - Ariman

JamesY - Mr. Grimm

queen_annes_revenge - Erebus

Captain Brown - Phoenix Lords and Farseer

Jamie Shred - Indomitus captain and lieutenant.

Dr.Giggles - Hive Tyrant

JoshInJapan - Dwarf General and Engineer

Mothsniper - Galladon, Male Wizard

Viterbi - Greyfax

ZenBadger - Creed

416_SpaceWolves - Wolf Priest

MobileSuitRandom - Broodlord Vs. Phobos Librarian

Pariah Press - Inquisitor Parris

Freya - Ragnar

ZergSmasher - Sister Dialogus

Vejut - Animal Wizards

Maharg - Farseer

Total - Iron Warriors Sorcerer on Disc on Tzeentch

Sgt.Sunshine - Inquisitor Kyria Draxus

maxwin - Shalaxi Helbane

Tyranid Horde - Excoriators Captain and Lieutenant

Modock - Puppetactica Company

SmallChanges - Necron Enforcer

Ezki - Gang leader


feltmonkey - Mollog


lifeafter - Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought


Turaxa - Eldar Warlock

CancelledApocalypse – Warlock


DV8 - George Washington, Valley Forge 1778


Paradigm - Caleb Widogast


Deadshot -- Librarian


Midget Gems - Librarian


Chris56 – Necron

Congratulations to everyone who entered; there's a LOT of beautiful work to look at here, and everyone should be proud of getting something done for this! Well done!

My top 3, in no particular order beyond how they're listed.

QAR - Erebus - Love the colors; that red armor is lovely. I think the NMM could use more contrast, specifically your jumps from light to dark, and then some really bright spot highlights to push the reflectivity.

Modock - Puppetactica Company - Stellar work as always! I love how cleanly you apply your paints, and how vibrant your colors are. But your base trims kill me.

Feltmonkey - Mollog - I absolutely love the colors on this piece, in particular the mushrooms and the redness on the tip of his nose! My only suggestion is that your blue mushroom and blue frog draw a LOT of attention. Not so much the color, but relative value, and I think it distracts from what I feel should be the focus of the piece (his face).


So many good entries this week, I had to give a couple honorable mentions despite only voting my top 3.

Chris56 - Necron Overlord - I love the warm color tones in this, and the yellow energy orbs are just money. I also know how challenging it is to photograph a metallic model because it can get just real reflective, so sometimes the lighting adds spots of highlights that shouldn't be there, and I think for a display piece, there's a subtle art to nuancing non-metallic colors to control where it will or won't reflect. For example, where a lot of the armor plates in the legs meet and overlap, some angles the lights are clearly adding highlights where you've intentionally painted shadows, but there's still metallic reflectivity in the pigments that's creating that highlight, and I think throwing in some stronger washes of blacks or browns etc. to control that reflectivity would really help tighten this piece up.

Maharg - Farseer - Very clean and crisp paintjob. I just wish there wasn't so much of the same black. A full black model is tough to make visually interesting, and there's a challenge to making a model that's mostly black really stand out. In my humble opinion, I think this piece would have really benefited from a variety of colors and nuances; rather than straight black, throw in a mix of browns, blues, purples, reds, etc, of a dark value into the color to add interest. Maybe even some freehand could've been cool to see, like some runic designs or the Eye of Ulthwe.

Modock - The colors you used are so vibrant for all your transitions. Fantastic.

Ezki - Flesh isn't an easy thing to paint... and that's a lot. You did fantastic work on her! PS the tiger print made me giggle.

Chris58 - As usual I'm blown away by your work. I love that overlord. Best one I've seen and there's a lot being posted on reddit haha!

DV8 - Your lighting control is superb. I legit freaked out when I saw your entry. I'm a bit of a history buff and seeing your model made me squee a bit.

There are so many entries I love that I didn't mention. Everyone has done such great work this month. Lockdown has us all learning new techniques and it shows!

@DV8 You should really give out a few more than just three, just because otherwise you'll only ever be voting for QAR, Modock and Felt every month.

My votes went to DV8, QAR, Modock and Feltmonkey for their usual stellar work. If I could give you guys extra votes in order to weight things, I would. I also voted for:

Maxwin - that's a hell of a Shalaxi, well done! Delicate highlighting, rich deep colours and I love the NMM on the shield and spear! I don't remember if you've done NMM on an entry before?

Chris56 - Very nice OSL, that scythe is awesome and it's cool to see Necron with a yellow glow rather than green. Nice!

ZenBadger - Lovely work, brilliant light and shadow and perfect flesh on his pugnacious little face! What more can I say, other than: "CREEEEEEEEEED!!!"

