The Distraction Continues

That's right, over the last few days I have been working on the 54mm (1:32) scale Space Dwarf (Squat) miniatures that could be used for the 2001 release of Inquisitor. In the last post I showed the Dwarf warband I created 20 years ago in all its rushed and inexperienced glory (though I'm yet to find pictures of the original Grey Knight I did). so if you haven't read that then go check it out!

The Missing Piece

As I was searching through some of my other boxes looking for a specific 28mm Squat Adventurer model I found the second model I made, converted out of a Blood Bowl Ogre. So without further ado, here's a group shot of the warband.

Group shot of the original warband for Inquisitor that I made back in 2001.

As you can see there's a third member to the warband. In the rules you were allowed to have a cyber animal and I opted to have a cybernetically "enhanced" hound that I made out of a Dire Wolf model and some bits from my bits box. 

The Squat conversion and his animal companion made using a Dire Wolf and Blood Bowl Ogre.

This was great, not just from a nostalgia perspective. This means that I now had a basis of a Warband to start from. The limited outing these three got usually lead tot hem kicking arse on the table top. After finding this I set out to start sculpting the body blank that would be the basis of the future warband expansion.

Just to be clear, I will be recreating these same models using the new blank, but not straight away. As these two (3) are the original models i thought i would flesh some of the warband first and then come back to these. This gives me the chance to practice sculpting at 1:32, and it means i get to sculpt something new.

The Blank

So, after some time I rush cobbled together the blank below. It has been intentionally left this way as it won't be seen under the sculpting i do. This was sculpted in Bees putty over a wire armature.

The quick sketch, sculpt and original ancestor lord stood side by side.

After I had done this I sculpted a quick head sculpt with only the rough face shade done. As each new sculpt would have a unique face sculpted over the top of it I didn't fuss too much over it. Once that was done I sprued both bits up, put them in a mould box and poured some silicone.

The sprued up dwarf body blank and head.

The following day I had a nice cured mould, so I de-boxed it and cut it ready for casting. The first couple of casts came out great. It didn't take long until I had one pinned and glued together on top of a cork for sculpting.

The Sculpt So Far

I took my time this evening to sculpt the face of the first blank. It's a bit rough around the edges but I'll tidy it up tomorrow before it goes into the oven to be baked. I'm kind of playing around with the texture of the top at the moment while I bulk out the belly of this guy.

Work on the new Squat Warrior has already begun.

The final piece will look a lot different to this. I have been using both photo reference of a specific Squat Warrior and a wounded one I have in my collection. It's always better to have some form of reference.

The wounded Squat i've been using for reference.

The image i've been using is in the image below. I originally thought I had a copy of the model, but it has been lost somewhere along the way and I was unable to find that specific miniature online for sale. It's quite a straight forward classic Squat so it has to be done so there's at least one in the warband.

The plan outline

As I can be quite messy in my workspace it's really important for me to organise myself so I don't get lost and keep track of my projects. With that in mind I went into one of my programs and put this plan of action together.

The plan of attack.

As you can see in the image the new Warrior is in first place. I won't go over the reasons why again. If you discount the Mastiff and the biker in the bottom right corner it would only be 5 models to do. 3 if you discount the original two, but we already know I'm going to remake them.

The order will be as follows:

1. The new Warrior (as we already know)
2. The Hearth Guard (based on my favourite one)
3. The Ancestor Lord
4. The remake of the Mohican Squat
5. The Mastiff (I know it says 56, but we all know that's a mistake)
6. The Adventurer (One I'm really looking forward to doing
7. (if there's time) The Biker

This is quite a bit of work, but the blank will facilitate in speeding the progress up a bit. I may be using 3D printed weapons, but I'm not sure. Part of me is looking forward to getting some plasticard out to make their weapons.

This is as far I have got so far though, and again it's late so this hobbyist is going to sign off for now and crash out until some time after 9 tomorrow.

Catch you in the next update.

Cheers