Okay folks, welcome to the second Iron Painter contest for the BT forums for 2013. This is a painting contest open to any BT forum members.
Rules of the competition:
1) Entry is free - anyone is able to submit should they want to, regardless of their actual skill.
2) Only legit IWM/(Fasa or CGL Plastic)/RP/RPE minis. No illegal repros, complete scratchbuilds, no minis from other lines. Conversions to canon variants or omni configs allowed. At this point, entries of MW:DA (or AoD) figures, or figures largely based on MW:DA (or AoD) figures are permitted, but only in the third or Only Mine! division (see Judging, below).
3) No Unseen. This includes the most recent list of Unseen 'Mechs, ASF and vehicle.
4) One mini only - 'Mech, vehicle, ASF, constructionmech, proto, support vehicle, Drop/Jump/WarShip - capable of fitting on a standard hexbase. Larger SVs would be disqualified by rule 2.
4a) Exception one: infantry, BA and Protomechs may have up to 6 figures, as long as all figures fit on one standard hexbase.
5) This contest has a theme: Mine. Your mini should be painted in the paintscheme you consider "yours" - beiit your favourite canon faction or unit, your personal Merc unit or cluster, or your favourite variation on a canon scheme. The mini may come from any BT era, and (within the context above) any paintscheme is allowed.
Note: the lack of specific paint theme is intended to encourage people to participate, and to try and stretch their skills. If there's sufficient interest, a subsequent contest can be based around a theme.
6) While harder to enforce, the aim is to submit a new mini, not one you painted some time ago. Please respect this.
7) One entry per user per division - eg. one open, one graded, and/or one Really Mine (see below).
Submitting Entries
1) Entries will be accepted between August 10th and August 31st 2013. EST.
2) Each entry must consist of one (1) image showing one (1) view of a single mini (or group of BA/infantry/protomechs) as per the rules. Image to be in a reasonably standard image format (if Irfanview can't grok it, I'll let you know). No composite images (eg. a single image showing three views of the mini).
3) Images to be sent to worktroll at gmail.com (replacing the spaces & "at" with @) with the subject "Iron Painter 2013 Mk II" (Note: that's important! I'll be filtering for entrants using that. Don't use the right name, you may be missed!). The mail must contain:
* the entrant's forum name
* The image as an attachment (in the last contest, image links proved unreliable). All images should be between 500x500 points and 800x800 points (yes, 500x800 and 800x500 will be fine). Images over 800x800 will be resized to within those limits.
* Name and variant of the 'Mech depicted (eg. Hunchback HBK-3P, Preta Infernus, Mad Dog H)
* Name of the faction and unit involved (eg. Kell Hounds, 7th Sword of Light, 15th Marik Militia) where relevant
* nominate the preferred division (see below) the mini to be entered in.
4) The judges reserve the right to crop and/or resize images for ease of storage, ease of viewing, and to maintain consistency in presentation.
Judging
There will be three divisions: Graded, Open, and Really Mine!.
1) Entries for the Graded division are not to be heavily customised or reposed. As an arbitrary number, if more than 10%-15% of the 'Mech has been modified or reposed, it'll be moved to the Open category. Neither should entries for this division have exotic or complex basing. It's a painting competition, not a basing/reposing/scratchbuilding contest.
If there are enough entries in this division, they will be grouped into 2-3 skill categories, and a winner proclaimed in each. (Eg. we get 6 entries, beginner/vet; 26 entries, then green/reg/vet)
2) Entries in the Open division must contain a minimum of 50% of an original mini meeting the rules outlined above (sorry, no complete scratchbuild). Customising, reposing & basing are at the entrant's choice - again though subject to the master rules. This will not be a diorama contest.
3) Entries in the Really Mine division must represent an original non-canon design, variant or configuration. The design should be one that's "really yours" in concept or execution. Entries should consist of no more than 25% components from other companies or games. So for instance, you can sculpt the whole entry out of clay (or pork fat), and that's fine. But making the legs out of putty, and whacking a W40K Titan body on top, isn't kosher . Entries in this division are restricted to non-canon ‘Mechs, vehicles, configs, etc. PM me if you have an idea you want to check.
4) The judges will decide into which group in the Graded division minis will be placed. In the event there are questions about whether a mini entered in the Graded division belongs in the Open division, the judges reserve the right to communicate with the entrant or not. Entries for the Really Mine! division should be clearly not suitable for either other division.
A poll thread will be started for each Graded division group, for the Open division, and for the Really Mine! division, by September 9th 2013. The poll will be open for forum members to vote on until 15th September 2013. The winner in each section will be decided by popular vote.
And formally:
1) The judge's decisions will be final.
2) Don't come here to diss other entries. Saying "the panel lines on the right leg were fuzzy" is one thing, saying "That crap left leg made the whole think look like a piece of ****" is another. The judges reserve the right to eject poor sportspersons.
3) It's a painting contest, not a basing contest, diorama contest, or exotically detailed light-box contest. Choose your backgrounds to complement and highlight your mini, thanks.
4) The only prizes are "the people's ovation and fame forever". (However, any potential sponsors, you know where to find me.)
Questions & answers:
Q: Why not a restrictive theme?
A: To eliminate any barriers to entry, and to encourage as many people as possible to enter. The idea, as always, is to maximise the number of people involved.
Q: Where's the time limit? "Iron X" usually means a hard time limit.
A: Not here. These are the BT forums, and this is the way we hang here.
Q: Does "capable of fitting on a standard hexbase" mean it has to be on a standard hexbase?
A: No, this means it shouldn't be, in game terms, a multi-hex mini. "Capable of" means "you could if needed". So the grossly out-scale second sculpt Blood Asp, or the quads that spread over more than one map hex, are all legitimate entries.
Q: What about warships or the Aerospace scale small dropships?
A: They're totally acceptable.
Q: How about Armorcraft Cinematics, or custom-sculpted effects ?
A: They'll be considered as customisations, and if used in excess are likely to tip the entry into the Open division. As stated, this is a mini painting contest, not a diorama contest, basing contest, etc - the emphasis should be on the mini, not the additional enhancements. Note: if you were planning to submit to Open anyway, then these are all good options. The guideline is - remember it's a painting contest.
Q: Is weathering or damage considered a modification?
A: Weathering & damage will be counted as customisation, and if used excessively may result in the submission being moved to Open. Note: if you were planning to submit to Open anyway, then these are all good options. The guideline is - remember it's a painting contest.
Q: Why not allow MW:DA minis?
A: As much as I personally enjoy working with them, the fact is that the game of BattleTech revolves around 1:285 scale (more or less) minis. The point of the contest is to rejoice in the minis involved in the game we all love. Subsequent competitions may allow these as entries.
A2: Note, this time they’re allowed in the Really Mine! division.
Q: Why not allow the single image submitted to be composite photos? Dioramas?
A: Because we're trying to have a painting contest, and have all entries judged from a common standing start. Not everyone is comfortable making composite shots; not everyone's comfortable making high-quality terrain; not everyone's comfortable making dioramas. So we're deliberately keeping focus on the mini, at a level everyone can compete.
Let the fun done begin!
W.
