How far away from \'normal\' can a GD entry be?

rocketandroll

New member
Hi all, firstly, I hope this is ok under general discussion, if not appologies... it seemed the best heading!

I\'m starting work in a month or so (doing designs now) for a GD entry, probably for 40K vehicle.

I have two ideas I\'d like to persue however both leave me a little concerned about being a little too \'unconventional\'.

Especially having read again GW\'s somewhat patronising \"How dare you think you mere mortals can design something for OUR worlds\" demon article in WD recently I am concerned that I could spend 300hrs+ on a model only to have it disqualified because it didn\'t match someone\'s idea of what an XYZ should look like.

Specifically, without going into too much detail the two options are:

A: A large imperial robot... looks kinda similar to one of the old style Warlord titans, only much smaller, about \'knight\' sized, say 7\" to 9\" tall and bent over... kinda imagine the b*stard child of a Warlord titan and Golum :) It is not a titan, and it is not a drednought... and I\'ve recently found out that the \'character\' the idea was originally based on came from a member of the public, so it isn\'t official GW fluff. Even if it looks very old-school imperial, will it get overlooked because it\'s not a known vehicle?

B: The alternative plan is to do a small ork Stompa being repaired by a mech boy. I want to enter it in 40K vehicle ideally so my concerns are twofold... firstly, if the \'pilot\' of the vehicle is either standing next to it, or standing \'on\' it, but isn\'t actually piloting it... am I going to get accused of making a \'diorama by a different name\'? Secondly.... I don\'t want to make it look like a traditional GW designed stompa (ie: with the traditional bulbous shape, wide at the bottom with no legs and big feet)... I want to make it look a bit cooler. Still very orky, but kinda more like a V12, go-fasta, mechanical gorilla with big guns. Taking some styling cues from such things as Robosapien (the toy robot), Freebooter \'Warjacks\' and such like... but very orky. Again, it\'d not be huge, perhaps 50% bigger again than an imperial drednought... large walker sized, not titan sized. Is that going to p*ss off the judges enough that someone dared to design something that doesn\'t match the \'ministry of information\' approved idea of what such a vehicle should look like that they\'ll ignore it, or does the fact that it is orky and as such inherently prone to being a one-off give me enough leeway to get away with it?


I know such discussions are hard without drawings however as these are GD entry ideas I\'d rather not post drawings if possible.


Any general feelings from people about what is and what isn\'t likely to incur the wrath of the judges for being too far from the accepted norm?


All advice gratefully recieved as always!!


Merry Xmas all



Ben
 

freakinacage

Well-known member
for the first one, if it doesn\'t fit into the fluff and isn\'t in the \'ethos of 40k\' you wont get far i reckon. sounds cool though so do one for yourself! and show me the pics!

as for the ork thing. as long as it does look orky, it should be ok. although it sounds as it it\'s not big enough for me
 
First of, I think that your Uk Entry, the Necron, is the way you should head in order to win something at GD... I think it is very good and it has the right spirit of a good entry...

This spirit has to contain something personal to be good... some character from an idea you bring in... the technique follows and has to be really good as well, naturally...

Personally I always think about what I have never seen and what I would love to see... mix this with a bit of humor, hidden detail for the spectator and try to create a atmosphere that is as dense as possible...

Tell a story with your Entry...

I find the Idea of the Mini Gollum Titan interesting, but I am quite sure it will be VERY hard to do if you do it totally by yourself, because this would surely look not GW... and it is their competition, so they chose, whatever they can use...:)... Even if your robot is 900+ hours of work, can fling fireballs out of it´s ass and dance a Polka...

The second idea is better, I think... it has a great potential for a Golden Demon, becasue Orks is something very characteristic, quite funny and economic to make (it looks good with not much efford...)...

I think you will not have any problems handing it in in 40k Vehicle, check out the 2007 French Winners, Ben Komets Entry... it was no problem with this and it can be seen as a Diorama as well, so... you can do it...

Do the best you can, do something characterful, do something for you and bite yourself through the harder parts... I think you can do it...
 

Talonicus

New member
I think your first idea may be treading a fine line, it may well depends on the mood of the judges on the day.
The second orky one should be fine. Orks make everything unique, so aslong as its mad, funny and badass no problems.
I can\'t see one or two descreet figures making it only applicable for the diorama category.
Also, only just starting on your GD entry.... leaving it a bit late.
:p
lol
 

rocketandroll

New member
Thanks both for comments...

