One Slaughterpriest, Three Skullcrushers, and a First Plague Marine
We had one of those very relatable hobby evenings: the kind where a single character model somehow eats more time than a whole chunk of cavalry.
Pegi spent the evening wrestling with a Slaughterpriest, and by the sound of it, this one really made him work for every detail. In his own words, he absolutely suffered over that model — and the best summary is probably this: it took him longer than painting three Skullcrushers. Which, honestly, says a lot about how deceptive character models can be. They may be just one miniature, but all the little trims, materials, focal points and decisions pile up fast.
A big part of the discussion ended up being about Nuln Oil, and specifically that dangerous moment when a wash goes from “nice shading” to “why does this gold suddenly look copper?”. Michał asked if the model had already been nuln-oiled, and Pegi said that in the end he’d probably only leave the sword and chains for that treatment. The reason was simple: he really liked the shine of the gold as it was, and didn’t want to kill that effect by darkening everything down.
That feels like one of those hobby lessons we keep relearning: sometimes the technically “correct” next step is not the one that gives the best final look. A wash can tie things together beautifully, but it can also flatten or dirty up metallics if we’re not careful. And as Pegi pointed out, maybe it’s just a matter of still learning how much is enough.
Meanwhile, while there was some joking about not making it to a game night, there was at least a very solid excuse: painting happened. After work, Pegi mostly spent the evening doing shading and said he wrapped up around 18:00. So yes, maybe no gaming that day — but definitely hobby progress.
And it wasn’t just Khorne getting attention. Michał also showed off his first Plague Marine, which is always a nice milestone. There’s something especially satisfying about that first model in a unit or army scheme: once it’s done, the whole project suddenly feels real.
The model already had that grimy, chunky Death Guard energy, and it was cool seeing two very different Chaos painting moods happening side by side: one painter trying not to over-darken rich gold on a fantasy berserker priest, the other putting together his first diseased space marine.
That’s probably the best summary of the evening at Wiatry Magii: no grand tournament prep, no massive army reveal, just the very real hobby experience of
- spending way too long on one character,
- debating whether Nuln Oil is helping or betraying us,
- and celebrating a first finished step in a new paint job.
Honestly, that’s the good stuff.
If there’s one takeaway from this session, it’s this: when a metallic area already looks good, it’s perfectly fine to stop before “one more step” turns it into something else entirely. And when a single miniature takes forever? That usually just means we cared.