First year thoughts

[Wonder Woman]

This was AMAZING!! I had no idea such a warm and fun con existed. I was surprised by how both energizing and relaxing it was.

The only minor issue I had/have is a bit of clarity needed in the MSP judging rubric. I get how it was done (teacher by trade) but I would like to see what criteria was used to define each level breakdown. For instance a bronze exhibited more or less or “x” trait, a silver this, and a gold that. I understand it is subjective (again teacher - high school English to boot) but I think it would help to have something a bit more concrete and in writing going forward to know what to strive for; or at least know where the ballpark is. Otherwise, I can’t speak highly enough about the whole experience. The opportunity to join in and game was great. The painting hijinks was the most fun. I had a hard time pulling myself away to go do other things. Judge feedback was helpful and I even got a shiny bronze medal- which I proudly display next to my minis. 

I am going to blame the registration desk for my newest addiction- ribbon hunting. Just remember the first ones free! ;p

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

Ot was great to meet you!  The ribboms can be addictive; I may jabe to go cold turkey next year and let someone else have a shot at the title.

 

Nah, not gonna happen.

[Sylverthorne]

Yah.. the ribbons are good fun. Fun to collect, and fun to give out. Given my badge-wearing habits in costume, going for length is purest foolhardiness, though. Width is far superior. *sage nod*

 

 

[Green Eyed Monster]

I have a question on ribbons.

Who makes them for those of you who have them to hand out?

I already know what I would like on a ribbon, even the background color, just need the right vendor to make them up.

GEM

[Sylverthorne]

I got mine from Ribbons Galore. Shipping can be a little much.

[Green Eyed Monster]

4 minutes ago, Sylverthorne said:

I got mine from Ribbons Galore. Shipping can be a little much.

Thanks.  8^)

GEM

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

I talked to a guy whose family has a business making then in San Antoine is anyone wants a Texas vendor.  Name of company was Creative Ribbon.

[Chaoswolf]

9 hours ago, Green Eyed Monster said:

I have a question on ribbons.

Who makes them for those of you who have them to hand out?

I already know what I would like on a ribbon, even the background color, just need the right vendor to make them up.

GEM

And to add even more possibilities, I get mine from PC nametag.

[Echoside_]

Was great chatting with ya as this was the first (and not last) Reapercon for my girl and I as well.  So many connections made, and friendly painting rivals perhaps? 

 

Hope y'all get good use out of the paint bottle stand y'all won at the auction.  Looked pretty fun to setup. 

[Kuro Cleanbrush]

Hi Wonder Woman!  I too concur that there is no other convention as warm and friendly as ReaperCon, and it is usually one of the highlights of my year!

 

In regards to your questions on judging (as a judge myself), I think I might be able to help you.  Reaper has "official" judging criteria for each category on the ReaperCon website which says stuff like, for the Painters category, "painting skill is X% of score, basing skill is Y% of score, and creativity is Z% of score".  However, in my mind, this breakdown is a little arbitrary for how each category is actually judged in practice and should be though of more in terms of relative importance instead of mathematical truth.  If I was to give the totally-unofficial Kuro Cleanbrush (Ian Markon, in real life) interpretation of the judging rubric for each category, it would look more like a list of primary focus areas:

 

 

Importance Order:                    1                                              2                                                3

Category              

 

Painters                               Painting                                        --                                      Everything Else

Open                                    Painting                   Conversion/Construction                 Everything Else

Diorama                              Painting                                     Story                                  Everything Else

Ordinance                           (I actually won't comment here because I have never judged or entered this category)

 

 

If it surprises anyone that Painting is always in first place in my list (which, once again, I must stress is not official), I would offer that this is, after all, a painting competition.  All other aspects of the hobby are important and may, in some circumstances allow a given entry to transcend its paintjob (or drop a level...), but painting is generally a good place to focus on first if you are interested in bettering your score year-over-year.

 

After that, if you need a really rough breakdown of the general "tiers" of painting skill which seem to show up each year and their rough medal correlation in the Painters category:

 

 

Certificate:  The miniature is painted, but there may be areas missing paint, very sloppy areas of paint, or indications that the miniature is unfinished.

 

Bronze:        The miniature is painted cleanly and completely.  At the upper end of this category, the painter may have begun to start shading and highlighting but without much smoothness and/or contrast.

 

Silver:           The miniature is painted cleanly with some shading and highlighting.  At the lower end of this category, the mini may have some very rough blends or lack contrast in some areas.  At the upper end, the mini may have good blends and contrast over most areas but a strong problem or two with certain areas of the mini.  Faces should start to look good at this level, and the painter may be improving some at painting metals beyond just a wash over metallic paint.  Freehand or OSL may be present in some form, but they are probably a bit lacking.

