Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Do Not Miss: December 2014

The end of the year is here! Let's say goodbye to 2014 with the final list of Do Not Miss from December:

Miniatures

Articles and tutorials

I wish you all the very best for the new year!!! May your brushes be filled with lots of paint at all times :)

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Finishing up the Phoenix Guard scheme

I'm back with some painted things to the blog. In Spain, today is the equivalent to April's Fools (December 28), but this is not a joke! Really! I am painting again! :)

I bought myself some old Phoenix Guards, those metal ones, that are very likely to become the next to join the ranks of my High Elves army. As usual, I first paint one to test the colour scheme, and then use it on them all. So far, this is what I have done.

What do you think? It is still missing the freehand with the phoenix flames in the cape. The scheme is still unclear to me, because it does have to match the overall scheme of the army, but maybe it is too similar this time and they are elite guys. I was thinking of switching to the typical white cape (GW codex) and change the reds for turquoises instead. Opinions? I would like to hear your thoughts! :)

Don't worry because as soon as everything is in motion, there will be a detailed step by step article of them all. These days that I am on Christmas vacation, I have time to paint so I hope to show more stuff soon.

Oh, I nearly forgot... happy holidays! :)

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

This weekend in Madrid: II Goblin Painting Awards

This post is to announce that this weekend we have an interesting local painting contest in Madrid. I won't translate the Spanish text since it is unlikely that any non spanish speaker may attend, but if by any chance you happen to be in Madrid this weekend and want to attend, just let me know!

Este post es para recordaros que este fin de semana se celebra la segunda edición de los Goblin Painting Awards, el concurso local de Goblintrader en Madrid que ya el año pasado fue un éxito (de crítica y público, claro jeje). Este año, y tras la buena experiencia, van a repetir propuesta y se va a celebrar la segunda edición. La entrega de premios se celebrará el próximo DOMINGO 21 DE DICIEMBRE en la tienda de GOBLINTRADER MADRID (c/Enrique Fuentes 22).


Al igual que en la primera edición, el concurso contará con un jurado de excepción (o lamentable, según se mire) formado de nuevo por Samuel Pérez, Pablo López Jimeno (Paloji) y yo mismo, al que se nos une mi viejo y "mítico" amigo David Cañas. A Paloji ya le conoceréis de otros sitios como el podcast de El Big Three, o cómo ganar la última Espada de España sin haber pasado por la peluquería (ay, ¡esas puntas abiertas!). A Samuel igual no le tenéis tan controlado, pero es un gran pintor de Figura Histórica que se prodiga mucho en eventos nacionales e internacionales y que tiene un largo historial de figuras de esta temática (vamos, de histórico historial). A David Cañas podéis seguirle en Minimum Army.


El año pasado durante el concurso, Paloji deleitó a todos con su asombroso pelazo

Tontadas aparte, el concurso, si es simplemente la mitad de bueno que el año pasado, promete mucho, así que no os lo podéis perder. Además reparten muchos premios de material, pinturas y miniaturas, de hecho es de esos pocos concursos a los que de verdad renta presentarse (en mi opinión, claro está). ¡¡¡Afilad los pinceles!!!

Os dejo con las bases del concurso, sacadas del anuncio en Facebook del evento.

    Inscripción

    Se fija como plazo de inscripción el período comprendido entre el día 1 de Noviembre y el día 20 de Diciembre.

    Las inscripciones al concurso podrán presentarse en nuestra tienda en Madrid (c/Enrique fuentes nº22, 28026 Madrid), personalmente o por correo electrónico a la dirección: eventos@goblintrader.es. Igualmente podrán presentarse el día 20 de Diciembre hasta las 17:00 horas. La inscripción deberá mencionar la categoría por la que se compite, así como los datos personales del pintor, y un correo electrónico de contacto. La inscripción tiene un coste de 4€ por miniatura, 6€ dos miniaturas y a partir de la tercera miniatura la inscripción máxima que se abonará será de 8€ por todas las miniaturas que se presenten, pudiéndose presentar un máximo de dos miniaturas por categoría, y cualquier cantidad en el concurso.

    Celebración:

    El concurso se celebrará los días 20 y 21 de Diciembre. El plazo límite para presentar las miniaturas al concurso será las 17:00 del sábado 20 de Diciembre. Se comenzará la exposición de las miniaturas el viernes 19 a partir de las 17:00, continuando la exposición hasta el domingo 21 finalizando el concurso a la 13:30.

    Jurado y evaulación

    Las miniaturas serán evaluadas por nuestro jurado desde las 17:00 horas en adelante del Sábado 20 de Diciembre.

