In this Painting Phase After Dark episode, Ross and I sit down with miniature painting legend Dave Taylor—the guy behind the “The Art Of…” book series that I’ve banged on about before (and yes, I just happened to have the Tommie Soule volume to hand). We chat through where his whole Warhammer journey started: D&D minis, a Rogue Trader “chess set” idea that immediately turned into an army, and how a simple 5-year plan of “work for Games Workshop” somehow became real. From there, Dave takes us inside what it was like doing hobby content in the pre-modern internet era—Australian White Dwarf, event support, mail order with cheques and letters, and the wild realities of file transfers and deadlines. We also get into the conversion culture that defined his hobby: building Squat vehicles from cardboard, chasing the stuff in the lore that didn’t exist as models yet, and the infamous “bits room” era where you could actually make those mad projects happen. We then talk about the shift into publishing after GW, the “dark times” when creativity got pulled back to the centre, and how Dave used his skills—editing, photography, layout—to start making books that champion hobbyists and creators. If you’re into the history of the hobby, kitbashing mindset, or how great hobby books get made, this one’s packed with proper stories.