Golden Demon - Slayer Sword Winner's

Almost every Golden Demon painting competition has finished for 2011 but with the more recent Games Workshop price rises, it's been obvious that the quality of miniatures has lowered to a noticable extent. For instance, the slayer sword winner from GD Chicago this year isn't the same quality as the mini that won the competition last year. Anyway, lets have a look at a few of the slayer sword winners so far this year.

Golden Demon Chicago

I personally don't mind the idea of the mini but out of all honesty, it looks rushed. The base work on this mini is basic... The base looks as if it's just a piece of painted cork (which

it is). The engine of the bike also has way too much paint compared to metal also. Mind you though, the mini itself does look visually pleasing with some really nice techniques on it. Items such as the glasses have almost perfect seamless SENMM and the teeth are something which I personally like. I know that some guys out there have said that it's something of a cult classic feature but honestly, I think it's ingenious and unique compared to the classic muttled up toothed ork.

I however feel that there could have been some other miniatures in this comp. which could have exceeded what was chosen for the slayer sword. One thing that I have read on the awesome forum, ozpainters (which is found at http://mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters for those that are interested) that some of the better painters in the competition have had a 'burn out' from the comp's. Honestly, I don't blame them especially since GW seems to only have raise there prices this year again for the third year in a row and then make their miniatures with a cheaper material (they changed 'white metal' which I think is a mixture of lead and tin to the cheaper resin).

Golden Demon Spain

As I have come to expect from Spain, France and almost all of the other European countries, they have created some really amazing stuff. To be honest, most of the entries into GD Spain haven't dropped any standard at all really this year.

I in fact even like this vignette because it has a nice story it tells. It nicely sums up the story of when a giant got hungry and wanted some eggs.

In terms of the miniature, it's nothing but deserving of the the slayer sword (at least in my opinion). I don't think that next year though will have as good quality miniatures for the same reasons that a lot of the Chicago painters .

Golden Demon Germany

The germans have a long history for creating some of the most amazing 'hardware' out there. For instance, the tiger tank which had the most intricate suspension system for a tank of it's time, some of the most luxurious cars, the jet engine, the television and now this - an awesome mechanical diorama. The idea behind the diorama is that one side is showing a general entering a warzone and on the other side, it shows the general fleeing the war zone in terror.

Although I think that the miniature quality in the GD painting comp. has gone down, the Germans haven't yet shown any slow down on their end of the world. Really, all I can say about this miniature is wow...


So what does Golden Demon Australia behold?

In exactly two months from today, Golden Demon Australia is held. On OzPainters forums, some of Australias best painters frequently post on there and they have actually created a thread called, "GD Burnouts". Alot of the painters are saying that they don't seem to feel the love for Games Workshop anymore because of their continually rising prices as well as the ridiculous rules whick not even the workers in the Games Workshop stores understand themselves. On the other hand, some painters are feeling that they should still enter Golden Demon so that they have good a good standard for other, more younger players to aspire to. Personally speaking, I haven't and don't want to enter Golden Demon because I can 100% agree with the veteran painters. Price rises have made he lose a fair bit of interest in Games Workshop products and I will probably be disqualified for whatever I enter (a lot like most of the entries in GD).

Hopefully though, Australia does see some nice entries to keep the competition going but I think that non-Games Workshop comps such as Wizard of Oz and AusCon.

If you managed to read this far, congratulations. I knwo that alot of this is rant and dribble but it's just a bit of spilling my mind onto a page. Also, I haven't covered a couple of the other countries sword winners but I can't be bothered, I might cover them next time.