Choose Your Own Adventurers #12: Doug Orewell, Squat Miner

Posted on 10/10/2017 by sho3box

In a space mine (space mine),
In a space mine (space mine),
Where a million dilithium crystals (shine).

Fantasy Dwarfs, both the earthbound and the interstellar varieties, have struggled to shed the image of being almost exclusively comprised of miners.  Even with the occasional inclusion of terms like “artisan”, “brewer” or “artisan brewer”, dwarfs still appear to have a frankly pretty ludicrous society with very narrow employment prospects, not unlike Klingons and Bothans.  There are no dwarven or space dwarven greengrocers, hairdressers or phone sanitisers.

In this regard, even the Smurfs are more credible.

Today’s CYOA submission does nothing to deconstruct this in any way.

Doug Orewell is a miner, wearing a sort of hi-viz yellow outfit (tying the figure to my Construction Crew project) and carrying a large drill bit.  For drilling.  Because he is a miner.  Fair enough.

Citadel Miniatures 1991 “Blue” Catalogue (Image from solegends.com)

Like a number of the Rogue Trader Adventurers, I didn’t even know that this little guy even existed until some point relatively recently.  That was when I realised that the Citadel Catalogue 1991 (AKA the “Blue Catalogue”, which sounds like something that one might ask the video shop man for in 1986) was not the definitive tome that I had once thought it to be.
My copy of the catalogue is still worn thin from sheer scrutiny – I seem to have had a lot more time for sheer scrutiny in the early nineties than I do now – and as a result I will always be fond of it… but it didn’t feature all of the RT Adventurers dammit.

RT601 Adventurers – RT2 Flyer, March 1988 (image from solegends.com)

Pleasingly I gathered up the range over the years since.  This particular model came from Curis at Ninjabread a couple of years ago.  Hooray for him!

This model was far more pleasant to paint than either of the “Female Warrior” figures that I last painted for this project (visible here and here).   The miner is thirty year old sculpt and likely casting, but involved significantly fewer “I dont even know what that is…” moments than the two ladies did.

Of mild interest is that Doug has some sort of rolled up item on his belt at the rear.  I painted it to match the camo pattern on the camo cloaks on my Ursa Miners, just for fun.  Maybe Doug is some sort of sapper or combat engineer, or maybe he is a now civilian engineer who has a fondness for his old camo cloak… who knows?

 

Axiom will choose an Adventurer next.  CYOA submissions from both Curis and Axiom are well worth clicking on if these interesting old models appeal to you .

Thanks for looking!

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23 Responses

  1. Captain Crooks, on 10/10/2017 at 07:10 said:

    I haven’t got this figure and have never seen a picture of him from behind (mmm dat ass) so I never knew that was a drill bit over his shoulder – I always thought it was some kind of flashlight he was holding. For peering into mines with. Good job.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 11/10/2017 at 06:24 said:

      Thanks Cap!

      I assume that there is a two metre cordless power drill around there somewhere with an appropriately large chuck to mount that bit.

      And a six metre tall mech with beard made of chains with large enough digital manipulators to hold the drill, thereby allowing it to hang large pictures of squats mining.

      In the future, it is the way of things.

      Like

      Reply
  2. axiom, on 10/10/2017 at 08:12 said:

    It’s amazing to see how some of the more obscure adventurer figures completely change when you finally see them painted. I’ve seen dozens of painted astropaths and navigators over the years, but seeing this guy painted is revealing new things to me. He has a cigar! He has cool goggles. He has good dentistry!

    Lovely job.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 11/10/2017 at 06:39 said:

      Thanks Axiom.

      The two Squats and the Official show up painted infrequently. A couple of the others too, the Space Amazon maybe.

      Getting these two finished is exciting. I feel like I am making real progress through the range.

      Like

      Reply
  3. Curis, on 10/10/2017 at 08:23 said:

    Love this! The photo of his alongside Mek Quake is great – their different sizes really complement each other. Glad this one was a joy to paint rather than the slog of your previous two adventurers.

    Always great to see a figure I previously owned given some tlc by its new owner. It’s a not a Squat Miner, it’s a Squat Yourer.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 11/10/2017 at 06:52 said:

      Seeing my neglected miniatures being worked on by others is a pretty specific pleasure, right back at you in that regard too Curis 🙂

      This sculpt was much more fun to paint than the Female Warriors. It’s still a pretty ropey casting of a pretty dopey sculpt, by modern standards, but it was pleasant.