    Grupos de categorias.

    El concurso se divide en dos grupos de categorías: Maestro y Estándar.

    Al nivel Maestro puede inscribirse voluntariamente cualquier participante, si bien, el nivel Estándar también es de inscripción voluntaria, los jueces pueden decidir desplazar miniaturas de nivel Estándar a nivel Maestro.

    Se podrán presentar miniaturas de cualquier marca de miniaturas, o de creación propia.

    Categorías:

    Deberá haber al menos 3 miniaturas en una misma categoría para que ésta se evalúe. Las miniaturas que no completen categoría irán al grupo Miscelánea.

    Se podrá participar en las siguientes categorías:

    • Mas de 54mm. Miniaturas de tamaño 54mm o superior.
    • Menos de 54mm. Miniaturas de tamaño inferior a 54mm.
    • Duelo. Dos miniaturas de cualquier tamaño en una sola peana.
    • Diorama. Tres o mas miniaturas de cualquier tamaño en una sola peana.
    • Escuadra/banda. Cinco o mas miniaturas de cualquier tamaño. Las peanas pueden ser independientes
    • Monstruo/vehículo. Cualquier miniatura asociable a esta categoría, tamaño sin definir.
    • Miscelánea. Cualquier miniatura que no pueda concretarse en ninguna de las categorías mencionadas. Esta categoría también absorbe las miniaturas que no completen categoría.

    Premios:

    Toda la recaudación será destinada a premios. Se otorgaran tres premios por categoría: oro, plata y bronce.

    Los premios consistirán en productos o vales canjeables en la tienda sin caducidad a definir según participación, así como una miniatura-trofeo conmemorativa.

    Según recaudación podrá haber sorteos para participantes no finalistas. Las aportaciones de nuestros patrocinadores se entregarán como premios extras también sin computarse dentro de la recaudación. Los premios se entregaran el domingo 21 de Diciembre a las 12:00 horas.

    Premio especial “Best of Show”:

    El jurado seleccionará de entre los ganadores del premio Oro de cada categoría una miniatura para otorgarle el premio a la mejor miniatura del concurso o “BoS”

    Premio especial “GTS”

    Los trabajos finalistas del premio Best of Show serán fotografiados y subidos a nuestra página web de Facebook para que los seguidores puedan votarlos mediante el sistema “me gusta”, la miniatura que obtenga mas “me gusta” en nuestro álbum de Facebook desde las 12:00 a las 13:00 será el ganador de dicho premio.

    Jurado

    A falta de alguna confirmación de última hora (y de alguna sorpresa que se reserva la organización), el ilustre jurado del concurso (que repite por segundo año!!) estará presidido por los pintores:

    • Rafael Garcia Marin, Volomir.
    • Pablo Lopez Jimeno, Paloji.
    • Samuel Pérez Sánchez.
    • David Cañas, Mitico.

    Facultades de la Organización:

    Goblintrader como entidad organizadora del Concurso se reserva el derecho a modificar las bases, o tomar decisiones, si fuera necesario, que no se reflejen en las mismas, así como solucionar cualquier conflicto en su interpretación. La participación en este Concurso supone la aceptación total de las bases, así como la decisión del jurado y la renuncia a cualquier reclamación legal.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

The blackest black of all blacks

Not that long ago I discovered browsing through the internet this material that I want to introduce to you. It's Vantablack, the blackest substance of all known to man today.

Vantablack, the closest thing to having outer space in your desk.

Those of you who are familiar with light and colour theory already know that black is the colour we see in absence of light. The colour of an object is the sensation that is produced by our brain when it interprets the wavelength of light rays reflected by that object and perceived by our eyes. As you know, objects absorb and reflect the light they receive, and depending on which part they reflect and which part they absorb, the colour we perceive of this object will be different. For an object to be black it has to absorb all light (or nearly all) so that no light reflected from that object gets to our eyes.

It's so black it's scary. It's as if they erase reality in that small area.

What makes Vantablack so special is that (according to Wikipedia, here) it absorbs 99.965% of the visible light spectrum. There's no other substance known to man that absorbs more than Vantablack, so we can say that Vantablack is nowadays the blackest black of all known blacks.

Pretty close to Vantablack XD

Currently, production of this material is being developed for use in aerospace and military industries (the most advanced of them all, of course). The question is if this material will get to be cheap enough so that we can make paints with it. I certainly would love to have some Vantablack in my desk...

Will we see it?

