Warhammer And 40K Fans Unite For America’s Most Prestigious Mini-painting Competition

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Artists from around the world gathered at the Adapticon wargaming convention last month for the 2023 Golden Demon, the world’s largest Warhammer painting competition. It was the second such competition to be held in the United States in over a decade, and featured the work of some of the best miniature painters around.

The top prize at the end of the weekend – the legendary Slayer Sword – was awarded to Neil Hollis for his work on Dark Angel’s Space Marine Master Lazarus. In its official announcement, publisher Games Workshop said that Hollis’ work used some of the most difficult and time-consuming painting techniques ever created, including nonferrous metal and freehand work. After spending hundreds of hours on a figure roughly 1 inch tall, the results are absolutely stunning.

A green-armored Space Marine looking tough. His armor is shining like metal. The gold and silver details are painted so that they appear mirror-smooth, reflecting an invisible light source.

Dozens of other models filled cases in Schaumburg, Illinois. sent photographer and Warhammer fan Jim Wondruska to capture the scene. You can click on individual photos below to see even larger versions of their work, all captured with a medium-format Fujifilm GFX 50R.

Two tyrants flank a red armored Space Marine miniature. The floor of this space hulk is covered in bright green ichor.

A Sliver Armored Space Marine from AdeptiCon 2023. He wears a giant book on his backpack, and his armor has a white glow on the sides.

A Black Templar Space Marine thrusts a sword into a dreadnought miniature, ribbons flowing behind him. on his sword

The first day of Adaptcon, Wednesday, is usually the slowest and lightest. As guests begin pouring into the venue, Games Workshop representatives are already setting up the illuminated glass display cases. The smell of window cleaner fills the air.

A giant squigg – a two-legged, roly-polie fantasy creature with a giant jaw and a lolling tongue – chases a villager on a rampage through the underbrush. The leaves are lifelike and realistic, with many different shapes and layers.

The Golden Demon has several categories, including smaller scale models and dioramas. There is even a category for young painters, the so-called “Young Guns” who will further the hobby into a new generation. Performers patiently line up for their turn before submitting their work to a judge.

A Golden Demon participant signs a document, handing over his miniature to the judge.

A painter waits in line to submit his work to the Golden Demons at Adaptcon 2023.

A white and blue drake stands on a table waiting to be placed under glass in the Adapticon.

The models are displayed without their artist names. The purpose of anonymity is even a somewhat level playing field among hobby painters, professional artists, and popular YouTube presenters. Everyone is invited to participate in Golden Demon regardless of their skill level, and no fee is required to enter the competition.

A single miniature is supported with a landscape painting of a hill scene. Clouds gather against a peak, and the texture of that mountain scene flows into the foreground of the base, which is tall and square. A Chaos Warrior raises an axe.

A large miniature inside a white photographic tent for even lighting.

An employee wearing a white glove puts the honor-winning miniature back on display.

AdeptiCon 2023 uses two hands and gloves to carefully move the delicate art.

Over the next few days, Games Workshop staff carefully evaluate and photograph each winning entry. All the while, the many thousands of AdeptiCon attendees make their way around the cases. Cell phones and SLR cameras are kept upstairs, there’s really only one rule – please, don’t touch the cases.

Fans, one man and one woman, admire the pieces on display at Adapticon 2023.

AdeptiCon 2023 features half a dozen finished pieces, including a ship, a robot and a tank, arranged in a display case. A central miniature is an Ork aircraft, with two fuselages fused together into a singular monstrosity. Below, a big knight steps forward with his shoulders down, like a linebacker blitzing the quarterback.

A photographer at Adapticon 2023 takes pictures through glass cases with light.

A red-haired man with a cell phone takes pictures of the miniatures on display at the Golden Demon.

While the shelves are filled with models from the Warhammer 40,000 science fiction universe, many other Games Workshop properties are represented as well. These include fantasy-themed Warhammer Age of SigmarOf course, but a fictional version of American football is also called bowl of blood And this middle-earth strategy war game Based on the works of author JRR Tolkien.

