Games Workshop UK has announced a nationwide painting competition.

From their website:

Well, now is your chance as each of our Hobby Centres begins its quest to find the best painters and modellers in their city or town. That’s right, this month we launch our first National Painting Competition. This great event begins on May 24th and will run for several weeks until we judge the best miniatures in our Hobby Centres. This is also the perfect opportunity to hone your skills ready for the big one… Golden Demon.

Wargames Painting and Modelling have posted some details about the upcoming issue 4 of their magazine.

From their website:

Salute is now a fading memory but I still have a wealth of photos for our feature article in issue 4 of WPM. This round up of the games on display promises to be a visual treat. The PDF will contain hyperlinks to full resolution images so you can see the great details that were packed into the games.

I have also been able to get hold of some of the new Imperial Romans from Warlord Games and these will be making an appearance in the review section of issue 4, along with some of the new Bolt Action Miniatures US Paratroopers.

Finally in other news I have been able to finish the “donations” page. In the future I hope to be able to implement a “supporters” feature where by contributors to the magazine (be it by writing or donation) will see some benefit from their actions.

The Painted Dragon website has announced a new painting competition. The contest runs from May 10th to August 10th. You need to sign on to their forum in order to view the contest details and participate.

Black Scorpion Miniatures have announced a deadline extension for their Golden Chef painting contest.

From their website:

The deadline for this years Golden Chef painting competition has been extended to May 16th. With a top prize of £100 cash and 3 limited chef resin trophies it’s worth a go. Entry is free and all you have to do is email a photo. For full details visit here.

Games Workshop UK has added a new series of Citadel Washes and a 25yh Anniversary WFB rulebook to their online store.

Citadel Wash Set
The brand new Citadel Washes have been developed specifically for use on Citadel miniatures. The unique flow properties of the new washes means they are easy to control and will naturally run into recesses, shading your models. This box set contains all 8 of the Citadel Washes in the current range. Each pot contains 12ml of Citadel wash. £12.00

25th Anniversary Rulebook
To celebrate 25 years of Warhammer, we’re releasing a very special edition of the game - the Warhammer 25th Anniversary Edition Rulebook. Released as a numbered, limited edition of 2,500, the embossed case contains a hardback leather-bound copy of the current rule, printed on silver-edged, premium-quality paper. Also included in the case is a facsimile copy of the first edition Warhammer rulebook. £100.00

Chest of Colors have posted their Golden Daemon France 2008 report

From their announcement:

On 20th of April we went to Paris to participate in the Golden Demon painting competition, which was a part of the French Games Day.
There were many excellent entries presented, and the competition was really tense. If you want to see all the photos we took during the event, check this link:

And if you want to read my report from the contest, you can check it out here:

South London Warlords have announced the results of the Salute 2008 Painting Competition.

From their announcement:

Over 250 entries this year and an unbelievably high standard of painting across the board.

Here is a list of the winners:

Historical

1. Historical Wargames unit: Infantry or Cavalry - 25mm to (and including) 54mm: 5 to 40 figures
1st 111 David Robotham Cowboy Posse
2nd 106 C Klimczak Scots Greys

2. Historical Wargames unit: Infantry or Cavalry - 6mm to (and including) 20mm: 5 to 40 figures
1st 188 Adrian Walters 15mm 88 gun Battery
2nd 160 Mark Allen 10mm Spanish Infantry

3. Historical Wargames Other: - Single figures and up to 5 figures or models (Artillery pieces, Elephants, boats, War machines, etc)
1st 114 Bill Gaskin Spain 1808
2nd 195 Mark Allen Officer and Drummer

Read the rest of this entry »

Privateer Press have announced the Formula P3 Grandmaster Painting Competition.

From their website:

Enter the Privateer Press Painting Contest at Gen Con Indy 2008 and Compete to Win Cash Prizes. As announced in No Quarter #16, the official Privateer Press painting contest will be held again at Gen Con Indy this year. This is your chance to win a coveted Skully trophy, show your skills as a master painter, and compete to take home the grand prize of $1,000.

Check out their website for full details.

The French Haekel and Jaekel painting blog has numerous photos of some of the entries to the Games Day France Golden Daemon awards. The page contains quite a few photos so it may take a little while to fully load.

A new UK based painting organization, Platoon Britannica, has been announced

From their announcement:

Platoon Britannica is a non-profit organisation set up by, and for, those in the UK who are involved in the hobby of modelling and painting miniatures who want to meet like-minded people, learn new skills and work together to raise the standard of miniature painting and modelling in the UK as a whole.

Why? The primary aim of Platoon Britannica is to encourage and facilitate face-to-face meetings between miniature painters in the UK both as small local/regional groups and at a national level to show off their miniatures, chat and share skills to bring a greater sense of community and family to the UK miniature painting scene. Read more on the Platoon Britannica website.

Games Workshop US have posted two new hobby articles about the Harry the Hammer miniature.

