Pandemic Lockdown project: Squats. Matt weighs in.

Squats… Stunties… Space Dwarfs (Dwarves??)… you may remember these half-barreled sized denizens of the Imperium from the early days of 40K. Or not, I can’t comment. I remember thinking that these little characters were a little odd, and were honestly never my cup of tea but Your Mileage May Vary.

My old friend Matt who resides in Blighty* is a huge fan of the Squats, and as such, whenever I’m out and about at a convention or a FLGS I keep a look out for any oldhammer minis for sale. He’s done pretty good so far, I’ve scored him some of the old squats, and a bunch of Adeptus Titanicus from days of yore. I’m sure there’s been other stuff too, but I forget.

After he confirmed with me that his last batch of Squats had landed, I told him to get his arse in gear and Slap Some Paint On them. Here is Matt’s narrative for his little guys:

Matty: “So like the rest of the world I find myself in lock down and it’s Easter…. so having received a package of squats from Paul that he discovered at his local hobby store, I got to thinking: why not set myself a challenge of starting a couple of minis on good Friday and finishing them by Easter Monday? Currently I’m painting crusade era Dark Angels which in all honesty didn’t set my world alight for a hobby challenge as they’re  basically black space marines with red trim. >yawn<

So I dug out the aforementioned squats from Illinois and with a “yes do it” from Paul I set to it. It’s also worth mentioning looking at Paul’s cracking Sisters of Battle I needed to redress the balance – after all I was right in our long running debate that squats would get re-released before the sisters. Oh how I laughed…..   anyroad……” (Ed: I’d like to sideline this comment that your prediction is luke-warm at best, sir. One figure does not constitute a re-release of a faction. I’ll let you think on that while I paint up my brand new Sisters from the recent box set. I shall henceforth wave my private parts in your direction)**

Matty: “So painting wise I have 3 styles I guess:
1. Legion painting – space marines solid base coat, wash, single stage highlights. (Production line).
2. Gaming mini/oldhammer – mini looks good holding it a foot away. Primarily deep washes and big highlights. ( It’s worth mentioning that I learnt this technique doing freelance painting for Foundry minis).
3. Competition minis – This speaks for itself: spend a ton of time doing multiple highlights, layering, shades etc.”

“I decided my squats would be done in gaming/oldhammer style as their age befits! So the recipe is my usual black undercoat using GW foundation or base paints. I then wash using Devlan Mud ( the greatest wash ever invented????) (Ed: AGREED!!!) Nuln Oil for gun metal and Reiksgaurd Flesh wash for skin. You will notice from one of the pics posted the pallete used… I then work back up with base coat adding usually 3 highlights. Highlights are achieved as follows:

• Snakebite Leather plus bleached bone.
• Caliban green plus white.
• Yellow plus lighter shades of yellow.
• Flesh is the Foundry 3 stage highlight system.
• Metal dry brush with silver

Once finished I usually do a quick spot tidy up with gloss varnish then matte over the top to dull it down. Static grass finished the base. Voila!”

“I love squats. I feel they encapsulate the oldhammer ethos of a time when GW was different to what it is today it was about long hair and Bolt Thrower and dark fantasy mixed with daft fantasy….

These models where brought to you today by the following bands:
>Fuzzbox
>Satyricon
>Genesis
>The Doors
>Suicidal Tendencies
>And random stuff off planet rock”

Cheers for that Matty, always good to have you stop by for an article and some friendly banter. Though an ocean and many miles separate us, it doesn’t stop us from enjoying our hobby together as we have done for many years. I am, however, a little disappointed that you didn’t include D-Rok and Sabbat with Bolt Thrower. You can hand in your metalhead badge on the way out.

That’s it for today. See you next week for another article (that I haven’t figured out yet…)

*Blighty is an affectionate nickname for Britain (or more specifically England) taken from the height of the Victorian rule of India, that was first used in the Boer War in Africa, and popularized on the fields of Western Europe in the First World War.

**Don’t worry – me and the Mattster go back a long way and we smack talk each other all the time. He’ll capitulate to me one day, he just hasn’t realized it yet.