The votes are in! Thank you to the 101 people who submitted ballots – great turnout and lots of kind-hearted comments for everybody. This project was a lot of fun! As a recap, the Seattle area Underworlds group held a painting contest – the announcement can be viewed here, and the submissions and photos for voting were posted last week. With 101 voting forms selecting 1st (3 points) 2nd (2 pints) and 3rd (1 point), we had 606 points to count up, and everybody got a healthy share. That said, there can only be one winner –

Drumroll

1st place – Vanja with Headkrakka’s Madmob (160 Points)

Vanja absolutely crushed this competition – stellar painter and this is some of his best work. When told he was the winner, he said “It was so fun to participate, there were so many amazing entries! Feel honored to have won “

You all had great things to say about him – some choice quotes follow:
– Loving the super vibrant colours and glow effect on Vanja’s Headkrakka’s Madmob.
– Vania getting such vibrant saturation without being even slightly an eyesore is remarkable
– For Vanja, the skill there is something that I would expect to see on WarCom, truly. An excellent job not just technically, but compositionally, that drives that warband to the peak of their aesthetic.
– It is now my goal in life to learn to imitate that “box art plus” paintjob – never in my entire history of engaging with the hobby have I seen an orc look healthier and more nutritious than those beauties.
– Vanja’s colors are so bright and electric, it catches your eye in an incredible way

2nd place – Anne with Skaeth’s Wild Hunt (115 Points)

This was, as said in the opening post, Anne’s first attempt at NMM. It’s superb, especially on the bow. I can’t get over it! Beautiful bases too, which are always a great way to elevate a warband’s appearance. When told she won second place, she replied “Ahhh!!!! That’s so exciting!!!”. She might be surprised, but I sure wasn’t.

Again, the community had great things to say. Some comments I grabbed for this article:
– Glorious use of bring colors to bring the details and feel of the models out.
– This is her first time going NMM and gold at that! She absolutely knocked it out of the park, especially on Skaeth himself. The subtle and smooth shading on his horse body (as well as on the cat) are sublime.
– Anne did a sick job.
– I absolutely adore the painterly look on Anne’s
– The plants on Anne’s look so real!

3rd place – Andrew with Mollog’s Mob (66 Points)

Andrew saw the painting challenge included a declaration of a theme, and boy did he run with it. Mario and the goomba gang look so cool, and all the conversions and greenstuff sculpting just works, from the big stuff like the pipe to the smaller details. When asked for comments on third he wrote “holy cow! I feel like I cheated used green stuff but I’m glad people like it even with the crummy photo”

Andrew may have gotten third overall in votes, but he DOMINATED the comment section. Some of them are below:
– The conversions on the Mollog stuff is fantastic! CLASSIC.
– I would love to play against Mollog like this. What a great idea and inspiration.
– Love the mustache and nose conversions on Mollog.
– Andrew’s Mollogrio – I mean, just an amazing concept and well executed. The pipe club and the Luigi squig in particular are amazing. The inventiveness of Mario brings a smile to my face.
– Loved seeing the experimentation of form, Mario was really fun and looked great!
– Andrew’s is so impressive! I laughed at the Mario Mob.
– Andrew’s with the Mario and Luigi holy cow they look amazing! Some amazing paintings!
– I have to hand it to Andrew’s Mollogrio for shear combination of excellent paint scheme and crafty kitbashing that just nailed the goal in making models truly his own. This would be a delight to see across the table

As mentioned before, everybody got some votes and comments and it feels good to have people recognized in our group. While these painters didn’t win, I want to share some particularly heartfelt comments for the rest of the contestants:

John D:
– really good emphasis on the blue tunes with more subdued colors elsewhere
– Excellent use of that blue pallet. Your figs look super moody and threatening. Awesome job
– Absolutely love the cold and atmospheric mood he created with these. The colors all blend well together and really harmonize!

Steve:
– nice blend of realistic shades and cell shaded look over the clothing
– So crisp and clean! Adore how warm the colors are all over the miniatures.
– Your Spiteclaw’s Swarm is painted so technically well. Out of all the war bands I think I would like to play and own that one most.

Aaron:
– love this color scheme. I didn’t think red-purple-green could look this good.
– Wonderful use of a color and it really brought me back to the 90s painting my Warhammer fantasy battle minis.
– Such a fun and well executed idea! Especially love the subtle shading and highlighting on the ‘skin’ of the ghosts. 90’s Eavy Metal is amazing. They did an amazing job replicating that era’s aesthetics.
– Tasteful smoothness of 90’s styled ghosts – I have zero nostalgy for that era, but looking at that paintjob I had to admit there’s something to it

Ricky:
– it belongs in a museum!
– Love the subtle shading all over these guys! I really enjoyed the warm highlights around the face and hands in particular.
– Some very good painting! Ricky’s technical ability is amazing

John K:
– Amazing color choices! Really like the weathering on all of the metal on these guys.
– I love your models, which is saying something since I hate the lakers =)
– The skeletons are hard to paint on. They are contrasted well with the Lakers bright colors.

Josh:
– Congrats on the scariest Blackpowder I have ever seen. I hope you tear up the competition so that BP can sit on his throne as the terror of Harrowdeep forever!
– Josh might be be the best gnoblar painter around. The red noses that fade into the yellow skin, the robe highlights, the striped shirt; it’s all amazing. Also just want to highlight that the colors across the warband are so harmonious, really ties them together.
– Loving the theme and execution on Josh’s insane clown posse take on Blackpowder’s Buccaneers.
– Josh’s color selection and execution was outstanding.
– The small details on Josh’s paint job display real talent

Michael:

– So creative and wholesome! Gaston has no chance.
– Absolutely in love with this concept! Not only is it well executed, but the little touches all over the warband just make me smile. The clock, the hidden mickey, the pink book, it’s all so good. Shout outs to the highlighting on the yellow robe!
– This is just dope. I understand who each of the zombies are and the color choices were spot on.

David:
– Those Farstriders – Love the smooth gold here! I know how hard that is to achieve and David absolutely nailed it.
– Super clean and technical paint job. I love the birds deep red and the black weapon highlights. Well done.
– Shadespire backdrop? Silk

Andy:
– Love the look of these guys! The black lining is so great and really makes them pop! On top of that, the colors synergize very well and make them feel cohesive.
– For Andy’s Brethren, they approached a super unique style with confidence and skill, reinterpreting the warband in a striking way that still feels at home in Underworlds.
– Loving the comic book technique on Andy’s Brethren of the Bolt.
– Love the look of these guys! The black lining is so great and really makes them pop! On top of that, the colors synergize very well and make them feel cohesive.
– That is a ton of work. The stitching, shading and wear on the garments is amazing. I would love to see more of your work in this style.

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Once again, this was a great community bonding exercise for my group and we all had a good time sharing progress pics, commenting on proposed paint schemes, and generally enjoying each others’ mutual support throughout the process. I highly recommend you give a similar ‘contest’ a try in your local scene. To quote some members of our local discord:

Thanks again to the wider Underworlds family for weighing in and offering so many comments. Until next time, we plan on spending our glory on tables full of nicely painted miniatures!