diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build-readme.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build-readme.yml
index c17c8d4..5a4d8a2 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build-readme.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build-readme.yml
@@ -18,50 +18,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
 
-      - name: Resolve latest Minecraft release
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p build
-          python build/scripts/resolve_latest_minecraft_release.py > build/minecraft-version.txt
-
-      - name: Read latest Minecraft release
-        id: minecraft_version
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          release=$(head -n 1 build/minecraft-version.txt)
-          snapshot=$(sed -n '2s/^snapshot=//p' build/minecraft-version.txt)
-          java_version=$(sed -n '3s/^java_version=//p' build/minecraft-version.txt)
-          echo "release=$release" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "snapshot=$snapshot" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "java_version=$java_version" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-
-      - name: Set up Java
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
-        with:
-          distribution: temurin
-          java-version: ${{ steps.minecraft_version.outputs.java_version }}
-
-      - name: Set up Gradle
-        run: |
-          GRADLE_VERSION=9.7.0
-          curl -fsSL -o /tmp/gradle.zip "https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-${GRADLE_VERSION}-bin.zip"
-          sudo unzip -q /tmp/gradle.zip -d /opt
-          echo "/opt/gradle-${GRADLE_VERSION}/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
-
-      - name: Install Vulkan runtime
-        run: |
-          sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install -y libvulkan1 xvfb libflite1
+      - name: Install Python renderer dependencies
+        run: python -m pip install pillow
 
       - name: Build readme
         run: python build/scripts/build_readme.py --pack-root resourcepack --output-dir build
 
       - name: Render model previews
-        env:
-          MINECRAFT_VERSION: ${{ steps.minecraft_version.outputs.release }}
-          RENDER_MANIFEST: ${{ github.workspace }}/build/renameable-items.json
-          RENDER_OUTPUT_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/build
-          RENDER_PACK_ROOT: ${{ github.workspace }}/resourcepack
-          ALSOFT_DRIVERS: "null"
         run: python build/scripts/render_client_items.py --manifest build/renameable-items.json --pack-root resourcepack --output-dir build
 
       - name: Publish generated catalog artifacts
diff --git a/build/scripts/build_readme_impl.py b/build/scripts/build_readme_impl.py
index 24f4160..44a9b96 100644
--- a/build/scripts/build_readme_impl.py
+++ b/build/scripts/build_readme_impl.py
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ def build_markdown(records: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> str:
     lines.append("")
     lines.append(f"- Base items: {len(records)}")
     lines.append(f"- Rename variants: {total_cases}")
-    lines.append("- Render mode: pluggable")
+    lines.append("- Render mode: local Python renderer")
     lines.append("")
     lines.append("Sections are sorted by the item they are generated from.")
 
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ def build_html(records: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> str:
       <div class="stats">
         <div class="stat"><span>Base items</span><strong>{len(records)}</strong></div>
         <div class="stat"><span>Rename variants</span><strong>{total_cases}</strong></div>
-        <div class="stat"><span>Render mode</span><strong>pluggable</strong></div>
+        <div class="stat"><span>Render mode</span><strong>local Python renderer</strong></div>
       </div>
     </section>
     <section class="grid">
diff --git a/build/scripts/render_client_items.py b/build/scripts/render_client_items.py
index 9f9ae1a..f15872d 100644
--- a/build/scripts/render_client_items.py
+++ b/build/scripts/render_client_items.py
@@ -2,29 +2,33 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
-import os
 import subprocess
+import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
 
 def main() -> int:
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Render renameable item previews with the Minecraft client.")
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Render renameable item previews from resource pack model JSON.")
     parser.add_argument("--manifest", default="build/renameable-items.json", help="Path to the generated manifest")
     parser.add_argument("--pack-root", default="resourcepack", help="Path to the resource pack root")
     parser.add_argument("--output-dir", default="build", help="Directory where renders should be written")
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     repo_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
-    client_renderer = repo_root / "build" / "client-renderer"
+    renderer_script = repo_root / "build" / "scripts" / "render_models.py"
 
-    env = os.environ.copy()
-    env["RENDER_MANIFEST"] = str((repo_root / args.manifest).resolve())
-    env["RENDER_OUTPUT_DIR"] = str((repo_root / args.output_dir).resolve())
-    env["RENDER_PACK_ROOT"] = str((repo_root / args.pack_root).resolve())
+    command = [
+        sys.executable,
+        str(renderer_script),
+        "--manifest",
+        str((repo_root / args.manifest).resolve()),
+        "--pack-root",
+        str((repo_root / args.pack_root).resolve()),
+        "--output-dir",
+        str((repo_root / args.output_dir).resolve()),
+    ]
 
-    command = ["gradle", "-p", str(client_renderer), "runClient", "--no-daemon"]
-
-    completed = subprocess.run(command, cwd=repo_root, env=env)
+    completed = subprocess.run(command, cwd=repo_root)
 
     return completed.returncode