Does the quality fo the miniature count?

[sulaco]

When giving a core to a posted miniature, how heavily does the quality of the sculpt count into your score, if at all?

Do you find yourself giving better scores to mediocre paintjobs on awesome figures, or even giving a low score to an average paintjob cos it \"ruined\" a great figure?

I know when I see a really kickass Rackham fig for example that I am often so impressed by how great the sculpt is that I have to force myself to pay more attention to the paintwork so I can give a fairer score.

 

[Chrispy]

Sculpt is a big factor. If something in pewter looks like it was made out of modelling clay by a 2 year old, I don\'t care how good it\'s painted, it\'s absurd to even think someone would like to paint it. Likewise, if the sculpt is great but it\'s just a basecoat that doesn\'t even count as a paintjob! (Note: that means things that haven\'t been converted, I take that into account but I still don\'t like unpainted weapon swaps and such)

 

[finn17]

Hugely.

(Ello Chrispy!)

There have been a number of long threads on this topic before, but basically the diluted wisdom would seem to be: This is \'Cool Mini\', not \'Cool Paint Job\' and certain sculpts have a \'glass ceiling\'. Other sculpts look good even with a relatively poor paintjob.

If the site wasn\'t so slow, I\'d dig the last thread or so out for your perusal, but currently it will be faster if you just do it yourself...

 

[PF]

I try to vote only on the work of the guy/girl who posted...This means I consider sculpts only when done by the CMONers here whatever it is:conversions,terrains and of course greens

 

[Jkaen]

Thats all well and good, but bear inmind some minis you just cant make look good, whereas others its easy to make look well painted, mini choice is important i think if you are point chasing

 

[Trevor]

Simple answer, yes, because the vote isn\'t just on the paintjob, but the whole execution and that includes how the mini looks.
You\'ll notice that certain sculpts seem to always score relatively high, they have that all important \"WOW!\" factor.

 

[tabithatan]

I\'d vote for the overall look.

This takes into account that the painter in question already knows that if he has a badly sculpted mini he knows what to do in terms of painting or modding to make that mini look as nice as it possibly can.

I dun think ppl would paint just any mini they can lay their hands on, ppl paint what interests them and what they see beauty in.... and its part of the skill to bring out that beauty which they see in the sculpt so others can see it too...
if they do it well, even with a bad sculpt, then they should get the points they deserve......

speaking of which, d ya notice that recently there\'ve been more instances of score sniping? Just a thot.

 

[Impernouncable]

Let me put it this way.

It\'s easy to screw up a good figure and hard to make a bad figure look great.

In practice, when I do score a figure, I take into account exactly what I see. If the picture sucks, the paint job sucks, or the mini sucks, the score goes down. OTOH, if I ever happen to see a WizKidz or TSR repaint that looks absolutely phenomenal, it may score a bonus point or two.

 

[Taer]

Heh, Yeah. When I\'m voting I go by first impressions then think, \"why the hell did I vote like that\" as the next one loads. That\'s why I don\'t vote often, I can\'t trust myself to be consistant at all. Anyone else have this problem?
:flip::bouncy:

 

[supervike]

yup yup yup

Originally posted by Taer
Heh, Yeah. When I\'m voting I go by first impressions then think, \"why the hell did I vote like that\" as the next one loads. That\'s why I don\'t vote often, I can\'t trust myself to be consistant at all. Anyone else have this problem?
:flip::bouncy:

I \"hide\" the votes of others, so hopefully I can give an honest opinion without being swayed, but once the score comes up and I notice my vote is two points higher than the average, I start thinking maybe I should have been tougher on that one...

Sometimes the reverse happens when my votes is considerably lower than the average then I really reconsider my vote.

But onto the original post.

The sculpt is extremely important, but I agree with Tabithan that the overall look is the key.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Supervike:

The sculpt is extremely important, but I agree with Tabithan that the overall look is the key.

Yeah there\'s truth in that. But I have seen a couple of really \'Fugly\' miniatures posted on this site with great paintwork and I\'ve voted according to the quality of the paint, not on my regard for the miniature.
(I guess that means I\'m hedging my bets on answering the question..... maybe I should go into politics.....Nah shaving one face is bad enough!)

 

[Mengu]

Sure the sculpt plays a role. I can\'t deny that. When I see an unexceptional mini painted really well, I usually leave a comment saying precisely that.

 

[KingM]

I think not just the quality, but type of model plays a part. If it is a type of model that people see a lot (eg Space Marine) then it\'s going to likely get a lower mark than a more unusual model that has been painted to the same standard

 

[vincegamer]

You bet your sweet bippy it does!

Personally I paint whatever I can get my hands on (sorry, Tabithatan, but it\'s true).
That said, I find it more challenging to get a bad figure to look good and I\'m a nut for historical minis - not representing history, but \"here\'s what the state of the art was in 1977 dwarves\" historical.
My scores may suffer, but hey, I paint what I want to paint.

 

[D.O.Error]

When voting I consider the sculpt and quality of the photo as well as the paint job.

 

[Kendaric]

I try to focus only on the painting when there is not conversion involved...
But it\'s really hard not to judge it, and if it\'s a crappy mini you naturally tend to vote 1 point lower.

However, as soon as convertions start, I also judge the sculpt.

 

[dauber22]

For good or evil, it seems like almost everything can influence the score. YOu\'d like to think that the overall look of the mini was the most important thing, but the quality of the sculpt also plays a part. So the does the quality of the photo. I try not to intentionally downgrade someone\'s score because of a bad photo, but sometimes it just makes it impossible to see well enough to give it a better score.

Other things that can influence scoring:
what other people have given it for votes, whether or not the submitter is a \"known\" name, what kind of day you\'re having, the quality of the last few minis you\'ve just seen, how many other versions yyou\'ve seen of the same sculpt, the scale of the mini, is it a single mini or a diorama or a regiment/squad, if it\'s called \"another mini\", whether or not the submitter has put any explanation with it, reading the comments left by others...

I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the picture.

 

[Sand Rat]

Everything affects the score, just like Dauber has said. A bad picture will get a lower score, just as a really good picture will get a higher score. And if the sculpt is for crap there is nothing that can be done paintjob wise to save the mini. Having said that, I like Vincegamer paint everything I can get my hands on, including really bad 20+ year old sculpts from Heritage, which are fun to practice on but suck otherwise. They also make great cannon fodder on the board, which is why I paint them.

 

[sivousplay]

I think that the sculpt does/should count. Just like choosing colors & basing materials, the choice of sculpt to paint is all part of the process of putting together something that\'s cool.

As many figures as all of us no doubt buy, there are some we don\'t. Why? Because they aren\'t as cool to us. Seems it\'d be the same when somebody else paints a mini we think is cool as opposed to painting a mini that we think should stay in the blister.

jim