This publication comes a little late, but we’ve tidied up a few loose ends on our way to the getting the first season of the 2016 Painting campaign finished! It seems participation wasn’t as high as it’s been in the past, but we won’t let that deter us, will we? Hopefully we can get more participation next time.

That’s enough blathering! Let’s move onto the winners, as voted by you – the audience!

1st Place: Shizune

Q1 2016 debuts a new painter to our lively band of painters and they certainly come in with a big splash! Shizune is new to our community, but certainly can’t be new to painting with the skill we saw here! Just gaze at this Seraph!

• Where do we even start? How about all that freehand? Absolutely stunning! Noticing the small details like the lighter patterns on the tabard and wings and the cross, itself.
• The depth and smoothness of the contrasts gives a strong impression that doesn’t let you go.
• The base is done in an orange/red hue that compliments the blues and whites of the Seraph, bringing those blues out and letting the details pop.
• Painting the blues and white as well is already an accomplishment, but the dark NMM black on the spitfire is to be even further commended.

2nd Place: red harvest

In second place, we have a Data-Sphere regular who makes fantastic terrain beyond his great models. red harvest shows us some of his model skills with the bootleg Penthesilea.

• The first thing I want to mention is that I believe red harvest paints without the assistance of an airbrush. So with that in mind, take a good look at the blending and gradients that he created.
• The eye detail (and the whole face, really) comes across as very realistic and a convincing detail. The lips aren’t overly saturated, the blush isn’t caked on, and even the eyebrows are painted with highlights!
• The basing is superb with a terracotta tile feel (of course in Infinity Hexagon style) down to the shadows and texture.

3rd Place: Nazroth

Consistently making his appearance in the top 3, Nazroth cranks out not one, not two, not even three, but four miniatures for this season. Both versions of the Anniversary Achilles, a conversion for McMurrough, and even Penthesilea!

• The strong and soft highlights distinguish Nazroth’s style from others and are very apparent in his McMurrough.
• The blood effects on Achilles stand out to me as requiring a very precise touch in order to not overdo the effect and still come across as realistic.
• Penthesilea’s Object Source Lighting (OSL) from her sword is splendidly done, glowing gracefully on the left side of her bike.

Those are your winners for the Q1 ’16 season!

All top placers will be receiving patches to signify their achievements and first place will also be receiving some Vallejo paints as a bit of an extra reward.

Interested in participating in the next season? Join us in the Miniatures Forum of Data-Sphere! Next season’s theme is:

Close Combat