If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know where my heart lies—deep in the trenches of the hobby side of wargaming. Painting, building, basing—I love it all. Give me a brush, a pile of resin bits, and some spare time, and I’m in my happy place. So when I stumble across something new or unexpected in the hobby world, especially something that challenges my own preferences, I get excited to share it.

Recently, I came across a YouTube video that completely surprised me—in a good way. The video features a hobbyist painting a Heresy-era Death Guard Centurion, and his approach was… well, let’s just say unorthodox (at least to me). He used Army Painter Speedpaints for most of the base work and then took things a step further by applying Army Painter’s Quickshade Dip.

Now, I’ll be honest—I’ve never really been an Army Painter kind of guy. Nothing against the brand, of course, but I’ve always gravitated toward Citadel and Pro-Acryl paints. I like the way they handle, the vibrancy, the layering—it just fits my painting style better. And as for speed paints? Historically, they’ve never really clicked with me. I usually find Citadel’s Contrast line to be a bit more vibrant and easier to control.

But this video? It kind of blew me away.

When the creator dunked the model—or rather, brushed on the dip—it looked like he had just ruined hours of careful painting. It was glossy, dark, and frankly looked like a mess. But once it dried and he matte-sealed it, the transformation was incredible. The result was gritty, weathered, and perfectly grimdark. It felt real. Like this Centurion had fought through the worst of the Great Crusade and lived to tell the tale.

I’ve never used the Quickshade Dip before, but after watching this, I’m honestly intrigued. It’s got that filthy battlefield aesthetic that’s so fitting for the Death Guard, especially in their pre-Nurgle days—still loyal, still dying by the thousands in trench warfare across forgotten worlds.

This is definitely something I’m going to experiment with in my own painting. Sometimes it’s the techniques you’ve avoided that end up surprising you the most.