array(2) {
["Article"]=>
array(10) {
["id"]=>
string(3) "458"
["member_id"]=>
string(2) "35"
["title_eng"]=>
string(48) "We visited: Kontrast Miniature Painting Festival"
["title_hrv"]=>
string(66) "Posjetili smo: Kontrast – Festival Bojanja Minijatura u Poljskoj"
["mask_eng"]=>
string(47) "we_visited_kontrast_miniature_painting_festival"
["mask_hrv"]=>
string(61) "posjetili_smo_kontrast_festival_bojanja_minijatura_u_poljskoj"
["content_eng"]=>
string(13173) "
This year, our member Ivan Knezović and his brothers, Petar and Filip, (popularly called the Knezović Clan) visited the Kontrast international miniature painting competition in Poland. And this is his report.
One of the largest miniature painting competitions in the world has been taking place in Warsaw since 2021. The Knezović clan visited Kontrast for the first time in 2023. The event was great and we enjoyed almost 1500 works, many of which were made by masters at the highest artistic level. We decided to visit Warsaw again in 2025, after completing enough works to justify the 12-hour drive one way.
We came to Kontrast as a kind of UMS Agram emissaries, and we handed out flyers for Black Queen 2026 and met a number of other enthusiasts, and we hope that some of them will visit Zagreb. We also brought home the Best of Show medal for the work that impressed us the most. We awarded the UMS Agram Best of Show to Dimosthenis Xylas, a miniaturist from Athens, for his dwarf. The work impressed us with its phenomenal atmosphere, smooth transitions, the play of multiple light sources, the level of quality on each individual element, and the convincing textures of the metal. Also, we simply love dwarfs.
The number of phenomenal works was large, because in 2025 more than 1700 works were exhibited in 2 classes - Standard for beginners and hobbyists and Master for professionals and those who have already proven themselves at international competitions (everyone who won gold in Standard will compete in Master in the future).
Petar won silver in the Master in 2023 and exhibited his works in the Master in 2025, while Filip and I did not have such good results and entered our works in the Standard.
One of the works that particularly stood out was Captain Titus from the game Space Marine 2 in a huge scale, it seems to me to be 1/4. It may not be the best, but it is a work that all visitors noticed.
One of the works that impressed us was a truly enormous diorama of Khorne Chaos Space Marines vs. Ultramarines. The diorama is huge, but each model is painted to a very high standard and contains about 30 models in various sizes. It is an imitation of a famous painting depicting a battle in Warhammer 40k.
Going through every work that impressed us would make this article too long, and words convey much less than photographs. Luckily, Filip came with a very good camera, so I leave some pictures for the readers to enjoy.
Our results were beyond expectations. Petar did not return with a medal, because during the 2 years he worked mostly on orders. He painted more than 400 models, but almost all of them were orders. In 3 days he painted the Durgin Paint Forge Orca. The model is really excellent, but the competition was great. With a few more days of work he would definitely be in the running for a medal. I think he can be satisfied with his work and next time aim for a medal with 6 days of painting.
Jure Cukar, for whom we carried 3 models, won 1 silver in the Standard class.Filip won 2 silvers in the Standard class for his lizards (dioramas) and for his ambient soldier (single model up to 54 mm).
I came to Kontrast with 5 exhibits. I came back with results that I did not expect even in my most optimistic dreams, because this is a truly huge competition with numerous top artists. I entered all my works in the Standard class.
For my Midori bust, I won gold in the Standard Historical and Realism category and an award from Alternity Miniatures, the company whose bust it is a product.
For my cat Albert, I won silver in the Standard Storytelling category.
For Dwarf Lord, I won gold in the Standard category for models larger than 54 millimeters.
For my dwarf adventurers, I won gold in the Standard Diorama category, a medal from Verko's Vault (miniature museum in Las Vegas) and what I really didn't expect, Best of Standard – the award for the best work of all works in the Standard category.
Finally, and this is perhaps the greatest recognition for my work, I won silver in the Master category for my Infinity regiment. Namely, all competitors submitted their works in only one class, either Standard or Master. However, the judges reserved the possibility of moving the model from Standard to Master.
All in all, Kontrast is a great experience. I hope we will visit Warsaw again, if not in 2026 then in 2027. In the meantime, I hope our Black Queen will also visit some of the new people we met in Poland.
"
["content_hrv"]=>
string(13263) "
Ove godine naš član Ivan Knezović je sa svojom braćom, Petrom i Filipom, (popularno nazvanima Klan Knezović) posjetio međunarodno natjecanje u bojanju minijatura Kontrast u Poljskoj. A ovo je njegov izvještaj!
Jedno od najvećih natjecanja u bojenju minijatura na svijetu odvija se u Varšavi od 2021. godine. Klan Knezović je posjetio Kontrast prvi puta 2023. godine. Događaj je bio sjajan te smo uživali u gotovo 1500 radova, od kojih su mnogi rađeni od strane majstora na najvišoj umjetničkoj razini. Odlučili smo i 2025., nakon što smo dovršili dovoljno radova da opravdamo vožnju od 12 sati u jednom smijeru ponovno posjetiti Varšavu.
