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| Bergkonig79's squad entry. I've seen that squad leader somewhere before... |
Anyone judging a contest feels at least a bit obliged to say something along the lines of, "judging the best entry was the hardest decision of my life," but in our case, that hyperbole wasn't faked. There were amazing painters and modellers involved in this contest, and all of the winners were decided by the narrowest of margins. If you haven't already checkout out the entry article linked above, you're missing out.
Entries were allowed in any of three categories. The categories judged were, Team, Vehicle, and Squad. Teams included any sort of machine gun or larger gun team, as well as various other oddities - I'm looking at you, aircav! Vehicles included any sort of vehicle the entrant desired, and Squads included, well, squads!
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| aircav's team entry. I haven't seen the special rules for this sort of HQ yet. |
Judging was basically left up to each of the individual judges. No areas of critique were announced - you just had to impress us somehow. Each judge voted for his first, second, and third favorite in each category. In almost every category, over a dozen entrants received first place votes! The judges were all WWPD staffers, including Dano, Steve, Jon, Luke, Joe, Duncan, and yours truly. Some judges even made up their own terms for why they liked the pieces they voted for.
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| viewfromtheturret gave the judges a little bit of everything in his submission. |
Before getting to the winners, I'd like to add that the competition was so high, often no two judges voted for the same top three entries in any one category.
Without further ado, the following are the winners in each category, followed by a bit of commentary from the judges.
The Best Team Award goes to Bergkonig79 for his German machine gun team.
Dano: Nice basing and dymanacism...I think I just made up a Danoism!!!
Yes, you definitely did. It's quite a dymanic word. - Judson
Judson: Some models look good because of a flashy trick or two, fewer models look great because everything is exactly right.
Jon: Very good pin washing and making the details pop.
Steve: Excellent figs, excellent picture, excellent basing. Really well done!
Duncan: Excellent splinter camo, great ground work.
Joe: THE only thing missing is the machine gun noises!
I can hear them. Is it only me? - Judson
The Best Vehicle Award goes to duellist for his AVRE.
Dano: This model just looks beautiful. All the details stand out. I can't just look at one spot because something else on the model draws my attention away.
Judson: You're kidding me, a pinup girl? You know a great paint/modelling job when you forget how small the model actually is.
Jon: The detail and weathers are both really great on this model. A great job of picking out areas to contrast sharply and others to blend.
Steve: Such a good use of weathering effects, and just the right amount of stowage.
Duncan: Just awesome! Weathering is particularly exceptional.
Joe: Picture perfect. Great shading, drybrushing makes it stand out.
The Best Squad Award goes to legatecorbulo for his US Airborne squad.
Dano: The colors pop and he painted unit patches. Looks nice and the unit really stands out. Very pleasing to look at.
Judson: Head to toe exceptional. Patches and rank? Pff! Please.
Jon: The shading is very good and the bases are integrated very well into the overall scheme.
Steve: Again - the attention to detail! The addition of the shoulder patches is a great touch.
Duncan: Consistent high quality across the squad, good ground cover, great detailing.
Joe: All around awesome. Everything is spot on.
As one last surprise category, I tallied up the votes to see which entrant scored the highest, without actually winning any category.
The All-Around'er Award goes to tolcrothlogan for his work on, well, everything!
tolcrothlogan submitted an entry for every category, so I'll pick and choose from the comments judges left for his various projects.
Dano: I really like the whole camo theme and weathering softness, and the numbers really come out.
Judson: The MMG team is buzzing with activity, and I like the creativity with the three bases.
Duncan: Great airbrush work and weathering.
Joe: The camo is spot on. Airbrushed? If not ... you fooled me. The "dirt" looks perfect.
As one final quote from the contest, Steve took the words right out of my mouth:
Steve: Voting for these has been the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life.
I couldn't have said it better!
Thanks to all entrants. We're lucky to have such a great community! Stay tuned for more events like this in the future.
