It’s a new month and we have two new categories to focus on in the Great Pirate Paint Off: Oak & Iron Ships and Terrain. We also have a Special Terrain Challenge project coming from Dexter at the Plunder Den!
Oak & Iron Ships
We focus primarily on Blood & Plunder here on this blog, but we all love Firelock Games’ other titles as well and we have a category in The Great Pirate Paint Off for Oak & Iron Ships. We’ve seen some amazing work on these 1/600 ships in previous years and we already have some impressive entries.
Check out this Galleon by Riley F.
And several other excellent entries, ranging from the small (and tricky) Sloop, to the new Galley Frigate, to 3rd Rate Ship of the Line, to another mighty galleon.
Mid Month Prizes for the Oak & Iron Category
At the midpoint of February (well, on the 16th), and at the end of the month, we will draw a names from the entrants to receive prizes. On the 16th we will be giving away a set of the beautiful custom Oak & Iron d8 dice from Baron of Dice. The winner can select the nationality of their choice.
You can find a full review of the Baron of Dice products, including the Oak & Iron dice here on The Plunder Den:
So make sure to get your Oak & Iron entries in early! All entrants that get a Oak & Iron submission in before the 16th get one chance at this prize.
We have another great giveaway from Timber & Sail at the end of the month for this category!
Terrain
This is always an interesting category because it covers so much! Terrain for Blood & Plunder and Port Royal and even Oak & Iron can be submitted here. This is the one slot that the subject doesn’t need to be “official” Firelock Games products. You can do anything! Scratch built, mdf kit, 3d printed, it’s all good! As long as you do some creative work on it.
For this category, please help us out and describe the piece in the comments section, and let us what kind of work you put in on the piece.
The month has just started and we already have an impressive number of entries. We even got a moose roaming the gallery below!
Mid Month Prize for the Terrain Category
On the 16th of February, we will be giving away one of the Spanish style house MDF kits from Things from the Basement. These are some great kits, and we are honored to have Things from the Basement help sponsor the contest again this year. This is their 3rd year running!
We will be giving away their Two Story House in the middle of the month, and their Bakery at the end of the month.
The Plunder Den Terrain Flash Challenge
We have a special and challenging even returning again this year! Dexter, the master terrain crafter who runs The Plunder Den YouTube channel, will be running a special terrain competition as part of the Great Pirate Paint Off: the Terrain Flash Challenge.
For this special part of this event, Dexter will publish an instructional video for a specific project and contestants can create the piece and submit them for a chance at winning one of the Dexter’s terrain pieces. He’s really upped the prize this year so you won’t want to miss this! And he’s chosen a great subject for the project: a Stone Warehouse.
Dexter is giving away a large piece of handbuilt terrain as a prize, so go grab some popsicle sticks and insulation foam now!
Stay tuned for more info. Dexter is still editing his instructional video. This event will run for about 4 weeks, and will go into March. There will be a special entry form for this challenge and it will be easily visible from the Great Pirate Paint Off menu on the blog’s home page.
Final Thoughts
The peoples’ choice voting is still happening (as of writing this) on the Commanders and Characters categories. We are focusing on Oak & Iron and Terrain this month, and the big category, Blood & Plunder units, is coming up next month. We have seen a noticeable uptick in both quantity and quality of entries in the contest this year and we’re thrilled!
Keep them coming and enjoy the process!