Visit at the Duke of Bavaria

While Dennis went to visit such boring stuff as the Salute, Warlord, Mantic or Games Workshop last month, I went to visit the Duke of Bavaria painting competition for the first time.
The competition takes place every year and is held in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt, Germany. A visit is definitely worth it, as Ingolstadt provides a nice atmosphere at this time of the year.

At the painting competition itself there were all kinds of high-quality models, dioramas and busts to see. I have to mention that you won`t see many of the products from the aforementioned companies, so you can marvel at contributions that you would otherwise not notice if you don`t take a look outside the box too often. The level was very high throughout the whole contributions, even among the newcomers. Below I’ll show a few of my personal highlights, like these busts here:

(Left) The blending on the lady was incredibly soft, especially on the skin. I particularly liked the composition of colors and the interaction of the contrast with them. (Middle) On this bust, I especially noticed the upper half of the face and the appearance of the metal. Busts allow a little more effort when painting eyes, which comes across beautifully here. The metal on the other hand had a nicely believable look, just as if it had actually been worn. (Right) Caesar scored with a realistic shine on his lips, as well as the visible fibers on the tunic. I think red is a tricky color to paint, so you can see the illusion of the fibers as "the next level" of painting.

(Left) Is it a norseman? Is it a troll? Skin and tattoos knew to please even without more detailed specification. But the focus was probably aimed at the connection between the bird's eye and the character's eye. (Mittle) In a corner of the first presentation room there were some characters, who dealt with the topic "Conan" and this bust had me particularly impressed with it`s comic like appeal. (Right) Captain America was also a good figure and just from the front perspective, the bust looked very similar to it’s real role model.

I'm probably already showing that I really like a certain comic book look. Accordingly, it was clear that my eyes were stuck here. Soft transitions and the smoothly incorporated age spots on the bald head gave this bust that extra something.

Going over to the full body miniatures, a 75mm scale of historical themes was predominant and a little less from the category "Fantasy" was seen.

(Left) This Bavarian knight on foot made a splash with precise, checked patterns and accurate heraldry. (Middle) With this gentleman I liked the illusion of an external light source. I myself have rather a comic style, where the light sources are mostly set on the top, while in this Mini, the light seems to come from below. (Right) The light effect was really impressive on this figure. It was so perfectly applied that I initially thought the sword was a glowing LED rod, but the light on the surrounding and the character is actually painted.

Another model on the subject of Conan, in which I noticed the leather effect on the straps.

This figure was set impressively set itself in scene in particular. The nonmetal metal effects and the style of light and shadow were a real eye-catcher.

Roman themes and gladiators always have a place in my heart, so it was not possible to overlook these models - once again the soft blends of human skin color made me jealous.

Equally impressive was this Aztec, in which the overall picture of feather and jade jewelry just seemed consistent.

During the day I took some more snapshots with which I would like to finish this article. Enjoy the eye-candy!

Overall, I liked the event a lot. You can also take part in workshops if you are interested in improving your own painting skills and for a small fee you will be given access to the army museum.

So that was it from the painting front!

Greetings from the Chaosbunker
Dino