"Another, more TMP-friendly, design contest?" Topic

Now that the dust has settled from the JSU design contest and its attendant controversy, how about another design contest but this time with the theme decided on by the membership. Perhaps via a poll?

I really like the idea of contests like these, but the JSU contest proved to be so divisive. I was hoping we could try again with something that will bring in more TMPers.

Personally I'd like to nominate something with a historical (or alternate history) theme. There's already a surfeit of SF/fantasy art on the web and I think something historical and properly wargamerey would be a nice conciliatory gesture to those who were put off by the previous contest.

Thoughts?

Yes

Design a Japanese School Uniform for the Sengoku period?

Only joking.

Someone mentioned fictional 18th Century countries. That's cool, has a kind of Baron Munchausen vibe.

For those who prefer the 19th Century, you could do the same thing for that era. A Ruritanian sort of deal.

How about a "Dress Flashman in an outfit he hasn't yet appeared in on the cover of a novel" contest?

Pre-Dreadnoughts, anyone?

howabout famous (military) historic figures are brought to the far future.

so like a SciFi version of Cesar, Napoleon, Richard Lionhart, etc …

Keep posting the ideas here, and I'll feed them into a poll next week sometime!

Design a bikini top for that German lady on the front page who seems to have lost hers?

Well, I'm planning an RPG called Bursting Bra's. It will be a supplement to Panty Explosion. Perhaps a design contest for the most formidable bra would be appropriate.

For 18th century uniforms, this coloring book from Dover Publications might be of assistance:

link

"Trapondur 16 Dec 2006 9:27 a.m. PST
howabout famous (military) historic figures are brought to the far future.

so like a SciFi version of Cesar, Napoleon, Richard Lionhart, etc …"

I like this one, esp Richard Lionheart. Or… how about Arthur Pendragon? Can't draw, but I sometimes do halfway decent sculpts.

Graycat

Pre-Dreds sound good too, can we do them in CAD?

Graycat

How about some alternate camo schemes for the allied WWII ships when they were using the dazzle schemes. Some of those got kinda weird. Or how about some alternate WWI German airplane paint jobs?

Nose art, maybe? Not just for WW2 and up, but for scifi or even fantasy "aircraft" equivalents?

"What do you mean, your dragon wants a tattoo?"

No, wait, some smartass will just enter a bunch of Japanese schoolgirl images and the whole thing will start all over again…

Ooh, that's a good one, Hundvig.

I mean I like the idea. Your second post wasn't there when I hit "Submit."

I liked it too at first, but you know someone's going to spoil it.

Come to think of it, most nose art is pretty racy anyway, so it wouldn't help with the "can't safely look at TMP at work" problem the JSU contest was causing.

Pity.

Pre-dreadnoughts sounds great and certainly the odd VSF twist wouldn't be disqualified.

How about a 2-parter. First, we provide a top and side view of a WWII aircraft, in black & white, that people can electronically paint, actually paint or color, to come up with a nifty camouflage scheme and markings. I'm thinking perhaps of an IL-2 or a Mosquito.

Then, we pick the top 5 and I send them each a True North Minis metal 1:144 airplane, and they can paint the model according to their scheme. We then pick a winner (or rank them) and each gets some denomination of True North gift certificates.

Don
truenorthminis.com

ON a serious note, how about a German, or any nationality, airplane that didn't exist, but should have. Something along the lines of Major Howdy Bixby's Album of Forgotten Warbirds.

I like Hundvig's idea, despite the pinup-JSU potential.

Designing some uniforms for some period would be fun.

WW2 – can you think of something more stylish than SS parade dress?
18th century – how much lace can you fit into that uniform?
Late medieval – the ultimate suit of plate armour?
Ancients – the coolest loincloth?

Please something, anything historical for a change!

I suggest:

"WW2 tanks that never saw the light of day"

"Some uniforms and/or equipment of your favourite period transposed to another period" – eg: What the Napoleonic wars might have looked ike in 1914/18; or the Punic Wars in the 18th century; or even the English Civil War in Warhammer 40,000!

"Design an official TMP dress uniform"

Don Perrin's idea sounds neat.

phililphall 16 Dec 2006 12:12 p.m. PST Wrote:
ON a serious note, how about a German, or any nationality, airplane that didn't exist, but should have.

Arteis 16 Dec 2006 1:18 p.m. PST Wrote:

I suggest:

"WW2 tanks that never saw the light of day"

How about German tanks that never existed!
see link: link

VR
James Mattes

How about a contest to come up with the most generic figure design?

Instead of a uniform contest, why not a flag contest?

Design a flag for a *historical* nation/contingent (if it didn't have one, or you could do better) or a fictional nation/duchy/contingent from an otherwise *historical* setting. You would have to provide a description of why the various elements and colours were chosen, from a historical and/or philosophical point of view (theirs).

Hmmm … we could even have categories, both by time period, and by subject, i.e. historical, fictional, and humorous. I could really see some of our more infamous TMP characters going to town with this, and I think it would emphasize the type of research and imagination typical of the best *historical* wargaming, rather than just being a drawing or photoshop contest. Plus, the flags might actually get some use on the tabletop! (I bet we could con someone into hosting them for download and printing.)

Cheers,

Christopher

I dunno, I think the JSU drawing contest was mighty fine. Similar drawing contests for any of the following would float my boat;

-draw a modern African Child-Soldier.
-Serbian Village Clearance Techniques
-Great atrocities of recent times
-'Christmas at the Gulag' for that seasonal touch.

I like Don's idea, as well as the flag contest and the fictional 18th century uniform contest.

Look forward to the poll.

How about Steam powered land battle ship designs?

Bigger the better.

Lots of VSF on these boards.

I kinda like the fantasy "aircraft" and "tank/landbattleship" type of contest.

I'd love to do some crazy looking hardware that would have a 1935-1945 look to it.

Also how about a "What Would YOUR Nation's uniform and flag look like?" contest? It could be broken up into sections…Fantasy, Ancients,Steampunk, WW1, WW2, Modern, and Sci-Fi. It could be a whole series of contests.
It'd be great for us would be tinpots that spend time forming our 6mm armies into Soviet-era style parades and giggling like Stewie Griffin.

I like the VSF thang too! How about a design/build your own steam tank contest? You choose the scale, etc…

No. I'm against it. Someone might draw a bare-chested, buffed out Thor in Viking dress. That would be preverted.

Women love a man in uniform and any soldier in combat dress might arouse them and give the gaming community a bad name.

We wouldn't want to be accused of pandering to a double standard.

JackWhite

Now that the holidays have passed and things are hopefully returning to normal will we be seeing this contest take form any time soon?

Any interest in this still? Anyone? Bueller?

Hmmm, I am not skilled enough to take aprt in it, but I must say Id love to see your pre dreadnought contest. Ships would have to be historical, and be bicked out of the 1857 (Launching of Gloire)- 1905 (launching of Dreadnought) period. As well as artistic talent, research quality and accuracy would be criteria in this one.

The Baron Munchausen theme sounds cool to me, but I'm new and therefore only count as 1/2 a vote.

I also like the idea for a fictional army uniform for an 18th or 19th Century country. You could expand it to include the flag, coat of arms, etc.

The whole "paint a plane" idea leaves me completely cold.

The Dreadnaughts idea is okay, but ONLY if it steers clear of Warhammer-type fantasy stuff.

I believe the editor was planning on a poll based on the ideas in this thread. So hopefuly the membership will get to decide what the contest will be about if it ever come to fruition.