Painting Between Games: Slow Progress on the Arkanauts
Hobby progress in small chunks
Sometimes hobby life is just a constant trade-off between playing and painting. And honestly? We know that feeling very well.
This time, end3r checked in with a very relatable update: there has been a lot of gaming lately — two Kill Team leagues and one campaign — so painting time has been limited. Instead of long hobby marathons, it has been more like grabbing an hour or two every day or every other day and just steadily pushing things forward.
It is going very slowly, but the important part is that it is moving.
Arkanauts on the desk
The current project is a batch of Arkanauts, and the latest milestone is that the remaining models are painted up to a solid tabletop stage. At the moment shown in the photo, they were still before a coat of Nuln Oil, which should help tone the colors down and tie everything together a bit more.
There was also a first pass on the bases — for now just the terrain texture, without the painting stage yet.
And to be fair, this is exactly the kind of progress we like seeing: not necessarily flashy, not “finished army in one weekend”, just real hobby momentum.
Color experiments and practical choices
Stas suggested a nice trick for anyone aiming for a dirtier, grimier metallic feel: paint the area black first, then drybrush silver over it. That can give metal a more worn and subdued look right from the start.
End3r mentioned that he had already been experimenting with colors and that he actually likes this current scheme. Once the Nuln Oil goes on, it seems to land in a place that feels right, so the plan is not to reinvent everything — but the black-undercoat-plus-drybrush idea is definitely something worth testing on future models.
That part really resonated with us, because it is such a familiar stage of the hobby: trying things out, finding a scheme that clicks, and then deciding where to keep experimenting and where to just trust the process.
Done is better than endlessly corrected
Probably the most relatable bit in the whole exchange was this approach: apart from the very first model, end3r is deliberately not going back to fix every little paint slip.
And honestly, fair.
If every tiny mistake means another round of cleanup, progress can slow to a crawl. Add highlights, edge cleanup, and all the extra “just one more step” details, and suddenly one squad takes forever. Right now the goal is clear: paint a few units as quickly as possible and build momentum.
That does not mean giving up on quality — it just means choosing a standard that fits the current goal. Tabletop-ready armies do not appear by magic, and sometimes the best technique is simply accepting that not every model needs to become a display piece.
The hobby lesson here
We really liked this little conversation because it captures something important:
- playing a lot can slow painting down,
- slow progress is still progress,
- washes can do a lot of heavy lifting,
- and sometimes it is better to finish units than to get stuck chasing perfection.
Also, a good tip from the group is always worth pocketing for later — even if the current scheme is already working.
We will definitely be watching how these Arkanauts look once the Nuln Oil and the finished bases are in place.
Keep it moving
This is exactly the kind of update we love on a hobby blog: a real project, real constraints, and real progress. No dramatic transformation montage, just a steady army-growing process happening between games.
And if you are also in that phase where you are painting in short sessions, skipping highlights for now, and just trying to get units done: yes, we see you. We are there too, more often than not.
Sometimes the best hobby plan is simple: sit down for an hour, put some paint on models, and keep the project alive.