Royal Court category:

Judges Comments:

Sally White's "Alice and the Queen of Hearts"

"Sally says this is her first sculpt, but thats not true surely? This sapphic love shocker has great posing, well chosen proportions and good putty work. Perhaps a little more bulk in places (no not those places), a little sharper in the detail and more expression in the faces, but thats looking for critical points. Sally, you should see if you can somehow get in with a pro sculptor and develop this talent."

Brad Shier 's "Card Soldier"

"This is a lovely figure. Very crisp details and a great body and face - note the brown stuff mix for a crisp card body. A low energy piece with sympathetic posing, this would make a wonderful stand alone figure. A great concept too, and very fitting."

M-H. Kao's "Captain of the Cards"

"Great movement and fine detailing (esp. the chainmail), this figure really gives the impression of a soldier whose body is a card but is still felxible enough to be decent fighter. Is it sensible to talk about believable movement in playing card soldiers? Only slightly let down by the boots, which look a little heavy. "

BobC's "Queen's Executioner sitting on his block having a rest whilst surrounded by his days work"

"Another nice concept from Bobc, again rather let down by the final sculpt. Perhaps the material used (slightly off milliput?) is presenting problems. Needs practice, planning and observation to turn good ideas into good sculpts. Sadly we did not think to add a prize for longest title either, and it wouldn't be fair to add one retrospectively."

BobC's "Queen's Guard wearily holding his sword"

"Another contender for the 'best BobC sculpt' category, this one does look like it is supposed to be a bit abstract. Its still not really what we were looking for, but you can see the thought behind all of the details and the putty is quite well smoothed for the most part. Well, 30mm conceptual art in clay sculpture might be the next big thing, in which case, you saw it here first."

Alex M 's "The Knave stealing a tart "

"Strange, sinister and willowy figure with nice pantomime posing and spindly legs. The look of mischief on this figure's face suits the character very well, and the hair in particular has a well realised Hewson/Goodall playing card influence. Great concept, well executed. Needs to work harder on the putty surface, and the (admittedly very difficult) transition from card body to 3D limbs looks a little forced."

Ben Pung's "Queen of Hearts"

"Good strong pose and idea, and a nice English playing card style, but a disappointing execution (execution, geddit?). The face especially looks rushed, Ben's excellent detail work on the rest of the figure shows he has the ability to be better. "

Brad Shier's "Ogre Queen"

"Brad's figure wins the day on imaginative characterisation, with very skilled putty control. The face is magnificent, the detail crisp and well thought out and the way the dress looks like it is straining to contain her is priceless. Will make a nice stand alone figure, and might even find its way into some table-top games... basically this figure had to get made. Its pretty big (about 50mm) but then Ogres are usually quite big aren't they?"

Gav Tyler 's "Rose Painter "

"Good doleful expression and nice posing, the subject is insantly recognisable as an Alice in Wonderland sculpt. Its only missing the actual roses, but then those are a bugger to sculpt. The surfaces are well worked though the thick, almost square card body won't be to all tastes."

Tartan Spartan's "The Queen"

"Very nice detail work with the collar, crown and dress with many little hearts (and check out the beading!). Sternly pointing, this is the ultimate queen of hearts. Maybe lacking a little detail on the back in comparison, but who cares about that? Not us anyway. A beautiful sculpt that was very close to the top prize. "

Tom Meier says 'Good control especially of the surface and good characterization give top choice to ‘The Queen’ by The Tartan Spartan'