About Us
Norm
I first got into painting Warhammer miniatures back in the early ‘90s. My brother and I would hang out at Games Workshop while our mum shopped at the local centre. From the start, I was drawn to the fantasy side of things. As I got older, though, painting gradually took a back seat and I found myself immersed in fantasy MMORPGs—a hobby that took up most of the next 20 years.
A few years ago, I came across a YouTube video titled “How to Paint a Space Marine,” and it instantly sparked a wave of nostalgia. That moment pulled me right back in. Since then, I’ve barely touched video games—miniature painting has completely taken over my spare time.
I created The Painter’s Portal guide because it was exactly what I wished I had when I got back into the hobby. I tend to go all-in with my interests, and when I returned to miniature painting, I quickly fell down the rabbit hole—spending hundreds of hours researching, bookmarking tutorials, watching reviews, and collecting useful resources. It felt natural to turn all of that into something more structured that others could benefit from. The guide’s success inspired me to launch a YouTube channel and take the project even further. I’d dabbled in YouTube during my gaming days, and I’ve always enjoyed being creative, so it was a great fit. I met Dave on a painting course and invited him to join the project, and I even convinced my brother to get back into the hobby—he now works behind the scenes editing the videos.
My vision for The Painter’s Portal is to build a community—a welcoming space for painters, whether new or experienced, to connect, share their work, pick up new skills, and most importantly, have fun doing what they love.
Dave
It was the year 2000 and a friend of mine brought to my house some of his older brothers metal space marine terminators to show me….. Space Men, with Guns??
I WAS HOOKED.
To say that moment was life changing would be an understatement! Warhammer and its universes (particularly The Far Future of The 41st Millennium) is one of the most exciting and enriching things to have come in to my life.
The miniatures, books, animations and lore are far beyond those of more mainstream ‘popular’ geekery which is what makes it all the more special to be a part of. It has created friendships lasting literal decades, memories of Games Days and trips to Warhammer World aplenty.
I have dabbled in commission painting and although I love talking ALL things Games workshop I have discovered my true passion comes to the fore when I can create with more of my own ideas and decisions around projects.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Norm and Tom who have become Great friend’s purely by a shared interest in the hobby, to create content that we are all interested in making as well as trying to entertain, educate and inspire the next generation of hobbyists.
My Goals for the future in the Hobby would be to make a genuinely fun place for people to watch both educational and exciting content. Tutorials, reviews and challenges. I aim to work on myself to offer advice and also pick up tips for myself along the way.
My final thought? One day I hope to build enough courage to Enter Golden Demon, hopefully achieve a Golden Demon Finalist pin!!!