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Do Not Miss: November 2014

This month was filled with Monte San Savino goodness. But that wasn't the only thing happening all around. Check out the Do Not Miss November 2014:

Miniatures

Articles and tutorials

Events and reports

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Monte San Savino 2014 Miniatures

Let's continue with some more photos of Monte San Savino. In the last post I showed you photos of the winners of the "Best of" awards. Now I will share with you photos of the rest of the pieces that could be seen over the weekend.

Since I made more than 200 photos, roaming the exhibition for around 2 hours to make them all, the post could turn out to be a little heavy. For this reason, I created an album on Volomir's Facebook to put them all there.

There were hundreds and hundreds of entries this year, and I believe that the place is going to be small if they follow this rhythm of participation increase. Even with the Stresa World Expo happening earlier this year! I could take some pictures of the Master Fantasy category, this year divided in three categories: Master Painting (any size), Master Ambient (scenes, dioramas and so on) and Master Open (sculptures and full scratch). I also took some photos of other categories, a little bit of historical and miscellaneous, which you will find in the end.

Monte San Savino 2014 Miniatures

I hope you enjoy them!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Monte San Savino 2014 Bests

The contest of Monte San Savino 2014 was celebrated today. Once again, a wonderful orgy of great marvels with a huge level, extraordinary participation and tons of artworks to remember.

I will write more than just this post about this year's experience of course, but let's tackle first what you guys are probably most waiting for. Photos of the winner miniatures!

In Monte San Savino, because the level is so high, and since the format is Open, there are many many prizes. The participation is huge and the level cannot be compared to any other annual contest (in the Fantasy section at least). For this reason, there are many medals in each category, and it is not rare to see 6-8 golds in the same category (the number of silver and bronze medals per category could very well go over a dozen). In addition to this, there are different "Best of" awards. We find the Best of Fantasy and Best of Historical, which is more or less common to other contests, and also the Best of Painter and Best of Sculpting.

Let's see the Bests of Monte San Savino 2014 (with my photos which of course could be much better, I'm sure there will be better ones when their owners take better pics):

Best of Fantasy: Jose Manuel Palomares Núñez / Joaquín Palacios

This tandem of spanish masters take the award for best piece of Fantasy with a completely scratch built diorama modelled by Joaquín and painted by Jose. It's based on the illustrations by Paul Bonner. Impressive, absolutely astonishing work in sculpture and the paintjob as usual is exceptional, especially the textures of the furs, being as it is a huge piece (75mm figures).

Best of Historical: Pepa Saavedra

Pepa is more than very well known for her mastery in painting busts. In Monte San Savino, the spanish painter presented a genius display of busts which took the trophy as best of Historical.

Best of Painter: Martin Goumaz

The display of Martin Goumaz was simply breathtaking. The swiss, who we got to know a little better when he won the italian Slayersword last year, entered the competition with many miniatures, and one of them, my personal favourite of the whole contest, is a conversion of the Jack in the Plucker inspired in yet another of Brom's illustrations with a colour contrast which is out of this world. For all of this Martin took the Best of Painter.

Best of Sculpting: Steve Party

Steve is regular of the Best of Sculpting award. Repeats the trophy he already won last year as best sculptor with this year's pieces, as usual, little marvels made out of putty.

Best of Show: Diego Esteban

And finally, the most important award of the event went to our good old friend and master Diego Esteban. Presented a very especial conversion of Jack in the Plucker, representing the dream of a baby, one of the most original pieces of the contest. The moment in the ceremony was very emotional because Diego took the award in tears, conscious of the importance of the award. Congratulations Diego!!!!!

I will post the rest of the photos of miniatures that I have very soon (more than 200 photos that I managed to take). I will upload them to Volomir's Facebook as soon as I return to Madrid!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Monte San Savino 2014 this weekend

It's that time of the year again. It's Monte San Savino time!



The arch-famous contest of the little village in the Tuscany is going to be celebrated this weekend. And I can't wait to see what wonders are waiting for us there!

I had a blast last year. I felt the poisonous embrace of idromele, asphixiated under mountains of delicious pasta and came back to life to the scent of fresh roasted porchetta. To those who are coming, I will definitely see you all there, and those who don't... well, we will tell you all about it when we return! ;)

Meet your painting heroes and embarass them!

Oh, and there's also miniatures there! I nearly forgot. Yeah, I have a painting demo programmed for Saturday at 17.30. I have been invited by the organization! Such a great honour. :)

Only part of last year attendees are in this photo...

TO MONTE!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

II Goblin Painting Awards en Goblintrader (Local store in Madrid) December 2014

This post is to announce an interesting local painting contest in Madrid which will take place on the weekend of December 21. I won't translate the Spanish text since it is unlikely that any non spanish speaker may attend, but if by any chance you happen to be in Madrid that weekend and want to attend, just let me know!

