We’re in the last month of the 2026 Great Pirate Paint Off and we have some mid month prizes to give away. Our categories of focus this month are Blood & Plunder Ships and full Forces for Blood & Plunder, Oak & Iron, or Port Royal.
In this post we’ll look at the some of the recent entries in these categories and award 2 prizes.
Blood & Plunder Ship Entries
We’ve received 23 entries so far in this category. And entries range all the way from the humble canoe and longboat up to the Galleon, with 12 different ships represented!
You can view all the entries in this category in the Ship Gallery.
Boats
That Birchbark canoe paints up so nice! And we have a Piragua or two.
Two Deck Ships
There are some outstanding entries here! A couple resin Sloops, Balandras, Bermuda Sloops, a Bark, and even some Tartanas with great sails.
Three Deck Ships
Check out the ratlines and extended bowsprit on this British Sloop of War.
And some beautiful blending and shading work on this Brigantine.
And the Dutch boasting some expertly sailed sails in this Fluyt.
Four Deck Ships
These are the big boys! These 4 deck ships, the Galleon and the 6th Rate Frigate are massive hobby projects and can take months to complete. We’ll save some of the pictures for later, but there’s some excellent work here.
And finally the Galleon!
It’s a glorious model and that is some impressive paint work on it!
Mid April Prize Drawing
For this category, we are giving away a set of sails from the Blood & Pigment shop. These are workhorse paper sails with some added details. Not the fanciest, but they are a great option for getting your ship rigged up.
And our winner, drawn at random from all participants who have entered at least one ship is Dave B. Dave has submitted a lot of great entries this year and is a more-than-worthy winner! He can choose any set of sails for this prize.
Forces for Blood & Plunder, Oak & Iron, or Port Royal
And our last category is a battle force. These forces may contain units and commanders previously entered, but this is where they all come together. We’ve already received 25 entries in this category.
You can view all the entries in this category in the Force Gallery.
Blood & Plunder Forces
French Force
Unaligned Force
Spanish Force
Native American Force
Spanish Force
Another French Force
And a Dutch Force
These represent a lot of work and dedication to get entire armies painted over the course of the past few months.
Oak & Iron Forces
These little ships take a lot of care and attention to details. This Force entry must include at least 5 ships.
Port Royal Forces
The army for Port Royal is smaller and more of a manageable project, but it means you can put a lot of care and character into your models.
Mid April Prize Drawing for Force Entries
For this category we are giving away another set of the fantastic dice sets from Baron of Dice. The winner can pick their nationality from either their Oak & Iron, or Blood & Plunder lines (the BP sets work for Port Royal as well). We’ve previously reviewed these dice and even carry them in our shop. They bring your game some extra class and show off your loyalty to your chosen nation.
And our winner for this prize is Nate H! Nate created a Port Royal force from various sets of Blood & Plunder multipart plastic kits and has done some great kitbashing work. Congratulations Nate and nice work!
Final Thoughts
We’re closing in on the end of the contest. We’ll be running People’s Choice voting on these two categories during the first week of May. And we have some extra special prizes to award at the end of the contest as well.
Watch for winners in categories like:
- Best entry from a New Painter
- Most Entries
- Top entry from each “nationality” chosen by our Commanders from the upcoming Summer of Plunder campaign
- One lucky winner drawn from all entries! There’s a 6th Rate Frigate to be given away!
Congratulations to the prize winners this week. Enjoy your plunder! And enjoy finishing your last projects before the end of the month and the conclusion of the 2026 Great Pirate Paint Off!