Although with the Imperial robot I\'m confident I could make something that looks right... it\'s just that it doesn\'t specifically illustrate a vehicle or character created by GW officially.... which is a concern.

I would tend to agree that something orky is going to be easier to make look good by it\'s very nature. Unfortunately I haven\'t posted any finished minis in the last year so I haven\'t got any examples to give but dirty/rusty metals is the main thing I\'ve been working to get right the last year so it\'d suit an orky vehicle.

My concern (noting what Freakinacage said about size) is that the ork thing is too large to count as a drednought and too small to be a stompa gargant...

I\'m guessing if an entry can\'t fit in to the existing rule structure it\'s less likely to be allowed.

Where can I find \'official\' rules that would give me the parameters (ideally inc size and weapons) that cover Ork Drednoughts and Stompas... so I can try and either make it larger (or smaller) to make it fit the rules a little closer.

Thanks for the comments on the Nightbringer btw, it is the closest I\'ve come to winning a demon... it\'s hard to engineer ideas like that though, that one just came to me :)

I really just need to find a subject that really excites me enough to keep me interested until the model is finished and painted... my trouble is I keep getting distracetd and having \'better ideas\' before I finish anything :)


Cheers all


Ben
 

rocketandroll

New member
Originally posted by Talonicus
I think your first idea may be treading a fine line, it may well depends on the mood of the judges on the day.
The second orky one should be fine. Orks make everything unique, so aslong as its mad, funny and badass no problems.
I can\'t see one or two descreet figures making it only applicable for the diorama category.
Also, only just starting on your GD entry.... leaving it a bit late.
:p
lol


Thanks dude, I think you\'re right that the ork entry is more likely to be allowed. I also think it gives me the greatest scope for creativity... Everyone is thankfully talking me into what I wanted to do anyway!

As for 10 months not being long enough... it\'s even worse than that as I\'m working solidly the next six weeks on entries for GD Spain... so I actually only have about eight months to get stuff ready for GD UK!!! :)

Mini painting is one of two time consuming hobbies I have and the other one is an outdoor one I tend to do in the summer so I try and get as much of my GD work done over the winter :)


Cheers all for your help so far!!!


Ben
 

peteh

Member
Just one quick comment about your first idea - why can\'t it be classed as something from the Adeptus Mechanicus e.g. a security/gun servitor?

But saying that I do like the Ork idea ;)
 

rocketandroll

New member
Originally posted by peteh
Just one quick comment about your first idea - why can\'t it be classed as something from the Adeptus Mechanicus e.g. a security/gun servitor?

But saying that I do like the Ork idea ;)



It\'s an idea.... unfortunately I\'m not really sufficiently up on relevant 40K fluff to be able to see where it could fit in to the 40K universe... maybe I need to start reading a bit more :)

Neither idea is gargantuanly original... but I think I could make them really stand out from a design perspective.


The ork idea really just screams \'do me, do me\' a little louder than the Imperial robot idea.

For now at least :)


Ben
 

lono

New member
If you want to have a great chance of winning their competition make and entry that encapsulates their background and imagery.

If you want to make a great model that is a bit less suited to their worlds, by all means have a go, just be prepared to miss out on trophies no ,matter how accomplished your modelling and painting efforts are.

I think that\'s pretty simple.

Having said that, neither ideas vastly out there and with the right kind of treatment could easily fit into the 40k world. There used to be Epic Imperial Knights back in the day so that could fit:

5aad_1.JPG


As for the Stompa, Ork vehicles can look like anything really, so again I think you could keep it within the IP of GW. Also a pilot who is out of the vehicle doesn\'t mean that it automatically becomes a diorama. It should be fine for a vehicle unless you go way over the top with the base and other models and details around it.
 

freakinacage

Well-known member
Originally posted by peteh
Just one quick comment about your first idea - why can\'t it be classed as something from the Adeptus Mechanicus e.g. a security/gun servitor?

good idea. there\'s loads of random mechanical stuff in the horus heresy books
 

matty1001

New member
Does it matter?
If you have a really cool idea and spend loads of hours on it be proud of what you have done, don\'t try to please GW, do it for yourself!

And theres more competitions than just GD!
 
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