The Dutch Game Awards 2025

So here we are again. Another year, another parliament of 13 gilded owls to be awarded to the very best creatives in the Dutch games industry.
I had the distinct honor to provide the eponymous awards once again, and I dare say that the event was even bigger and better than in 2024. We have the entire DGA team to thank for that, without whom this would simply not be possible. Now let's dive in without further ado!

(Source: Arno Landsbergen)

First and foremost, I always try to further hone my craft in some form or fashion.
Listening to feedback is an essential part of that.
While last year's winners were happy with their awards, there were several 'lessons learned' which I tried to incorporate into my workflow as best as possible.
And the word 'best' is key to those efforts. Because this year's winners represent the best in the business, and so they deserve the very best that I can muster.

It comes down to this:

• New airbrush set & paint, including a versatile airbrush, a 20kg compressor and 42 differently colored primers.
• Augmented paintjob and finishing touches.
• New high-end desktop PC, custom built, to get the most out of sculpting and slicing the 3D designs.
• Fortified the design of the award and the base.
• New modular resin 3D printer, the first of its kind.
• Anticipated & prepared for Murphy's Law whenever possible.

Evidently, half of this list comes down to "new gear, wat dis?".
The building blocks for the Dutch Game Awards 2025, is what!
If you read last year's epistle, you may have noticed that my old airbrush set had a tendency to be a capricious little piece of shit.

You get what you pay for, and it was essentially a starter set. Now that I had a few years of airbrushing experience under my belt, it was the perfect excuse/time to upgrade.
This time around I got myself a Harder & Steenbeck airbrush, the Evolution CR plus (2024).
It built upon lessons learned from their previous airbrush designs, and offers versatility in the form of 2 different needle sizes (0.28mm & 0.45mm) as well as paint cups (2ml & 5ml).
The larger needle & paint cup sizes really came in handy when airbrushing larger pieces, such as the owl statues. No more constant clogging, sputtering, or stopping.
The airbrush set also included the Sil-Air 20A compressor. An absolute beast of a machine which lasts around 30 years on average, and can operate for hours on end without stopping.
Couple that with AK Interactive's full range of new Dual Exo primers, and I was all set where airbrushing was concerned.

As for the paintjob itself? I once again presented Martine Spaans with 5 choices,
and she had practically picked out her favorite the millisecond after I sent it over.
I started with a black primer, since metallics look best that way. I used Vallejo black primer, since it's my workhorse when airbrushing. I diluted it 75%/25% with thinner.
As I started applying it, however, my earlier findings were only reinforced.
The primer was too thin, too runny. 
The odd thing was that this wasn't a problem until recently. Before, I used a 50%/50% primer and thinner (Plus some flow improver), which gave me good results.

But ever since using a new bottle of Vallejo primer, I literally didn't have to add any thinner or flow improver anymore (white is another problem).
They must have altered their formula while I wasn't looking. Hey, it saves me the hassle of having to mix it every time.

Once the primer was applied, I sprayed the body and the wings from below using Vallejo model air copper paint.
Now here comes the fun part: if you look closely at the pictures of last year's awards, you will see that one owl is not like the others.


(Source: Arno Landsbergen)

That's because I painted the first owl as an early example for Martine to show to the jury, and I had used the paint from a small bottle for it. When it came time to paint the other 12, though, I opted to use the bigger bottle I had in my repertoire. Same brand.
Both with a copper color. Both made to be used with an airbrush.
But the result was noticeably different.
So this year I bought a healthy supply of the small copper paints, since the big bottle had obviously lied to me and betrayed me. How dare!
Side note for fellow mini-painters out there: Vallejo metallic model air paint works gangbusters when applied with a brush. Great coverage, also perfect for edge highlighting and dry brushing!

Now it was time for the new AK Interactive Dual Exo paints to shine. Specifically Auryn (20A). But why is it called that? Well, each color has an A and a B shade. A is the lighter color, which you tend to apply from above after applying the darker color from below when Zenithal highlighting. Hence the 'Dual' in the name.
The reason I didn't use 20B is two-fold: Firstly, I knew that I wanted the copper color from below to make the whole owl look more vibrant. The Dual Exo line currently doesn't have a copper color in it, so that wasn't an option.
Secondly, I wasn't particularly impressed with the shade of gold I used last year. It was a little too desaturated for an award that's supposed to celebrate a crowning achievement.

Once priming and base coating was done, I lowered the compressor's BAR a tad so I could get to work applying an acrylic ink. A darker ink can be used as a form of wash, settling in the recesses and accentuating contrast.
This worked out wonderfully in combination with the amount of detail the owls have. In this case I went with an iridescent rich bronze ink. Really added a touch of warmth to it, further augmenting what was already there.