MobileSuitRandom - More for the excellent work on the Broodlord and the lovely dripping pipe base. The librarian is nice, but could be a bit neater/crisper. I also love the mental game of chess they're playing. FINGERS ON TEMPLES!!!

Total - I love this sorcerer - don't think I've ever seen an Iron Warriors sorcerer before... the black and yellow stripes are really well done, I love the colour choices with the purple complementing the Iron Warriors colours and that helmet is simply ace! Is that light shining through from beneath, or reflections from some fell location/doorway/portal? Either way, very well done!

Honorable mentions to Freya, Captain Brown, JoshinJapan, Ezki, lifeafter and Maharg. I couldn't choose between you guys and I'd already given nine votes, so apologies for not stretching to any or all of you. Truth is, I could have given even more than that, too. :/

Love this contest!
We gots all kinds of people here
Congrats on getting models and pictures over the finish line everyone!

Some pictures are cropped off, is it just me? Some I can click on to see larger version, some I cant click on?

Wow, another month of amazing entries! I voted for about 10, although I could easily have done another 10. Particular highlight was Maharg’s Farseer, because it’s really hard to make a near monochrome model that well shaded and interesting.

 DV8 wrote:
Congratulations to everyone who entered; there's a LOT of beautiful work to look at here, and everyone should be proud of getting something done for this! Well done!

My top 3, in no particular order beyond how they're listed.

QAR - Erebus - Love the colors; that red armor is lovely. I think the NMM could use more contrast, specifically your jumps from light to dark, and then some really bright spot highlights to push the reflectivity.

Thanks! The NMM has actually washed out quite a lot in these photos. There is a much higher contrast on that trim in reality. I had a real struggle trying to get good photos of him, and those were the best I could manage. But yeah, the spot highlights is something I always forget!

It was really hard to decide where to put my votes. I was particularly impressed by all the bold color choices this month.

 Mothsniper wrote:
Love this contest!
We gots all kinds of people here
Congrats on getting models and pictures over the finish line everyone!

Some pictures are cropped off, is it just me? Some I can click on to see larger version, some I cant click on?

I checked for broken links, but didn’t pan and scan the large pics to make sure they fully loaded. When people attach the finished pics directly to the posts, I need to copy the address and put img tags on it. They come across quite large. Some people link to external sites, while others use the gallery here. It can make for a different picture experience. I’d prefer if everyone just linked to the gallery, but that it in no way a requirement.

On the topic of number of votes:

While I try to keep myself to 5, that rarely happens. I also tend not to vote for the top dogs anymore. Sorry guys. You have done so much amazing work over the years, I’m a little numb. That said, you still occasionally wow me and get a vote for when you outdo yourselves and go above and beyond. I figure you’ll get plenty of votes anyways, and I want to make sure people who are pushing themselves (even at a lower standard) get rewarded for beating their personal bests and/or working outside their comfort zone.

Terrific work this month from a lot of people. I handed out a bunch of votes (I think 7 this month..)

A few notes for the ones I found superb:

@captainbrown : I love the colours, the clean lines, and the fact you were able to do three great pieces.

@DV8 : incredible model, incredible paint job.

@Mobile Suit Random - just well done. I love the scene you built with two distinct models.

Nevelon - Many thanks for taking the time to run this months challenge it is greatly appreciated! Nice work on both models, I like the snow specs on the cloak, nice tough

Jadenim - Vibrant colours and a sweet freehand on the cloak, well done.

JamesY - Love it, good clean pin strips!

queen_annes_revenge - I'm painting the Dark Apostle at the moment and you have inspired me to try harder, beautiful freehand work and nice NMM too.

Captain Brown - Nice clean painting with nice shading and highlights.

Jamie Shred - Classic 'eavy metal style well executed, those glowing eyes are something else!

Dr.Giggles - Interesting colour scheme nicely textured and highlighted.

JoshInJapan - These models feel lived in and rugged, great job!

Mothsniper - Nice job though I do think translucent parts are cheating

Viterbi - Great job on this model in your signature style!

ZenBadger - nice model well executed, extra points for upward pointing grass!

416_SpaceWolves - nice to see salvaged parts put to good use

MobileSuitRandom - This is all great but I find it hard to take my eyes off the stealers base, it's awesome!

Pariah Press - Nice work and well done on the shoulder free hand.

Freya - Very nicely done, though I was expecting red hair!

ZergSmasher - well done on all that free hand, always nice to see.

Vejut - Love these, very nicely done. Make sure to shake the lacquer before every use, matt medium is the first thing to sink to the bottom

Maharg - Beautiful work on this Farseer, I will forever alter the way I paint black in the future!

Total - Great paint work on this piece, freehand, feathering, blending ... it's got it all!

Sgt.Sunshine - nice work, more pictures next time!

