Its been about a year since the last Ursa Miner update, so I am glad that the next installment of Space Dwarf is a classic old Rogue Trader era figure that I have wanted to paint since 1989. I thought that the figure was an old Bob Olley sculpt, but some other online info said that it was sculpted by “the Perry twins” so I am unsure now.
L to R: Forgefather Stormrage Vet, Squat Adeptus Mechanicus, Forgefather Steel Warrior
The figure is quite old-school in appearance and has an extra short physique by modern space dwarf standards. Something about this little guys eighties sci-fi look really appeals to me though, so I am happy to overlook his extra-smallness.
The paint job is ok, but its not my best work or anything. I had some trouble with the visor (there were a number of visors in the latest batch of Space Dwarfs that I painted and Im not 100% happy with any of them). I could have given the figure more of stand-out colour scheme, but as I like to tie my miniature forces together visually as strongly as I can i used the same scheme as the rest of the Ursa Miners. I think that toy soldier armies look better that way and doubly so in a project like this where figures from many sources end up together. I dont tend to deviate much from a scheme when I have it locked down, so I didnt with this figure either.
L to R: Limited edition “White Dwarf”, Squat Adeptus Mechanicus. A good illustrator of scale creep, although the White Dwarf is a pretty large dwarf figure even buy modern standards.
I now have two engineer Squats painted: the post on the White Dwarf Subscription Squat is here. In spite of that, the concept of an Adeptus Mechanicus squat engineer doesnt make a lot of sense. Background wise the Squats are semi-independent of the Imperium and entirely removed from its superstitious attitude to technology, so Squats treat their equipment the same way that you or I might. Therefore joining a religious order that worships deus ex machina doesnt make much sense.
“Whoa, you dont want to do it like that“
I guess that its a political thing, with the squat paying slightly more than lip service to the traditions of the other culture to grease the gears of diplomacy. A bit like parents pretending that they actually go to mass so that they can get their kids into certain schools, this guy is going with the flow for an easy life. Of interstellar war.
“Good afternoon madam. We’re here to fix the dishwasher”.
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2013, 40K, 40K Skirmish, Adeptus Mechanicus, Rogue Trader, Sci-fi, Space Dwarfs, Squats, Ursa Miners |
sho3box 
I feel…I would not be letting them in to my dishwasher. BUT! I would be yelling from behind my security screen that they had lovely paint jobs on their armour 🙂 These guys look great!!
Oh, I also got the Game Color Off White in the mail a week ago as per your suggestion – it is awesome to work with. Really nice to mix and paint with! Thankyou for the advice 😀
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Thanks cappicinogaming. That little guy is a fun figure and I enjoyed painting it (although I am trying out a new lighting set-up for taking photos with, which made the photos a little poorer than usual).
Game Color Off White is a very useful paint. I use it to highlight lots of colours when white would be too stark. Its good for painting eyes too as it helps to minimise the crazy staring look. Im glad that you are getting some use out of it.
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Personally I think the visor came out well.
That is such an epic pose. There is definitely something really cool about those titchy 80’s squats and halflings. The halfling bloodbowl team (particularly Puggy) exemplify it to my mind.
https://sho3box.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/blood-bowl-halflings-from-1995/
Another good example would be 03 here:
http://www.solegends.com/citcat88/0309dwfboxes-01.htm
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I painted the visor like a lens rather than a reflective surface. It looks fine but isnt what I had originally intended. Not a biggie, but it irritates me a little. Painting the visors in that batch of models did mean that the figures got finished that evening rather than running into the following day, so it was worth it I guess.
Pose wise, yeah, this guy means business alright, as all dwarfs should. I have specific ideas in my head of how dwarfs should behave and Gimli style comic-relief is not it. Determined, selfish, greedy, inward looking, intolerant and dangerous for sure: light enough to be “entertainingly embarrassed” when thrown around castle walls by humans? Nope. The hyper-dense physiology of a dwarf should mean that even the smallest of them should probably weigh at least 15st/100kg.
Puggy Baconbreath is one of my very favourite miniatures ever: his resolve is palpable.
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[…] I commanded traitor (or are they…?) Ursa Miner Steel Warriors led by an unknown Squat engineer. […]
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