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It is that time of year again when Blood of Kittens rolls out our picks for the best of the year.

Here are the picks for the best paint jobs taken from Golden Demon winners across the globe.

 

 

 

 

Best Forge World (at least I think it is mostly forge world) by Matteo Murelli

Khull the Grottesque made from a Nurgle Lord and a Giant Spined Chaos Beast was designed by Matteo Murell. This work took Best in Show and Slayer Sword at the Italian Games Day 2011. This masterpiece is truly awe-inspiring because it combines the best liquid paint techniques and seamless blending. What makes this one of the true great works is the invisible paint strokes and realism that is hard to come by even in the best works.

Best Diorama by Haking Filip

What makes the best dioramas isn’t ever the quality of the work, but the story it is trying to tell and no other piece tells a better intimate story like Valhallan by Haking Filip. This is a true soldier’s story: a moment between battles, some sleep, others try to stay warm, or one tells a story with backdrop war ever-present. We don’t see the hero, the valiant last stand, just the grunt and his comrades.

Best Squad by Sergey Zubrilin

Deathwing Terminators by Sergey Zubrilin highlights a tableau of colors with varying degrees of amazing. Not one color sticks out brighter than the others. There is always a danger of looking stale with such an over done unit like Terminators, but Sergey keeps it fresh and integrating from the cracked armor to the green highlighting. This piece is done with such skill and precision it is hard not to bask in the greatness of these models.

Best Vehicle by Brandon Griffith

I had the great pleasure of seeing this piece up close at WargamesCon and seeing it get second place at Games Day Chicago was a delight. You cannot say much about this amazing Space Wolf dreadnought, but it is easy to get lost in the perfect snow and lighting effects. Looking at the banner and runes I have to wonder why this didn’t take 1st place in its category? The best part though will always be the wolf skull head of badassery.

Best Single Model by David Waeselynck

David Waeselynck’s Akiless uses brilliance through minimalism. Take one color: blend, layer, torque, to create a myriad of textures with lovely depth. Add in just the right portions of color pop and throw a dynamic pose in for good measure and you get one of the best paint jobs you’ve seen in a long time. Akiless is a slap in the face to all the boring Grey Knight works you can find anywhere.

Best Large Scale by Raffaele Picca

Visions of Hatred by Raffaele Picca is not only the best of its category it is the best paint job I have this entire year. I could go into a long drawn out verbiage about just how amazing this work is, but instead I suggest you just sit back and take it all in as the Galaxy’s burns.