Golden demon

[ten ball]

Well the powers that be at GW decided that the little stickers that they place on the minis to say their finalists don't mean fuck all anymore so after a few hours of thinking Andy, Rick (rose model art) & I (and a good amount of other people) had got through to the finals turned out we didn't. Nice one GW you impress the hell out of me.

 

[MAXXxxx]

I have no idea why you expect sanity from a company that proved multiple times that they are anything but.

 

[crystella333]

*shakes her head* they just keep moving the goal posts......

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

Not the best end but i have calmed down now. Called fiancé and that helped!
I collared a judge and he had a good look at my stuff and basically said upping my contrasts and increase highlights would help but not much in it, I agree with all the winners but a couple of finalists in my category I saw at a glance errors which put you out a bit.


I bumped into Aid Bain on way out and he looked at my stuff and said I go for a realistic look and at GW they like more cartoony highlight. So I can give that a go, but I'm not far off.

Was a better turnout than I expected, I got some nice toys and lots of pics.

2016 then.

 

[MAXXxxx]

ohh I forgot: did someone make pics of the entries?

RMA: this I heard multiple times over the years. Choosing a mini that is painted to a lower quality, but how the management would like it.

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

Holy shit, Andy wardles squad only took Bronze! What a joke, it was slayer quality

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

Oh and Scotland lose out by 1 point in last minute, gah!

 

[AndyG]

Really hacked of with the comp. nice standard of minis deserved wins and good lighting. However having entrants wandering around believing they were finalist for hours and then dashing their hopes when they found out the spots mean nothing after years of it being an indicator of being a finalist sucks and sucks really bad. Arse to you GW.

 

[Dragonsreach]

I can understand the dismay on the "organisation" but now you've slept can either Andy, Ten Ball or Rose Model Art give us a less partisan overview?
How many attendees/ entrants, quality of painting, lighting, venue etc..

 

[AndyG]

As said before the lighting was good and the quality of the entrants was very good (interesting in the case of one rather pink flyer). Numbers dunno about 60 ish.

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

Hi, I've calmed down (got Star Wars 7 ticket booked!!!)

The event was good, well organised, a decent attendance, was busy but not rammed.

I like the new shop style and layout of WW, the display museum area was a treat.

Painting wise, the standard was very good, not a huge amount of entries compared with GD proper but every cabinet had 6+ entries at a minimum. Most had 15-30+ (mainly single mini had the highest, lowest was Youngblood but had 6 entries.

I agree with the stuff that won (though not necessarily the order) and just means I have to tweak my style a bit according to judge I spoke to, and Aid Bayne

However the sticker issue was very disappointing as looking at what got finalist I felt a bit hard done by, inconsistency is the worst judging issue I find.

I would go again, just grudge the cost of getting there, but that's nothing to do with GW

Short post, but getting ready to leave hotel!

 

[ten ball]

A selection of photos

View attachment 42886View attachment 42887View attachment 42888View attachment 42889

 

[Dragonsreach]

I agree with the stuff that won (though not necessarily the order) and just means I have to tweak my style a bit according to judge I spoke to, and Aid Bayne

!

I think you might mean Adrian Bay as I understand he was there.

For those who have attended Euro-Militaire and Salute, how would you compare the events?

 

[oistene]

... the level was actually so high that none of you guys even made the finals? I know there are a lot of good painters out there, but seriously?

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

Yep, stupid autocorrect is stupid hehe. I meant Adrian

Saw the gold and silver squad was won by 2 lads from Sweden, their entries were good but Andy Wardles squad was simply better, if Glazed overs squad won gold and the slayer, Andy's was in a similar vein and should have got gold.

It makes me a bit cynical as the squads that got Gold/Silver are very clean, box art style painting, which while very good, weren't as technically well executed or had the wow factor of Andy's.

Can't comment on euro/sal as not been yet. Euro 2016 is planned.

 

[SkelettetS]

yeah, the Swedish guys Martin and Sten (who won silver n gold) paint 1 zillion million % eavy metal style so im not that surprised. well perhaps a little bit, as Andy wardles squad looks like they should had gold by miles.

 

[Dragonsreach]

... the level was actually so high that none of you guys even made the finals? I know there are a lot of good painters out there, but seriously?

I'm going to go out on a cynical limb here and say that it's not the high level of painting that is the issue, more that GW are looking to keep a "level" which they can use as a marketing tool.
Choosing a painting standard which they can 'sell' to 14 year old 'Little Timmies' as achievable helps their sales.

Competition Level/Display level painting that is the "Norm" in independent competitions doesn't have the limitations that a market driven sole supplier organised competition is bound into.
When you consider the competitions like Crystal Brush, Euro, World Expo and San Sevrino (?) GW's comp has become something of a "Last Years Broken Toy" in comparison, and to me this current 'limited' version of Golden Deamon is seeming like a downhill slope to its eventual demise.

 

[ArchArad]

I'm so sorry guys. It sounds like a complete balls up that could have been easily avoided by someone engaging their brains.

I happen to like the more cartoony feel of some of the GW paintjobs. I agree with DR that it does make them seem more accessible to "new recruits", but I find that it suits the style of a lot of their sculpts.

Having said that I do believe that there should be space for people to show off different ideas and approaches. After all, even the "typical" GW style has evolved over time based on their old vs new box art.

I don't mean to sound like a ra-ra GW advocate. I'm new to the hobby so they haven't had a chance to p@%$ me off yet - plus I don't wargame. They're also the models I have access to here in South Africa without having to donate a kidney for import duties and postage. Although DR tells me he's looking to expand my mini horizons.

 

[Bailey03]

Ugh, that really sucks. And I'm shocked that your stuff didn't make finalist. Ever figure out what the stickers were for?

 

[ten ball]

Well we had an idea it was an individual colour per judge to confirm the mini had been photographed but it didn't make real sense because you don't need different colours to mark it's been photographed, one red sticker like normal GD works. So the real answer is no I don't know?