 

Gold:           The miniature is painted very cleanly with excellent shading and highlighting throughout.  If freehand, OSL, or metal (either True Metallic Metal or Non-Metallic Metal) are used on the mini, they are very well done.  Faces and eyes should be very nice and will probably convey some level of expression.

 

 

I hope that lets you "see behind the curtain" a little with judging criteria, though please keep in mind that every judge approaches things just a little bit differently (and judging is, by its very nature, somewhat subjective).  If you have any more specific questions you want answered, please feel free to ask!  Also, if you would like specific feedback on why your entry may have placed where it did or advice on how to level up, please feel free to PM me!

[hungerfan]

I am glad to see youth entries getting medals.  Was pretty sure a couple years ago they just said certificates of merit were given and that is what Alice got for her Nethy but then the next year she got a bronze for the brain in a jar and 2 bronzes this year for the Crazy Cat Lady diorama and the Pumpkin snowman painters category.  It really makes her day to have an actual medal but even the certificate was a treat and she loved getting it at that time.

 

My guess is the judging is a little more easy on the youth entries though and they gotta be judged based on how they are doing for someone under 14.  If the kids keep improving they are going to bump that age limit down even more. :)

[Corporea]

yeah we pretty much bump things up to the next level for kids. We want to encourage them!

I judged open this year, and actually, the sculpting is more important overall than the painting in this category.  I know Bob and Julie were surprised their entries received the scores they did.  Sculpting, craftsmanship, overall impression and difficulty comprise probably 70% of the score for open, so a scratchbuilt sculpt will usually score higher, even if the painting is at a lower level. One thing we found, which we probably need to clarify better is that fancy basing alone does not really qualify a piece for open.  I've been guilty of this in the past.  I do a great deal of sculpting on my bases, but if the figure is unconverted, it isn't truly open. We had to downgrade a few pieces for this. It's also harder to sculpt a human than a monster, so that affect the difficulty aspect of the score.

[hungerfan]

2 minutes ago, Corporea said:

I judged open this year, and actually, the sculpting is more important overall than the painting in this category.  I know Bob and Julie were surprised their entries received the scores they did.  Sculpting, craftsmanship, overall impression and difficulty comprise probably 70% of the score for open, so a scratchbuilt sculpt will usually score higher, even if the painting is at a lower level. One thing we found, which we probably need to clarify better is that fancy basing alone does not really qualify a piece for open.  I've been guilty of this in the past.  I do a great deal of sculpting on my bases, but if the figure is unconverted, it isn't truly open. We had to downgrade a few pieces for this. It's also harder to sculpt a human than a monster, so that affect the difficulty aspect of the score.

 

After 5 years I am still confused on the Open category.  When would one go with  it over any other category?  Alice asked during the awards about the Open stuff and I did not have a good answer for her.

Edited September 5, 2018 by hungerfan

[Kheprera]

Thanks for your breakdown, @Kuro Cleanbrush. That will help me better analyze how I'm doing on my own.

 

I came to the sad realization that my Sir *BONK!*Scale was lower level than I wanted. While the figure was done fairly well with freehand woodgrain, highlighting, etc, the modling of *BONK!* and that paint/freehand was rushed and subpar, especially compared to the rest of the mini.

 

With information, you can take a step back from your work and appraise it with a critical eye. "Does something stand out? Why? Does the mini outshine the basing or vice versa? Is something lacking the work that the rest of the mini has?"

 

I was very glad to see so many awesome pieces this year (even from a distance).

[Corporea]

I think of open as the place for something that may not tell as much of a story as diorama.  Conversions and scratchbuilt sculpts live there. A weapon swap is a conversion, but it isn't as high difficulty as a heavier conversion-like a handmade cape. We look at the cleanness of the conversion- does the weapon line up, can I tell that the haft of the weapon is different below and above the hand, are there gaps that weren't filled, does the sculpting blend in to the original sculpt, are the scales on the wings different for a wing swap? That sort of thing. Can we tell that two adjacent areas are clearly different- does the sculpt break from natural flow of form, do the folds make sense anatomically, etc

 

the categories for open are: degree of difficulty, creativity, workmanship, painting skill and overall impression. Some minis we saw this year had the "oooh shiney!" factor, and others were quieter, but more cleanly painted. Sometimes we went back to the percentages and worked it out on a calculator to help us judge where an entry fell. It's a funky category.

 

reaper does have a link to the international judging criteria from historical miniature painting.