The Black Dragon painting competition will be held on the 4th May 2025 at the Diceni Tabletop Games show located at the Millennium Library, The Forum, Norwich, NR2 1TF.
How will the painting competition work?
The Black Dragon painting competition will comprise of gold, silver, and bronze awards with a best of show chosen from the gold winners. We will be using an open style of judging; where your work will be judged on its own merit. As such you will be competing against the standard set by the event, and not the other painters.
The display approach means you enter all your pieces as a single display, and the judges will assess which they feel is the best and assign the result based on the chosen piece.
This system is based on your ability and the standards we attach to each award. You may win a Bronze and look at what a silver winner’s entry looks like, with that in mind we hope you’ll come back to the next competition having perfected your skills, aiming for that higher and more exclusive award.
Rules and Restrictions
The Black Dragon Painting competition is a part of the Diceni tabletop games show which is a family friendly event so we ask that entries do not depict any subject that may be seen as extreme or controversial, e.g. torture, sexual scenes etc. Anything considered unsuitable will not be allowed to be displayed.
There is no fixed limit to the number of entries that can be part of a display, but there is a limit on the amount of display space available for the event, so we would ask you to be reasonable and to consider the size of the models you are entering. If any queries, please contact us to check before the show as we would hate to have to say no on the day.
Please respect the judges final rule, the judging will be by award winning miniature painters.
The event organisers cannot be held responsible for any breakages or losses at the show, there will be marshals on the day monitoring the entries.
When you enter, you will be given two numbered slips. You will need to enter your name and details on one and place it with your display. The other will be yours to keep and will be checked when removing models.
If you have any questions on the day, please speak to a Diceni crew member. If unclear before the show, please visit the Black Dragon painting competition Facebook page, and send a message or email us and we will be glad to discuss your project ideas with you and answer any other questions you may have. We hope you enjoy the competition; we are very much looking forward to seeing your work and good luck!
With the move to a display system, there are no specific classes (with 2 exceptions noted below). All your pieces should be grouped together as part of a single display.
Juniors (16 and Under)
We would like to encourage new painters and so we will have a separate class for junior painters.
Warbands
In recognition of Diceni as a wargaming expo we would like to have a separate category for squads, warbands and small units. Please note that such entries should be attached to a reasonably sized base/plinth so they can be picked up and inspected easily and safely.
What are the judges looking for?
Figures and models can be painted in a variety of styles, from the smooth and clean to the heavily weathered, from the colourful to the monochromatic. Across this range of styles and options, the judges will do their best to identify where the chosen style has been well executed, and the result is effective.
Basing
Is the basing appropriate to the overall piece? Does it enhance the figure and has the painter taken advantage of the opportunity to add interest to the entry.
Colour
Does the use of colour and lighting result in a piece that has good focus. Does a bust draw your eye to the face, does a diorama draw your eye to the centre of the action?
Detail
Is each element of the model treated with care and attention. Are materials handled so leather, cloth and metals look different. Has the painter taken advantage of opportunities to apply freehand and weathering.
These are a few examples of the sort of things the judges will be looking for.
Entry and Timeline
Entry will open at 10am and continue until 12am. It will cost £5 to enter the competition whether you choose just the display class, wargame class or both, it’s a one off fee.
Judging will start at 1pm, at which point the display room will be closed to visitors. We hope the move to a display-based competition will allow us to complete the judging in a reasonable time.
The awards will be announced at 3pm
The judges will be available at the show for feedback.
FAQs
What will happen when I arrive?
After paying your entry fee, you will be given a Black Dragon entry strip with your number on it. This will consist of a larger tab where you will need to enter your name, and three smaller squares. Each of these will have your number on them.
One of the squares if for placing next to your display (standard or juniors). If you are entering the squad/unit category, you will need to place one of the squares next to your display there as well.
You will be responsible for placing your own figures in the display areas. We would ask you to use no more space than necessary as we do not know how many entries there will be on the day. If there is a space issue, Black Dragon staff will re-arrange the displays as required.
The larger tab with your name is to be returned to the Black Dragon staff at the entry desk.
You get to keep the remaining numbered square to identify you later.
How many figures do I need to the squad/unit category?
Given the wide range of wargames from mass battle systems to smaller scale skirmish games, there is no fixed size for what constitutes a “unit”.
An underworlds warband might be 4 or more figures, a Kill Team could be about half a dozen figures or more and a squad for Infinity tends to be a similar size. A Necromunda gang would tend to be a little larger and some wargames have units that vary in size from a few as 3 figures to over a dozen.
Some historic games use tiles with half a dozen figures on each, in which case 2 or 3 blocks of figures would be fine. An artillery crew and a couple of sets of line infantry for example. And units for games using smaller figures (15 or 20 mil) would tend to have bases with a larger number of figures.
So a minimum of 3 figures will be required, after that, you will need to judge what provides a good representation of your “unit”. It doesn\’t need to conform to some games rule set, and it doesn’t need to be every figure that came in a squad box.
How do I display my squad/unit?
You should place your unit on a display plinth, this may use magnets, or the figures could be fixed in place with blue tack.
The judges do not want to have to pick up half a dozen of more individual figures by their wargaming bases as this significantly increases the risk of damage to the figures, and we want to avoid that.