Before I get to the final step, a quick reminder: Make sure that the surface you're working on has properly dried before applying the next layer. For primers, this doesn't take very long (10~20 mins). 
But I typically let the acrylic ink sit for several hours, sometimes overnight, before coming back to it. If you're impatient and start painting by hand without giving it time? Odds are that you'll end up stripping paint bits off of the model.
Some paints don't behave themselves when put on top of a layer of acrylic ink and primer. In which case, you could consider adding a varnish on it as an intermediate protective step. Yes, that means more waiting. Welcome to the hobby, pal!

So a varnish is an important step, both when you want to properly finish a piece and to protect your progress.
Or in this case, 2K lacquer. You know, the stuff you normally spray on cars. Outside.
Last year I used a glossy varnish, but it simply wasn't glossy enough. 
While you could get better results by applying multiple coatings, it wasn't ideal.
Then I got a tip from Matt de Vlieger about using 2K lacquer.
Can you use it with a small airbrush, in a small interior space?
Yes. Sure you can. But even with proper ventilation, it's still a right nasty substance to work with. Definitely blew through a pair of gas mask filters just from using the stuff twice. 
You can't argue with results, though. Even if my lungs probably hated me for a bit. thanks for the tip, Matt! Oh, and this stuff definitely needs ample time to harden.
At least 1 day, but 3 days is preferable.

Now, let's take a closer look at the design of the award itself, shall we?
Last year, someone managed to break off the owl from it's base during the afterparty.
Whenever there's 3D printing involved, I carry superglue with me, just in case.
Martine knew about this, and on that fateful evening she pointed at me as she walked towards me.
The crowd parted before her like the Red Sea. "Do you have it with you?"
Why yes, yes I did. I'd rather have it with me and not need it, than vice versa.
Clearly, the awards weren't as robust as I thought they were.
In order to prevent awkward on-the-spot repair jobs in the future, I endeavored to strengthen its construction.

The solution was simple, really. Instead of the bottom of the owl being hollow, I added a surface to it with a 6mm hole. I drilled the exact same hole into the bases,
and combined the two using superglue and a dowel.
Initially I wanted to add 2 dowels, with the 2nd fitted into the owl's perch. 
That wouldn't have ended well, however, as the perch only had an 8mm diameter.
Trying to fit a 6mm hole inside of an 8mm surface is asking for trouble.
Drilling into the perch would have most likely cracked it, which was a non-starter for me.
Fun fact? The reason that the owls are facing the other way this year, is because the bases had been designed with 2 indents, where I'd drill in the holes later.
If the owls were to face the same direction as before, one of those indents would have been visible...and we can't have that, now can we?
I checked with Martine, and she didn't mind it at all. I imagine her reaction would have been a bit different if the owl was facing away from the winners, showing them her tail feathers and/or cloaca.

(Source: Tom de Boer)

Another new feature this year was the addition of the winner's names on the plaques themselves.
While we had decided to go this route for this year's INDIGO award, it was new for the Dutch Game Awards.
Martine made the right call, though. I still remember last year's battle with the envelopes.
I swear those things were frozen in Carbonite.
This necessitated a larger surface area for the name plaques, and so I raised the entire base.
Despite the extra room, some of the names needed to be abbreviated and/or scaled down. You know who you are.

So the 2-stage platform became 1 platform, making the whole base more robust in the process.
I also allowed for the base to have a bit more vertical breathing room with the plaques, based on Andreas Tabak's feedback.
Not only did this make it look better as a whole, it also made it easier to 3D print.
While Andreas opted to once again print the bases for me this year,
his FDM printer decided to quit on him when he needed it most. Murphy's Law at its finest.
But thanks to his timely heads up, I was able to arrange a backup strategy.
Jochem Smale came to my rescue, so kudos to him for stepping up to the challenge!

(Source: Tom de Boer)

All of this is to say that I put a good bit of thought and effort into making this year's awards more resilient to breakage.
So if any of the winners manage to separate the owl from its base? Well, by now it should be apparent that I possess a very particular set of skills.
If you break one of the Dutch Game Awards, I will email you. I will acquire it. And I will repair it for you.

And now we have finally arrived at the pièce de résistance of it all:
The Athena II mSLA resin printer.

The company behind the A2, Concepts 3D, is a company which I have been following for a few years now. They initially appeared on my RADAR during the Kickstarter campaign of the A1. If I hadn't ordered a new printer a few weeks prior to that, I would have ordered the A1, no doubt about it. They focus on pushing the envelope with resin 3D printing. And it just so happens that that's exactly what I'm looking for.(Source: www.concepts3d.ca)

Fast forward to January 2025, and I put in my pre-order for the A2 with all the bells & whistles. Air express delivery to ensure I'm among the first to get my hands on it. Delivery was projected to be around mid April. Then it was postponed to May. Then to June. I finally got the printer on August 20th. And just when I thought I had gotten myself a nice birthday gift, it turned out that there were still several software & hardware issues that had to be fixed.
The A2 only became fully operational roughly 1 month before the awards were due.

