DreadTober 2025: The Grand Finale!!

 

Hi folks,

The DreadTober challenge is officially over for another year and it is time to see who made it through to the end. This has been an interesting year with a diverse range of projects on offer. A number of hobbyists managed to finish their projects early, whilst a bunch were still fighting hard to get their work complete by the deadline. Please note, if I have designated you as "Lost in Warp" and you manage to finish later, I would be happy to update the post, just let me know. Let's take a look at what we managed to achieve.

Name: Neverness
Project: Celestial Lions Dreadnought
Blog: https://nevernesshobby.blogspot.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/neverness92.bsky.social

Neverness has finished this venerable Castraferrum off with some neat decals and iconography. The Celestial Lions are such a cool Chapter, it is great to see them getting some love this year; bravo!!

Name: Agis

Project: First legion Saturnine Dreadnought

Blog: https://agis40k.blogspot.com/

Instagram: @agis.40k

Honour to the First!! This is a fantastic finish to a huge project, and could very well be the "poster boy" for this year's challenge. Gritty and detailed, this Saturnine Dread is a work of grim/dark art.

Name: Dave Weston

Project: Adeptus Titanicus Warlord Titan

Blog: 40kaddict.uk

Dave didn't quite get his bonus model finished, but his main project is fantastic. The execution of the paint scheme, the iconography and the weathering are all spot-on. Beautiful work.

Name: XarfaiEngel

Project: 2 Adeptus Titanicus Reaver Titans; stretch goal: Ghrastak (Luna Wolves Contemptor)

Blog: https://abutterflyshobbytally.blogspot.com/

Instagram: @xarfaiengel

Continuing the titan theme, Xarfai finished this pair of Reavers off. I think you will agree that the colour scheme and added details look amazing. I am a particular fan of the hazard stripes, knowing full-well how difficult they are to do.

Name: Wachtmeister
Project: 2nd Edition Dark Angels Dreadnought
Blog: https://wachtmeisterspatrol.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wachtmeisters_patrol/

This old Dark Angels version of the Castraferrum is one of my favourite models of all time. The Meister has certainly done it justice. The addition of some decals and a great mossy looking base finish it off nicely. Love the blue lenses too. 

Name: Wachtmeisterson 
Project: Ork Deff Dread

Wachtmeisterson has made a great effort to get finished in time. This Dread will look great on the battlefield and the progress made during the challenge has been significant; well done!!

Name: DAM
Project: Dark Angels Brutalis Dreadnought
Blog: http://262krieg.blogspot.com/
Instagram: @262_krieg

It was worth the wait. What a classy finish; really neat brushwork and great use of decals. I have to say this is an inspiring model, I may need to pick one of these up myself.

Name: Tom
Project: 2nd Ed Blood Axe Ork Dreadnought
Instagram: @university_dave

It is no secret that I love this project; incredible execution of a gorgeous paint scheme. The secret ingredient is surely pure Waaagh. I have had the pleasure of seeing many of Tom's models in the Cowabunga 2nd Ed. Army Painting challenges, so my expectations were high. This exceeds them.

Name: Ed

Project: Night Lords Contemptor Dreadnought
Blog: https://berserkerbladeblog.blogspot.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carnage_x_scissors

Name: jabberjabber
Project: Iron Warriors Contemptor Dreadnought
Blog: Warpstone Flux - https://warpstoneflux.blogspot.com/

The weathering on this Contemptor is a great touch, particularly across the hazard stripes. Lovely base too, bravo!!

Name: Thousand Eyes/Mac an tSagart
Project: A leaping hellbrute
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steppingbetweengames/

Name: Sachiel

Project: Bray'Arth Ashmantle
Blog: https://sachiel-returns.blogspot.com

Sachiel didn't quite get finished; life is like that sometimes. Still, the progress is excellent. I am looking forward to updating this one when it is finished.

Name: Siph
Project: Armiger Warglaives
Blog: https://weemen.blogspot.com
Instagram: @siph_horridus

Siph's Warglaive's are neat as heck. I painted on of these not long ago, so I have a sense of how much work goes into each. To knock over two in one challenge is an impressive feat.

Name: Beanz
Project: Hive Fleet Leviathan Tyrannofex

Name: OzMonster

Project: Commander Farsight

OzMonster is rightly proud of his finished Farsight. He has had a go at some OSL and NMM, which I think is pretty gutsy for a young lad. A bright future ahead of him, I'd say.

Name: Marc

Project: Hive Fleet Numereji Tervigon
Blog: https://oldschoolg4m1ng.blogspot.com/
Instagram: @m4cr0dutch

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/m4cr0dutch.bsky.social

That leaves me, I guess. The colour shift paints I use need to go over a gloss black undercoat. The night I tried to finish it off was ridiculously humid, which caused all kinds of complications. Still, I think I managed to achieve the finish I was aiming for. To photograph it, I had to use some directional lighting. When you move it around, the colour shifts from green to a dark purple, which look pretty rad in my opinion. Perfect for a "Rainbow Serpent-themed" Hive Fleet.

That's a wrap for 2025!! As always, a huge thanks to all of you for making this challenge happen. It really is a pleasure to put these posts together every week to celebrate your efforts. Shout-out to Dave Weston from Confessions of a 40K Addict for his design expertise in creating the blog banner and our digital badge reward:

Feel free to post it on your blogs in recognition of your efforts this year, in celebration of 10 years of DreadTober. 

Hopefully, if the stars align, we can meet up again next year for another month of Dreadnought madness. Until then, stay safe and keep painting!!

Kind regards,

Marc