Entries so Far

In the first three weeks of the painting contest we’ve got about 45 entries from 18 painters, mostly Commander models! Let’s take a look at some of the early entries, highlight a Contest Sponsor and some prizes, and look forward to the end of the month when we will have a peoples’ choice voting contest!

You can peruse the continuously updated Contest Gallery here.

Painted Commander Models for Blood & Plunder

So far Legendary Commanders have made up the majority of all entries with Pirate and English Commanders leading the way.

Blackbeard

Blackbeard has been the single most popular character to enter so far! With 2 Skinnybeards and 3 Starterbeards, and one Santabeard, Blackbeard is currently sitting at 15% of all entries! These six entries come from Rien de Vries, Mike Anderson, Ian Tennant, Jerry Kegley, and Matthew Doerr.

Pirates of Legend

Plenty of the Pirates of Legend as well! These entries come from Kurtis Fraley, Mike Anderson, & Richard Anderson.

English Legendary Commanders

Some very impressive & tidy work there from painters Jerry Kegley, Richard Anderson, Ian Tennant, & Riley Faulk.

French Legendary Commanders

We have several French Commander entries as well! These fine entries from Daniel Perkins, Paul Chouinard, Fernando Arteaga, and Julian Nault.

Spanish Legendary Commanders

Coming from painters Mike Anderson, Andrew Cox, and Richard Anderson, we have 2 Pargos ad 1 Corso so far. Look at the flower pattern on that Pargo! Some really great working coming in!

Unaligned & Native Commanders

We’re happy to see a couple great entries for the Natives and Maroons early in the contest! Here is Maroon Commander “Colonel” Cudjoe and King Golden Cap by Dylan Craig & Adam Cox.

Standard Commanders

While Legendary Commanders have dominated, there have been a nice selection of standard Commander models entered as well. Here we have a Dutch Silver Fox (by Benjamin Eindhoven), a kitbbashed Captain Brace-O-Pistols (Kurtis Fraley), and Irish-English Commander (Riley Faulk), and some prim and proper English officers (Evan Botkin & Jerry Kegley).

Characters

The hard plastic kits make for some great kitbashing opportunities and we already have a few awesome character entries. From left to right we have a Dutch Sailing Master from David Manley, a Grizzled Veteran from Daniel Perkins and a no-nonsense Mission Priest from Jerry Kegley.

Non-Commander Entries

While the Commander category is the “most urgent” and will close at the end of January, other categories remain open for entry. So we’ve received a couple early bird entries. A terrain entry from Evan Botkin, an Oak & Iron ship by Hans Sprenkle, and a unit of European Sailors from Paul Chouinard.

Prize Sponsor for the Commander/Character Category – Firelock Games

Peoples’ Choice voting for this category will happen during the first few days of February. The prize for this category is supersized Captain Blackbeard model from Firelock Games! Check out the supersized Black Caesar below!

A huge thanks to Firelock Games for making these awesome games, and for providing this prize! There’s no prohibition against entering a supersized entry, so we want to see a MEGABEARD entry to the contest in 2025!

It doesn’t need to be said, but please support Firelock Games! Buy some new minis! The new resin line of minis is fantastic and an absolute pleasure to paint! If you make an order of $100 or more, you’ll get an exclusive alternate sculpt of Henry Morgan which hasn’t been available since the first Kickstarter more than 7 years ago! Go grab some of those sweet resin minis and get a badass Morgan as part of the deal. But do it fast so you can enter him in the contest before the end of the month!

We’ll also be giving away a prize or two to a random participant at the end of the month! Tyler from the Dead Man’s Chest has been cooking up some prize material for a random winner for each month. Keep on the lookout for updates on that front.

Final Thoughts

You have 10 more days to submit a Commander/Character entry for the 2024 Great Pirate Paint Off! We’re hoping for 100 entries in this category before the end of the month, so get busy! The contest is off to a great start and its really great to see all these minis come to life with a little blood, sweat, and pigment from the community!

The Contest Next Month

As a reminder, February will be the month to get your Terrain and Oak & Iron entries in! We’ll leave with a picture of the Terrain Prize that Dexter from The Plunder Den has been working on.

Additional Recommended Reading

• Look at all the contest entries in the Contest Photo Gallery
• Read more on the contest details and rules on the 2024 Great Pirate Paint Off contest home page.
• Get details on all the plunder on the Prizes & Sponsors page.
• Submit your contest entry through the Great Pirate Paint Off Entry Form!