Warhammer 40K painter fixes fans’ favorite dudes with Plastic Surgery

Warhammer 40,000This wargame has been reinvented in the form of audio dramas, books, videos, animations, and video games. The tabletop minis are the source of all these creative works. They play out endless variations of epic battles. To play, you need to have a tabletop miniature. Warhammer 40KIt is necessary to put together a set of miniatures. Maverick Nicholson, a YouTuber, is an expert content creator. He shows off his custom-built models, painted jobs and tiny dioramas. His most noble project involves giving old, battered minis a fresh paint job.

Players love creating their own take on 40K factions by painting each member. There are plenty of canon armies and book characters to marvel over, but an important part of the hobby is the idea of “You can also find out more about us on our website. dudes” — that’s not just any Space Marine or Ork Warboss, it’s yourSpace Marine

“I started painting two years ago, because I had a debilitating back injury,” says Nicolson in a call with Polygon. “I ended up having to quit my job as a firefighter. You basically sit at home. All of my hobbies have disappeared. I couldn’t do anything physical anymore because of my back injury. And with that, I needed to find something to occupy my time, and it was Warhammer.”

Nicolson says that Warhammer has given him a community, a hobby, and he is passionate about it. He began by painting miniatures, but when others asked him for his technique, he created tutorials. “I got that feeling of helping someone again, which was a really nice feeling to have,” says Nicolson. “I became obsessed with that, and the community of Warhammer is so special, I don’t think you can find anything like it anywhere else.”

Nicolson found other players in the game who had their own problems and were using the games and the community to help them express themselves. These players’ character models were their old friends, and some of them were slipping into disrepair, or badly needed a new coat of paint and a little bit of elbow grease. Nicolson took these old models and their touching histories, and fixed them for free as part of a YouTube series called Plastic Surgery.

Nicolson removes the paint with a soft toothbrush and then uses a toothpick for the excess. He starts from scratch, adding layers of paint, one color at a time, to give it extra texture. It’s relaxing to watch on a second monitor, and the personal stories make it quite touching.

Nicolson accepts Plastic Surgery requests via social media, but he isn’t just looking for commission work. The series focuses on characters near and dear to a player’s heart, who need a touch-up as a thank you for their long hours of service against space elves, nasty bugs, and all the horrors the far future of 40K has to offer. Nicolson posts tutorials and helpful content to help players create unique figures, with cool colors and detailed details.