Another year has passed, and here comes my personal #wrapped from the hobby year 2025. In this post you’ll find a gallery of all my painted models from the year (Skaven, Nighthaunt, Sons of Horus, and more), my hobby highs and lows, plus an outlook on how Tale of Painters will continue in 2026.
2025 was definitely an exciting hobby year for me. I experienced quite a lot! I attended Iron Skull 2025 with Dunk and Garfy, and was a guest at Spiel in Essen. I tested endless models and paints, and published 34% more reviews than last year! As for painting, I’ve got a respectable number of models to show for it as well. Further down you’ll find my plans for 2026, but first my gallery of painted models:
My painted models of 2025
January to March
I’d already painted Horus Ascended at the end of last year, but hadn’t quite finished the display base, so I spent the first days of January completing it. I’m not entirely satisfied, I think I need to tackle the base again, but you can look at the finished model here in the meantime, perhaps you’ve got an idea on what to change. Then I threw myself into Zikkit’s Tunnelpack, a Skaven warband for the current edition of Warhammer Underworlds. And I painted a Warp Spider Exarch for my small Ulthwé collection (more pictures here).
Note: Mos of the models in this recap have been kindly provided by Games Workshop Ltd.
April to June
In anticipation of the new edition of The Horus Heresy, I painted a squad of Despoilers in MkIII armour for my Sons of Horus. Of course, the inevitable happened – the loadout is no longer fully compatible with the new edition. That’s why I haven’t posted the finished squad here yet, but you can see them above. I still need to think about whether to adjust the weapon selection, perhaps turning them into a comman squad… In between, I painted a Wood Elf Glade Guard to test AK’s Quick Gen paints (review here, tutorial here). And I reworked a set of terrain, and finally painted the last Gaunts for my (also no longer legal) Hive Fleet Kill Team, plus a devourer for one of my existing Termagants.
July to September
I spent July on the Saturnine Dreadnought from the box of the same name, perhaps my favourite model I painted this year (more pictures here). I chose the black of the Sons of Horus 1st Company for it. I continued with the Nighthaunt’s Lord Vitriolic, which was released alongside the new battletome, and I finished work on a Skaven Master Moulder that I’d started in the summer (no pictures of him yet). I also painted the first half of the Chainrasps, a Jade Warrior (but only the front, ssssh…), one of my little Stahly busts with P3 paints, plus a Helsmiths of Hashut Infernal Razer championess, for whom I also wrote a step-by-step painting tutorial.
October to December
During my holiday in October, I built a Gundam that I’d brought back from a Japan trip in 2023: an all-black HG Ecoplay RX-78-2. I also posted an SD Cross Silhouette RX-78-2 in the exclusive blue colour scheme of the Gundam Base, which I’d actually already completed in 2024. I’d really like to post more of my Gundams here, I hope you enjoy them.
Towards the end of the year, I then finalised the second half of the Chainrasps (check the whole unit here) and painted the Chaos Lord Urkhan, the Dark Warden, for the Vallejo True Metallic Metal review. As I’m writing this, I’m currently expanding my Grimghast Reapers to bring them from 5 to 10 models, as I want to make my Nighthaunt collection playable for Spearhead next year.
The hobby tally
All in all, I painted 41 models, plus 2 of my little Stahly demo models, a display base, and I reworked 6 pieces of terrain and 5 Grimghast Reapers. That’s not bad at all by my standards. Last year I managed 54 models, but only 17 of those were actual miniatures, with the rest being terrain. That’s probably why I needed a break from painting terrain this year, even though I still haven’t completed my Gallowdark set, and Killzone Volkus is also still waiting for me.
By and large, though, I’m happy. With the Saturnine Dreadnought I’ve managed to put a really large model in the display cabinet, and I’ve also made good progress with the Nighthaunt. Only 10 more Chainrasps are needed to complete the Spearhead, and then the path to 1000 points isn’t far off either. Next year I also want to paint more Skaven, and of course continue to expand my Sons of Horus.
2025 in content #wrapped
Tale of Painters
We had a lot going on on Tale of Painters in 2025. Three new posts every week with tutorials, showcases, and tips, plus I wrote a total of 63 reviews of the latest Warhammer and miniature paint releases. Last year we “only” had 47 reviews, so a massive increase of 34%! Additionally, I started a second YouTube channel at the end of the year, Tale of Painters Unboxings. There you’ll find unboxing videos in 4K of the latest Games Workshop releases to accompany our reviews, so please follow the channel if you haven’t already. Building a new channel isn’t easy!
There were also some changes behind the scenes. As you’ve probably noticed, Garfy has stepped back from active posting and has also decided to generally reduce his social media presence. This is obviously incredibly sad, as his lovingly painted miniatures and brilliant photography skills were an integral part of Tale of Painters for over a decade. Our mutual mate Dunk is filling the gap alongside me, even though Garfy is of course irreplaceable.
My “Stahly” activities
On my main Stahly channel, there was a substantial new video (almost 😉 every month, focussing on in-depth reviews of the latest miniature paint ranges. Markers for miniature painting were a big topic this year. My reviews of AK’s Quick Gen paints and the True Metallic Metal paints also attracted great interest, with over 50,000 views each!
The colour swatches project continued on my Patreon account. Early in the year, my 7-in-1 Colour Matching document launched, which now contains nearly 1,200 hand-painted and professionally digitised colour samples of the seven most popular hobby paint ranges: AK 3rd Gen, Citadel Colour, Pro Acryl, Two Thin Coats, Vallejo Game & Model Color, and Warpaints Fanatic, in an interactive and searchable PDF. Compare colours across different brands and never buy the wrong paints again with my lifelike samples. If you don’t have the document yet, I’d appreciate a purchase on Patreon so I can digitise even more paint ranges.
Alongside the document, I’ve also created swatches for the new P3 paints, Scale 75, Green Stuff World, and Vallejo True Metallic Metal, as well as regularly publishing new updates for the existing swatches. Feel free to follow me on Patreon to stay up to date. Even with a free membership, you’ll always get the important updates.
My hobby resolutions for 2026
As in previous years, I’m letting 2026 come to me. I’d like to continue expanding my Nighthaunt and Sons of Horus, paint more Skaven, and also do more terrain again. Otherwise, I’m taking it as it comes. I’ll certainly also paint one or two new releases for you as tutorials. Maybe 2026 will be more 40k-centric, with all the rumours about a new edition?
Content-wise, I hope I can maintain my output. If I manage it, I’d like to publish a few more review videos on my main Stahly channel, as I get so much positive feedback from you for those. And of course, unboxing videos on the Tale of Painters channel for the most important new releases.
Have a great rest of the year, and if you would like to share YOUR hobby output from 2025, head over to our Tale of Painters Discord channel, I’d love to have a look at your painting endeavours. Thanks a lot, and happy hobbying!
Find my recap of 2024 here, 2023 here, 2022 here, 2021 here, 2020 here, 2019 here, 2018 here, 2017 here, 2016 here, 2015 here, 2014 here, 2013 here, and of 2012 here.
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