Tyranid Horde - Great gritty look to this guy, nice freehand too.

Modock - Whenever I see your work I think it looks computer generated, but in a good way, so when I say it looks unreal I mean it!!

SmallChanges - Nice subtle use of Nihilakh oxide and kudos for painting in the floor tiles, nice touch.

Ezki - I guess the 1980's made it to the underhive! great job.

feltmonkey - This is awesome! great smooth blends and vibrant colours, well done!

lifeafter - nice clean paintwork, good job.

Turaxa - well done, good shading on the cloak.

CancelledApocalypse - This is a treat for my eyes, rich! and yes it is my first NMM in a monthly challenge.

DV8 - I'm sure in some elite circles it might be said you didn't quite nail the lighting, but in my humble opinion its a master piece!!!

Paradigm - Nice work, i love the painting style.

Deadshot - Good solid paint job!

Midget Gems - Good work, love that base.

Chris56 - Love it, the emerging krons are awesome!

That was a big Job!!!

Thanks for the feedback maxwin! Those glowing eyes are actually just tesseract glow over white, then i added a bit more to the edges of the sockets after highlighting the gold.

 maxwin wrote:


Mothsniper - Nice job though I do think translucent parts are cheating

Sure, don't matter, it looks good

Some even consider editing your pictures to bump the contrast cheating.
People used to consider Vermeer using camera obscura cheating too.
And I used to consider photobash concept art cheating too, at the end of the day it does not matter, as long as it looks good.

So cheat away lads and lasses!

I think this is the most votes i have given out so far at 15. Some feedback for the entries that caught my eye.

QAR - fantastic paint job as always and i love how much effort you put into your bases too.
CB - 3 models with quite different colour schemes is a challenge to knock out in a month as i know from the space marines round. Quality work on all 3 and all the more impressive that they were done so quickly.
Josh in Japan- love the grim dark pallete and the lantern looks great too.
Mobilesuitrandom - nice pairing. I love the patterns on the librarians cloak and the super neat highlights on the broodlord which adds visual texture.
Freya - nice red to yellow fade on the chainsword and super consistent highlights on the armour.
Maharg - a great example of how to highlight black which is always vote worthy to me.
Total - loads going on with that model but it all ties together nicely. Im impressed with how even the hazard stripes are.
Maxwin- im not familiar with that model but it reminds me of magnus. Love the purple blends and super bright silver.
Modock - nice mix of colours expertly delivered with uniform bases to tie them all together.
Ezki - very colourful and another good example of highlighting dark tones, really like your rust too.
Feltmonkey - nice and colourful and the blue looks electric.
Cancelled apocalypse- great work and bonus points for the sword. I wish i had done something like that on mine instead of the lines.
DV8 - i would genuinely be interested in your thoughts to what went wrong with the lighting because it looks fantastic to me.
Midgetgems - great work and done in what? A day? Really pleased you fought through your struggles to get an entry in.
Chris 56 - fantastic yellow glow and i really like the orange fade on the war scythe too.

 Mothsniper wrote:

 maxwin wrote:


Mothsniper - Nice job though I do think translucent parts are cheating

Sure, don't matter, it looks good

Some even consider editing your pictures to bump the contrast cheating.
People used to consider Vermeer using camera obscura cheating too.
And I used to consider photobash concept art cheating too, at the end of the day it does not matter, as long as it looks good.

So cheat away lads and lasses!

I edit my photos on Instagram. To be fair, unless you have an amazing camera/booth set up, you're always going to lose quality in photos. The way I see it is editing them just helps to bring some of that back.


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Jamie Shred wrote:


QAR - fantastic paint job as always and i love how much effort you put into your bases too.

Thanks! Faces and bases. Been something of a motto for me since day one.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 maxwin wrote:


queen_annes_revenge - I'm painting the Dark Apostle at the moment and you have inspired me to try harder, beautiful freehand work and nice NMM too.

I look forward to seeing it. Your KoS is awesome. When that popped up after I posted mine I was actually a little heartbroken haha. I like the darker vibe it has. I've been toying with the idea of buying it myself, as it's a lovely model. But the last large model I got (Magnus) is still unfinished over a year later. Maybe one day.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

Jamie Shred wrote:


QAR - fantastic paint job as always and i love how much effort you put into your bases too.

Thanks! Faces and bases. Been something of a motto for me since day one.

Totally agree with this! I'm pretty good at faces (I think), but I always feel my bases are somewhat lacking. I've been meaning to ask you how you go about building your bases up for a while. Any tips?

On the topic of 'cheating', I photograph on a decent canon camera and make sure I take the photos in RAW format, that way you can take it straight into photoshop and all the colour information from the real world is there, no compression to jpeg or any other file format. You can raise and lower the exposure really easily, so if you got the lighting/flash setup slightly wrong (which I usually do, being a rank amateur) you can bring it back close to what your eyes are seeing without too much difficulty.

