The first DPF contest!

This is it: the first DPF-made contest has an official date! Starting from August 18th, in fact, Alberto's exclusive 75mm scale kit will be available both as a physical kit to get (paying only shipping costs!) or, for those who have a 3D printer, as a pre-supported .stl file ready for printing! You'll have until October 28th to create your entry and participate in this first modeling contest. Rich prizes, eternal glory, and (above all!) a unique opportunity to test your creativity and share your work with our fantastic community (I don't like boasting too much about my things, but let's admit it: our community is a wonderful group of enthusiastic and friendly hobbyists!). At the end of this post, you can download the infopack with all the detailed rules and the mission that this event aims to achieve, but I want to take advantage of this space to delve into some premises and tell you how this idea was born. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm thrilled to present to you my first creation: Alberto, the contest!

In the last few days, I've been working full throttle with my Mighty 8k, with the goal of creating a small horde of chubby cats, who will be the undisputed protagonists of this first contest. But why did I choose Alberto? Although my megalomaniac side pushed me to create a huge event, one to rival the Golden Demon, almost 10 years of facing reality have taught me that, especially when you're doing something for the first time, it's important to be rational and take things step by step. Let's say it clearly: I've never organized a modeling contest, and DPF is still a very niche reality, which, on the one hand, is cool because you can rightfully act like a hipster in the field ("Warhammer? Nah, too mainstream, I collect DPF kits!"), but on the other hand, it still poses evident limitations both in terms of resources available and visibility. It would be demoralizing (knowing myself, I'd say depressing...) to organize an ambitious event with great pomp, investing large sums, dreams, and sweat, and then count the participants on one hand. A nightmare! That's why I decided to take it step by step and break the ice with a smaller and more manageable first event, but not any less important and, in its own way, exclusive. The goal is to gain experience, involve as many people as possible, and create an event that can make you happy and have fun. So, I decided to streamline the concept of the contest: one single miniature the same for everyone, a very simple but versatile sculpture. From the beginning, I wanted to organize this contest around a fundamental concept: accessibility. This idea manifests itself in several ways. Firstly, material accessibility: Alberto will be a one-of-a-kind kit because, despite being a unique version (I won't produce this 75mm scale kit in the future), it won't be sold but given away, with the only expense being the shipping costs. Additionally, those who can, will be able to simply download the pre-supported .stl file and 3D print it for free. A second level of accessibility concerns the modeling aspect: I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed by the idea of having to spend days and days on a long and laborious modeling project to participate in the contest. Alberto is an extremely simple kit, just over 2cm tall. Of course, it's up to you to decide how far you want to go in preparing your entry, but by itself, it's a model that can be painted quickly, leaving more room for creativity! A third, and perhaps most important level of accessibility, is the creative aspect. The spiritual father of this contest is the challenge created by the legendary Roman Lappat in 2020. While I didn't participate directly, I believe that Roman's contest was one of the wildest and damn best successes in the history of our hobby! By choosing such a simple and versatile subject like Alberto, not fitting into any specific context, I ensure that you have the maximum creative freedom possible. And it's with this idea that Alberto, the contest, is born: to gather ideas and set your creativity free from constraints.

If you want to start collecting ideas and studying the rules, you'll find the infopack ready for download below:

Alberto_ContestInfopack

.pdf

Download PDF • 25.27MB

For now, that's all.

I hope to read your feedback and, above all, that you'll enjoy this initiative! Now I apologize if I leave, but I have a horde of chubby cats to print...