How to win a Golden Demon!

[AlexDaKid]

Now then! I have decided that this is my year for gold baby! Golden Demon that is!!

Too long has Steve Buddle been bringing in those lovely trophies to my local GW and I want one! Firstly may I point out that this is by no means a case of Steve rubbing my face in it, quite the contrary Steve is as humble as he is bloody talented! No I, like the dwarf and the crew of the Black Pearl have a lust for gold that can\'t be satisfied!lol

Now then I can paint reasonably well, I have practised NMM and SENMM aswell, my sculpting isn\'t particularly brilliant but definately workable.

So CMONers! What do you reckon it takes to win a golden demon? I have seen epic paint jobs and sculpts that don\'t even make final cuts so what in your opinion makes a GD winner!

Answers on a postcard..... Or this thread!

 

[the.hedge.wizards]

to be golden

I think that it is the freehand. I have noticed the absurd quality in the winning work that sets them apart from others.

 

[Cerridwyn1st]

Thanks for the tip

Originally posted by the.hedge.wizards
I think that it is the freehand. I have noticed the absurd quality in the winning work that sets them apart from others.

Thanks for the freehand tip. I hope it really does help. I\'m headed to Games Day Atlanata next weekend, and I\'ve been pushing myself mercilessly to do freehand on the piece I\'m working on.

I\'m doing geometric patterns for the freehand, and very simple pictographs. No flowery scrollwork or stuff like that.

I don\'t expect to win, I\'m going more for the experience than anything else. But if they like freehand, maybe at least I won\'t embarass myself. I can get out of this with my dignity intact, even if I don\'t win any prizes.

One of my friends said I should think positively. I am positive. I\'m positive I\'ll get my butt whopped.

 

[airhead]

I\'ve heard that massive bribes of money and willing women help.

The fig has to be GW. You cannot win on a Reaper fig.

I think it helps if your name starts with a G.

 

[Calavera]

Check the articles section and read Victor Hardy\'s article on winning the Slayer Sword.. etc, some good tips there.

 

[Vahilor]

I think first you have to check out that goatman ist not at the GD, that makes your chances much better to win =P.

I think a good converted and rally awsome Mini helps to win. Often you need also a fancy base and a original idea for painting the Mini.

Vahilor

 

[frenchkid]

Originally posted by Vahilor
I think first you have to check out that goatman ist not at the GD, that makes your chances much better to win =P.

Vahilor

Unfortunatly it would seem that you can but a bad curse on all painting gods at once you\'ll have at least one of them present at a GD. Has for winning I\'d say originality might be an importante factor. Good Luck

 

[wiccanpony]

do you see the whites of their eyes??

Having never been to a “Golden Demon”, the family and I were wondering. Do the Judges use any kind of magnifying glasses to examine the details or do they use just the naked eye??? this from a near blind bat lol

 

[Taer]

Avoid some of the big hit categories like single mini, and 40k squad. Best battle scene is a good one because there are very few entries and the quality is lacking often times, but if you do this one it is imperative that you give it a wooden base.....I don\'t know why but the GW guys really like that stuff. :flip::bouncy:

 

[kittykat23uk]

Well, having been to a couple of games days now, heres what I\'ve discovered:

If you are competing at the UK Games day the key thing you should aim for is consistency with the GW \"Image\". Composition is very important as is a good paint job and a base that sets of the mini well. Note here that good paint job doesn\'t necessarily meen \"clean\" or insanely smooth blending/freehand. They have often gone for a quite gothicy look to, in particular, things like the inquisitor and 40K categories. For things like the Tau, I think they prefer a much smoother almost cartoony look to them. Freehand should be used appropriately and not just to be showy.

They seem to still prefer real metallics over NMM in the UK. Scratchbuilt/ conversions, if done well and combined with the above seem to do well also. Though some unconverted models do still win demons.

Then once you get into the top 10 to 20, its all down to what the judges like on the day. Oh, and be warned that the UK attracts the best painters not just from the UK but from Europe and even the US. They seem to look out for particular styles because they know that the top names are likely to enter. Whilst I was there last year I overheard one of the judges commenting \"So which ones Jakob\'s then?\" and another judge saying \"Err you\'re not allowed to know whos painted what.\" But I think they do have an idea of who painted what (e.g. Steve\'s Jena model which he sculpted for Inquisitor, which had yet to be released was one of his entries last year).

