The Rookie, Intermediate, and Wildcard portions of the First Annual Freedom Is Gunpla Builders Contest 2026 are now complete.

Open / Master is still on its own separate timeline, so this post is only for the closed-category side of the contest.

This thread is open for community discussion, but the focus is simple:

Builders and builds.

Talk about the entries, techniques, paint work, creativity, progress, WIP updates, and builds that stood out to you.

This is not a postmortem thread about mod decisions, judging decisions, vote counting, bracket structure, or contest administration. If you have something that needs mod attention, please use modmail. A separate structured feedback thread may happen later.

Sponsor thank you

A major thank you to Gaahleri for sponsoring this year’s contest prize pool.

Their support helped give the contest real prize backing in its first year, and we appreciate them supporting the builders and the r/freedomisgunpla community.

Prize coordination will happen privately. Please do not post shipping information publicly.

Final Public Vote results

Rookie

1st Place: TapFit8961
2nd Place: CommanderApaul
3rd Place: Fearless_Flounder_58
4th Place: Fanman15
5th Place: KingofNothingnes

Intermediate

1st Place: PsychoGwarGura
2nd Place: no_racist_here
3rd Place: infectedshadow
4th Place: Altruistic_Crab9071
5th Place: EffYeahItsAlex

Wildcard

Danarhys — Full Armor Matikanefukukitaru

Wildcard had one entry this year and did not run a public bracket.

Final bracket results

Rookie bracket

Rookie Play-In
Fanman15 defeated KingofNothingnes, 8 to 5

Rookie Semifinal A
TapFit8961 defeated Fanman15, 14 to 7

Rookie Semifinal B
CommanderApaul defeated Fearless_Flounder_58, 13 to 8

Rookie 3rd Place Match
Fearless_Flounder_58 defeated Fanman15, 9 to 4

Rookie Final
TapFit8961 defeated CommanderApaul, 9 to 7

Intermediate bracket

Corrected Intermediate Play-In
infectedshadow defeated EffYeahItsAlex, 10 to 9

Intermediate Semifinal A
no_racist_here defeated infectedshadow, 9 to 8

Intermediate Semifinal B
PsychoGwarGura defeated Altruistic_Crab9071, 8 to 7

Intermediate 3rd Place Match
infectedshadow defeated Altruistic_Crab9071, 9 to 8

Intermediate Final
PsychoGwarGura defeated no_racist_here, 11 to 6

Builder appreciation

This was the first annual Freedom Is Gunpla Builders Contest, we're still working out the fine details and improving for future contests. I'm thankful for everyone's patience, and was glad to see the majority had a good time and some even seemed to learn from the process along with us.

From the entire judge and greater mod team, we greatly appreciate the work people put in, the progress they showed, and the ideas other builders can learn from.

What to discuss here

Please keep this thread focused on the builds and builders.

Good discussion topics include:

builds you enjoyed following
paint schemes that stood out
clever customization choices
favorite WIP moments
techniques you want to try yourself
progress a builder made during the contest
entries that surprised you
details people might have missed
encouragement for builders who did not place
what you are excited to see when Open / Master continues

Constructive comments are welcome if they stay respectful and build-focused.

Good example:

> I liked the color direction on this one. If you revisit it later, sharper masking around the white sections would make the scheme look even stronger.

Bad example:

> This should not have won.

The goal is to talk about the work, not tear people down.

What this thread is not for

Please do not use this thread to debate:

mod decisions
judge decisions
judge score cards
vote counting
bracket structure
eligibility disputes
prize disputes
accusations against builders, judges, or mods
re-litigating completed matchups

Those topics can quickly derail the builder-focused discussion.

If you have a specific issue that needs mod attention, please use modmail.

To the builders

Whether you placed or not, thank you for entering.

Putting your work in front of a community takes effort, especially when it is judged, voted on, and compared to other builds.

If you finished a build, documented your process, tried something new, or learned something for the next one, that still matters.

The contest is better because people entered.

To the voters and commenters

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the build threads before voting.

The contest works best when people vote based on the actual builds, not just usernames, popularity, or one quick photo.

If you missed some of the entries, this is a good time to go back through the build logs and give builders some positive feedback.

Final closed-category update / corrected public vote record, with the full build list:
https://www.reddit.com/r/freedomisgunpla/comments/1sod7mr/judge_score_update_public_vote_format/

Gaahleri prize pool update:
https://www.reddit.com/r/freedomisgunpla/comments/1rvs10g/prize_pool_update_gaahleri_joins_the_freedom_is/

Open discussion

Use this thread to shout out the builders and builds.

What entries did you enjoy? What details stood out? What techniques caught your eye? What build made you want to try something new? What are you excited to see when Open / Master continues?

u/JaySayMayday