Photo essay: Warhammer, 40K fans unite for prestigious Golden Demons

Last month, artists from all over the globe flocked to AdeptiCon for the 2023 Golden Demon Warhammer painting contest. The competition featured miniature paintings by some of the most talented miniature painters in America. It was also the second one to take place in the United States for more than 10 years.

At the end of the weekend the top prize — the legendary Slayer Sword — was given to Neil Hollis for his work on Dark Angels Space Marine Master Lazarus. Publisher Games Workshop, in its official announcement, noted that Hollis’ work made use of some of the most difficult and time-consuming painting techniques, including non-metallic metal and freehand work. These stunning results were achieved after many hours of work on this figure that stands approximately 1 inch tall.

A green-armored Space Marine looking stern. His armor is glowing like metal. The gold and silver details have been painted so that they look mirror-smooth, reflecting an unseen light source.

Schaumburg, Illinois saw dozens of models fill the cases. Polygon hired Jim Vondruska, a Warhammer enthusiast and photographer to take the photos. To view larger images of Jim Vondruska’s work, click the photos. They were all taken using a Fujifilm GFX 50R in medium format.

Two tyrranids flank a red-armored Space Marine miniature. The floor of this space hulk is covered with a bright green ichor.

A sliver armored Space Marine from AdeptiCon 2023. He wears a massive book on his backpack, and his armor has a white sheen to it along the edges.

A Black Templars space marine plunges a sword into a dreadnought miniature, ribbons streaming behind him. His sword is inlaid with the words “Deus Imperator.”

AdeptiCon’s Wednesday day is the most attended and slowest. Games Workshop representatives are on-hand to set up display cabinets made of lighted glass as guests begin to arrive at the venue. It is filled with the scent of window cleaner.

A giant squig — a two-legged, rolly-polly fantasy creature with a massive jaw and a lolling tongue — rampages through the underbrush, chasing a villager. The foliage is vibrant and realistic, with many different shapes and layers.

You can choose from small-scale models or dioramas, and the Golden Demon offers many options. There’s even a category for young painters, the so-called “young guns” who will carry the hobby forward into a new generation. The artists patiently wait for their turn before handing their works over to the judges.

A Golden Demon participant signs a document, handing over their miniature to be judged.

A painter stands in line waiting to turn in their work at the Golden Demons at AdeptiCon 2023.

A white and blue drake stands on a table waiting to be placed under glass at AdeptiCon.

It is possible to display models without revealing the identities of their creators. This anonymity is meant to level the playing field between professional artists and hobbyist painters. The competition is open to everyone, no matter what their level of skill. There is no entry fee.

A single miniature backed with a landscape painting of a mountain scene. Clouds gather against a peak, and the texture of that mountain scene flows down into the foreground of the base, which is tall and square. A chaos warrior raises an axe.

A larger miniature inside a white photographic tent for even lighting.

An employee wearing white gloves gingerly places an award-winning miniature back on display.

Two hands, and gloves, are used to carefully move the delicate art at AdeptiCon 2023.

Games Workshop staff will carefully evaluate and photograph the winners over the following days. All the while, AdeptiCon’s many thousands of attendees make their way around the cases. Cell phones and SLR cameras held high, there’s really only one rule — please, no touching the cases.

Fans, a man and a woman, admire the pieces on display at AdeptiCon 2023.

A half-dozen finished pieces at AdeptiCon 2023, including a ship, a robot, and a tank, arranged in a display case. A central miniature is an ork plane, with two fuselages fused together into a singular monstrosity. Below, a large knight strides forward with its shoulder lowered, like a linebacker blitzing the quarterback.

A photographer with lighting takes pictures through the glass cases at AdeptiCon 2023.

A red-haired man with a cell phone takes pictures of the miniatures on display at the Golden Demon.

There are plenty of models for the Warhammer Universe science fiction universe on the shelves, but many Games Workshop properties can also be found. There are also models for fantasy. Warhammer Age of SigmarOf course, there is also an American fantasy football version called Blood BowlThe Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game It is based upon the work of J.R.R. Tolkien.

