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I just finished a sculpt and wondered if there was much interest in a Squat race any more:



It is only a test sculpt to get the proportions right so further ones will have some armour and maybe a helmet (although I quite like the beret).

not a fan of the hasslefree weapon, but the sculpt is good

and there's always interest in squats

They got rid of them for a reason.

YOU SAID THE WORD.

Evil is looming...


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But seriously, very nice.

InquisitorVaron wrote:They got rid of them for a reason.

Which has precisely what to do with this sculpt? I ask, understand, merely for information.

Holy crap, you sculpted that? That's amazing workmanship pal, very well done indeed.

I don't think I'dever find myself collecting squats or their fantasy cousins, though I appreciate the time, effort and results that people put in to Squats.

Beautiful sculpt. Squats were a very sad loss to 40k. Problem is they need to be proxied as something else now in order to be useful. Hmmm.... necrons might work of all things, though I agree with Illumini (below) that IG is much more typical. I'm also not a fan of that gun.

Anyway. They have kind of a cult following amongst a segment of 40k-ers, but have been "dissappeared" for long enough that the younger generation has no connection to them (as a group).

Amazing sculpt. I certainly think you could make money selling space dwarves of this quality. Maybe do a kickstarter once you have a few concept sculpts made up?

+1 for him needing a cooler gun though.

If you're planning on selling them, making them fit one or more codexes (IG?) is probably smart.

InquisitorVaron wrote:They got rid of them for a reason.

Yet they kept space elves so I'm no entirely sure where you are going with this.

I prefer the more 'Norse' squat myself.

The model is very well sculpted, but they got rid of them for a reason, I wouldn't really hang on to the past.

I mean it sucks for the people that bought them, they're a novelty though. I mean having a couple dotted around or making them have snipers so they're ratling alternatives fits in better.

Trying to resell them after they got ret-conned isn't a great idea.

Anyway the problem with the Kickstarter idea is your treading on GW toes, I would look into their IP and see if it's possible, write them a letter to double check aswell.

The sculpting is fabulous though, and the gun is awful and ruins the affect as said before. Perhaps you could sculpt one?

InquisitorVaron wrote:

Anyway the problem with the Kickstarter idea is your treading on GW toes, I would look into their IP and see if it's possible, write them a letter to double check aswell.

Horrible advice. GW will never approve anything.

GW does not own copy-right on space dwarves. Just don't call these guys squats and you will be fine.

Mantic f.ex. already has a line of space dwarves out

InquisitorVaron wrote:Trying to resell them after they got ret-conned isn't a great idea.

Why?

Can I ask what you don't like about the gun? It looked all right to me but a few people have said they don't like it.

I want to use a Hasslefree Miniatures weapon because it will save me having to make my own and they are available to be cast as part of your own sculpt. Here are the rest of the weapons, maybe you could have a look and pick your favourite and let me know which ones you like?:

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=armoury~sci%252dfi

I wouldn't call them Squats and they would bear no resemblance to the old Squat range... they would be more geared to ultra-modern kit rather than the quilted flak armour that the GW squats used to wear.

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate the feedback.

I have that weapon (got it free with my last order) and I have several issues with it:

1) It's absolutely tiny
2) casting it as part of the model will make it almost impossible to remove & replace
3) It's rather too curvy for the Squat aesthetic

I mean I love Hasslefree guns, the sculpt is great, but I don't like it in this context. the railgun from HFL006 might be better

Love the DE scheme :F

The squat is nice too xD

Agamemnon2 wrote:

InquisitorVaron wrote:They got rid of them for a reason.

Which has precisely what to do with this sculpt? I ask, understand, merely for information.

InquisitorVaron wrote:The model is very well sculpted, but they got rid of them for a reason, I wouldn't really hang on to the past.

I mean it sucks for the people that bought them, they're a novelty though. I mean having a couple dotted around or making them have snipers so they're ratling alternatives fits in better.

Trying to resell them after they got ret-conned isn't a great idea.

Anyway the problem with the Kickstarter idea is your treading on GW toes, I would look into their IP and see if it's possible, write them a letter to double check aswell.

The sculpting is fabulous though, and the gun is awful and ruins the affect as said before. Perhaps you could sculpt one?

What a lame answer to a serious question. Just restate they were cancelled for a reason and not give it. If you didn't know you should have said so.