Oh, and please please please finish your Magnus!

@Maxwin Thanks! Appreciate the nice comment from a painter of your skill. Like I say, loved your Shalaxi. My Eldar senses are worryingly attracted to it...

@JamieShred Yours was another I almost voted for. I agree the sword could have been a bit better, though. If you want a good tutorial for the way I did mine, Darren Latham's my guru at the moment. It was my first attempt painting a sword like he does: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiWqMB9VbIc Mine could have been a bit neater, though...

 CancelledApocalypse wrote:

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

Jamie Shred wrote:


QAR - fantastic paint job as always and i love how much effort you put into your bases too.

Thanks! Faces and bases. Been something of a motto for me since day one.

Totally agree with this! I'm pretty good at faces (I think), but I always feel my bases are somewhat lacking. I've been meaning to ask you how you go about building your bases up for a while. Any tips?

On the topic of 'cheating', I photograph on a decent canon camera and make sure I take the photos in RAW format, that way you can take it straight into photoshop and all the colour information from the real world is there, no compression to jpeg or any other file format. You can raise and lower the exposure really easily, so if you got the lighting/flash setup slightly wrong (which I usually do, being a rank amateur) you can bring it back close to what your eyes are seeing without too much difficulty.

Oh, and please please please finish your Magnus!

I'll share a little story about this base. I started off using some scenery concrete stuff, but it didn't look right, so while it was wet I took him off, then frantically looked around for something to get on there that looked good. What I found was some big chunks of cured milliput that came from my original hobbit hole diorama,( that I had also pulled apart half way through the process due to being unhappy with it.) I broke them into smaller chunks, and threw them onto the base in a way that brought him up, and allowed the pile under his raised foot to look natural. Then I blended the concrete paste up around it and put some small stones on. The whole thing probably took about 10 minutes. Paint wise, I painted it grey, drybrushed some deck tan and white, gave it an all over wash with slimy streaking grime, then put some rust and russian earth powder on the next day. I'm actually a pretty terrible hobbyist. Everything I do from painting to the modelling side is terribly planned and I usually just totally wing everything from start to finish. Sometimes I have a very basic idea of what I'm starting with, and I do try to ensure good composition, both physical and with my colour schemes, but I could definitely do much better planning wise.

Edit. I realise this has somewhat undermined my previous response to the comment about the effort I put into bases...

Thanks cancelledapocalypse i will check that video out. In all honesty i just ran out of time for the sword, it was a washed dark blue until the last day and i didnt really have time to redo it, kinda wish i had left it as it was.

I voted for DV8 - George Washington, Valley Forge 1778 this month. Brilliant painting and the face looks so expressive.




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Honorable mention to ZenBadger - Ursarkar E. Creed as well, I really like choice of colours and in a universe of gene-enhanced killing machines it's nice that a human is recognised as a genius!

 maxwin wrote:

Freya - Very nicely done, though I was expecting red hair!

Lol! I thought about it... buuuuut the whole Blackmane bit won over in my head so I made chromatic black paint and went that way instead.

Many great entries as always. Thanks to Maxwin for the feedback.

Here are some entries that stood out to me:

Queen_annes_revenge: The NMM trim, the face and the excellent freehand on the cloak are really good. Also painting all the effects purple makes them much less distracting than giving them natural colours.

JoshInJapan: I really like the subdued, realistic colours on these.

Mothsniper: That's a cool use of a clear plastic effect part.

MobileSuitRandom: The bases on these are great, especially the water spilling out of the pipe the genestealer is standing on.

Freya: Smooth blending and a nice conversion on the head.

Maharg: I like the highlighting on the black and the subtle use of purple as a third colour.

Total: Those hazard stripes are really crisp and I like the faceless mask, it works really well to help differentiate the figure from a normal chaos marine.

Maxwin: The gems and metallics on this are really good and that's a lovely purple.

Modock: A box-art-worthy lineup. Impressive.

CancelledApocalypse: With your entry and mine being alternative sculpts of each other, this really gives me something to aim for. Respect for painting those baubels as gems, I know how tiny they are. Also thanks for posting the tutorial for that awesome sword blade technique.

DV8: Excellent, he looks like he has stepped out of a painting.

Chris56: I love the addition of colour to the metallics on this and the glow effects.

I've been pretty lax in my commenting in the last few of these voting threads, so I'll make it up by commenting on everyone!

Nevelon: Another good clean entry as always! Very good choice of subject, seeing as they are counterparts in their respective armies.

Jadenim: Ahriman looks great! I really like his 30k model. The freehand details on the cloak are especially cool!