El año pasado a finales de Octubre se celebró la primera edición de los Goblin Painting Awards, el concurso local de Goblintrader en Madrid que fue un éxito (de crítica y público, claro jeje). Este año, y tras la buena experiencia, van a repetir propuesta y se va a celebrar la segunda edición. Se celebrará el próximo DOMINGO 21 DE DICIEMBRE en la tienda de GOBLINTRADER MADRID (c/Enrique Fuentes 22).


Al igual que en la primera edición, el concurso contará con un jurado de excepción (o lamentable, según se mire) formado de nuevo por Samuel Pérez, Pablo López Jimeno (Paloji) y yo mismo. A Paloji ya le conoceréis de otros sitios como el podcast de El Big Three, o cómo ganar la última Espada de España sin haber pasado por la peluquería (ay, ¡esas puntas abiertas!). A Samuel igual no le tenéis tan controlado, pero es un gran pintor de Figura Histórica que se prodiga mucho en eventos nacionales e internacionales y que tiene un largo historial de figuras de esta temática (vamos, de histórico historial).


El año pasado durante el concurso, Paloji deleitó a todos con su asombroso pelazo

Tontadas aparte, el concurso, si es simplemente la mitad de bueno que el año pasado, promete mucho, así que no os lo podéis perder. Además reparten muchos premios de material, pinturas y miniaturas, de hecho es de esos pocos concursos a los que de verdad renta presentarse (en mi opinión, claro está). ¡¡¡Afilad los pinceles!!!

Os dejo con las bases del concurso, sacadas del anuncio en Facebook del evento.

    Inscripción

    Se fija como plazo de inscripción el período comprendido entre el día 1 de Noviembre y el día 20 de Diciembre.

    Las inscripciones al concurso podrán presentarse en nuestra tienda en Madrid (c/Enrique fuentes nº22, 28026 Madrid), personalmente o por correo electrónico a la dirección: eventos@goblintrader.es. Igualmente podrán presentarse el día 20 de Diciembre hasta las 17:00 horas. La inscripción deberá mencionar la categoría por la que se compite, así como los datos personales del pintor, y un correo electrónico de contacto. La inscripción tiene un coste de 4€ por miniatura, 6€ dos miniaturas y a partir de la tercera miniatura la inscripción máxima que se abonará será de 8€ por todas las miniaturas que se presenten, pudiéndose presentar un máximo de dos miniaturas por categoría, y cualquier cantidad en el concurso.

    Celebración:

    El concurso se celebrará los días 20 y 21 de Diciembre. El plazo límite para presentar las miniaturas al concurso será las 17:00 del sábado 20 de Diciembre. Se comenzará la exposición de las miniaturas el viernes 19 a partir de las 17:00, continuando la exposición hasta el domingo 21 finalizando el concurso a la 13:30.

    Jurado y evaulación

    Las miniaturas serán evaluadas por nuestro jurado desde las 17:00 horas en adelante del Sábado 20 de Diciembre.

    Grupos de categorias.

    El concurso se divide en dos grupos de categorías: Maestro y Estándar.

    Al nivel Maestro puede inscribirse voluntariamente cualquier participante, si bien, el nivel Estándar también es de inscripción voluntaria, los jueces pueden decidir desplazar miniaturas de nivel Estándar a nivel Maestro.

    Se podrán presentar miniaturas de cualquier marca de miniaturas, o de creación propia.

    Categorías:

    Deberá haber al menos 3 miniaturas en una misma categoría para que ésta se evalúe. Las miniaturas que no completen categoría irán al grupo Miscelánea.

    Se podrá participar en las siguientes categorías:

    • Mas de 54mm. Miniaturas de tamaño 54mm o superior.
    • Menos de 54mm. Miniaturas de tamaño inferior a 54mm.
    • Duelo. Dos miniaturas de cualquier tamaño en una sola peana.
    • Diorama. Tres o mas miniaturas de cualquier tamaño en una sola peana.
    • Escuadra/banda. Cinco o mas miniaturas de cualquier tamaño. Las peanas pueden ser independientes
    • Monstruo/vehículo. Cualquier miniatura asociable a esta categoría, tamaño sin definir.
    • Miscelánea. Cualquier miniatura que no pueda concretarse en ninguna de las categorías mencionadas. Esta categoría también absorbe las miniaturas que no completen categoría.

    Premios:

    Toda la recaudación será destinada a premios. Se otorgaran tres premios por categoría: oro, plata y bronce.

    Los premios consistirán en productos o vales canjeables en la tienda sin caducidad a definir según participación, así como una miniatura-trofeo conmemorativa.