What you mustn\'t do is enter any non GW models or conversions which have obviously used parts from other manufacturers. Also, I think you have to keep the LOTR and other GW products ranges separate due to licencing reasons. Alsdo, getting someone else to sculpt or convert the model and then you paint it is a definite no no.

Hope this helps!

Regards

Kat

 

[KingM]

Also, I think you have to keep the LOTR and other GW products ranges separate due to licencing reasons.

To a certain extent, but a dragon with balrog wings won a demon last year.

And don\'t forget, we\'ll be competing against Tammy in the Uk this year

I would say keep your pieces small, if you end up doing some huge, sprawling display, then you won\'t have time for all the micro-detail, and it will lose out to smaller-tidier pieces. Hope this helps

 

[kittykat23uk]

Originally posted by KingM

Also, I think you have to keep the LOTR and other GW products ranges separate due to licencing reasons.

To a certain extent, but a dragon with balrog wings won a demon last year.

And don\'t forget, we\'ll be competing against Tammy in the Uk this year

I would say keep your pieces small, if you end up doing some huge, sprawling display, then you won\'t have time for all the micro-detail, and it will lose out to smaller-tidier pieces. Hope this helps

Heh but my entry this year is the forgeworld fire dragon! lol

Regards

Kat

 

[t_haye2]

Kat\'s right on most things, but the LOTR/main range mix is allowed, since it\'s a customer\'s interpretation...the only people not allowed to do that are Staff using it for an aricle

Most important thing at the UK GD, NARRATIVE! A model/diorama has to tell a story, the \'look at my great big axe\' pose doesn\'t cut it... also, natural conversions seem to be prefered, instead of the over the top look they like in the USA. I really shouldn\'t tell you too much, since i\'m entering too this year

 

[kittykat23uk]

Ah, thanks for the tips!

Regards

Kat

 

[Kelly Kim]

That Close!!!

Here\'s a tip: Drill out your gun barrels. I was at the Canadian Games Day two years back (now nearly three) and brought 5 entries with me. The large figure Ephrael Stern Forgeworld piece I ended up messing up the night before while \"touching up\" her makeup in my hotel room, so she didn\'t get entered, but the other four entries finished 4th through 6th place.

Wanting to drown my sorrows, I tagged along with some GW employee friends of mine to the staff party afterwards (I did a long stint as a GW retail staffer before that), and ended up sharing drinks with the two GD judges: Mark Jones (terrain builder master for the Eavy Metal team) and Shaun Murphy (an ex-GW staffer from Canada who did a brief stint as an Eavy Metal painter). I asked them what kept my models from winning a trophy, and they in turn asked me what models I had entered.

I got as far as saying something about Sisters of Battle Retributors in the 40K squad catagory, and Shaun burst out laughing, while Mark\'s face had embarassment draped all over it. Apparently they were going to give my unit the silver demon right up until they started putting the models back into the display case. Then Mark noticed that I hadn\'t drilled out the gun barrels, which is a MAJOR pet peeve of his. Thus I went from silver to nothing.

They apologized profusely for this, but I completely understood. Each of us have our pet peeves (mine is people who paint flames darker at the base and lighter at the tips), and sometimes it can make all the difference in the world. Even for Golden Demon judges.

Kelly Kim

 

[Chrispy]

 

[Trevor]

Once you have all the basics down, like amazing blending, awesome colour choice, godlike sculpting and converting skills, then what sets the winners apart is the \"wow\" factor. Something that makes your entry stand out from the crowd.

An excellent example of this is object source lighting, its only recently being used and when done well makes people go \"wow, look at that!\".

 

[AlexDaKid]

Chrispy thats ace!

I\'d like to think I have a slight edge with the fact that no one has ever seen me paint to my highest standard before. I\'ve always looked at the best models on CMON and copied the best techniques from the best painters until I\'ve got them down properly.

The trouble is that all these different techniques are all on different parts of random practise models! If i could use a wood-effect ork arm on a tau SENMM body with a dwarf NMM axe and a light sourced necron head all on one model I\'d be laughing! Combining them and creating good composition I think will be my hardest challenge.

That and plucking up the courage to bludgeon Steve, Jakob and Matt Parkes in the queue before they enter:idea:

 

[AlexDaKid]

And you Tammy!:bouncy:

 

[supervike]

buy one off e-bay...

Didn\'t some little fellow buy an very well painted mini, make a few minor changes and then claim it as his own for a Golden Demon contest....It seems to me that created quite a furor (rightfully so) here on CMON.


That\'s one way to try and win. Sure, it may get you killed, but isn\'t the trophy worth all of that?