The Season of Amber! The 2026/27 Hobby Season starts soon, join me!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #warhammercommunity the 2026/27 hobby season will be starting soon so for those alumni who joined in last season it's time to start looking back at your TO DO lists - at what you've TO DONE!, what might have slipped and those lovely unexpected successes that happened despite life getting in the way and loss of mojo - I speak from experience [yet again].

The original plan when I started with 'great big stamps of approval' was that I wouldn't do multi-coloured stamps, just alternate between red and green, but who was I kidding? Once again I have tried to come up with something cool but time has escaped me and I thought it best to stick to what I know best. As I was a big fan of Gamboge, before I went all textured stamps I thought I'd revisit the colour, with a twist. So I give you the  Season of Amber and the  Great Big Amber Stamp of Approval  However I was not happy with the finished results. The contrast was not great on some of them. But time was against us and my Photoshop-fu is clearly lacking after not keeping up-to-date with my creative exploration. So, shock horror, I actually did some AI versions. So, you tell me which you would prefer and which you'll be using. have I sold my soul or actually made something a little bit more legible and representative of what I had in mind

Feel free to download and use them on your blog as and when you get stuff  'TO DONE!' Human intelligence on the left, artificial intelligence on the right.

Or you can record your achievements with an 'unbranded' version.

And should you feel inclined to differentiate your efforts yet further here's the major goal stamps

And minor goals [which I occasionally find a use for].

And I've also got the Big Build...

 and Base [and obviously prime] Stamps done too. I heartily recommend this video from Tabletop Minions to understand where I was going with the 'Big Build' concept, he's touched on and expanded exactly why I created this a few years back. This is definitely the worst version I created. I just wasn't happy with it, which is why I tried AI and got a great result - what do you think?

Just a reminder of what it's about, in 2011 I made my first To Do List, amusingly it now/still looks like this:

• AoBR Tactical Squad
• AoBR Dreadnought
• AoBR Terminators
• Scout Squad
• Ravenwing bike squad
• Dark Angel Drop Pod
• Purity Seal all of my son's Tyranids
• Gloss Varnish all of my son's Tyranids
• Tyranid Prime
• Mycetic Spore
• Paint Vent Tower
• Paint defence platforms x4
• Complete pot pourri vegetation
• Complete future containers
• Complete 40k Cathedral tower
• STC Single story ruin
• STC Hex Defence platforms
• STC Targus Assault Blockade
• STC Vent tower
• STC Athena plateau
• STC Mercury plateau
• STC 40k Cathedral tower
• 60mm Dreadnought crater

So 4 things still haven't been done and quite frankly never will 😉. The purpose was to try to focus my efforts to outline a list of things I'd love to do over a twelve month period and if I achieved any of them - great, all of them, so much better. But more importantly I needed a structure to cling to when my efforts became aimless. That's not to say deviations from the list were forbidden it was more for when I went 'well what's next?'

It became an annual blog post to review what I'd done and set new tasks. Throughout the season I would reveal my 'To Dones!' as completed items both on and off the list. Showcase posts are nothing new to hobby blogs, everyone else does it at the end of the year/beginning of the new year. But for me it was a structure to help build the identity of this blog. Then, in 2014 I invited readers and passers-by of the blog to join in. Well, when you have a good idea why not share it around? I got about 10 people joining in and it looked like we were quite a supportive little bunch. I think over time steam ran out a little bit, but folk continue to join in each season and hopefully the same will ring true for 2026/27.

To help things out a bit I eve created a Hobby Season Facebook group, it's here [but not very popular[:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/278747245819138/

So, if you're joining in just ask and I'll add you into the group, that way you can share your blog posts or any efforts to those also joining in. I hoped this platform will allow more interaction for those taking part and keep us all motivated.

I guess the last question is why 28th August as the start/end date, why not January 1st?

I think back in 2011 it was at that time I thought a structure needed to be in place and it was as good a time as any to post a To Do List, afterall the footy season starts around this time too, no one complains about that, do they?

Anyway, 28th August join me for the new Hobby Season :)

Imperial Knights - Cerastus Twins in manufactorum pt11. Yellow & Red Highlights

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the Cerastus Knights. It was probably round about this time that the panic had set in. This was August 2nd. All through July I had been confident getting these done for the end of the Hobby Season was not only reasonable but a doodle.

But as we rolled into August it suddenly seemed like I could fall at the last hurdle. So I had a couple of days of really productive progress - highlighting both the yellow areas and the first highlights on the red.

There was a huge amount of satisfaction to this, getting so much done so quickly. Especially after how many delays I'd had with earlier steps in the process.

As this is publishing just 9 days before the end of the season I wonder if they'll make it?

But it's really beginning to come alive now. I don't know if this is what I originally visualised when I came to paint this but Like I said before sometimes the result is revealed to you during the process.  

I had some sort of a plan but the models is constantly speaking to me. I just need to be receptive to what it needs or just push on regardless. I mean I was already adding some scratches in places!

The Acheron though was always a little more planned out. That said I had thought it was going to be bottom half yellow, not left half.

But the yellow on shin and carapace is already looking gorgeous.

The Promethium barrels also got highlighted, but I'm not 100% sure what else to do with them yet.

The red on both knights got highlighted but it looks a little pale/desaturated in places. I may have to do a bit to bring the vibrancy back.

I recall using Bloodletter Glaze on the original Lancer, luckily I still have some

I decided to go with a red banner on this one. Somewhat against the usual Adeptus Mechanicus aligned pattern but thought it would be fun and different to bring the red back in, not more black.

Splodges on the Ion Shield - I love just blobbing on texture.

The two chest plates also got highlights.

And comparing it to one of my previous heavy yellow/black knights.

Obviously a bit of damage to add but I have managed to get the yellow a little more vibrant.

Lastly I painted all the pipework in the chest. A lot of it will be hidden behind the armour plates, but it will be just about visible.

I can glue on the armour plates now as there wouldn't be much Blessed Verdigris 🗽 behind them - they'd be protected from weathering. Black highlights next. ⚫

Imperial Knights - Cerastus Twins in manufactorum pt10. Shoulder pistons

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the Cerastus Knights. I had been stuck with the shoulder pistons. They have U shaped socket, which means you can't attach them and they stay in place. And if you glue them you're stuck with that position. So I decided to seal them up first.

I cut the round nubs off some sprue and trimmed them to fit in the socket.

I then removed all the extraneous material beyond the socket and drilled a hole through the centre.

I did it on all the shoulder joints.

I then took the piston...

And removed the bar that would usually locate inside the socket.

A hole was drilled through the centre, which would locate with the newly drilled hole in the filled socket.

All four pistons had 1mm steel rods carefully glued in. 

This created the moveability I was after.

But obviously these elements need painting up now.

The extra resistance from a properly hinged piston will help whatever pose the arm is put into hold. Well that's the plan.

However, I have discovered that the end of the piston does limit the shoulder's potential position due to the locating arms inside the shoulder joint.

I'll work it out but this issue has been bothering me for so long, like the carapace hatch hinges. I'm just really glad to finally solve it.