Concepts3D itself has been transparent in its process, displaying exemplary communication and customer service. They consist of a very small team with a lot of knowledge and experience in this field, punching well above its weight. There were many issues with the quality and delivery of several parts of the printer. Outside of C3D's direct control, yes,
but that didn't make the situation any better. In one of their later emails,
they named the air express customers like we had felt for several months at that point: unintentional beta testers. And with that came not just a heartfelt apology,
but a promise to make us whole. And C3D has delivered on that promise.

This whole process left me creatively constipated. For months.
The old printer had been cleaned up and stowed away to make room for the A2.
I wasn't really suffering from Impostor Syndrome at this point, but I felt rather useless because of events entirely beyond my control.

So all I could do was let go, wait, and prepare. To change the way I approached this issue as a whole. Because of that, you can expect to see exactly what I have been working on in the next couple of months. Now why the hell am I singing the C3D's praises when they put me through the wringer like that? Because the A2 is just that good. It is the very cutting edge machine that they promised it would be.

If you've been following resin 3D printing during the last few years, you know that it's been a race to the bottom. The biggest resin printer manufacturers have been pushing for higher resolution screens which they can't even properly support.
And adding superfluous, often malfunctioning extra's that nobody asked for.
Most printers are declared EOL after 4-6 months.
Warranty, customer service and replacement parts are interpreted as loose guidelines at best.
They don't care about the quality of their product. Is your printer broken upon arrival? We're so sorry, here's a $30,- coupon to buy your next printer from us. In short: enshitification.

C3D is a Western company based in Canada & Germany, who don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk. For example? The highest resolution screen currently available for resin printers is 16K. Unfortunately, other companies have neglected to inform their customers that their 16K printers do not support anti-aliasing. AA is a standard feature for resin 3D printers, so why would you expect anything different from the latest and greatest, right? Well, 
if you care about getting the sharpest, most detailed prints possible, it is a considerable difference.

This is why I waited for the A2 to live up to its reputation. Why I was one of the actual beta testers of the 16K screen with AA. The fact of the matter is that we're starting to reach the limits of what the technology can do. Meaning that QOL improvements are going to become more important than ever before. And the A2 is second to none when it comes to quality. This is why I waited. The only perceivable lines left on these prints are a result of the transparent film and suction forces. This is also being worked on as we speak.
To reiterate: This year's winners represent the best in the business, and so they deserve the very best that I can muster.

While a single picture may make it hard to truly appreciate the differences between the two, it may at least give you an indication of the differences.

(Source: Tom de Boer)

Now, you remember Murphy's Law, and how I wanted to be prepared for that? 
It's why I keep my old printer stowed away, as a backup. Last year I learned that time is a major factor in all of this...especially when something goes wrong.
Because something always, invariably, goes wrong. Usually several things.
So take ample time, think ahead, consider alternatives.
Elementary, my dear Watson. But bloody important nevertheless.

By the time I was printing the awards, there were still some issues that even C3D couldn't directly explain. It stopped mid-print twice, and even though I was able to get the printer to continue where it left off, it left a noticeable line on the owls and wings.
So while I tried to mitigate the issue as best as possible, a few of the owls will have some imperfections. I apologize to the winners for the few artifacts that remained apparent,
and I will once again endeavor to do better next year.

Even though the printer itself is now fully operational, I still need to jump through additional hoops to actually start printing. When 3D printing, you need to convert a 3D model into a printable file type. This is called slicing, for which you use dedicated slicing software.
Slicing for the A2 was it's own special kind of hell.
One of the most well-known slicer companies, who's software I've been using for years,
still doesn't support the A2.
They're too preoccupied forcing Artificial Idiocy into their software, leaving little time to make it compatible with the A2. Priorities and all that...
While there are workarounds for this issue, it shouldn't have been an issue to begin with.
The important part is that it all works now. The rest is just First World Problems rambling.

Before wrapping up, I would be remiss not to take a moment and mention something that happened a few short days before the Dutch Game Awards themselves.
Jop Stellaard was one of the DGA team's volunteers. On November 29th,
he tragically passed away at the age of 20 after a car accident. He worked on the beautiful visuals during the award ceremony, especially the video fragments.
I was told that his father proudly showed off his son's work during his funeral.
If it was anything like what we got to see during the awards ceremony,
then it was a feast for the eyes and ears. Jop absolutely knocked it out of the park.
While I didn't know him personally, he was part of the team. 
Jop should have been in this picture.

(Source: Silvijn de Vries)

Congratulations to all the winners, and kudos to the entire DGA team for making this event possible. Aaaaand that's enough of my gobbledygook for now.

Cheers,

Thomas Mazurel
Gobbledygook Games