    Según recaudación podrá haber sorteos para participantes no finalistas. Las aportaciones de nuestros patrocinadores se entregarán como premios extras también sin computarse dentro de la recaudación. Los premios se entregaran el domingo 21 de Diciembre a las 12:00 horas.

    Premio especial “Best of Show”:

    El jurado seleccionará de entre los ganadores del premio Oro de cada categoría una miniatura para otorgarle el premio a la mejor miniatura del concurso o “BoS”

    Premio especial “GTS”

    Los trabajos finalistas del premio Best of Show serán fotografiados y subidos a nuestra página web de Facebook para que los seguidores puedan votarlos mediante el sistema “me gusta”, la miniatura que obtenga mas “me gusta” en nuestro álbum de Facebook desde las 12:00 a las 13:00 será el ganador de dicho premio.

    Jurado

    A falta de alguna confirmación de última hora (y de alguna sorpresa que se reserva la organización), el ilustre jurado del concurso (que repite por segundo año!!) estará presidido por los pintores:

    • Rafaél Garcia Marin, Volomir.
    • Pablo Lopez Jimeno, Paloji.
    • Samuel Pérez Sánchez.

    Facultades de la Organización:

    Goblintrader como entidad organizadora del Concurso se reserva el derecho a modificar las bases, o tomar decisiones, si fuera necesario, que no se reflejen en las mismas, así como solucionar cualquier conflicto en su interpretación. La participación en este Concurso supone la aceptación total de las bases, así como la decisión del jurado y la renuncia a cualquier reclamación legal.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Do Not Miss: October 2014

Last month I thought of changing the format of the Do Not Miss. For now, since the list just grows and grows, I'm going to classify links by categories. I hope this makes the browsing easier and more comfortable. Let's just sit back and relax, for here I present you the refurbished Do Not Miss for the month of October 2014:

Miniatures

Articles and tutorials

Events and reports

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Painting with... Richard Gray

Today in the blog we have brought the newest addition to the Slayersword winners list, the only one this year. Richard Gray, unknown to many, has managed to receive the ultimate prize in Golden Demon 2014 surprising all, and we have invited him to the blog as usual so that he tells us more about his experience as a Slayersword winner and his impressions of the event. Without further ado, I give you Richard Gray, Slayersword UK 2014!

Richard Gray

    Volomir: Hi Richard, nice to have a moment to chat with you. The man of the moment! You have just been awarded Slayersword in recent Golden Demon 2014, but to be honest, I didn’t know you before (shame on me!). Tell us a bit about yourself, so we can get to know you better. How long have you been painting miniatures?

    Richard: I don't blame you for not knowing me, I am not well known at all!

    I live in the county of Rutland in the UK and have a lovely girlfriend named Rebecca, who I have been with for 4 years. I'm just a regular kind of guy really: I love sci-fi and fantasy films and books, play rpgs and strategy games on the pc and enjoy building pcs. My degree from UCE in Birmingham was for illustration, which I find transfers well to models.

    My model painting started when HeroQuest first came out; I just loved the figures and the fantasy setting. Wikipedia tells me that HeroQuest came out in 1989, so I guess I've been painting for 25 years! Now I feel old. After that I noticed a magazine called White Dwarf (issue 148) and I instantly became hooked on Games Workshop. It's just carried on from there.

    On a sad note, unfortunately my mother died of cancer on 20th August this year, so it has been a very difficult time recently for my family and I. I had only just decided to enter the competition before it happened, so it hasn't been the easiest thing to complete my entry.

    Volomir: Are you professional or is painting miniatures a hobby for you?

    Richard: I'm sort of a silent professional. I have a few long term clients who have been wonderful to me. I also paint as a hobby, although all of my personal models are painted with the intention of them being gaming pieces.

The Mechanicus Knight, Slayersword 2014

    Volomir: Are you a regular on painting forums or websites in the internet? Do you have your work in places like CoolMiniOrNot or Putty&Paint? Have you been participating in Golden Demon a lot?

    Richard: I'm a member on CoolMiniOrNot and Warseer, although I have a bad habit of hardly ever posting anything. You can find me under the name “Demonrich”, which has no relation to my Golden Demon! I've used that name online since Half Life 2 first came out as I needed an online name!

    I entered Golden Demon a few times in the 90s, and finally got a Silver Demon for my Keeper of Secrets in the Fantasy Monster category in 1999. That was the last time I entered a painting competition until now.

    Volomir: Do you think there is a difference between the way that miniatures are painted in the UK and the rest of the world, especially in Europe?

