These are the online miniature painting communities to which I belong. (Website thumbnails provided by BitPixels)
WAMP is an international miniature painting community that has been around in various forms since 2005. It was originally known as ‘A modellers Paradise!’ and was set up by Brett Johnson as an ebay group. It was later renamed “Wargamers and Modeller’s Paradise” then shortened to WAMP. Now it is a highly-popular and very friendly miniature painting forum. It also hosts an article repository, wiki, and is the eZine publisher of the free monthly Portal. WAMP hosts numerous miniature painting contests, most with competitive prizes. My username on WAMP is MamaGeek.
Reaper Minis Forums is the official message boards for the miniature manufacturer. Although it is hosted by Reaper, and very Reaper-centric, the boards do not restrict users from posting non-Reaper minis for critique, and there are very active and lively discussions about the hobby in general. Reaper also hosts 3-4 online contests a year, with prizes, for painted Reaper miniatures. My username on Reaper is MamaGeek.
CoolMiniOrNot (CMON) is a painted miniature photo rating site and forum. Most painters have mixed feelings about CMON. The ratings tend to be biased towards certain styles, particularly on wargaming models, and the site itself can be buggy. I’ve even heard reports of viruses caught there. However, CMON is very popular, and has an extensive collection of Tutorials and a thriving message board community. My username on CMON is MamaGeek.
Oz Painters is an online forum for Australian Miniature Painters, although there is a large international presence. It’s not nearly as well known or as popular as the others I’ve listed here, but the Oz Painter community provides fairly good critiques of painted minis, and is worth checking out. My username on Oz Painters is MamaGeek.
