Off the beaten path youtube channels (about minis)

[Robosmith]

I don't know about any one else but I find it really tiring trying to find new and interesting mini painting/gaming channels on youtube. All the recommendations look the same and it's all the latest warhammer stuff. I really enjoy finding those smaller channels with less than 1,000 subscribers doing passion projects and following them along. I thought it would make for a good thread and hopefully we can all find some new people to watch and get inspired by.

To keep things on topic I think there needs to be a couple of rules to suggestions.

You can't promote yourself or your friends.
A channel shouldn't have more than 5k subscribers, ideally below 2k.
It has to have been active recently.

My first recommendation is Let's get gaming. He's doing a great series on contrast vs speed paints. Comparing similar paints over white skulls.


The miniature manager paints lots of really nice Conquest models. A game I've not seen many people doing videos on with beautiful sculpts.


Pirate rich paints... paints things! Lots of gripping beast and historic paint jobs here. Usually hour long videos going over an entire model in real time.


My final recommendation is a bit of a curve ball. Crawdaddy's custom crankbaits. A gentleman painting large fishing lures with an airbrush and doing an amazing job of it. It's not miniature painting as we know it, but he's using all the same painting techniques to paint miniature fish and there's no finer inspiration for your fishmen armies out there.

[Warren Abox]

I really like Purple Druid.  He's been running different old school wargames like Chainmail and comparing them to modern stuff.  His latest is a run-through of an old Tony Bath mini-game about scouting the enemy before a big battle:



NotJay is part of the crew behind Fistful of Lead, and every Wenesday he hosts a longish chat about the hobby.  He's also big into Naval wargaming.  Here, he talks with the guys behind 'Force on Force', which is apparently getting a new edition:

[tomrommel1]

this is a nice idea . I only watched the things by the terrain tutor and he would not fit in here as he has lots of followers. But anyhow if you need inspiration on terrain.... I left out a link here as he has a real big fanbase and that would not fit into your rules for this thread.

[boneio]

I don't watch a lot of YouTube but Scruffy Crow is pretty good - nice eclectic taste, achievable skill level, reviews things from pretty small manufacturers rather than being all about GW etc.

https://www.youtube.com/c/ScruffyCrow

[Simlasa]

Great topic!
I greatly prefer the videos by the 'true hobbyists' vs. the people trying to live off their channel and shoving GW at me like coked up Australian late-night infomercial pitchmen (an allusion probably no one will get).

My true favorites, like Michael Angelo
 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQCm-yG7EBNCn6rCYv8a1Yw
post irregularly and probably aren't to everyone's taste (though she recently finished a few huge 1/72 Napoleonic armies).

Von Ketteringham
https://www.youtube.com/user/vonketteringham
is always a decent watch.

The Great Mim is another I enjoy for not being over-produced and slick
https://www.youtube.com/user/themim66/videos

[Robosmith]

Great topic!
I greatly prefer the videos by the 'true hobbyists' vs. the people trying to live off their channel and shoving GW at me like coked up Australian late-night infomercial pitchmen (an allusion probably no one will get).

Von Ketteringham
https://www.youtube.com/user/vonketteringham
is always a decent watch.

The living off youtube crowd aren't my cup of tea either. Especially hate it when they use their model painting channel to soap box about unrelated things. Current fad is hyping up the new contrasts and painting every space marine in a box of a hundred identical models..

Von Ketteringham seems odd. He has 2 videos with 1.5k views but 3.5k subs. Really odd ratio there.


Here's a new find for today. Nice chap digging up his oldhammer stuff.


If you like an old chap who looks like a dwarf scratch building then Magrathea is perfect. 40 minute videos of a druid rambling as he repurposes kitchen ware into terrain. Seems to have an obsession with badgers too..


A guy pretending to be a pirate doing lots of Kings of war stuff with a touch of historical.

[Idle Doodler]

I'll agree with everyone else - great idea for a thread!

Most of my subscriptions focus on scratchbuilding terrain, especially the more accessible ones which don't make use of kits or 3d printing. Keeps things within reach for those of us lacking in space and / or finances!

GW-related game names do feature a fair amount but not in an Official GW Products way - scratch building tends to render things unacceptable for a GW store very quickly - and the terrain is pretty generically useful for other sci fi and fantasy settings.

One of my favourite finds has been Tiny Plastic Killers. Gruff expat gamer living in Japan - sought to create scrap building videos which he might narrate both in English and Japanese since a lot of his Japanese gaming friends were disinterested in English-only channels. I can't seem to find his Japanese versions anymore, but I still enjoy his videos for his unapologetic embracing of a 'good enough for a game' mentality.

LAF's very own Hobgoblin has a very talented lad - The RustMonster - whose sculpting and converting puts me to shame despite having nowhere near as many years to practice!

Other channels that I enjoy and have prompted me into scratch building myself:
SJ's Crafting World - sci fi
Hacksaw's Hobby Bunker - sci fi and post apocalyptic
Trihard Games - sci fi and fantasy
Adventures in Crafting - sci fi
Nayfee Paints - sci fi
Alrethian's Crafts & Battles - sci fi and modern
Creatures Caverns & Crafting - sci fi, fantasy and post apocalyptic

And special mention, though he definitely has too many subscribers, for Bill Making Stuff - very much not going for the official GW sponsorship, and entertaining enough in his commentary that the non-gaming Mrs Doodler is happy for it to be beamed onto the main TV to watch.