• Harry the Hammer Masterclass
  Each member of the ‘Eavy Metal team paints Harry the Hammer.
• Harry the Hammer Rules
  The Harry The Hammer rules were first published in White Dwarf 339 (April 2008) and allow you to use Harry in Games of Warhammer.

Dave from Wargames Painting and Modelling sent along an update about the status of issue 4 of their PDF based painting magazine as well as two sample shots of their new layout.

Issue 4 is being worked on and will include a large report on the various demo games at Salute 08. Reviews this issue will include some Darkson Designs AE-WWII bits as well as the new Perry ACW.

I have attaches a couple of pictures so you can see the new layout I am working on to make the magazine contents more clearly laid out and easier to navigate.

Click to enlarge
Note: samples scaled. Not actual size.

Reaper Miniatures have announced that they have improved their Pro Paints range.

From their website:

A selection of 108 colors has been chosen, composed of both old favorites and brilliant new options, that will provide any painter with a powerful palette to use in creating miniature masterpieces of art. New Pro Paints are formulated with an emphasis on coverage and surface adhesion. A stronger bonding base material, solid coverage, and durability means faster painting and less worry when your army hits the table.

New Pro Paints are highly pigmented for maximum, non-fade color opacity. New Pro Paints are formulated with custom, high quality bases and pigments manufactured exclusively for Reaper. Our superior combination of experience and materials has created a rich opaque colorfast paint that will cover well on white or black primer.

New Pro Paints are water-based, nontoxic, and ASTM D4236-94 (2005) safe. New Pro Paints are formulated using only high quality, non-toxic pigments, bases and additives. All New Pro Paints are water-soluble and clean up quickly with water.

Reaper Miniatures have updated their Pro Paint range page and have also announced a contest.

From their website:

We updated our Pro Paints page with the new colors and a little blurb about what the paints are, and why you should care.

Now here’s the fun bit. We’re running a contest to give away a complete set of the new paint line. But it’s not going to be as simple as, give me your email address and you’re in the drawing. No. You actually have to do something to get this one.

Send us an email to propaintcontest@reapermini.com and tell us how, in 100 words or less, Pro Paints have changed your life. Perhaps your significfant other was wearing a rain slicker the exact color of 19015: Pale Yellow the first time you met. Maybe the icing on your wedding cake was 19050: Gemstone Purple. You may have painted your firstborn’s room 19041: Uniform Blue…

The fifth “season” of the Iron Painter contest is now looking for contestants.

From their announcement:

The next installment of everyones favorite painting based lunacy is ready to kick off, just looking for victims….er I mean participants!

If you haven’t participated or heard about Iron Painter then you are missing out on a great contest which pits you against other painters in a ‘paint off’ with a particular theme randomly chosen for each session.

The contestants are given two weeks to finish their project, during which good natured ribbing and smack talk is encouraged as work in progress pictures are shown and discussed, and then goes before a panel of judges for scoring. The winner progresses to the next round. It continues on until there is only one left - The Iron Painter!

Miniatures, gift certificates and Wyrd t-shirts will be given as prizes.

Madpuppet Miniatures are celebrating their first anniversary with a painting contest.

From their website:

I’m proud to announce Madpuppet’s first anniversary, yay! To celebrate it I have put together the 2nd online painting contest. Take a look to the forum to see the special miniatures I’m sculpting for this contest, and for detailed info about rules.

Dragon Forge Design have added new miniature display plinths to their online store.

From their announcement:

Dragon Forge Design Announces new products to its line of display plinths. New “Mini- Plinths” for basing your figures. Like all my bases they are cast in Grey Urethane Resin, they allow the painter to put a small plinth on single figures for display and handeling.

MP-001 Mini-Plinth with cove top are $4.00 each
Height is 12.5mm Tall (1/2 inch)
Top area is 30 mm diameter
Big enough for 25-30mm plastic bases

MP-002 Mini Plinth with flat top are $4.00 each
Height is 12.5mm Tall (1/2 inch)
Top area is 35 mm diameter
Big enough for 25-30mm plastic bases

New Mini Plinths are now for sale in My store along with my other ranges of gaming and display bases.

Wyrd Miniatures have posted galleries with the submissions to their Femme Fatale III painting contest.

From their announcement:

The time for entry submission is over and now we move forward with the viewing and voting for the Femme Fatale III Wyrd Painting Contest. Entries have been edited, placed in their proper categories and are now up for you to view and leave comments on.

The galleries will be up a full day before opening the polls so that if there are any mistakes or discrepancies, you can let us know before the voting begins. Hopefully there are none, but if you see something that needs to be rectified or if you have a question upon, please contact me privately.

When 24 hours has passed, we’ll place the voting polls up and you will be able to vote for your favorite three in their respective categories. Keep in mind, in order to vote and/or comment in the galleries, you must have a user account here on Wyrd.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wyrd Miniatures have posted a warning about the upcoming deadline to their Femme Fatale III painting contest.

From their announcement:

Last weekend for submissions for the Femme Fatale III Wyrd Painting Contest. Entries need to be in by midnight, eastern time, Monday the 25th. As we’ve had people ask after it before, here is a direct link provided by one of our many helpful forum members, Duende. This will show you how to go about uploading for the contest.

