Exhibition of Miniatures and Tabletop Scenery 2023
Our annual Exhibition of Miniatures and Tabletop Scenery Agram 2023 took place this year from 23.02.-12.03.2023. The setup was done on Wednesday 22.02.2023. in the afternoon. Many club members as well as some friends of the club and members of the local FB group Miniature Painters Croatia came by to help, provided their miniatures and helped with the setting up of the whole event.
We held the grand opening on Thursday, 23.2.2023 starting at 18:00. The Exhibition was organised for our 20th birthday.
As always, the exhibition showed a cross-section of the work of the Association, its members, participants in its courses and workshops and members of the FB group Miniature Painters Croatia. In a large number of showcases, there were numerous miniatures for tabletop wargames, board games, and an entire showcase was dedicated to award-winning exhibits from previous miniaturist competitions. Several showcases were dedicated to the projects that the Association has been implementing for 19 years, such as the Library of UMS "Agram", the Terrain Workshop and the Miniature Painting Workshop.
This year we've had two guest exhibitors. The first one was Winton Afrić with his project Artefact. Four of his digital sculpts were premiered at out Exhibition that were a part of a commission for The Dark Eye RPG by Ulisses Spiele.
The other guest was Gardens of Hecate. A Zagreb-based craft run by Ana Polanšćak that specialises in making and painting custom miniatures, terrain as well as developing rules sets.
During the weekend of 25.-26.02. as a part of the Exhibition, we held our 16th annual Black Queen Hobby and Miniature Painting Competition!
As our competitors registered at the venue, our diligent staff photographed all the entries before dividing them into categories and placing them in their respective glass cabinets .
Here is a quick run down through categories at this year's event:
1. Single Miniature (any 28-35mm single miniature)
2. Mounted and Large Miniature (mounted or large miniatures in 28-35mm scale)
3. Unit / Squad (unit of 5+ minis (28-35mm), or exceptionally 3+ minis (trolls, ogres etc))
4. Masterclass (our most prestigious category, anything goes as long as it's a single entry.)
5. Diorama / Duel (self explanatory, two or more minis locked in combat or in any other interaction on a single base (no limit to the size of the base, if you can bring it, we'll display it!))
6. Open (anything that isn't covered in the categories above – primarily reserved for dragons, monsters, warmachines, but also scenery etc)
7. Bust (busts of any size can go in here)
8. Junior (under 18. The Junior entries will be assigned in the categories above as applicable and will compete with the rest of the entries. However, best three Junior entries in the whole competition will be awarded in Junior category.)
9. BEST OF SHOW (this is a new category which will be sponsored by UMS „Agram“. All of the entries will be judged and the best entry will be awarded a special prize!
At noon, all the cabinets were filled and the competition could officially begin!
Painting Workshops
The layout of the venue at the Vladimir Horvat Gallery makes it possible to hold several workshops throughout the weekend. Therefore, there were two two-hour workshops on Saturday after the official opening of the competition and two on Sunday before the awards ceremony. This year, the workshops were held in the cinema hall in the basement of the venue. The tutor's work was filmed with a camera and projected on the projection screen in the hall.
GASLANDS KITBASH WORKSHOP
Date and time: Saturday 25. February 2023, 13:00-15:00
TUTOR:Ana Polanšćak
CONTENT:
The workshop demonstrated the conversion of diecast cars into figures for Gaslands - a tabletop game of vehicle racing and combat on a post-apocalyptic Earth. It included disassembly, surface preparation, and adding weapons, armor, damage, and other details.
LEATHER 101 WORKSHOP
Date and time: Saturday 25. February 2023, 15:00-17:00
TUTOR: Marko Paunović
CONTENT:
The workshop covered different methods of painting leather surfaces, ranging from basic for tabletop and/or beginners up to advanced methods for painting busts and other display miniatures. The tutor has chosen several various miniatures/busts to show his creative process.
3D SCULPTING 101 WORKSHOP
Date and time: Sunday 26. February 2023, 10:00-12:00
TUTOR: Winton Afrić
CONTENT:
The workshop covered the process of 3D digital sculpting, from the idea to realisation and preparation for casting.
HORSES / HISTORICAL WORKSHOP
Date and time: Sunday 26. February 2023, 13:30-15:30
TUTOR: Dalibor Čavić
CONTENT:
This workshop covered the process of painting 28mm cavalry historical miniatures. The tutor has chosen suitable Black Husars of Frederic the Great by Zvezda to explain the theory as well as practical application using various techniques like basecoating, washing, highlighting and detailing with acrylic paints.
Speed Painting Contests
There was a speed painting contest organised on Sunday. Participants had an hour to paint a single miniature. Thanks to our sponsor Hobby Chest who secured a huge donation of painting materials by AK Interactive, we were able to hold a Speed Painting Contest with the following rules: - contestants had an hour to paint a miniature - all contestants painted the same (type of) miniature - we provided the paints by AK Interactive - we provided the brushes by AK Interactive
That brought this wonderful weekend to a close and all that was left to do was to award the winning painters.
During the following two weeks on workdays from 16:00 until 20:00 we organised Warhammer 40.000 demo games. Next to the wargaming table we set up a painting booth where our visitors could paint the miniatures we provided (or they brought with themselves) using our painting material. This interactive part of the workshop was a nice new feature to our standard exhibition setup.
During the second weekend of the Exhibition, on 04.-05.03., we organised a MINIATURE PAINTING WORKSHOP – Batchpainting Ork Boyz.
During the weekend workshop the attendees painted the Ork Boyz figures for Warhammer 40,000 board strategy games. The focus of these lectures was painting several miniatures at once, but the knowledge from the workshop is equally applicable to coloring armies for boardgames and a collection of figures for pen&paper rpgs. The workshop presented paints and accessories, preparation of figures, several techniques for coloring miniatures from basic to more advanced, and techniques and tricks for quickly and efficiently coloring large quantities of figures at once. As part of the workshop, water-based acrylic paints were used. The lectures were adapted so that the presenters will devote equal time to all participants and will be able to adapt to all categories of miniaturists (from beginners to slightly advanced).
First, the lecturer sits at his desk and explains and demonstrates each step in painting a miniature/mockup on his specimen. His work is shown on a screen through a camera and projector, which the participants listen to, look at, and ask questions about. Afterwards, the participants sit at their desks and apply the acquired knowledge. Leaders circulate between participants and check how each participant is doing. In this way, they can be adapted to each student individually. The workshop included the following thematic units
1. Planning and preparation and assembly of miniatures 2. Processing of miniatures before painting 3. Basic colors 4. Shading and highlighting techniques 5. Batch Painting 6. Subsequent elevation of the finished paintjob to a higher level 7. Basing the miniatures
The club provided all with the necessary equipment, paints, tools, brushes, lighting, glue as well as a set of paints.
On Wednesday 08.03.2023. we held our annual General Assembly and ellected new leadership for the next two years.
On Sunday 12.03.2023. the Exhibition ended and all our exhibits were safely stored away and the Gallery was cleaned.
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