JamesY: Not entirely sure which game system this guy's from, but the model is full of character and the color choices really make it look great!

queen_annes_revenge: You've really outdone yourself this time around! The freehand on that guy's cape looks amazing!

Captain Brown: Gotta love the characterful Phoenix Lord models! They have lots of cool little details. It's always fun to get some paint on important characters such as these, and your paint schemes look great on them!

Jamie Shred: Solid work on two very popular character models. The eye glow on the helmets is especially well done!

Dr.Giggles: I almost didn't recognize this model, probably because I haven't seen many Hive Tyrants without wings. I love the consistent edge highlights on all the carapace segments.

JoshInJapan: Those are super cool! Made all the cooler with some superb brushwork!

Mothsniper: Nice looking wizard you got there! The highlights and shades on his clothing are very well done!

Viterbi: I've never seen Greyfax painted like that. It's always cool to see a unique take on a fairly well-known model, especially when it's this well done! I also like the little vignette she's a part of.

ZenBadger: CREEEEEEED!!! He seriously looks awesome, just an all-around well done model!

416_SpaceWolves: Pretty solid work converting up that Wolf Priest! I especially like the Crozius (if Space Wolves actually call it that).

MobileSuitRandom: Cool face-off between a couple of very cunning foes! The freehand on the Libby's cloak looks great, as does that Patriarch's skin!

Pariah Press: That Inquisitor is making good use of filthy Xenos tech, isn't he? Cool model!

Freya: That is one badass lady! Wouldn't want to get on her bad side, huh? Cool concept with even better execution!

ZergSmasher: If there was one thing I could do over again on my entry, it would be the script on the various parchments and books. I need to learn to paint consistent thin lines. Problem is, the paint wants to dry on the tiny brush before I can do much. I'll figure it out eventually.

Vejut: More animal buddies! You always find such cool characterful models to enter in these things, and your painting is definitely getting better! Keep it up!

Maharg: While Craftworld Ulthwe might tend to have models that look black and white, the few splashes of color on that Farseer really pop because of that. Exceptional work!

Total: Even that Disc fits in with the Iron Warriors theme! I love it!

Sgt.Sunshine: A cool model with a cool color scheme. I really should pick that model up myself eventually since I'm kind of collecting Inquisitors (or intend to).

maxwin: Love the colors and how they contrast with each other! The dark purple is really well done!

Tyranid Horde: I love the gritty look you've got going on here! Yet another cool take on that Indomitus captain!

Modock: Those are really well done, but then I'd expect nothing less from you! I didn't know Infinity had those interesting little robot guys!

SmallChanges: Really digging the color palette here. The checkered base is really cool too and somehow really seems to go with the model.

Ezki: Bright colors suit Escher gangers well, and you've got no shortage of those! Awesome!

feltmonkey: I can't imagine letting mushrooms grow on your back could be good for your health. Awesome model from you as always!

lifeafter: With a white main color, splashes of other colors really add interest, and you seem to have done pretty well on that here. The gold trim and red shoulders are really nice on this guy!

Turaxa: Not sure why, but somehow I thought of The Joker from Batman when I first saw this model. Nice retro sculpt and a cool color scheme!

CancelledApocalypse: I love the bright orange on his clothing and the teal power sword, and the gems look really nicely done!

DV8: Somehow the way you've painted Washington makes him look like he's in a painting or something, which is probably what you were going for. I love it!

Paradigm: Even with eye troubles you've managed to bang out another nice entry. Must have been different to use all those lighter tones compared to your usual dark and gritty stuff.

Deadshot: Looking good! Although I have to wonder where that Blood Raven swiped that sword from...

Midget Gems: That's a cool looking Libby! You don't usually see that kind of bright green on Space Marine weapons, but it looks pretty good honestly.

Chris56: The model looks great, but it's the base that makes it special I think. Very creative!

Phew! That's a lot of entries this time around! Hard for me to make much of an impression when I'm in such excellent company. Shout out to Nevelon for stepping up to the plate so Paradigm can get his eye situation dealt with. It's a lot of work I'm sure, so I gotta respect anyone who's willing to take it on. See you all in the next one!

@Zergsmasher, for fine lines, try thinning the black a little more and use a leader brush; it has a fine point, but a long, thin, belly that can store more paint.

It still takes a lot of patience, redipping and touching up. Oh and very often cursing and swearing!


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Oh, and thanks to you and Maxwin for the fine comments

Thanks Zergsmasher and Maxwin for the comments, always interesting to hear what other people think of the quality/style of the painting.

@Zergsmasher - It is definitely looks like a different model without the wings. I have them magnetized for when I want to use them but didn't feel like painting them this time around.

maxwin wrote:

Viterbi - Great job on this model in your signature style!

