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ReaperCon 2010
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$30 for all four days $10 for a day pass |
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Four glorious days of paint, games, and classes featuring your favorite industry artists and Reaper Peeps!
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ReaperCon Master Series Open Painting Contest Rules
ANY MODEL from ANY MANUFACTURER is allowed!
Categories
1. Painters
2. Open
3. Ordnance/Machines of War
4. Young Painters
Category Breakdown
Painters
This category is judged 70% on painting skill and technique, 10% on Workmanship (removal of mold lines, general cleaning and prep of the figure), 10% on overall effect and 10% accorded for difficulty of the model. There is no size limit; anything from a 15mm solider to a 15" resin garage kit is allowed. Any conversion work or scratch-sculpting done to a model entered in this category is not considered; the model is judged on the painting, not on any sculpting that may be present. Notice that there is no emphasis placed on basing in this category except as it influences overall effect, so painters who have constructed an elaborate base and wish it to have more influence on their score should look to the Open category.
Open
This category is judged 30% on painting skill, 30% on technique (split between cleanup/prep work and smoothness/quality of conversion/sculpting/building), 15% on overall effect, 15% on creativity, and 10% on difficulty. Models entered in this category will have the quality of any conversion or basing work considered on an equal footing with the painting merit. All sculpting and painting needs to be the work of the artist entering the piece; a model sculpted or converted by someone other than the entrant and then painted by the entrant should be placed in the Painters category, unless the entrant has done further conversion or sculpting work on the piece. There is no size limit in this category; if you want to build ten square feet of diorama showing the undead siege of a dwarven stronghold, do it!
Ordnance
This is a category for vehicles and machines of war, be they fantasy, historical, or science fiction-based. CAV models and other mecha, catapults, cannons, tanks, planes, and viking ships qualify; so could a model car which has been converted with weapons and armor into something out of a Mad Max movie! The key here is that there should be no crew in, on, or around the vehicle or machine--only the mechanical aspect is being judged. If there are crew models which cannot be removed, they will either be ignored in the judging or the model moved to the Open category and judged with the crew, at the judges' discretion. All entries must be mounted on a base of some sort, to make handling easier.
Young Painters
All subject matter allowed, open to kids aged 16 and under. Medals and certificates only will be awarded in this category.
Definitions
The terms of scenic and display base, primary and secondary models, staff painter and basing size regulations from our previous competition rules are all null and void. Any size entry is allowed, on any type of basing, with any number of models in the entry. Reaper staff members and staff painters are free to enter any category they wish. Staff members will not be judged by other staff members; in the case of a staff member being on the judging team that person will step out for a non-Reaper-employed alternate judge for that entry.
Submissions
Initial deadline for entries will be Friday evening at 6 p.m. For any convention attendees who cannot attend until Saturday, some entries may continue to be accepted Saturday morning, but only as space permits. This is to ensure that most of the judging can be done Friday night, leaving plenty of time on Saturday for everyone to view the models and for any additional Saturday entries to be quickly judged, scores totaled, and special award winners chosen.
Painters must personally submit all entries. If they will not be present when winners are announced, they must inform Reaper prior to leaving the grounds and sign a waiver which provides for a party other than themselves to pick up their entries and awards post-competition.
Judging and Awards
All categories will be judged by a team of five judges, made up of Reaper staff, professional sculptors and painters. Alternate judges will be appointed to step in so that no one has to judge their own entry and so that staff members are not judged by their co-workers.
The judging team will go around to each entrant's display (see number of entries, below), and will discuss among themselves which model is the best representative of that painter's skill level. They will then move apart and privately mark on their scoring sheets whether that model rates a gold, silver, bronze, certificate, or nothing in their own opinion. They will do this for each category, so if a painter enters three models in Painters and one in Ordnance, then two of their models will be judged--the best one from among their Painters entries, and the single entry in Ordnance.
After the models are chosen and scored, the score sheets go to be tallied. The lowest and highest scores assigned to each model are dropped and the three remaining scores are averaged. The number remaining determines whether a gold, silver, bronze, or Certificate of Merit (equivalent to an Honorable Mention) is awarded.
All models from all manufacturers will be in the running for Master Series Medals. If the model scores a gold, it gets a gold! It does not matter how many entrants there are in each category; only the quality of the work matters. A category could award twenty-five golds and four silvers, or no gold medals at all and forty bronzes. Models are judged against a standard rather than each other. It is much more likely for any given entrant to win an award, and the system gives a scale for entrants to measure their work against.
After all medals are allocated, the top three Reaper models in each category are chosen, and these are awarded Sophie Trophies. This is the only area where the old spirit of competition remains, as an incentive to paint Reaper models for our show. The Sophie Trophy thus becomes a rare and even more prestigious award, an incentive to wow us with a great Reaper paint job or conversion! In the event that there are not enough Reaper entries in a category of trophy quality, Reaper may opt to not give a prize rather than to award a prize to an undeserving entry.