They ditched Squats because they became almost TOO comical and obvious for 40k. Impossible right? They ended up being biker dwarves in space and while the modeling and gaming staff at GW got into redesigning the armies and rules for other race no one was particularly into the squats. They knew they should, they knew they could, but they undersold and the lack of enthusiasm from the studio was the final straw. The range was cancelled. The biker theme was pretty lame IMO but in retrospect having the SWs take the Norse theme and sell power armor has worked out for GW. Believe it or not I could have seen the Squats in the role the GKs currently fill. With a Troll slayer equivalent for Daemons and a sort of racial hatred and grudge bearing for Chaos. Not GKs in the small elite army sense, more I guess like the Ordo Hereticus Inquisition armies of days past. /shrug. I never liked them.

Inso wrote:I just finished a sculpt and wondered if there was much interest in a Squat race any more:

Spoiler:

It is only a test sculpt to get the proportions right so further ones will have some armour and maybe a helmet (although I quite like the beret).

If you want to do the set, go ahead. I like the look and think that the design is squat-ish, but different enough to set itself apart nicely. I would look for a slightly more squarish gun (check out the Scrunts line below) or cast them with separate weapons. Also make sure that whatever gun you use, you have the permission of the sculptor.

There is enough interest in space dwarves that there are at least two lines that are being consistently updated:

Scrunts: By Bob Olley, one of the original sculptors of the squats
http://www.olleysarmies.co.uk/home.html#galleries
Grymn: which you already know about by Hasslefree

Black Tree Designs just re-released the old Harlequin not-scrunts that had been OOP for a while.
http://www.blacktreedesign.com/northamerica/home.php?cat=2599
Other space dwarf lines are listed here:
http://wk.frothersunite.com/sc/spacedwarf/spacedwarf.htm

What I'm saying is that there is competition, but there are enough squat fans that if your figs are good enough, folks may well buy them.

I really like it.


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Inso wrote:Can I ask what you don't like about the gun? It looked all right to me but a few people have said they don't like it.

I like the gun....

Inso wrote:Can I ask what you don't like about the gun? It looked all right to me but a few people have said they don't like it.

I want to use a Hasslefree Miniatures weapon because it will save me having to make my own and they are available to be cast as part of your own sculpt. Here are the rest of the weapons, maybe you could have a look and pick your favourite and let me know which ones you like?:

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=armoury~sci%252dfi

Either the barrel needs to be slightly longer, or the grip under the barrel needs to be seriously shaved down. For me, I can see them using the minigun on the support weapon sprue (HFL001) or the pulse rifles (HFL013).

The minigun would look great as it's bulky enough to not look flimsy in those big space dwarf hands, and the pulse rifles look like they could have been adapted from some form of mining tool, like a plasma cutting device, to a weapon.

I'd prefer some sort of Uzi or other SMG. Maybe do a pose where he's throwing a grenade whilst yelling and holding one.

You did a fine job sir.

The HFL032 railguns and HFL036 KWS1aP would be another good couple of choices.

These are probably some of the best.

The trouble with a lot of those weapons is that they are too small. They work well with Grymn which are much more slight than this sculpt and the Hasslefree humans because of the way they are sculpted... but for a chunky character like this, the guns are just too small.

I think that the plasma rifles (HFL036 KWS1aP) would just about be big enough but the Grymn SMG and pulse rifles (HFL013) are too small. I can see the minigun getting an outing for a support trooper. Extending the barrel of the existing weapon is an option.

Some good suggestions thanks.

You're skilled with GS, you should be able to bulk out and lengthen these guns.

The original gun is far better than those SMGs. I'd say stick with that.

Here's a vote for keeping the gun separate so the buyer can change them himself if he wants.

For me, the problem with the original gun is the underside grip. It is too thick.

I dislike the gun for the reasons everyone else has said, but I do love the sculpt. Sadly I have no IG army so I don't see a place for them.

Now a steampunky looking guy with a robot arm would get sold in a second as servitors.

InquisitorVaron wrote:Anyway the problem with the Kickstarter idea is your treading on GW toes, I would look into their IP and see if it's possible, write them a letter to double check aswell.

There is nothing whatsoever about that model that goes anywhere near GW IP. They don't own the rights to sci-fi Dwarves.



This is a lovely sculpt, and I could see an expanded range doing well. Although I'm also not a fan of the gun. The lack of detail is what kills it for me.

I'm likin the scott-in-a-British-military-uniform look you got going. Also a big fan of the faux assault rifle he's got, he would make an excellent sergeant I think you should go with helmets for the rest of the squad though, they always made more sense to me from a military standpoint...

Cheers for the input

The problem I have with altering the weapons is getting each one exactly the same. I'd rather just clip one off a sprue and attach it... sorted.

I also understand the helmet over beret idea for the troops... but you have to admit that the beret looks cool... and I really have the urge to follow the idea through (not to mention that I haven't really thought about a helmet design yet... )... this stuff can be difficult sometimes...