It’s taken some time to write up this show report, which I put down to burnout. Just as it’s possible to burn out on model shows, it’s also possible to burn out on writing them up. After the torrent of shows between April and June, it has taken some time to recover. So now I’m writing this a week before SMC and the start of the last part of the model show season for 2024, so I suppose I’m just hurting myself. Anyway…
Way back at the end of May/start of June, I jaunted over to the continent once again to go to Kontrast in Warsaw. I went last year, in what I think was its third outing, and we’d had a really good time, and I wanted to keep supporting a show that’s trying to break out of the usual mold of model shows.
Last year, we stayed in a fantastically Soviet-era hotel in the middle of the city. We’d figured that it would be useful as a base, especially as the metro was fast and cheap. We didn’t end up doing a lot in the city centre, however, so this year I booked us an apartment a couple of hundred metres from the show. There’s a relatively good selection of restaurants nearby, on top of the street food area set up outside the show, so there’s not really any great impetus to spend half an hour on the metro each way.
The apartment was very nice, and concealed in what we can only assume is also Soviet-era architecture. You could tell from the corridor that the apartment was intended for tourists: while the other apartments kept their steel doors and bare decoration, this one had a wooden veneer, including an artificial door frame. Very fancy indeed.
Another change this year is that Martin and Joey dipped out for dubious reasons like “needing major surgery” and “going to a wedding or something”. Meanwhile, Kev’s partner Charlotte joined us for her first international show.
Anyway, on with the appalling photography:
Last year, Kontrast stood out as a particularly hard show. They’d been victims of their own success and ended up with several hundred more models than expected, which also meant they had a relatively limited number of medals that they could award. The result was that the judges were apparently advised to be strict with the prizes. I was wondering if this year the same level of difficulty would apply.
As it happens, there were about the same number of models entered, but with presumably many more medals available to be awarded. In the end, however, I’m not sure they actually did award more. It’s hard to know, however, as they also restructured the categories, so it’s not easy to make a direct comparison. I would say that the judging still felt hard. There were a lot of pieces I was surprised to see ‘only’ get bronze, for instance, and the number of golds certainly felt exclusive.
Like Monte, SMC and MPO, Kontrast is also getting in on the storytelling bandwagon, which is – for me, anyway – awesome. One of the things I like about it is that it’s not just labelled ‘diorama’. Obviously, diorama categories have existed for a long time, but they’re normally defined mechanically or taxonomically: at Golden Demon, for instance, they had to have at least three models; at IPMS-style traditional shows, they need a vehicle and figures. Those distinctions suggest there’s something essential about those things, but it ignores the reality of the person who makes the diorama: they’re trying to tell a story. As such, the key requirement for such a category should be that there’s a story.
So having shows make this linguistic distinction is a good way of clearing the air and opening up expectations. As I mentioned in my report on Monte last year, changing the name from ‘ambient’ to ‘storytelling’ clearly paid dividends.
And at Kontrast, the same was true. There was a fantastic presentation of narratives and creative ways of evoking a response from the viewers. Once again, I found the standard-level storytelling stuff especially good. There was one piece with a tree covered in tiny people that was my favourite model of the show. Seriously great, thought-provoking work.
There was some other simplification in categories beyond this, which I think helped eliminate distinctions that don’t actually matter. It seemed like a lot of this was focused on the masters’ categories rather than standard, which was an interesting approach. If anything, I would have expected more simplification in standard to help encourage people to enter. Of course, perhaps it’s the other way around and newer painters need more structure to feel comfortable entering.
What was very nice to see was that the changes in format and reputation for difficulty didn’t change the vibe of the show – just like last year, it felt very relaxed and friendly. The layout was also improved, so it wasn’t as much of a struggle to see all the models, which reduces stress in general because you’re less concerned about making sure you see everything when it’s easy to come and go. If the display area is cramped or difficult to navigate, you become loath to leave once you get in because of the effort involved in actually getting to see the models. This means that any time spent away from the displays can be slightly anxious – did I see everything? Was there a particularly special entry that I’ll kick myself for not noticing? Oh, god, if I’ve missed anything, I need to join that slow-moving queue again to gradually get dragged around the models…
Anyway, to the results:
- Kev: gold (standard single figure >54mm), silver (storytelling) and two bronzes (historical and single figure <54mm).
- Fet: gold in masters’ storytelling and, apparently bronze in historical (I discovered this when the official results were posted – I didn’t notice my name being called at the prize giving!).
- Charlotte sadly got snubbed despite bringing the most magical space marine terminator in the world.
There is one negative to the show: I once again failed to find pierogis I can eat.
I’m aiming to come back to Kontrast next year (and perhaps find some delicious pierogis at last), but I have a long trip to NZ over December/January that might limit the number of international shows I can make it to in 2025. If I’m not there, someone must please hunt down the Danes and drown Thomas in booze on my behalf. It’s what the maître d’ at Sphinx would want.
Fet Paints 