A white-armored spirit, its shoulders made of mountains, stands in a display case in Schaumburg during the Golden Demon 2023. The intricate chesswork on its armor is highlighted with a gentle silver that plays off the mountains.

A giant yellow and purple monster on display. Behind it is a venomous green demon. Both miniatures use a firm base and layered colors to draw attention to the various details and textures on the creatures – from worn teeth to chapped lips.

The pale, pink-skinned Mega-Gargant and the Sigmarite Golden Demon on Blue Drake fight a duel in 2023. Both miniatures show their details separately, the mega-gargant with folds of its taught skin and the drake with its thousands of scales highlighted in white paint.

A single miniature with a crossbow stands on a wide plinth. It is wearing a red cape and steel-toed, spiked boots. Its fingers are long, ending in claws like locks.

Different scales of miniatures are depicted in the Golden Demon. The most common is the 28 mm scale, where individual soldiers stand about 1 inch tall on their circular base. statistics for games such as adeptus titanicus And aeronautica imperialis are very small with single-seat space fighters that can practically fit in the palm of your hand.

One robot steps from the cockpit of another robot. Both are yellow, with black and white checked accents. Both miniatures are notable for their smooth texture and even gradient – a challenge especially with the yellow tones.

Wide shot of one robot exiting the cockpit of another. The figure is supported by rows of glass display cases disappearing into the background.

A colossal Titan rendered in fractional scale for the Adeptus Titanicus game. It is elaborately painted with alternating blue and yellow panels showing rust and wear and energy flowing through its arms. It's head is up, its eyes looking out at the viewer, even as its enormous cannons move to meet its gaze.

The most impressive miniatures on display are called Knights. They represent ancient and enigmatic robots operated by small, highly skilled crews. Some stand as tall as 1 foot, and their many armored panels leave plenty of room for artists to show off their freehand painting and weathering skills.

A Knight, Patina from thousands of years old. A skull is depicted on its large inclined plate. Its eyes are big, shiny and green.

A purple four-armed demon from AdeptiCon 2023's Golden Demon contest. It highlights sculpting on your major muscle groups. Its legs are also wrapped in clean cloth, which has a completely different, more voluminous texture than its bare torso.

Wide shot of massive orc with yellow, metal contraption on back. It is walking forward looking to the left, staring at the audience with a cigar in its mouth.

A frog on a throne, doing magic. The throne hovers over a simple, wooden plinth. Large, fragmented stone pieces circle the throne, seemingly floating in the air but actually cleverly attached. Despite its apparent movement, it looks solid and ageless.

The Golden Demon is held several times each year, and often serves as a showcase for the most beloved new miniatures from the previous year. There were several mega-gargants on display this year, possibly inspired by Chris Clayton’s award-winning piece presented in England late last year.

An orc with night vision holds a finger to its mouth and urges silence. A hand-painted tattoo on its left shoulder shows a heart that

An orc warlord in magenta and light blue - the colors of the Trans Pride flag. The model is of an orc who has transformed himself mostly into a machine. Its guns are silenced but show wear and age – as if four or five other firearms were strung together. Different metallic finishes complete the illusion.

A League of Votann off-road vehicle, a sort of combination of a potato and a submarine. It had a rigid outer frame and thick, shell-like green plates underneath. It is encircled by a tentacled creature hand-carved into the base, reaching up and through the superstructure enclosing the vehicle. It appears to have pulled down into a basalt surface pockmarked by micrometeorites.

Other popular subjects included the League of Wotan, known as space dwarves or “squats”, who had been reintroduced into the 40K pantheon only a year earlier.

Ironically, the Golden Demon Awards are not actually made of gold. The resin sculptures are spray-painted using Games Workshop’s own line of Citadel paint and lightly weathered ahead of time. We saw judges touching hands after a long journey from abroad on Thursday afternoon.