Thanks maxwin! I wasn't aiming to develop one, but it's hard to deny

ZergSmasher wrote:

Viterbi: I've never seen Greyfax painted like that. It's always cool to see a unique take on a fairly well-known model, especially when it's this well done! I also like the little vignette she's a part of.

Thanks ZergSmasher! At first I was always apprehensive to use a different color scheme on characters, but it is really fun.

I'll be a little lazier than maxwin and ZergSmasher and as usual only comment on my votes. Still congrats to everyone who finished, for me this comp is always also about reducing that ominous grey pile.

Nevelon: I just love the pairing of those two with the same pose. Add to that a clean paintjob and the fact I see JD and Turk singing "a surgeon and a doc" and we have a winner

ZenBadger: You can't get more mastermindy than Creed. And no one else would command the respect of the whole imperial guard whilst wearing a coat three sizes to big!

MobileSuitRandom: Love the little scene in the first pic and overall the colors on both the blues and purples kind of connect them.

Total: Really cool and unusal conversion with the sensible Iron Warriors and magic of Tzeentch.

maxwin: Amazing work on the skin and all the little details.

Ezki: 80's look and Necromunda are a perfect fit. Upon looking at the pictures again I really love the back of her cloak, the color is just lovely.

Haven't done a comment on all for a while so its about time I did one, great to see so many entries

Nevelon - The Librarian robes have come out really well. Thank you for running the challenge this month. you are awesome
Jadenim - Good freehand on the cloak and nice strong colours on the model
JamesY - Excellent detail on the trousers and good red highlights which i always find hard to get decent photos of.
queen_annes_revenge - Love your work Queen Ann, I now regularly check out your Instagram account
Captain Brown - Lovely bright clean eldar models CB
Jamie Shred - These are pretty dam awesome, almost look cartoony and so much detail on them done to a very high standard
Dr.Giggles - I like the effects you have given the scales, the models feels very cold then the vibrant red picks out parts nicely
JoshInJapan - Nic eto see a square base These are some finely painted models Josh, congrats
Mothsniper - You have been able to distinguish between the different whites and materials really well
Viterbi - The metallic blue/green is very interesting on the Armour and the snow is a nice touch to match it.
ZenBadger - A well painted model, he fits the theme perfectly
416_SpaceWolves - Well done for entering, its really hard to see the model and what you have painted so this might affect your overall votes.
MobileSuitRandom - A nicely matched pair, some really interesting shadow colours on the models that it didnt expect to work but do really well.
Pariah Press - That looks like quite a custom creation? if so very inventive
Freya - Great tone to the model and highlights, and the eyes actually look like eyes facing the right way, nice work
ZergSmasher - Great work Zerg, loads of detail on that model, your painting has improved massively from when you first started
Vejut - You always make me smile with your unique animal models, you are great keep up the good work.
Maharg - A simple but stylish model with good highlights
Total - A very cool and well painted mode, hard to see at first but when I open the photo up was a lot of nice painting there.
Sgt.Sunshine - all the basics are there and the colours are clean, think more detail on the winged creature would have really made the model complete.
maxwin - Holy cow thats awesome, wonderful skin tone and just painting in general
Tyranid Horde - This one really stands out for me, you have limited the colour pallet but added some really nice detail and effects on the model.
Modock - Wonderfully vibrant Modock, so glad you enter these challanges every month
SmallChanges - nice mix between the purple and green, the base must have taken ages, those squares are so small.
Ezki - Great to see more stuff from you, a perfectly vibrant model for an Escher
feltmonkey - great mixed of green/yellow n the skin, that puddle looks alive!
lifeafter - Very clean and nice bold highlights
Turaxa - Congrats on getting a model finished
CancelledApocalypse - The sword is brilliant
DV8 - That is simply superb, painting for the direct of the light is hugely impressive, its like you have made a Rembrandt for us lucky few to enjoy
Paradigm - Great to see you are still getting the entries in para
Deadshot - Face has come out really well and nice pose to the model
Midget Gems - I got something done (only thakes to encouragement from Chris), thats an achievement as I didnt think I would make it.
Chris56 - Yay you got your entry in to, very nice idea to have the nercos rising out of the ground

Thank you for the comments maxwin, Jamie (yes was done in about 2 evenings), Zerg (yeah I went for that to match my other SMs that have green blades to contrast their red armor)

Freya wrote:DV8 - Your lighting control is superb. I legit freaked out when I saw your entry. I'm a bit of a history buff and seeing your model made me squee a bit.

Cheers! I have a couple more historical pieces that I'm just waiting for the right topic to pull out for.