Na Kontrast smo došli kao svojevrsni izaslanici UMS Agrama te smo podijelili letke za Black Queen 2026. te upoznali veći broj drugih entuzijasta te se nadamo da će neki posjetiti Zagreb. Donijeli smo i Best of Show medalju za rad koji nas se najviše dojmio. UMS Agram Best of Show dodijelili smo Dimosthenisu Xylasu, minijaturistu iz Atene za njegovog patuljka. Rad nas je dojmio fenomenalnom atmosferom, glatkim prijelazima, igrom više izvora svjetla, razinom kvalitete na svakom pojedinom elementu i uvjerljivim teksturama metala. Također, jednostavno volimo patuljke.
Broj fenomenalnih radova bio je velik, jer je 2025. bilo izloženo više od 1700 radova u 2 klase - Standard za početnike i hobiste te Master za profesionalce i one koji su se već iskazali na međunarodnim natjecanjima (svi koji su u Standardu osvojili zlato ubuduće se natječu u Masteru).
Petar je 2023. osvojio srebro u Masteru te je i 2025. izlagao radove u Masteru, a ja i Filip nismo imali tako dobre rezultate te smo svoje radove prijavili u Standard.
Od radova koji su se posebno isticali bio je kapetan Titus iz igre Space Marine 2 u ogromnoj skali, od oka čini mi se da je 1/4. Možda nije najbolji, ali je rad koji su svi posjetitelji primijetili.
Jedan od radova koji nas se dojmio je i zbilja ogromna diorama Khorne Chaos Space Marinaca protiv Ultramarinaca. Diorama je ogromna, ali svaki model pobojen je na vrlo visokoj razini te sadrži oko 30 modela u različitim veličinama. Imitacija je poznatog slikarskog prikaza bitki u Warhammeru 40k.
Proći svaki rad koji nas se dojmio oduljilo bi ovaj članak, a riječi prenose puno manje nego fotografije. Srećom, Filip je došao s vrlo dobrim foto aparatom te ostavljam neke slike za uživanje čitateljima.
Naši rezultati bili su iznad očekivanja. Petar se nije vratio s medaljom, jer je kroz 2 godine radio većinom na narudžbama. Pobojio je više od 400 modela, ali gotovo sve su bile narudžbe. U 3 dana pobojio je Durgin Paint Forge orka. Model je zbilja izvrstan, ali konkurencija je bila velika. S još nekoliko dana rada zasigurno bi ušao u konkurenciju za medalju. Mislim da može biti zadovoljan samim radom i sljedeći put ciljati na medalju sa 6 dana bojenja.
Jure Cukar, za koga smo nosili 3 modela osvojio je 1 srebro u Standard klasi. Filip je osvojio 2 srebra u Standard klasi za svoje guštere (diorama) i za svojeg ambientalnog vojnika (single model do 54 mm).
Ja sam na Kontrast došao s 5 izložaka. Vratio sam s rezultatima koje nisam očekivao niti u najoptimističnijim snovima, jer se radi o zbilja ogromnom natjecanju s brojnim vrhunskim umjetnicima. Sve svoje radove prijavio sam u Standard klasu.
Za svoju Midori bistu osvojio sam zlato u Standard Historical and Realism kategoriji te nagradu Alternity Miniaturesa, tvrtke čija je bista proizvod.
Za svojeg mačka Alberta osvojio sam srebro u Standard Storytelling kategoriji.
Za Dwarf Lorda osvojio sam zlato u Standard kategoriji za modele veće od 54 milimetra.
Za svoje patuljke avanturiste osvojio sam zlato u Standard Diorama kategoriji, medalju Verko's Vaulta (muzej minijatura u Las Vegasu) te ono što stvarno nisam očekivao, Best of Standard – nagradu za najbolji rad od svih radova u Standard kategoriji.
Na kraju, a ovo je možda najveće priznanje za moje radove, osvojio sam srebro u Master kategoriji za svoj Infinity regiment. Naime, svi natjecatelji svoje radove prijavljivali su samo u jednu klasu, ili Standard ili Master. No, suci su pridržali mogućnost pomicanja modela iz Stanarda u Master.
Sve u svemu Kontrast je sjajno iskustvo. Nadam se da ćemo ponovno posjetiti Varšavu, ako ne 2026. onda 2027. U međuvremenu, nadam se da će i naš Black Queen posjetiti i neki od novih ljudi koje smo upoznali u Poljskoj.
"
["created"]=>
string(19) "2025-06-05 07:30:52"
["modified"]=>
string(19) "2025-06-05 07:39:16"
}
["Member"]=>
array(10) {
["id"]=>
string(2) "35"
["group_id"]=>
string(1) "1"
["first_name"]=>
string(5) "Marko"
["last_name"]=>
string(9) "Paunović"
["first_name_mask"]=>
string(5) "marko"
["last_name_mask"]=>
string(8) "paunovic"
["username"]=>
string(5) "marko"
["password"]=>
string(40) "3bd37b326d19d1880d3b93a4b32e8fb3a90fa122"
["born"]=>
string(19) "2033-03-07 20:35:00"
["created"]=>
string(19) "2009-06-02 20:37:03"
}
}
