🎨 Silco Painting Contest Results

Hey friends!

This time we received a total of 30 entries, and each of us spent a lot of time carefully reviewing every miniature — discussing details, lighting, presentation, and style. It was a true visual journey!

It seems like judging couldn't possibly get harder — and yet, you keep proving us wrong. Once again, you amazed us with a wide range of painting styles: from moody noir and soft gradients to bold OSL and dramatic contrast. Picking the winners was incredibly difficult.

This time, we were joined by two guest judges — Abril and Mimic Hobby, both professional miniature painters. Huge thanks to them for their time and thoughtful feedback! Their experience, attention to nuance, and deep understanding of technique played a key role in the final scores.

A few words about the scoring system:

Each judge ranked their top 5 entries, with 1st place receiving 5 points, 2nd place 4 points, and so on. The votes from the guest judges (Abril and Mimic Hobby) were weighted with a ×1.5 multiplier to reflect their expert perspective.

Let’s get to the results!

🥇 1st Place — Mori ($300 via PayPal)
24 points
A flawless and stylistically consistent piece with thoughtful color harmony and glowing effects. Nearly every judge, including both guest judges, ranked it in their top 3.

🥈 2nd Place — RonZen ($200 via PayPal)
20 points
An emotional and detailed paint job with expressive facial work and strong contrasts. One of our guest judges awarded this piece 1st place.

🥉 3rd Place — Fancher ($100 via PayPal)
18 points
A clean, stylish, and well-balanced work. Judges praised the subtle color palette and minimalist approach. Our guest judges rated it highly for precision and overall execution.

🏅 Additional Rewards

These participants were especially close to reaching the top 3 — just a couple of points away. Their entries were frequently discussed in the final round, and each of them truly deserves recognition.

In addition to the main prizes, I decided to contribute an extra $200 to reward the effort and creativity shown by the artists listed below. Here's how those prizes were distributed:

• Tatachok ($50) — Special mention for creativity! A bold and unified execution in black-and-white with strong visual identity.

• blackbird ($25) — A moody and expressive piece with confident presentation and interesting lighting.

• Karol ($25) — Unique stone-textured base and clean paintwork.

• Bench.Studios ($25) — Minimalist and elegant with well-placed accents.

• Ash ($25) — A bold color palette and creative interpretation.

• Rodgar ($25) — Great glass effect, though some 3D print details held it back slightly.

• Margo demon ($25) — Very precise paint job with excellent presentation and atmospheric photos.

As always — a huge thank you to everyone who took part in this contest! Even if your work didn’t make it into the final list, that doesn’t mean it went unnoticed. The competition was intense, and every single piece left an impression.

Just like in previous contests: all participants can pick any old model from our archive, and I’ll send it to you personally. I’ll also reach out to each of you via Discord shortly.

Keep creating and painting — you're amazing!