First Painting Competition
Published 1 Nov 2024
I wanted to challenge myself this year. One thing on my bucketlist was to enter a miniature painting contest - not to win, but to try to push myself beyond what I would normally consider my best. I saw that a hobby shop was hosting the Immortal Brush painting contest which seemed ideal and would give me enough time to prepare something. I wanted to enter my Dark Angels terminator captain but the single mini cateogry included monsters and larger figures, so instead I decided I would prepare the 5 Deathwing knights I had been slowly painting throughout the year into the sci-fi squad category. At the point of deciding to enter them I had not even completed the armour but I hadn’t even started on the captain!
The original knights are some of my favourite Dark Angels models - to accentuate the gothic vibe I replaced the heads with some Grey Knight helmets which look suitably medival. The newer knight models are cool but they lack that classic grim-dark feel of older 40k models. The maces carried by these models look like religious relics and the shields just add to the atmosphere.
My other deathwing armour recipe was not going to fully sell the ancient vibe, so I started from a much darker desaturated base colour mixing every shadow colour with ’Rubber black’ from AK interactive. I think the result was much more dramatic and really suits the models.
Due to some unexpected life events (and a lack of consistent painting!) I ended up with much less time than I had initially planned for, turning this into a real challenge. I realised that one of the knights’ arms was glued in a strange way and did not look great; realising I wouldn’t have time to fix that model I replaced him with one of my favourite 40k characters: a Watcher in the Dark! These little guys look so cool in their tiny robes, like baby Ringwraiths! And they are part of the squad in the game anyway so thematically they fit. I found that the red paint I was using would actually dilute and flow really well and tried some smooth blends on his cloak, which seemed to go quite successfully. I started with a base of black-brown and moved up to a pure ’Dirty Red’ from AK interactive - this red is much brighter in reality than it looks on the website. The final piece has some additional highlights mixing this red with ’Pale Sand’ from Vallejo.
Despite the tight deadline, with a few full days dedicated to painting and an all-nighter pulled the day before the event I managed to finish! Overall the process was very enjoyable and I feel like I pushed myself further than I thought I was capable of. I tried really painting light and shadows on the armour for the first time, and pushed the contrast much further than I usually would. I am very pleased with the result! As of writing the models are currently sat in the shop awaiting judgement, an update (and more pictures) will follow soon.
Update
I did not win - but it was really cool to go and see all the entries, and meet a bunch of like minded people who had also been pouring their hearts into their respective projects. Mine was the 88th out of 92 I believe, so I was right at the back in the bottom of the case! Not saying that had anything to do with the result, but it certainly was hard to get a proper look at them. Next time I wont be submitting an entry with 2 hours to the deadline… honest!
The standard was really good, and I think it was the perfect level for me. I genuinely think my minis stood a chance, but there were some great entries and the winners all thoroughly deserved it! I’ll be entering another contest next year, now I know I’m capable of more than I ever thought I was. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me and I’ll be setting some higher standards for my paint jobs from now on. If you’re getting to a stage in your painting journey where you’re thinking of entering a painting contest, I’d highly encourage you to just have a go! Even if you don’t win anything you will definitely get something out of trying your absolute best on a piece.
I did actually win a small prize from the raffle which was awesome - the raffle winners got to pick from various swag piles, and I got a metal rack for my paints, an exclusive DnD vampire mini (which I will do a post about one day), and another mini of a guy holding a sword which upon closer inspection appears to be ‘Minsc’ from Baldur’s Gate I!. The little hamster ‘Boo’ gave it away - this thoroughly pleases me, as I used to play BGI when I was very young on my Dad’s PC, and Minsc was always a favourite. So, really, I think I came out a winner in the end.