White Dwarf 111 - Space Dwarves (Squats) diorama

[Brother Morgan]

When White Dwarf 111 was published in March 1989, as a 14 year old, I fell in love with the front cover:

 

 

It was everything a young me wanted to see and suck me into 40k. Lots of guns, dynamic poses - an army assaulting an unseen enemy. I was hooked. Although, a box of plastic squats was available at the time, the poses and my modelling skills at that time were insufficient to make anything like that iconic front cover. Fast forward 30+ years, my modelling and painting skills have improved and although I was disappointed when the Votaan were released as they had moved away from the previous aesthetic. Around 2 years ago, I started to make some of my own Squats based on the original artwork and having been touched by Chaos over the preceeding 30 years, they became Chaos Squats:

 

 

 

I used parts from GW Necromunda, AOS etc and lots of milliput to sculpt and mould items. I made around 50 of them, including naked berzerker ones, but they were very time consuming to make and I then plucked up courage and invested in an Elegoo Mars 2 Pro resin printer. This sucked me into the world of resin printing and over the past 2 years I've been printing lots of varied models. I stumbled across a few free Squat models on Myminifactory from Hardcore Miniatures and having printed them off and painted them, I decided to become a patreon and get a few of the Space Dwarf kits that had been created. Having printed off 50+ models, cleaned them up, converted some and finally painting them all, I give you ........

 

 

I haven't made a diorama for a few years, so had to invest in modelling compound, pva, flocking, tufts etc and have spent the past month making this. Although it's not a 100% match, I feel I have made something that closely resembles it. Before anyone says anything, I know their spacing needs to be improved and a single shell could take out 50 troopers but this is 40k and not the real world!!!

 

 

Unlike the artwork, I wanted to have a consistent uniform, so field caps and helmets were painted the same rather than each having their own unique pieces of equipment. I used 2 coats of GW Ork Flesh contrast on his uniform and Flesh Tearer red on his Flak jackets. Contrast Imperial Fist Yellow for helmets, Aggoras Dunes for boots and gloves, Gulliman Flesh and Black Legion for belts. Army Painter Gun Metal for weapons and different contrast browns for beards. A small amount of highlights and these models were quickly finished.

 

 

 

I don't have the hand control to paint the blue head tattoo's that the laspistol wielding trooper should have :(

 

 

 

 

To fit the artwork, I mirrored the officer that is pointing with his left hand from my resin printer and then added a knife in his right hand and a lasgun in his raised right hand.

 

 

 

"We've got a Dwarf down!" I added the medic and wounded dwarf as in the original artwork, there was an empty space which looks like a shell-hole and didn't think I could make that convincing in my diorama.

 

 

"CHAAAAARGGGEEE!!"

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the Command Squad. From the original artwork, I could only make out the Standard Bearer but I assume the Command Squad would be near by.

 

I have more shots if anybody is interested. Please feel free to ask any questions.

 

Regards, Phil. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Hey, I remember that artwork, too!  

 

The diorama looks great - the minis look like a nice re-imagining of the old plastics.  

[Brother Morgan]

On 4/25/2024 at 12:33 PM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Hey, I remember that artwork, too!  

 

The diorama looks great - the minis look like a nice re-imagining of the old plastics.  

 

Thanks Firedrake Cordova 

[MithrilForge]

Glad I found this, Very sweet stuff !!  2x thumbs up for old skool coolness!!

 

M

[phandaal]

Incredible work as always. Been wondering where you were after your cultist thread. Your conversions and kitbashes are inspiring. Awesome to see you work on Grungni's master race!

 

Looking forward to whatever you've got in the works next!

[Brother Morgan]

On 5/29/2024 at 6:27 AM, MithrilForge said:

Glad I found this, Very sweet stuff !!  2x thumbs up for old skool coolness!!

 

M

 

Thanks MithrilForge 

 

On 5/30/2024 at 2:56 AM, phandaal said:

Incredible work as always. Been wondering where you were after your cultist thread. Your conversions and kitbashes are inspiring. Awesome to see you work on Grungni's master race!

 

Looking forward to whatever you've got in the works next!

 

Thanks phandaal  I had so much fun building this diorama that I went a bit overboard and painted another 20+ models, so yesterday, I bought another photo frame (I used one for the base last time) and plan to extend backwards and have more charging Space Dwarves running down the hill - more to follow in the next few weeks 

 

[Pacific81]

This is simply incredible, one of the best display pieces I have seen for some time!

Not only have you captured the character of the art perfectly, but even the lovely clean and bright colours mirror the artwork.

Chapeau sir!

[Brother Morgan]

On 6/12/2024 at 4:23 PM, Pacific81 said:

This is simply incredible, one of the best display pieces I have seen for some time!

Not only have you captured the character of the art perfectly, but even the lovely clean and bright colours mirror the artwork.

Chapeau sir!

 

 Thanks Pacific81 

 

As previously mentioned, I loved painting and making the diorama and thought I could expand it and have even more Space Dwarves. Using Hardcore Miniatures Space Dwarves (including a lot of head swops), I made this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions. 

 

Regards, Phil.

[Pacific81]

Wow...! I will just say, it would be worth contacting Warhammer World and see if there is any interest in displaying it. Can you imagine, next to the original art piece?

Outstanding !