In addition, three Best In Show prizes will be awarded. The Best in Show competition will be judged by the same system our old Masters competition was. Everyone who enters the competition gets to cast their vote for Best In Show! Entrants will have from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. to cast their votes. Any model from any manufacturer can qualify. After the ballots have been tabulated, three separate Best in Show prizes will be awarded. Overall Best in Show is the highest honor, followed by the Reaper Best and Non-Reaper Best, which are runners-up awards. All three Best in Show awards win cash prizes!
Contest Rules
1. Any number of entries are permitted per painter per category, but only one entry in each category will be judged.
2. Stock models, converted models, scratch sculpts, and dioramas are allowed in every category; the difference is in what factors are judged. In Painters, conversion and sculpting work are ignored, and only the painting and cleanup are judged. In Open, everything is judged: sculpting/conversion, painting, and basing work (such as in dioramas). Ordnance is open to vehicles and machines of war from any genre, which may be stock or converted/sculpted, without crews.
3. No basing regulations will be imposed as to size or particular base to be used, though models must always have a base. Basing counts for a small amount in Painters and Ordnance, but is much more important in Open. Be creative!
4. By submitting an entry you agree to allow the model to be photographed by Reaper for use in ads, promotions, and galleries. All entry forms for submissions must be signed by the painter.
5. Painters must personally submit all entries.
6. Entrants may only enter models painted by them personally. Discovery that a model was not painted by the person who entered it will result in the barring of said individual from all future Reaper events.
7. Models which have been published online or in print are allowed to enter, as are models entered in other painting competitions in the past. Models previously entered in the competition here at ReaperCon in previous years, however, can not enter again.
8. In the case of confusion regarding which category a model might belong in, all decisions of the Reaper judges are final. If you are unsure which category to enter with your model, please feel free to ask the Reaper staff at the time you submit your entry, or post a query on the Reaper discussion boards in the ReaperCon forum.
9. If you wish to bring a model for display or show-off only (not to be judged or photographed) simply do not fill out a display card for that model. Ask the Reaper staff at the time you are setting up if there will be a separate area for displays or if they would rather you included the model with the rest of your work. If the latter, a small "display only" card will be provided for the model so that it is not accidentally considered for judging.
10. Entrants may choose to make documentation for their entry available to judges and attendees, to be placed next to their entry on display. These may be something as simple as an index card with a few details of interest to the viewer, or an entire booklet documenting the work in progress! The aim of such documentation should be to help the viewer further enjoy the piece through understanding what went into it. Common topics would be: why the subject matter is meaningful to the entrant, the story behind the entry (especially with dioramas), photo documentation of conversions or sculpting done before the model was painted, or photo or text documentation as to the historical or literary source behind the scene. A model will not be penalized for not including this type of information, but it is encouraged in the hope that it will build interest in the subject or techniques presented. For a couple of sample documentations, see below.
Sample Documentations
1."This is a WWII fighter pilot bust which I have converted to resemble my grandfather, who flew in the war. I have enclosed a photo of him and of his original uniform which was passed down to my dad, so you can see how closely I've matched the colors. Also included are some photographs of the sculpt before I applied the paint, so that you can see how much modification was involved."
2. "This is a sculpt I did of Vincent Van Gogh painting while he was living in the asylum. I began this project because I greatly admire his work. I wanted to portray him later in his career, and to attempt to convey his emotional state at this time of his life, so I chose muted, cool colors primarily to convey melancholy. However, Van Gogh was known for using complementary colors to shade and highlight each other, so I have worked a lot of these also in to my piece as a tribute. I incorporated research from source x, y, and z in designing the asylum room, and the painting he is working on is one he completed while incarcerated, as x book on his life states."
3."This is a Warlord elf who I have converted and painted as if she were a Japanese geisha. I have included copies of the fabric patterns I chose to imitate, taken from X book on kimonos, and with sketches I've tried to show how I had to simplify them to make them work in 28mm. She is based on a character in a famous series of fantasy novels by x author, and with her basing I have chosen to portray her standing on the balcony of her noble house, where much important drama unfolds! Below are a few paragraphs from the book where her clothing and the balcony are described."
4. "This is a conversion I did to represent my role-playing character, Ed the Mighty. I've included a photo of the original figure. I cut off his left hand and modeled it holding a Sonic cup for the tea he gets every day, and the right hand has been re-modeled into a fist, which he is shaking at his legions of minions. I have added stubble on the face and re-modeled some of the clothes to match Ed's outfit in the game. He is based atop a mountain of pewter figurines, which I've had to model out of 10mm army figures."
Sample Scoring Sheet
(Judge prints their name at the top of each page)
Category: Painters (70% painting skill, 10% workmanship, 10% overall effect, 10% difficulty)
Entry Number:
Entrant:
Title of the piece:
Manufacturer:
Model is (mark one): 0 Stock 0 Converted 0 Scratch Sculpt
Award (circle one): Gold -- 4 pts Silver -- 3 pts Bronze - 2 pts Certificate -- 1 pt None -- 0
As many Entry Numbers information and ratings follow as will fill the page. When the pages go to the tabulator for awards designations, the highest and lowest scores are dropped and the remaining three averaged and rounded to the closest number.