Kharadron Overlords on the Desk: Balloons Later, Arkanauts Now
Painting plans, building detours, and one very solid spear
Sometimes hobby progress is not a straight line at all. You sit down thinking “today we paint,” and a few evenings later you realise you’ve mostly been clipping, gluing, dry-fitting, and staring at subassemblies. We know that feeling very well.
This time the chat was all about Kharadron Overlords and one very important question: when are the balloons going onto the ships?
From what end3r said, the current plan is to paint the balloons first and glue them on later, because that seems to be the recommended way to handle them. Honestly, that makes a lot of sense. Big floating elements like that are cool, but they also look like the kind of thing that can get in the way of painting if attached too early.
So for now, the ships will stay balloon-less for a bit longer.
There is, however, a possible twist in the plan: magnets. If the magnets arrive in time, the idea is to magnetise the balloons so they can be attached for gaming and removed again when it is time to paint everything properly. That is exactly the kind of hobby solution we love — practical on the table, but still friendly to the painting process.
A short break from painting
Painting itself is currently on a bit of a pause, but for a very understandable reason: there has been a lot of building going on.
First up was the boss model — the one visible in the background on the right — and after that came several evenings spent assembling a Gunhauler. So even if the brushwork slowed down for a moment, the project definitely kept moving forward.
That is one of those hobby phases we all recognise. Sometimes progress does not show up as fresh colour on a model. Sometimes progress is simply getting a key unit built and ready, especially when it opens up more options for games.
And that is exactly what happened here.
New Spearhead, ready to play
Because the Thunderers and Endrinriggers were already done earlier, the new Spearhead force now has enough pieces to get games in. That is always a great milestone: not everything is painted yet, not everything is fully finished, but the army is already becoming playable.
That kind of momentum matters a lot. Being able to put models on the table while the rest of the project is still taking shape is often what keeps the motivation high.
There is also another magnet-related plan in the background: if the magnets do show up, the Endrinriggers may get built in different combinations, including the exact setup needed for Spearhead. Modular dwarven engineering feels very on-brand for Kharadron, so we are fully on board with that idea.
Back to the Arkanauts
Once the current building streak settles down, the next likely step is a return to painting the Arkanaut Company visible in the background. That seems to be the next stop on the painting queue — at least until new boxes arrive.
And yes, there are already more boxes looming on the horizon: Votann and Salamanders. So this is one of those classic hobby situations where we are trying to stay disciplined and finish one thing while fully aware that the next shiny projects are already on their way.
The best part? There is actually a plan behind it all.
The intention is to paint the Kharadron Overlords in the order they were bought. We really like that approach. It feels honest, tidy, and just structured enough to stop a collection from turning into a mountain of random unfinished kits.
Important tactical note: the spear is good
We also got one vital battlefield observation out of this exchange: that spear on the dwarf in the back left is a good one.
More specifically, as we learned, the pike is not just decorative — it actually does the job in melee. We always appreciate these little comments, because they are peak hobby energy: half painting desk chat, half practical game wisdom.
Where the project stands right now
So at the moment, the Kharadron project looks something like this:
- balloons are still off the ships for painting reasons,
- magnets may change the plan in a very convenient way,
- painting is temporarily paused because assembly took priority,
- the boss and Gunhauler have been getting attention,
- Thunderers and Endrinriggers already give the new Spearhead some playable depth,
- Arkanauts are likely next on the painting table,
- and the whole KO collection is planned to be painted in purchase order.
Honestly, we like this stage of a project a lot. It is not the glamorous “fully painted army reveal” moment yet, but it is full of character: little decisions, practical compromises, new ideas, and that constant balancing act between building, painting, and actually getting games in.
Very relatable hobbying.
If the magnets land and the balloon plan comes together, we are definitely curious to see how those ships will look in the end.