A white-armored spirit, its shoulders made of mountains, stands in a display case in Schaumburg during the Golden Demon 2023. The intricate chasework on its armor has been highlighted with a gentle silver that plays off the mountains.

A giant yellow and purple monster on display. Behind it is a virulent green demon. Both miniatures use a strong base and layered colors to draw attention to the different details and textures on the creatures — from worn teeth to cracked lips.

A mega-gargant with pale, pinkish skin and a Sigmarite on a blue drake fight in a duel at the Golden Demon 2023. Both miniatures show their details differently, the mega-gargant its folds of taught skin and the drake its many thousands of scales highlighted in white paint.

A single miniature with a crossbow stands on an elaborate plinth. It’s wearing a red hod and steel-toed, pointy shoes. Its fingers are long, ending in talon-like claws.

The Golden Demon has miniatures in a variety of sizes. Most common scale is the 28mm, which allows individual soldiers to stand approximately 1-inch high on circular bases. Games like Adeptus Titanicus Aeronautica Imperialis They are smaller and can fit into your palm.

A robot steps from the cockpit of another robot. Both are yellow, with black and white checked accents. Both miniatures are remarkable for their smooth texture and even gradient — a challenge especially with yellow tones.

A wide shot of a robot stepping out of the cockpit of another robot. The figure is backed by rows of glass display cases vanishing into the background.

A massive titan, rendered in fractional scale for the Adeptus Titanicus game. It is elaborately painted all over with alternating blue and yellow panels, with rust and wear and energy coursing through its weapons. It head is up, its eyes looking at the viewer even as its gigantic guns traverse to meet its gaze.

Knights are some of the most striking miniatures. These miniatures are ancient, esoteric robotic robots that were piloted and controlled by highly skilled teams. Many of them are as tall as 1 foot. Their many armored panels allow for plenty of space for artists to display their weathering and freehand painting skills.

A knight, patina’d by thousands of years of age. A skull is depicted on its large tilting plate. Its eyes are large, shiny, and green.

A four-armed demon in purple, from AdeptiCon 2023’s Golden Demon contest. It’s notable for the sculptural highlights on its major muscle groups. It’s legs are also clad in sheer cloth, which has an entirely different, more lustrous texture than its bare torso.

A wide shot of a massive ork with a yellow, metal contraption on its back. It’s walking forward while looking left, staring at the viewer with a cigar clamped in its mouth.

A frog on a throne, casting spells. The throne hovers over a simple, wooden plinth. Large, ruined stone shards orbit the throne, seemingly floating in the air but in actuality cleverly connected. Despite its apparent movement, it looks solid and ageless.

The Golden Demon is held several times each year, and often serves as a showcase for the previous year’s most beloved new miniatures. There were several mega-gargants on display this year, likely inspired by Chris Clayton’s award-winning piece presented in England late last year.

An ork with cobbled-together night vision stands with a finger to its mouth, urging silence. On its left shoulder a hand-painted tattoo shows a heart that reads “Waugh.” Its bright silver knife glints purple, reflecting the bounced light from the scene’s dimmest shadows.

An ork warlord in magenta and light blue — the colors of the trans pride flag. The model is of an ork that has transformed itself mostly into a machine. Its guns are silent, but show wear and age — as if cobbled together from four or five other firearms. Different metallic finishes complete the illusion.

A Leagues of Votann off-road vehicle, a kind of combination potato and submarine. It had a rigid exterior frame and thick, shell-like green plates below. It is beset by a tentacled creature, hand-carved into the base, which is reaching up and through the superstructure that surrounds the vehigle. It appears to be pulling it down into a basalt surface, pockmarked by micro-meteorites.

A Dark Angels deredeo pattern dreadnought, all thick shoulders and round profiles. It is painted in green and black, with a light dusting of pigment on the feet to connect it with its base — which has a few skulls glued on for good measure.

Other popular subjects included the Leagues of Votann, better known as space dwarves or “squats,” which were reintroduced to the 40K pantheon just one year ago.

The Golden Demon Awards themselves, ironically, aren’t made of actual gold. The resin sculptures are spray-painted and lightly weathered ahead of time using Games Workshop’s own line of Citadel paint. They were touched up by judges on Thursday after an extended trip from the UK.