ROUND5 US Artillery at Kasserine Pass vs 'District 9'

[Captain Blood]

?

[Bako]

 

I... Well That's pretty damn clear where my vote went, 'ya sneaky fookin' prawn, eh?' Stole mah breath faster than I could draw it.

[alone_withmyaxe]

Full on respect! Great painting all round.

And District 9 is inspired choice for this round.

[Tomsche]

Great entry Pil, and a nice link to Africa 

[Tom Reed]

Very nice Pil! What is the big mech thingy and the prawns?

Tom

[Braxandur]

Looks like th ebig mecha thingy is a conversion/kitbash of steel warrior robots, which you can still order from Em4. Probably pil is willing to pput some more clear pictures online after this round.

[Pil]

Thanks all! I was considering District 9 for round 10 but I already had another idea for round 10 and this one matched the "Africa" bonus theme as well as the movie theme. I'm normally not really a fan of digitally adding a background but in this case it was needed to 'sell' the theme (as I didn't have any slum scenery to place them in).

The prawn bodies and arms are RAFM Palladium Rifts Black Faeries which I picked up on Spiel cheaply ages ago. I believe they're now OOP but still available from some online sellers. I sculpted the prawn face myself on one of the bodies out of MagicSculp and green stuff and then made three green stuff copies of the original for the other three models.

I only had four black faeries so I added the mech which, as Braxandur pointed out, is a conversion of two EM4 plastic robots:



The one in the middle supplied the legs and the lower part of the body and the one in the top supplied the upper half of the body. The arms are simply robot arms with robot guns stuck to them in place of hands. I made some WIP piccies of the robot which I will post later on, as well as more pictures of the other models.

[jamesmanto]

The digitally added background lost my vote. It made it unclear where the painting ended and the movie began. I thought it was too much flash obscuring the the substance. Pus the figures were rather dark.

I sometimes wonder if people are voting more because of backdrops and scenics rather than the figures in them.

Is this a painting figures contest or a diorama contest?

[Fire Broadside!]

Nice to see someone doing District 9! 

I had the exact same idea, although I was going to use the 15mm non-prawn "crusties" from GZG. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough ordering them and now the GZG online store is on an update hiatus. Oh well... 

[Wirelizard]

Is this a painting figures contest or a diorama contest?

The answer to your question is "Yes".

[alone_withmyaxe]

The answer to your question is "Yes".

Agreed, and seconded.

[jamesmanto]

Well digitally added backdrops have nothing to do with either.

[Heldrak]

The digitally added background lost my vote. It made it unclear where the painting ended and the movie began. I thought it was too much flash obscuring the the substance. Pus the figures were rather dark.

I had the same problem (I felt like the figures got lost visually in the photographic backdrop). I don't have a philosophic objection to photographic backdrops (we get some lovely mellow scenic ones that enhance the figures standing in front of them), but I felt like the background obscured the figures in this case.

[Captain Blood]

Well digitally added backdrops have nothing to do with either.

The rules allow people to present their figures however they like - against a blank background, with scenery, or in whatever way they think gives their figures the best chance of success. The same choices are open to everyone. It's up to them how they choose to take them.

It's not an uncommon question with the LPL - is it a painting competition or what? The answer of course is it's very much more than that.

You might be the best painter in the world, but if you happen to pick shonky figures or a subject matter that most LAF voters simply don't care for; if you can't dream up and compose a decent shot and take a clear, well lit picture; if you don't bother to think about such niceties as setting, background, props, scenery and accessories; and if you can't edit your picture in such a way as to present your figures in the best possible light - then you probably won't do very well in this particular competition.

It's a very free and open format, not to everybody's taste, but that's the way we do it here. Competitions featuring strictly forensic photography of miniatures against a sterile background are available elsewhere. They may be 'fairer' in some way, but personally I don't find much joy in them.   

[Tomsche]

Waaaaaaait a sec, waaaaaaait a sec right there Blood buddy

You mean, this is an actual COMPETITION???


I thought it was just an excuse to reduce lead mountain of about 75 models average, only to see at least a 100 new ones that cry out `buy me, buy me, I wanna live on your mountain`.