Well since I'm new here, and have only ever viewed figures at shows, I'm curious, what do they look for? This way I'll have an idea of what to work on!

thanks in advance!

People have been wondering this for years.....

I'd say they're generally going to be after perfection, and from there they'll work their way downwards...
I hope this makes sense. A judge will be certainly after any flaws such as poorly finished painting etc. If there are none, then they'll be looking for merit in each piece.
Thing is judging is always a contentious point - always will be....
I hope my answer helps.

Hello James.

I think each judge is looking for the figure that she/he likes more.
The best way to achieve good results in this hobby is probably to do what you please. I never have made a figure thinking in what the judges will think just in what I like.
The most important thing is your own satisfaction and to look for results in shows can lead some people to frustration. Enjoy!

Diego

James,

Here is what is said about it from the MMSI show. Go to this link, then click onto the top section "Open System" and read the rest, much to long to post here.
http://www.mmsichicago.com/


JUDGING CRITERIA
The Chicago Show follows the International Judging Criteria as published in Campaigns #44. Copies of these criteria
are available upon request from the MMSI . One of the hardest things for newcomers to this system to understand is
how dioramas, vignettes, and single figures can be reasonably compared. The following excerpt from our "Instructions
for the Judges" may help to allay these misgivings:

Try to judge each piece on its own merits. Judge a diorama primarily for its success or failure as a diorama, and not so
much in terms of how much more work it represents than, say, a single foot figure. The difficulty of the job attempted
should certainly be a factor, but the sheer amount of work should not.

Grading the pieces on a scale of I - 100 or I - 10 might help. Ask yourself, "what is the modeler trying to do, how difficult
is it, and how well has he done it? What would I change if it were mine?" If you score the entries on this basis, you will be
surprised how easy it is to compare even the most dissimilar subjects.

You cannot be expected to judge the accuracy of such a wide variety of subjects, although a blatant error is bound to
shade your judgment. Generally, however, give the exhibitor the benefit of any doubt in such matters; he has done
more work on the figure than you have, and he just might be right. It is better to let a few culprits go free than to
penalize someone unjustly for research you were not aware of.

As a general rule of thumb, the best way to proceed is to go through your judging area, and pick the pieces that
impress you the most.

Hi James

How much pressure do you realy want to put yourself under, realy you should never paint for the judges opinion, you will be on a looser from then on, paint for yourself, enjoy shows, look at lots of figures, look at the masters painting, break it down, observe how shadows and lights are created, look at directions where you want light to come from, break down how the shading is created without loosing the vividness of the base colour. Observation is 70% of any figure, taking note of what you observe and the condition its has been observed in. It all adds up, paint a figure like you mean it but always paint the whole figure, the same way you paint a face, with the same concentration, but above all enjoy it...... the metal will come your way quicker than you think.

Dave

Thanks for the responses guys! I know from my armour modelling that you never build for the judges, but there are technical things that we had to look at in judging a tank model... I am more curious about the technical things. What I like and how I do it, might not be the "Norm" and since I have no clue about the technicalities of figure painting other than what I have always done, I'm curious about what a judge looks for. Not so much to please them, but more out of curiousity! Thanks again guys, I'd like to hear more!

Diego, I agree with you 101%.

Don't worry about the judging and the judges, paint to please your self, and have fun doing it.

Cheers
Roc

I 'm just happy they don't ask me to be a judge.

Which judge? And at which show? In which category?

Some shows are known for having a much more consistent level of judging than others but this is going to vary a huge amount from person to person.

I can't stress this enough, believe me. Because it won't push anyone's nose out of joint perhaps the best example of this I know to give would be Expo in Scotland - on a single entry one judge scored it the minimum and another the maximum. Can't be any clearer how subjective the determinations can be!

IMO you should model for yourself; if other people like what you do that's a bonus, if others don't, well, you still like it which is important since it's in your display cabinet

Einion

Hi James,

I think under Joe's link you can find what you are looking for (second half from 'International Judging Criteria'), it will give you a very good overall idea of judging.

Denes

I agree with what others have said. I would add two things:

Check out the winners and see what wins in the type of pieces you do.

Enter the competition, and then ask someone who judged to evaluate your work. If you know someone who judges, perhaps you can ask them for an evaluation in advance of the show.

Good luck.

I have an uncanny knack - I choose my figures to take to a show, I thro in some cannon fodder to boost the entries and it's the ones I think are crap that win prizes - so simple do the opposite of anything I suggest!