Kamping Kitbash 2025 Report

I attended Kamping Kitbash in Leuven, Belgium 10-12 October. It’s a three day event focused on crafting, miniature making, and indie tabletop games, organised by the non-profit Chosen by Goblins. The event had its debut in 2024 in Ghent, which I also attended (read about it HERE). There was another one soon after in Enschede. Now in 2025 they invited me again as a guest to teach a painting workshop.

I flew in on the morning of Friday October 12, and after a brief train ride got picked up by Tine (@tine_fieldling) and dropped off to the yellow manor in Leuven - the venue of this year’s party. The place is on a small hill surrounded by grass and trees. Away from traffic. I loved it. There were already people there and mingling started before the official opening. When the time came we got a whimsical ceremony with witches, a wizard, and a cauldron, to establish the spooky season theme. After that we were taken on a tour of the site, and the activities of the day could commence. There were two workshops: Making Sculpting Tools with Terran of Conjured Craft, and Sculpting and Kitbashing with Keira (@keira.kreations). Those who weren’t attending the workshops were doing their own free crafting using a massive pile of bits, materials, and tools provided.

Kamping Kitbash is not like most events I’ve gone to and hosted, which are commonly focused on gaming. It’s mainly centred on crafting (though there was some gaming going on, which I’ll talk about later). The organisers brought in a few paid key figures to hold structured workshops over the course of the weekend, and the rest of the attendees registered by buying a ticket. Kamping Kitbash has a limited capacity, so they sold out within minutes of going live. Of course, there was a team of volunteers taking care of all of us - even cooking us three meals a day. We had access to coffee, soft drinks, and an endless stream of Belgian beers. Many people stayed overnight on site, as the manor is equipped with bedrooms and bathrooms. However, I wasn’t staying there as the Goblins put me up in a comfy hostel in town with a handful of room-mates, and they ferried us to and from the venue by car every day.

After a brief sleep, fun resumed on Saturday with more workshops and free making. I got a request to convert a Labubu into something more or less cursed, so I worked on that here and there. But mostly I spent my time hanging out with creative people and chatting.

Everyone got to attend up to two workshops over the course of the weekend. The first workshop on Saturday was Creativity in Theory with Veronica (@florescentia.grotesque). I peeked a bit and it looked super intriguing. But I wasn’t in that one; my first workshop was later that day: Louise Sudgen’s (@savage_ork_guy) about Prismatic Sword Painting.

 After absorbing Louise’s wisdom, it was time for me to host my own lecture on Gritty and Atmospheric Painting. The goal was to demonstrate my usual approach to painting gaming minis. Didn’t manage to finish the mini in two hours we had, but I think I got to show and tell plenty to my keen students.

The minis we painted were donated by Vae Victis Miniatures (@vaevictisminiatures), who attended the workshop as well. Lovely people. I hadn’t seen any of their figures in person before then. They’re digitally sculpted and 3D printed, which can be hit or miss in my experience - but I’m delighted to report their designs are a joy to paint. They generously gave away lots of them for free, and I picked up some for myself and my friend group at home.

There were also a bunch of unscheduled participant workshops popping up during the day.

That evening I was invited by Shane (7he_blindman) to play Ten Candles. It’s an indie TTRPG described as tragic horror - all the characters are doomed from the start. The story that plays out is a record of their final hours. There are no dice involved, and the mechanics include burning parts of the character sheet and a bunch of drippy candles. We played in the backyard at night. It was fantastic, and then we died. Big thanks to the GM and the rest of the spaceship crew who perished in the void with me: @atelier.ag, @elilenti.art, @blightbones, @_catharthegreat, @florescentia.grotesque, @martin.mccoy.art, @photosandramblings.

There were other games as well as storytelling going on in the meantime in other parts of the manor, but sadly one can’t be in multiple places at once. Apart from Ten Candles I got to play two more games over the course of the weekend: ACAB (All Crabs Are Bastards) by Daan (@mesreg) and Bird God 28 by Martin McCoy. Both games are nice and silly, demanding very little brain power (which worked for my sleep-deprived, beer-soaked grey matter). Coincidentally, both use a version of rock-paper-scissors for combat.

After too little sleep once again we gathered for breakfast Sunday morning. I had another workshop to attend: Worldbuilding Through Maskmaking with Shane. I was happy to hear it got moved from first thing in the morning to after lunch, giving me more time to resurrect myself with caffeine. The workshop was as cool as I expected. It’s been many years since I last crafted a mask of any sort. While making our masks we were encouraged to think about the people who would make and wear it, and what the world they inhabit would be like. I imagined my creation to be a funerary mask of a people who live surrounded by a forest. They are not born the way we are, but their infants appear by crawling out of the woods. Once a person lives out their life and dies, their body is taken back where they came from, laid on a moss patch and decked in a costume that demonstrates their desire to return to the trees. The ground swallows them and their spirit moves on to the next stage of its journey.

The final scheduled workshop was happening around that time as well. It was Kitbashing Game Design with Grant (@gshowitt).

People brought stuff to sell, so I shopped a bit. I also received a bunch of stuff as gifts, and a pile of new stickers for my growing collection. Probably my favourite thing I was given was a hand drawn artwork of Nekroplanet Raiders by Gabriele Cardosi, whose tattoo work I‘ve been admiring for a while.

It was once again an incredibly wholesome gathering; lots going on at all times, everyone was friendly. Got to see some familiar faces, and to connect with new ones. I didn’t get to talk to everyone. I’m a heavy introvert, plus there’s always something going on somewhere and we were scattered around the venue. But that’s not a bad thing. I’d love to do this again, for sure. I want to thank everyone, from organisers, volunteers, to other attendees, for a wonderful time.

Here are links from other people who covered the event in video or blog form. I’ll try to update if more appear.

• KAMPING KITBASH - The Miniature Hobby Event That Changed My Life
• Vlog 04: My time at Kamping Kitbash and the secrets to creativity and art
• KAMPING KITBASH Part One 
• KAMPING KITBASH Part Two
• A weekend filled to the brim with creativity and generosity

If you want to keep up with news about Kamping Kitbash, there is an official website: kampingkitbash.com and their Instagram @kamping_kitbash.