The Start of the Journey
One school day, at some point in the late 80s, someone handed me this copy of White Dwarf.
On the cover was an ogre, in glam rock, leopard-print spandex, carrying a goblin under his arm. Surrounded by a mob of orcs and humans, and with a huge crowd watching on, they battled while cheerleaders chanted from the sidelines.
This was amazing in itself, but when I realised the goblin had a football in its hands, and that they were playing some bizarro fantasy version of American Football, my mind was blown.
I'd never seen anything so exciting in all my life.
It had me hooked, so I saved up my pocket money to be able to buy the Blood Bowl launch box, which retailed for £20. (£80 less than the current Blood Bowl, but that was over 30 years ago, when you could buy a 3-bed semi for £30K).
I fell deeply in love with Blood Bowl, and to a lesser extent Warhammer 40,000, but they was competing with my first true loves in plastic toys - Lego, Star Wars, and Transformers. When it came to birthdays and Christmas they remained at the top of my wish list. Games Workshop products were for pocket money and sneaky fivers passed to me on the side by a grandparent.
The Great Pause
Like many, ‘life stuff’ pressed the pause button on my childhood hobbies and pastimes, as my attention diverted to relationships, education, and employment.
So many people never get a chance (or feel the need) to unpause their childhood hobbies, and they trundle on with their lives, oblivious to the box of wonder waiting patiently in some shadowy corner of their attic.
In 2016, my box of wonder was rescued when a work colleague mentioned he had ordered some miniatures for a game he was running. I swear that a light came on in my eyes as the memories flooded back: building miniatures; painting them badly; and the incredible world-building and storytelling within Games Workshop games.
With my grown-up money in hand, and underdeveloped impulse control, I went on a spending spree! I bought the latest version of Blood Bowl, far too many paints, needlessly fancy brushes, and lots of weird and wonderful ‘hobby’ tools, (that mostly remain unused to this day). A lot had changed since I last put brush to fantasy footballer:
- At some point they realised that putting lead in toy soldiers was a bad idea.
- Modern miniatures are so much more detailed.
- Model kits now come with legible instructions (on the whole).
- White Dwarf is no longer an obvious toy catalogue for multiple brands.
- White Dwarf is now a slightly less obvious toy catalogue for just one brand.
- There are so many choices for paints, brushes, and tools.
- Painting and building techniques are much more complex.
- Coaching for these techniques is now freely available to all.
- YouTube can teach you to become a better hobbyist in every aspect.
Gray Primer
At some point, I started wondering if I could add value to the miniatures community by filming miniature and model kit reviews and posting them on YouTube. I was already taking so much knowledge from the YouTube community, I figured it was only fair to give a little back.
Even if only a hundred people saw a video, it could help them make a better-informed buying decision, or even live their hobby life vicariously through me. Wargaming and model-making can be expensive after all!
Over the years, the channel and its community have grown, and the quality has gradually improved. One of the coolest side effects is that I have learned new skills, such as scriptwriting, audio editing, video editing, lighting for video, and storyboarding.
The content has evolved too, and I’m now focused on longer, instructional videos about diorama building. Through this work, I’m learning sculpting, kitbashing, scratch-building, storytelling in miniature, and textured basing.
The Future
Viewers can look forward to more dioramas inspired by classic movies and Warhammer novels, hobby material reviews, live streams, and an upcoming Patreon/Discord community.
I’m also hosting a sponsored Paint & Take at Dublin’s Gaelcon on Oct 26 and 27. Come along and say hello, then pull up a chair and put brush to mini for an hour or two.
Nick, host of Gray Primer
Summer 2024