Grimdark Challenge – August 2023

Welcome, miniature painters, to the Grimdark Challenge for August 2023! Recently, I picked up the Leviathan Box Set where my main intentions were to paint a few of the new Nids for our newest course that you can find here on the Compendium. Now, my gaze has fixed on the Terminators! Personally, I want to do something truly dark and twisted with my rendition of the new Termies and I want to extend this idea to the community to see what you guys can come up with! So, for this month I want to see just how dark and twisted you can get with your builds and painting for Terminators. A suit of Tactical Dreadnought Armor is an ancient relic and since the pattern has not been improved upon, some are increasingly rare. I can imagine that every suit of armor has its own unique story and that some of those stories could be disturbingly dark and twisted. Especially if one of these scared suits of armor fell into the wrong hands. Just imagine the power an unsuspecting character could gain by finding a lost suit of the fabled Terminator Armor. So, let’s see how creative you can be! To participate in this month’s challenge, take this narrative or come up with your own for a figure clad in the sacred Terminator Armor and bring it to life with your best modeling and painting techniques! Share your work on Instagram with the hashtag #grimdarkchallengert. The winner will receive the Terminator that I will build and paint for this challenge, have their miniature featured on my social media pages, an artist spotlight on my website, and a free year of premium member access to the Grimdark Compendium. So what are you waiting for? Grab your bits and paints, brush up on your techniques, and get ready to show the world what you can do!

Official Rules Summary

Post one WIP and one Final image (1000×1000 pixel) of any miniature or miniature terrain that has been built and painted by your own hand. Use #grimdarkchallengert and mention @grimdark_compendium in the description.
Kit-bashing is welcomed but not mandatory. It will be highly valued in the scoring of entries (See Judging Criteria below)
Models must be modeled painted in the grimdark style.
All submissions must be posted by August 31st, 2023. Email high-resolution images of your final submissions to community@grimdarkcompendium.com to guarantee your submission is considered.
Eligible miniatures – Any brand of miniature bits may be used in the building portion of this challenge, including figures outside of Games Workshop’s product line, including 3d printed miniatures.
Submissions must include a clear and well-lit photo.
Have fun, spread the word, push yourself, and encourage others!
By entering this challenge you agree to allow the Grimdark Compendium and Dark Ages Workshop to use your images in social media posts and video content related to the Grimdark challenges.

Eligibility

This challenge is open to anyone who has painted in the grimdark style and is intended for everyone in the hobby. In short, the grimdark painting style seeks to recreate the terrifying reality of dark and dystopian worlds that have suffered from perpetual war and nightmarish hardships. We will look for things like surface finish variations, grimdark modeling aesthetics, battle damage, chipping, rust, grime, blood, skulls, muted color palettes, high contrast lighting, OSL, decay effects, etc…

Eligible Miniatures

There are no limitations to what brand of models can be used for this challenge. However, the finished product must represent the grimdark style.

Kit-bashing

Please explore your kit-bashing skills!

Basing

A base will be required for your miniature to be considered during the judging process unless your submission is a terrain piece.

Submitting an Entry – READ CAREFULLY

Entering the competition can be done by posting a WIP image showing the early stages of your project. The entry WIP must contain #grimdarkchallengert and the @grimdark_compendium must be mentioned in the description. Participants shall be limited to one entry per challenge. All entries should be posted to either Instagram, Facebook, or the Grimdark Community Facebook group using the #Grimdarkchallengert hashtag before or on the 31st of August 2023. Any other WIP images and the Final images must be hashtagged appropriately and appropriately mentioned. Again, it is HIGHLY recommended to email high-resolution images to community@grimdarkcompendium.com

Prize Support

The first-place entry will win a painted Terminator miniature from Zatcaskagoon Miniatures along with other *goodies*, a one-year premium access membership to the Grimdark Compendium, an artist spotlight on the Compendium, and be featured on the Grimdark Compendium’s Social media accounts.

*goodies* – Boxes of miniatures, paints, magazines, or other prize support from our partners.

Judging Criteria –

JUDGING CRITERIA AND POINTS – Point Values may change with each challenge.

Modeling – 30 Points

For modeling, I am looking at one’s ability to build, clean, kitbash, or sculpt parts of a model. Creative kitbashing or sculpting will always be valued higher if done well. Of course, things like mold lines, poorly rendered poses, and not drilling gun barrels, will lead to point deductions.

Painting – 35 Points

It goes without saying that painting will almost always be the highest-valued category for our challenges and the Grimdark Style is what we are looking for! To put it simply, Grimdark is a realistic or, at the least, believable representation of figures that are derived from the lore of Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar, Mordheim, Necromunda, and so on. The lore of these dystopian or dark universes is brutal, to say the least, and has well-defined aesthetics that you can pull your inspiration from. Eavy Metal, Box Art, and Highly Stylized painting styles will be utterly disregarded for these challenges.

Basing – 15 Points

Basing is a crucial element of the Grimdark Style. Usually, the environment has almost everything to do with determining the weathering palette to be used in a miniature project. Take the basing of your miniature as an opportunity to tell a story and add substance to your figure art!

Photography – 20 Points

Usually, Photography is a 10-point category, but in the last few challenges, the pictures that I am receiving are not up to snuff. A well-lit, in-focus, and well-composed photograph on a black or white background is what we are looking for. Take the best possible photograph you can for your final images and email full-resolution copies to community@grimdarkcompendium.com.

Grimdark Challenge – August 2023 – Rogue Terminator