    Richard: This is a tough question for me to answer as I don't pay too much attention to where each model comes from. I sometimes think that many models from Europe are more flamboyant and colourful than the UK, but I could be wrong!

Two-headed Dragon

    Volomir: How was winning the Slayer Sword for you? How did you feel? Did you see it coming at any point during the day?

    Richard: It is hard to describe the feeling; my mind went blank and my mouth dropped open. I hope no-one caught a photo of me then as I'm pretty sure I looked like a fool! Once I got the sword I was over the Moon, and just wanted to get home to show my family.

    The idea of winning the sword during the day never entered my head. It was quite funny really as I saw the judges looking at the finalists on the table and my model was off to the side with some other finalists while they were examining three others. I just thought I wasn't even being considered for a trophy. I wasn't disappointed as my aim was to get a finalist this year. It had been a long day for me and I was looking forward to leaving early to get some rest. Also I wanted to go home and get a closer look at a Forge World Knight Lancer I had bought myself.

    I actually nearly didn't turn up to the event. It had been so stressful trying to get the model done while dealing with my mother's death and I had run out of time. There was a lot more I wanted to do to it, but I was rushing and the paintwork was starting to suffer due to it. I wasn't happy with the model, and was sick of the sight of it. In the end I decided to go just to enjoy the day and not worry about how I did.

    Volomir: Which other miniatures where the ones competing against yours for the Slayersword in your opinion?

    Richard: That is a really tough question. There were many models that I thought were at least as good as mine! To be honest it was tricky to tell on the day as the lighting wasn't great and I think some of the entries didn't look as good to the audience as you couldn't see them properly.

    There was one entry by Michal Pisarski that I was aware of from seeing the WIP in a facebook group, and the painting on that was flawless. I didn't think I'd be competing with it, because I hadn't even considered the Slayer Sword. I was told it was a very close decision, so I'm sure he must have been one of the people being considered.

    Volomir: Your win is particularly historical since it’s the first time that Best of Forgeworld and Best of Show (Slayersword) are given to the same piece. There has always been lots of chatter around what makes a miniature “Slayerable” but every year, especially in UK, all hypotheses are proven wrong. What makes a Slayersword winner in your opinion? Do you think there is any commercial criterion behind Slayersword choices?

    Richard: Sometimes I wonder if they just roll a dice when selecting the Sword winner. The standard is so high between all the winning entries that I don't know how the judges pick an overall winner. I'm sure the judges have to start looking at other criteria, such as how the pieces fit the theme of the warhammer universe, just to help make a decision. I have no clue about commercial decisions, although if they wanted to push a product, I would have thought they would have picked a large, plastic kit as overall winner.

    I don't know if the Forge World Best of Show is judged differently to the rest of the awards, but I guess if the Slayer Sword winner is a standard Forge World model then it might seem awkward for Forge World to give the trophy to a different entry.

    Considering I just won a Slayer Sword when I didn't think I was even getting a trophy shows that I have no idea at all what makes a Slayer Sword winner!


    Volomir: What's your view on Warhammer Fest? How would you compare it to Games Days, and in particular Golden Demon 2014 with the rest of Golden Demons in the past?

    Richard: As I haven't been since 1999, I can't really compare them. I know in 1999 the event was massive. There were a lot more Golden Demon entries then, but I think people used to enter just to get into the venue quicker!

    I enjoyed Warhammer Fest 2014. It was a lot calmer, the queues to buy anything were short and it was easy to get to talk to the artists and designers. I'm not sure how good it was in terms of playing games as I didn't go for that.

    Volomir: The past few years have seen a decline in number of contests and participation in all Golden Demons around the world, to the point where we only have one right now in UK, and the attendance is also much lower than in the past years. How do you see the future of Golden Demons? Do you think this trend is going to continue?

    Richard: I think it is a terrible, terrible shame that they have cancelled all of the other shows. I really enjoyed looking at all of the winners from around the world. I do wonder if they are trying Warhammer Fest as a new template and may use that in other countries, but my opinions are no better than anyone else's. I can just say I hope they bring back Golden Demons for the rest of the World.

Eldar Vehicle

    Volomir: Any artists that influence your painting? What are your favourite painters of all time?

    Richard: As Games Workshop had such an impact on me, many of their 2D artists inspired me. I am a big fan of people like Geoff Taylor, Adrian Smith, Kev Walker, Mark Gibbons, John Blanche etc.

    Others include people like Brom, Boris Vallejo, Giger, Zdzisław Beksiński and many others.

    Unfortunately I don't know the names of many model painters; I just have a huge folder on my computer with images of models that inspire me that I have collected from places like CMON.

