Well done models appear smaller than the actually are?

[Deadite]

Just came back from GD Chi-town, my first GD experience, and was impressed by a number of Golden Demon entries.
And there were just as many that could use some work (not necessarily \"bad\", just not as good as some of the winners).

One thing that struck me about some of the winners was that they seemed to look \"smaller\" than their non-winning counterparts.
The details on many of the winners were incredible, the lines were smooth, conversions were excellent, paintjobs were beyond belief... and that really seemed to make the models look \"smaller\" than what I\'ve become accustomed to. Where as the models with rough paintjobs, not-so-smooth conversions or were fairly generic, just kinda looked big and clunky by comparison.
Does anyone else get the same sense of perception when viewing these Golden Demons in real life?

 

[supervike]

I know what you are saying. I rarely get to see \'other\' people\'s paintings in real life, but on the occasions I have, I have had very similar preceptions.

The ones that really are painted well, with extraordinary attention to detail look almost....delicate.

Strange phenomena isn\'t it?

 

[Deadite]

Originally posted by supervike
The ones that really are painted well, with extraordinary attention to detail look almost....delicate.

Yes, they truly do. I\'ll admit, I\'ve never seen models in a competition like this. I usually just peruse forums and sites like CMON to get my painting fix... but you can never really gauge the true scale of these things.
So, to see them in person, amongst others and they just look so very delicate and smaller than you might have been accustomed to.

Truly is a strange phenomenon. At least I know I\'m not the only one who thinks so.

 

[LavronYor]

Yep, most of the winners use Testors Dullcoat and it says on the package guaranteed to shrink your mini by 30%. The warning says \" WARNING, may make your mini look dainty, not that that is a bad thing \"

Actually, with the usually abysmal lighting at most GDs, most of the more subtle paint jobs look dark ( which make them look smaller ) until the judges take them over under the bright lights for photographing. Some of the photos I shot were without the flash and the same mini looks much smaller. Interesting optical effect, still, the smaller details do tend to separate the experts from the very good intermediates.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

That is interesting.

 

[penguin]

I\'ve noticed it too. One thing that has such an effect (I was really struck by this when I saw Alvert Moretó Font\'s awesome Dark Elf at GD) is the added bit of finesse that comes from adding uncastable details, such as single strands of hair, or delicate leaves:

The other thing is if a banner or penant (as you can see on the Dark Elf) has much more movement in it than a standard GW sculpt. Couple that with a dark, subtle paint job and Dull Cote (don\'t know about shrinking 30% but it does help) you have a very fine mini indeed. And it looks smaller

 

[mistamick]

Can\'t we just use warmaster?

 

[penguin]

No, because Warmaster is crap

 

[mistamick]

Any models I would use in warmaster....
Well I\'d only be able to fit one colour on