      It’s particularly enjoyable to paint NPC types from time to time too, for whatever reasons.

      Like

      Reply
  4. mrsaturdays, on 10/10/2017 at 09:49 said:

    Another fine addition to the adventurers. As has been said, it’s always nice to see one of the more obscure members of a range given some love and photographed from several angles. I had always assumed spanner. For tightening the nuts on the mine.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 11/10/2017 at 07:11 said:

      Mine nuts, mmmm, delicious in a salad.

      The odd details are certainly a big part of the pleasure of working on these old, offbeat figures. Would a spanner have been miner enough for a range like this? Probably not. I imagine that the brief specified a daft drill, a silly shovel or a preposterous pick for a miner.

      Broad strokes. That’s what we want for these guys I reckon. Its difficult to tell a story in a 20mm figure without amping up the caricature.

      Thanks for the for the feedback Mr Saturday!

      Like

      Reply
  5. Mark A. Morin, on 10/10/2017 at 11:52 said:

    Wow, very cool work!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Suber, on 10/10/2017 at 18:11 said:

    Had you painted that drill all pink, you could have said no more he’s a miner…
    Just saying.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 11/10/2017 at 07:18 said:

      Painting the drill as an adult toy would also have the unexpected effect of making squat society appear more layered. It would suggest that at the very least recreational sex takes place on the Homeworlds (although high gravity copulation sounds hellish).

      At the very least it means that somewhere in the Homeworlds, someone is selling pink drills.

      That’s settled then, out with the paint stripper. I’m going to have to come up with a more seventies style pun name too ;D

      Like

      Reply
  7. Will Postell, on 10/10/2017 at 18:34 said:

    I’m glad you use your awesome encyclopedic knowledge of the GW back catalog for good. Thanks for helping me out last weekend!

    I like the Miner too BTW

    😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 11/10/2017 at 07:23 said:

      Being bitten by a radioactive Blue Catalogue didn’t bring fame or fortune in the end, but it has its uses. As you say, I am determined to clean up the streets with such esoteric knowledge. Like Doom did in Latveria.

      My 40k back catalogue knowledge is pretty decent. Beyond that, into other licenses held by Citadel/GW or anything fantasy before 1990, my knowledge is pretty patchy.

      The Miner is fun. He strikes me as the sort of figure that might have a ongoing, light sub plot in the background of the adventures in Sector Six.

      Thanks for the feedback Will!

      Like

      Reply
  8. Warburton, on 11/10/2017 at 14:40 said:

    Excellent job on a weird and unusual figure…!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Azazel, on 12/10/2017 at 00:21 said:

    Great work. I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen this guy before, so it’s a treat to have him revealed to me for the first time.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 12/10/2017 at 06:13 said:

      That’s fun 🙂

      Were you familiar with the other Adventurers that didn’t make it into the 1991 Catalogue?

      It’s a pleasant little corner of Citadel to be working on, for all of its retro, shabby chic.

      Thanks for the feedback Azazel!

      Like

      Reply
  10. Choose Your Own Adventurers – Episode 14: Necromunda Mauretania, Space Amazon – Ninjabread, on 28/11/2017 at 17:52 said:

    […] CYAO Episode 12 – Doug Orewell, Squat Miner (sho3box) […]

    Like

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  11. Tim DuPertuis, on 28/11/2017 at 20:21 said:

    Isn’t the piece he is carrying a mole mortar round? Looks very similar to the one carried by the mole mortar loader. this guy could have been a precursor to the mole mortar loader before the Squat uniforms got finalized.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 29/11/2017 at 08:32 said:

      As soon as you said it, I knew you were right Tim. Please deduct 17 street cred units from my Old Skool 40k rating 😦

      It is of course a Mole Mortar shell, in all of it’s, ridiculous, impractical glory.

      Which makes the character more of an artillery man, rather than civilian.
      Maybe it’s some sort of modified shell, a subterranean probe, searching for handwavium deposits.

      Yeah… I’m going to go with that.

      Thank you for the insight Tim!

      Like

      Reply
  12. Choose Your Own Adventurers #15: Rex O’Thermic, Squat Engineer | sho3box, on 07/12/2017 at 12:33 said:

    […] decided to paint the Squat Engineer to match the Squat Miner (as seen last time), which means that both of them match the Construction Crew that I have been painting on and off […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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