The U.S. leg of Golden Demon 2023 has crowned its champion, and the winning piece is a stunner.
Hundreds of competitors submitted entries this weekend at AdeptiCon in Chicago, and we'll have pictures of all the category winners on Warhammer Community this week.
But only one painter can raise the coveted Slayer Sword and become the ultimate painting master, so lets have a look at the winner:
This year's champion is Neil Hollis, who painted a truly jaw-dropping version of Master Lazarus of the Dark Angels.
Look at those incredible blends on the armour and robes! The beautiful non-metallic metal* on the trim and sword! Glory at the freehanded Dark Angels icon on the back of the cloak! Even the feathers on the helmet have been painstakingly painted one by one.
This is actually the SECOND Slayer Sword that Neil has won - after taking the top prize at the The Horus Heresy Weekender in 2017 for an iteration of the Iron Warriors Primarch Perturabo.
Speaking to Warhammer Community just moments after collecting his latest award, Neil said: "It's like a dream, it doesn't feel real.
"I didn’t feel like I had much of a chance. I thought I was hopefully going to get a trophy in the Single Miniature category, so that’s what I was putting my hopes into. It’s like a dream come true."
Neil almost didn’t attend Adepticon this year, but was persuaded by friends to share their hotel - and it’s a good job he did!
Speaking about his award-winning entry, he said: "It’s only very slightly converted, so I changed the sword around and he’s based standing on a black and white marble base. It was quite a long project, I started it pre-Covid. It got 90% completed, and then Covid happened and I stopped painting. I only really started getting him finished again recently."
Neil says the secret to selecting a miniature to paint is to find one that you love. He explained: "I find inspiration by just looking at models and if I find something that just hits me then I have to paint it. You choose that model that you just love to look at and you think, if I’m going to spend 200 hours or 500 hours painting something, I’m going to need to really like it."
Neil also gave some advice to wannabe Golden Demon painters, saying: "Pick a great model, spend plenty of time on it, and make sure you’ve covered every angle of the model.
"And come for the experience, not the awards. Come to meet people, talk to people, ask for feedback and get better. You’ll get better through seeing other people’s work, and then with enough time and effort you naturally get better and get more out of it. The worst thing you can do is come only for the accolades, because there’s not many of them!"
The Slayer Sword is awarded at every Golden Demon event to the best painted miniature of the whole weekend, regardless of category. If this astonishing miniature has got you planning your own entry, then a host of winners recently told us all about how they go about crafting their own entries.
Stay tuned for a look at all of this year's Golden Demon award winners from Adepticon this week on Warhammer Community.
And remember – the UK leg of Golden Demon is coming next month at Warhammer Fest. We can’t wait to see what you guys have conjured up!
* "Non-metallic metal", for those who don't know, is the art of painting metal-effects on models without using metallic paints. It's basically witchcraft.