CancelledApocalypse wrote:@DV8 You should really give out a few more than just three, just because otherwise you'll only ever be voting for QAR, Modock and Felt every month. ...
If I could give you guys extra votes in order to weight things, I would.

I'm accustomed to a traditional podium finish, and I don't like to throw out too many votes for the very reason you stated, it throws off the weighting some. For the scoring, I go top 3. Honorable mentions for the ones I loved but felt lacked in some aspect or another that prevents them from contesting one of my podium selections (obviously subjective, I think everyone who finished something and more importantly, improves on their previous work, is already a winner).

queen_annes_revenge wrote: Thanks! The NMM has actually washed out quite a lot in these photos. There is a much higher contrast on that trim in reality. I had a real struggle trying to get good photos of him, and those were the best I could manage. But yeah, the spot highlights is something I always forget!

That's fair. I totally understand how photos can throw off contrast and colors. Still a great piece!

Freya wrote:@DV8 : incredible model, incredible paint job.

Thank you!!

maxwin wrote:DV8 - I'm sure in some elite circles it might be said you didn't quite nail the lighting, but in my humble opinion its a master piece!!!

Jamie Shred wrote:DV8 - i would genuinely be interested in your thoughts to what went wrong with the lighting because it looks fantastic to me.

So there are parts that I think we're executed better than others. His face I think works very well for the effect, his right shoulder capturing the light (and I love the color mix), as well as the top part of his blue vest.

I also like the color recipe for his cream uniform, but where I think I failed was largely because I started with these brighter "richer" colors instead of really establishing the contrast between night and the dawn.

I think my shadow areas should have had less definition, not as strong highlights, and I should've pushed it more into the blue tones. I should've leaned more strongly into getting my darks truly dark to contrast the bright elements (and provide more focus). And I should've leaned into more of the snow and played around with more reflected light (something that was a result of my not having much time to work on this at the tail end of the month).

Ultimately I think I need to dial it back to "simpler" pieces where I can really focus on how to pull off the effect I want (like a bust) instead of a full figure with so much detail, and I need to exaggerate the lighting throughout the painting process without getting caught in a trap of over refining the details on the piece.

Kroem wrote:I voted for DV8 - George Washington, Valley Forge 1778 this month. Brilliant painting and the face looks so expressive!

Thank you! The face is definitely my favorite part of the model and where I believe I was the most successful in this lighting experiment!

Turaxa wrote:DV8: Excellent, he looks like he has stepped out of a painting.

ZergSmasher wrote:DV8: Somehow the way you've painted Washington makes him look like he's in a painting or something, which is probably what you were going for. I love it!

Midget Gems wrote:DV8 - That is simply superb, painting for the direct of the light is hugely impressive, its like you have made a Rembrandt for us lucky few to enjoy

Cheers! I've definitely been in much more of a "textural" phase, inspired by a lot of traditional classic Renaissance painters, focusing less on technical aspects like perfect blends, and more on color, lighting, and mood, partially combined with working quickly to not get bogged down in a piece. I get bored of a piece really easily so I usually try and keep things loose and quick unless I'm entering for competition.

Dropped votes in on everybody who linked to their gallery page. Don't think I've got the energy for commenting on everybody this month, but the general standard is really high this month!

 maxwin wrote:
Vejut - Love these, very nicely done. Make sure to shake the lacquer before every use, matt medium is the first thing to sink to the bottom

Yeah, I thought I had, but apparently, not hard enough! Even went back and tried another shake and application, didn't do much.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Vejut: More animal buddies! You always find such cool characterful models to enter in these things, and your painting is definitely getting better! Keep it up!

 Midget Gems wrote:
Vejut - You always make me smile with your unique animal models, you are great keep up the good work.

Thanks for the kind words! Tried to get a bit more back to quality this month and work specifically on the fabric blends, and glad to know people like the model choices.

I'm a bit late getting round to this, but here are some brief comments. It's been another great month - the standard is so consistently high now it's amazing. Thanks for the comments, DV8, maxwin, Jamie Shred, ZergSmasher, and Midget Gems, and thanks for the votes, whoever voted for me! I think on reflection the blue is a bit distracting. I painted those bits that colour because I liked the colour rather than due to any real pre-planning. Annoying.

Nevelon - Nice colours and neat painting. I really like the bits of snow you do stuck to the lower parts of the model like their feet and the bottom of the librarian's cloak. It ties the models to the base so well.

Jadenim - I love that model. I painted one of them a few years ago. I bought that entire box set he came in, but Ahriman remains the only model from it that I have painted. You've done a great job on all the details, and I particularly like the runes on the scrolls.

JamesY - That's a cool model, and you've given him a really eyecatching and characterful paintjob. Nice work.

queen_annes_revenge - Great work from you as usual. I don't think the purple OSL is quite working, but I can't put my finger on why. The freehand on the cloak is just superb though.