    Volomir: Do you attend other painting events apart from Golden Demon?

    Richard: Nope! I might look into doing more, but no promises.

Details of the Slayerwsord

    Volomir: Finally, any advice you want to give newcomers to the miniature painting world and competition in particular?

    Richard: I don't really paint as a competition painter, I just paint models I like, or things my clients want me to.

    There are so many techniques that are being advanced all of the time, so do your research. Also, don't just copy what you see, but adapt it to your style and preference. Just because something wins a trophy, it doesn't mean it is the best style.

    Finally, don't be put off when you see a model you think is amazing. I see so many posts by people saying that they should just throw their brushes away as they will never be able to win a trophy. If you see something you like, be inspired by it. Everyone is crap when they first pick up a paintbrush.

Many thanks Richard! We look forward to seeing you in more events, not only Golden Demon, and see more of your wonderful work. See you soon!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Warhammer Fest 2014: Review (Sunday)

A general review of the Warhammer Fest event is in order! I know that more than a week has passed already, and that we had Hussar and Soldat de Plom this past weekend and they are much more news that the Fest, but I still had not said much about it! I wanted to wait for some days before I wrote about Games Workshop last event, to get some nice rest and to see things in perspective. So now is the right time to so!

Warhammer Fest as you know is the replacement of our old beloved Games Days, which, as you also know, have been decaying in the last few years. This new proposal came in the form of a 2 day event, with activities very similar to the ones already common to Games Days in the past. We decided to attend only on Sunday, because Golden Demon took place that day, and to be fair, that is the only reason that maintains my interest and my reason for going to these events. The rest of the activities are nice, but quite frankly, I don't think I would travel from Spain just for those.

Warhammer Fest (Sunday) felt very much like a Games Day, a very well organized but quite small Games Day (compared to the huge Games Days of old in the Birmingham NEC). Most activities delved around the usual meet&greet the artists and professionals in Games Workshop. The company is divided between Citadel Staff and Forgeworld Staff, and seems like Citadel is under a huge load of secretism, so there was nothing new from them (sad compared to the old years where tons of new stuff was released and you could see interesting things). Forgeworld on the contrary is all about sharing, you could meet and talk to all of the artists and designers and see latest and soon to be released new models. But all in a much intimate manner than what we were used to in old UK Games Days. The venue is not small but segmented, so it's less stressful for activities like these, which is something good. New proposals included workshops and talks from Games Workshop staff, and there were interesting sessions around painting, basing, modelling and so on. In my opinion, the best thing from Warhammer Fest this year. Sadly, I missed the classic scrap demon contests, the basing contests of the Speed Painting competitions. You would not find those on Warhammer Fest on Sunday (I believe not even on Saturday).

Pablo López Jimeno (Paloji) taking a view at the Ricoh stadium probably remembering the good old times of GD France in the Stade de France

Of course, shops would not be absent in Warhammer Fest, but I have to say, the ambience looked less aggressive than the one we saw last year: "you come here to buy! BUY BUY BUY!". The shops (both Citadel and Forgeworld) had their own area, separate from the rest, and you would find the typical GD shop queues that you would always find in GDs. I'm still quite impressed by the amount of people that decide to buy stuff in events like this. As far as I know, GW stopped making interesting sales and offers for quite some time now, but still shops seem to have neverending work in these events. I wonder why people find it so interesting to buy during this day instead of just buying any other day of the year, at the same price. I understand Forgeworld (you get to see the resin and you save on shipping), but Citadel?

Last but not least, our favourite and most importante part is of course the Golden Demon contest. Much less participation than previous years (seems there has been a big decline in UK in the last few years). Level of entries though is very high, I would say that you can see much less low level entries, but more or less the same high level entries. It seems to me like Golden Demon has the bar set very high in general! Being the only Golden Demon in the world in 2014, I would have expected many more participants, but on the bright side, this meant more comfortable viewing of the miniatures in the cabinets and less queues in general. To me, in terms of size it seemed like a Golden Demon you would find in Germany, France or Spain a few years back, something much more manageable in terms of numbers and size. Good, in my opinion, but with only one Golden Demon per year, competition is bound to be FIERCE!

