Belconnen Golden Brush returns, Warhammer painters face April competition

The Golden Brush returned to Warhammer - Belconnen on Saturday, April 18, 2026, giving local Warhammer painters a hard deadline, a clear benchmark, and a rare chance to measure their work against a structured field. With entries due that day and collections set to begin on May 2, the competition turned a single Saturday into a two-week hobby cycle built around finishing, submitting, and then coming back to reclaim the results.

That structure is why the Belconnen event matters. Golden Brush is designed as the store’s quarterly painting competition, a format meant to benchmark skills, show off finished work, and push painters toward new techniques. It is not a casual display table. The competition is divided into Youngbloods for painters 14 and under, Newbloods for hobbyists with about 12 months or less in the hobby, Small Category entries on bases up to 50mm round or 75mm by 42mm oval, Large Category for bigger models, Master of the Brush for painters who have already won Gold in earlier small or large categories, and a Miniature of the Month class for models that were previously part of the store promotion.

The rules kept the contest firmly in the Warhammer lane. Entries had to be Citadel or Forge World miniatures, but conversions and self-sculpted components were allowed if they fit thematically within a Games Workshop setting. That mix matters because it rewards clean finish, strong basing, and disciplined conversions without opening the door to anything that breaks the hobby’s visual language. In a competition like this, theme consistency is part of the score even when the sculpting is original.

The event also reflected the standards set by Games Workshop’s broader competitive scene. Golden Demon is described by the company as the ultimate Warhammer painting competition, with thousands of entries arriving each year from around the world. Golden Demon now includes 14 categories, plus separate Youngbloods and Open Competition contests, and the company says Youngbloods is a separate contest whose winner is not eligible for the Slayer Sword. Its 2025 materials also make clear that custom sculpts belong exclusively in Open Competition.

Belconnen’s own history suggests the local appetite is real. Past Golden Brush editions reportedly drew more than 100 entries in one round and over 80 in another, a strong sign that the event has become a serious quarterly test for the Canberra hobby scene. For painters watching what wins now, the message is plain: polished presentation, category awareness, and conversions that still read as Warhammer are setting the pace. The next deadline will come quickly, and the standard will be higher again.