Do we need a new category?

[dachande]

I\'ve been lurking around this site for quite awhile now, and have seen fads come and go.

It seems as though the newest fad is unpainted greens and conversions. I can\'t understand this. Sure, it shows talent at sculpting, and in most cases, great talent. BUT, on a voting scale, an unpainted, nonbased figure IS NOT TABLETOP QUALITY.

If this is an acceptable practice, then I should be able to take a Rackham figure out of it\'s blister, base it on it\'s slotta, take a picture, and get a rating above 7.
I\'m not trying to knock the converters, but according to the rating scale, an unpainted figure should only get a 2 at the most.

In the basing topic on this forum, it was said that people vote on the painted figure, not the base. Well, how about a totally unpainted figure on an unfinished base. How would you vote then?
Maybe these figures should be in a category of their own. Meaning no disrespect to the creators, but I never give a green more than a 2. A great conversion WITH a nice paintjob always gets a higher score from me.

Rackham makes some beautiful sculpts, but I\'ve seen some horrible paint jobs applied to them. I\'ve also seen some bad sculpts, with great paintjobs. Are we now supposed to vote on the sculpt, and ignore the paint?

Maybe instead of just the green, how about a before and after? I\'d rather see the completed item rather than just the start.

PS- this isn\'t intended to be antagonistic, just a way to voice an opinion, and maybe get some opinions of others.

 

[vincegamer]

Greens

I believe there is a greens category. If a green is listed as such then vote for it according to how good you think the sculpt is.
That said, I would really like to see them painted up too, though I understand many people are selling their sculpts and they may sell better that way.
Still, if you can sculpt a unique and impressive piece, it would do better painted. An excellent paint job on a crappy mini will do worse on this site than a crappy paint job on an awesome mini.

 

[wightzombie]

rulz were meant to be tested. chern may not have thought of people uploading greens, who knows. i vote the mini simply based on good taste. does the conversion or original sculpt look cool? would i buy it? im holding the conversion/green to its own version of tabletop quality since it may have never been thought of to include it in the rulz and i would like to vote it as i see it and give the creators feedback an esteem.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Good point.

I don\'t mind seeing \'greens\' and conversion pieces unpainted, though I agree that you can\'t really rate them using the same scale as that used for painted figures. Comments are perhaps the best way to praise or denigrate a particular piece.

This argument has raised another point as well though.

Quote \"Rackham makes some beautiful sculpts, but I\'ve seen some horrible paint jobs applied to them. I\'ve also seen some bad sculpts, with great paintjobs. Are we now supposed to vote on the sculpt, and ignore the paint?\"

I\'ve seen a number of comments posted on models, and a couple on my own where someone has praised the paint job but also stated that they hate the actual figure (or something along those lines). OK, there are some awful sculpts out there, but few, if any are posted on this site. What tends to be meant by people saying they don\'t like a particular sculpt, is that it does not meet their particular tastes! Great, so someone\'s painting gets marked down purely because Mr Critic doesn\'t like W40k or anything by Reaper, just for example!

 

[Errex]

What about....?

OK, so, let\'s say that greens are an acceptable form of entry on CMON.

¿What happens if people starts posting their design sketches?. Soon, we\'ll be seeing illustration work and the site would have to stop being called \"Cool Mini or Not\".

I don\'t think that a separate rating criteria should be applied or even encouraged regarding greens. If they are unpainted, they should rate as any unpainted mini. Maybe a new site, called \"Cool Sculpt/Conversion or Not\" is due?.

 

[Mengu]

In all honesty, I have no clue how to rate a conversion work or a sculpture, especially if it doesn\'t even have primer on. So I just don\'t rate it.

If I had some criterea as to how to rate a conversion, I\'d do it. But I\'m not exactly sure how to rate a conversion. I mean you remove a sword and replace it with a gun, is that good? If you ask me, I\'ll say no you ruined the mini because I like swords. So how do you rate a conversion?

 

[Impernouncable]

A green or a conversion is still a mini, and I can still tell you how cool it is on a scale of 1-10. I have no problem with things as they stand.

The difference between a green/conversion and a production figure straight from the blister is the ammount of work that went into it. Yes, a great piece is a great piece. What I suppose I am really rating is the quality of the work which the individual poster has put into it.

 

[Lurch]

Actually, the greens don\'t bother me as much as the \"works in progress\".

It really bums me out when someone is working on a mini and their In-progress work gets higher ranks than my finished product.
I know I suck, but sheesh!

 

[wightzombie]

i wouldnt worry bout art showing up anytime or sketches/designs. greens are very different as they are minis and this site rates minis.

Voting Guide: Pretend you\'re a Golden Demon judge. Painting skill, imagination and style are key!

painting imagination and style are key. doesnt say it has to have all three just says too look for them?

sites name is coolminiornot not coolpaintedminiornot

is it a mini? is it cool? rate it! cake!

 

[Flashman14]

Here\'s the problem with posting an

out-of-the blister mini. YOU DIDN\'T SCULPT IT! It really is that simple. In the odd chance that you had sculpted it then you are entitled to the judgement of the group.

I just posted on another thread that under certain circumstances it\'d be ok to post someone else\'s mini but in this case, unless you acknowledge the sculptor, I think it\'s probably unsavory.

Otherwise I don\'t have a problem at all looking at the result of an artists\' work - either sculpture or painting. But truthfully, unless I\'m really impressed with the sculpture I usually \"skip\" the mini and not vote at all - preferring the painted stuff.

 

[vincegamer]

unrealistic

Which could yield an unrealisticly high score if only people who are really impressed bother to vote. Then again, I guess it\'s balanced by those that give 1s for unpainted mini regardless if it was sculpted by the poster or by a member of Rackham\'s staff (e.g.)

 

[shris]

Well, since I was one of the ones who said I ignore bases when voting, I guess I should weigh in here as well.

I don\'t really know how to deal with a green, except to rate it on its own merits--is the figure in proportion, are the facial features arranged correctly, are the limbs in a practical pose? For me, then, a 5 is an adequate job, an ordinary sculpt job. Less than 5 indicates the figure is somehow \'wrong\' (nose too long, rough, arm in a weird position, etc.). More than 5 indicates that the figure is particularly good--measuring up to professional standards.

As for conversions, I\'m not that familiar with the original figures in most cases, so unless the poster describes or photos exactly what they did to it, I rate it as usual (for a painted mini). When folks say \"good conversion\", unless I know the mini well, I just have to take it on faith that a modification was done to it. So I ignore the sculpt work in my voting just like I ignore the base.

 

[Chrispy]

Uhhh. since Chern made both a Scratchbuilt and Greens category, I believe the point is now moot. However, I do agree that if I were to rate the paint jobs on a regular unprimed mini, I\'d have to get them a 2 or 3.... converted depends on the work they put in and the pic quality, if they\'re a mess of white metal, 5.. if I can see the details and it is well converted, up to 8. Only when I great sculpt is painted do I think of 9 or 10.. So, once again point is moot... Actually, I just like saying moot. MOOT! Moot moot moot mooty moot moot!