Cabinets space while the award ceremony was on, as you can see, quite smaller and more familiar

Apart from that, you get the usual Golden Demon fluff, controversy and unexpected decisions. But what is a Golden Demon without it? :D Slayersword winner Richard Gray's Knight came as a big surprise to many of us, who would probably have bet on Angelo Di Chello's Nagash, or Lan's Beauty and the Beast duel. Especially designed for the task seemed Di Chello's entry, following the standards of what many would call UK "Slayerable" entry: quite big and noticeable, painted in a super high quality 'eavy metal style, and most importantly a new release, complying with the other times reliable commercial criterion for GW. But not this time! Judges surprised us, giving both Best of Forgeworld and Best of Show to the same miniature, something I believe has not happened before. Congrats Richard Gray! Well done sir! (Stay tuned because Richard will visit the blog very very soon in our section "Painting with..." and I'm sure he has very interesting things to say!).

Richard Gray's Knight announced as Slayersword winner 2014

The only thing that was very different in Golden Demon was the award ceremony. Since the area for the event was much smaller, it lacked the grandiosity of previous years. It was much more like old Golden Demons in Europe, and I really miss the epicness of the Slayersword ceremony in a big stadium. At least it was all much more familiar!

It's almost comical compared to the old GDs in the NEC

The question now is: is Warhammer Fest here to stay? Is this what we should be expecting from Games Workshop in the years to come? Will there only be one Golden Demon in the world every year?

While on the event, I heard some rumours which sound interesting to my ears. Games Workshop is currently remodelling the Warhammer World building (quite unfortunate for us this time since we went to Nottingham just to see it). Could it be that Games Workshop is thinking of hosting events there? Would it be possible to see Golden Demon contests in the new Warhammer World? That is certainly something I would love to see, maybe a Golden Demon completely separate of Games Days/Warhammer Fests? Who knows... But in my opinion, Games Workshop is not fully using the huge potential of Golden Demon. This circuit is so well known and well regarded all around the globe, that promoting it in the way it deserves (better marketing, merchandising, competition fluff, coverage, press and so on, much like videogame or board/card game companies do with their competitions) would be hugely benefitial for the brand. I really can't understand why they insist on relegating it to the basement! Oh well...

Warhammer World was being remodelled. We spent some time at Bugman's though (and defiled the Rhino, of course)

Until next time Golden Demon (whenever that may be ¬¬)!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Golden Demon 2014, first pics and winners

Golden Demon has just happened, quick post with photos, just returned from the venue!

Gold in Vehicle, Best of Forgeworld and Slayersword to the same miniature, a Forgeworld Mechanicum Thanatar Siege-Automata beautifully painted. Didn't get that many photos of that one sadly, it wasn't my pick for the Slayersword at first. What do you guys think?

More stuff on GD2014 soon, stay tuned!

Fantasy Unit. Stefan Jonsson. Silver
Fantasy Unit. Angelo Di Chello. Gold
Fantasy Unit.
Fantasy Unit. Volomir (better pics soon)
Fantasy Unit. Robert Carlsson
Diorama.
Diorama. Conrad Mynett. Silver
Diorama.
Diorama.
Diorama. John Harrison
Diorama. Pablo López (Paloji). Bronze
Diorama.
LOTR.
LOTR. Silver
LOTR.
LOTR.
LOTR.
LOTR. Camelson
LOTR.
Diorama.
Diorama.
Diorama.
Duel.
Duel.
Monster Fantasy. Isabel Nils
Duel. Michal Pisarski (Lan). Gold
Duel. Matt Kennedy. Bronze
Duel.
Duel.
Duel.
Duel.
Duel.
Duel.
Duel.
Monster Fantasy. Robert Carlsson
Monster Fantasy. Martin Peterson. Bronze
Monster Fantasy. Redrum Jay
Monster Fantasy. Octavio Fernández
Monster Fantasy. Angelo Di Chello. Gold
Monster Fantasy. Angelo Di Chello. Gold
Monster Fantasy. Angelo Di Chello. Gold
Open.
Open.
Open. Darren Latham. Silver
Open. Max Faleij. Gold
Open.
Open.
Open.
Open.
Single 40k. Camelson
Single 40k. Octavio Fernández
Single 40k. Sue Griffin (Dr.)
Single 40k.
Single 40k.
Single 40k. Gareth Nicholas. Silver
Single 40k. Joseph Sommerfield. Gold
Single 40k. David Soper. Bronze
Squad 40k.
Squad 40k.
Squad 40k. Tomáš Pekař
Squad 40k. Volomir (better pics soon)
Squad 40k. Andy Wardle. Gold
Squad 40k. Stefan Jonsson. Bronze
Squad 40k. Adrian Bay. Silver
Vehicle. Ben Gills. Bronze
Vehicle. Richard Gray. Gold, Best of Forgeworld and Slayersword 2014.
Vehicle. Adam Skinner. Silver
Large 40k.
Large 40k.
Large 40k.
Large 40k.
Large 40k. Ellis Kaye. Silver
Large 40k. Gold