Captain Brown - Really neat, really bold and saturated colours. There's a lot to like here.

Jamie Shred - Awesome stuff. I always enjoy your super-bold, almost cel-shaded or comic-book style. The eyes are excellent - I knew you could do them! My only criticism might be that the sword looks a bit odd. I can see that you've tried to move away from the traditional ways of painting swords and power swords though, and it's always good to experiment.

Dr.Giggles - Interesting colour scheme for tyranids, and really good painting. The transitions on the claws are excellent.

JoshInJapan - Lovely shading and highlighting, just a very nice traditional paint job. The bright highlights on the face draw the focus really well.

Mothsniper - There's something endearingly retro about this whole mini. Perhaps it's the green base that's making me thing that, I don't know. Smooth work on the cloak (and nice subtle weathering) and I like the clear plastic magic thingy on the end of his staff.

Viterbi - Nice work on a really detailed model (and another one I've owned for years and not painted) and a pretty original colour scheme! Some of your colours are fighting each other a bit, and she's really plastered on the lipstick! Overall great work though.

ZenBadger - I fully expect this to win this month, as a Baneblade full of votes appears from nowhere at the last second. You've done a really nice, super-readable paint job. The face is great.

416_SpaceWolves - Tiny pictures, unfortunately. I like the conversion, although I think slightly thinner paints and a bit of wash on the metallics would add some definition.

MobileSuitRandom - A nice atmospheric duel. It's really good overall, but my favorite part is the work on the genestealer's base. Great water effects!

Pariah Press - A crazy-looking model! Is it a kitbash? I notice you've said you sculpted his legs yourself, so good job there. I've never managed to sculpt anything, so I'm impressed. He's really got some junk in his trunk too.

Freya - More sculpting, so I'm impressed again. The face looks excellent, and I like the tone you've got on the armour. Is there a gradient on there, or is it the way the photos are lit?

ZergSmasher - The most 40K model this month. Nice use of limited, muted colours. The face is really well-painted, it's a shame the photo of this part of the model is slightly blurry.

Vejut - I love that pipe-smoking badger. Nice solid painting, maybe go a shade brighter on the highlights on the blue, although it already pops quite well. I like to imagine that somewhere there's a shop that sells exclusively anthropomorphic miniatures, who are kept afloat thanks to their only customer, Vejut, buying armfuls upon armfuls of animal minis every week.

Maharg - Really smooth, really precise, really classy. Great work.

Total - Very cool conversion, and a nice clean paintjob.

Sgt.Sunshine - Nice solid, blocked-in highlights, particularly on the cloak, which contrasts nicely with the green armour to create a dramatic-looking piece.

maxwin - My favorite this month. Really beautiful work, the purple is absolutely gorgeous. Even better than that though, is the shield. I love it.

Tyranid Horde - Very nice work indeed. The texture work and weathering are very good, and nice job on the freehand chapter symbol.

Modock - So neat, so sharp, such smooth blends! You've done it again.

SmallChanges - That base is cool. It must have taken ages to do! Good atmospheric job overall, although I think you could maybe do with one or two brighter colours. The photos might be making it look dark, I don't know.

Ezki - Very nice, cool-looking model. Great work on the tiger print.

lifeafter - Very neat, clean work. Nice colour scheme, too.

Turaxa - The pink robes look good, the way you've done the shading in the creases. You've really got to thin your paints down a bit though. I know it's a cliche, but it's good advice. You're losing details on the model.

CancelledApocalypse - Lovely work on the sword, and the orange robes. Great stuff overall, really.

DV8 - Really nice, another of my favorites this month. I love the way you've captured the light coming from Washington's right. I'm also a big fan of the colour on his jacket, that sort of really dark turquiose. I don't suppose you happen to remember what paints you used on that part, do you?

Paradigm - Great job continuing to struggle through your problems with your eyes in order to keep up your streak. I like his pet cat (or is it a fox?)

Deadshot - Nice solid work, especially on the face. Deserves more in the voting.

Midget Gems - Good stuff, nice detailing and edge highlights. I think the green might be a bit much though. Oh, and I love the base.

Chris56 - Really cool, and painted astoundingly fast, if I remember correctly from the thread.

Nice work everyone!

 feltmonkey wrote:


Vejut - I love that pipe-smoking badger. Nice solid painting, maybe go a shade brighter on the highlights on the blue, although it already pops quite well. I like to imagine that somewhere there's a shop that sells exclusively anthropomorphic miniatures, who are kept afloat thanks to their only customer, Vejut, buying armfuls upon armfuls of animal minis every week.

That company is Oathsworn, and to be fair, HighlordTamberlane and a few other posters here help too!