Hello, my name is Robert but most people call me Rob. I was born in London 1994 to a very loving and nerdy Family. As I grew up in primary school I was small for my age and I soon realized I was different from other kids, instead of playing in the playground I would lose myself, drawing pictures of castles, knights, dragons etc and spending hours looking at all the models my dad had painted when at home.

I was 7 years old when The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring released in cinema and going to see that with my family was like a light bulb moment for me. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen and it snowballed from there. Shortly after, my dad let me paint a Warhammer 1993 Deathmaster Snikch which I have shared in the Gallery. It was the closest “evil” creature model he had to hand.

Then in 2002 my dad came home one day from work and surprised me with the newly released Lord of the Rings Battle Games in Middle Earth Magazine and Issue 1 was the classic Moria Goblins from the movie. I quickly set to work basing and painting them and every two weeks he would have the new magazine for me. Around this time I also started having regular hospital trips for tests which would go well into my late teens and I would be diagnosed with a form of dwarfism which was the answer to my stunted growth. In the later primary school years I was already bullied quite a lot and the school organised a series of trips to the secondary school I would be heading to, to help me get comfortable with the environment.

Secondary school was a nightmare… From the first day the bullying had started and because of the films one of my nicknames was Hobbit/Frodo. My parents had started a divorce by this time. This combined with the bullying made me escape into fantasy settings even more, I would hide in my room painting, reading and playing games, anything to escape reality. I found a safe hobby space at my local Games Workshop at Bluewater Shopping center and I would go every Saturday to be with people who accepted me. I still remember the first time seeing the giant Space Marine statue above the doorway. This is how I discovered Warhammer 40k.

In 2004 I got the Warhammer 40k Battle for Macragge boxset as a belated birthday present after a lengthy stay in hospital. I was in love with the 40k setting! I had a pause of Lord of The Rings and Fantasy and started collecting and painting anything 40k I could get my hands on. I painted my space marines from the box as the Ultramarines copying the boxart and my brother painted the Tyranids and we started playing, fudging a lot of the rules but having fun.

Like most people life gets in the way and as I grew up, painting models took a backseat to college, exams then work life. In my mid 20s I started to take better care of myself physically and mentally. I started to work on losing the weight I gained in my teens from the bullying, and also seeing a long term therapist. My therapist gave me the nudge to pick up painting again as a way to have a creative outlet, this is where my concept of the 3rdFactor started as a ember in my mind.

In 2021 I was dealt another blow, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis which has caused visible deformities to my legs and causes me constant pain most days which forces me to wear leg braces and crutches when I am out. This caused my fitness to slide again and also to wind back on working a full time job. My partner Laura who is my absolute rock, suggested I take up commission painting and has supported me these years pursuing it. I love painting so being able to paint people’s armies to table plus standard has been amazing for me. So this leads us here to the present day. I have created this website to showcase my life’s journey at miniature painting so far. Join me on that journey by checking out my gallery, my blogs or perhaps even consider checking out my Youtube Channel.

I humbly thank you for reading this and making it to the end. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. If you see me in person at conventions don’t hesitate to come say hey to me

Welcome to The3rdFactorMinis!