Some great entries in so far and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing many more. Get painting, take pictures and get them uploaded.

Wargames Factory have posted a painting guide for their Roman Legions figures.

From their website:

World renowned writer and terrain maker Howard Whitehouse has graced us with a quick and (not so) dirty guide to allow you to quickly paint and base your Roman Legions. After all, it’s great to be able to buy big boxes of Romans — but you need to get them ready to play Field of Glory™ as well! Howard’s guide will help you “Get Them On The Table” with a minimum of fuss and time.

Miniature Mentor have announced a new painting demo featuring the Avatars of War Orc hero. No word on a release date or pricing.

From their announcement:

Miniature Mentor has negotiated with Avatars of War for a video painting tutorial based on their Orc hero. It will be a massive masterclass tutorial painted by our golden demon winner Mathieu Fontaine.The sculpt job is by renowned artist Felix Paniagua.

Miniature Mentor have announced the addition of a new painter to their team.

From their announcement:

Julien Casses joins Miniature Mentor. 15 time Golden Demon winner and industry veteran Julien Casses brings his unique talents to the creative team at Miniature Mentor. We are proud to announce the addition of such a talented painter and sculptor. Miniature Mentor is the world’s first video training library for miniature painters with tutorials from some of the industry’s most respected painters including Allan Carrasco, Dimitri Peyrard and Laurent Expostio Mas.

Miniature Mentor have announced the release of a new miniature painting DVD.

From their announcement:

Miniature Mentor releases the Complete Guide to Miniature Painting DVD. The first in a series of video painting tutorials designed to take you through the whole painting process. Join Laurent Exposito Mas as he demonstrates his workflow and techniques in almost 4 hours of video. No step is missing or incomplete. Available in both instant download and DVD format.

Miniature Mentor is the world’s first resource for video training featuring tutorials by some of the industry’s best artists like Allan Carrasco, Laurent Exposito Mas and Dimitri Peyrard.

Antenociti’s Workshop have announced the addition of several new ranges of Vallejo paints.

From their website:

We have added a further 6 sets of Vallejo Model Color Paints: 5 of the “Vallejo Model Color Panzer Aces” sets (2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - we already stock the excellent Set 1) and then the 6-pot set of “Panzer Colours”. Prices for the panzer Aces sets are £10.90 (RRP £11.99p) and the “Panzer Colours” £7.50 (RRP £8.50p)

Please note that we have also dropped the price on all Vallejo Game Color to £1.25p per bottle

We are also adding the full range of Vallejo Model Air paints during tonight and into tomorrow - these will retail at £1.55p per bottle (RRP £1.75p) and have two Model-Air paint sets now at £20.00 for 16 colours (RRP £22.95p).

Conquest Miniatures has announced that they are sponsoring the painting competition at the Orccon 2008 on Feb 15-Feb 18, 2008. Check out their website for full details and rules.

Black Scorpion Miniatures have announced their 2008 Golden Chef painting contest.

From their website:

The first Golden Chef awards were a great success last year, the quality of painting was outstanding so we’re repeating it this year with some small improvements. The basic idea is the same, paint any Black Scorpion single figure with the limited ‘resin trophy chef’ figure for the top 3 not to mention £100 cash first place amongst other prizes! Entry is simply photos via email and is free.

Read the rest of this entry »

Reinforcements by Post have added a new series of painted 6mm armies to their online store.

From their announcement:

Reinforcements by Post now sells ready-painted 6mm Seven Years War (7YW) armies. These figures were manufactured by Baccus Miniatures. Austrian, British, French, Prussian and Russian armies are available.

Days of Wonder have announced the winners of their Memoir ‘44 Airplane painting contest and posted photos of the winning entries.

Issue 3 of Wargames Painting and Modelling is now available for download.

From their website:

Issue 3 is available in 3 versions. There is the usual high quality PDF and low quality PDF. This time around however I have released a third “printer friendly” PDF that has all of the colourful backgrounds removed, making the article less of a strain on your colour ink cartridge.

Also don’t forget to subscribe (for free) if you want to recieve an e-mail newsletter telling you about updates and releases at WP&M.

Wargames Painting and Modelling have posted a preview of the contents of issue 3 of their PDF based painting magazine.

From their website:

So what is in this issue?

• Painting an Angry Man: A single page article describing a quick and easy method for painting skin.
• The World in Black and White: An article all about painting models using nothing but black, grey and white, crack out those Copplestone Gangsters…
• Soldiers of the Peninsular War: A hefty article providing details on painting up French and British Napoleonic soldiers.
• Saxons: A brief look at painting these hairy warriors
• Tommies: Our WWII article looks at painting British uniforms, ranging from the Denison smock to the simple Battledress.
• How I paint my Centauri: A look at painting space ships from the Babylon 5 universe.
• Verdigris: This artcile provides a plethora of options for turning your brass and bronze statues manky and weathered…

I have also updated the subscriptions page so take a look if you would like to recieve updates and releases via email.