Brush & Banner Academy

Brush & Banner Academy is for learners sharpening practical skills. An educational environment for miniature painters who want feedback.

Why you should join: Get peer support, practical playbooks and live rooms inside Skool.

The one-liner

A freemium miniature painting school for hobbyists who want progress, not toxicity.

What they actually sell

Brush & Banner Academy runs freemium. Free members get community feedback and a rotating monthly resource. Premium unlocks all courses from fundamentals through airbrush, fifteen-minute drills, competitions and giveaways, a monthly theme and feedback call, and a referral cut that can fund the membership. A VIP tier appears deactivated on the public products list. The store does not advertise a trial.

Who pays and why

Warhammer, D&D, and similar painters juggling work and family who feel stuck on technique and burned by busy or toxic hobby spaces. They pay for structured lessons and constructive feedback from people who understand limited hobby time. Progress over perfection is the emotional buy.

Where the members come from

Mat and Stephen point to brushandbanner.com, Instagram, Facebook, and a YouTube channel. The academy reads as the structured home for an existing painting audience. Exact follower counts stay off the about page.

What's holding it back

Free value is generous. Without a sharp reason to upgrade beyond course access, many members may stay free forever while Premium capacity for feedback calls stays thin.

Steal this

Give free members a rotating monthly resource and real feedback culture, then charge Premium for the full course ladder and a live theme call.

Would this work in another niche?

Yes for other maker hobbies that suffer toxic forums, such as scale modelling or embroidery. Weak for solitary crafts where peer feedback is not the bottleneck.