I have never seen a MrBeast video. This is not a point of pride for me, it was not even a conscious decision. I simply have no interest in watching a man recreate The Squid Game with real people or cure 100 people’s blindness in some gamified and monetized viral video.
However, one YouTuber has branded himself the ‘MrBeast of Warhammer’. The Squidmar Miniatures channel, run by Emil ‘Squidmar’ Nyström and his collaborator Lukas Holmström Friman, has long been built on algorithm-powered concepts: think building dioramas from two $2,500 titans, doing over-the-top painting challenges, or opening boxes full of ‘rip-off’ hobby tools from sites like Temu (concerns about slave labor not mentioned).
This has never interested me either (I’d prefer the algorithm served me more collages and independent mini sculptors), but the concept for Squidmar’s new show caught my attention. Miniature Masters is a painting competition in the style of the Great British Baking Show, albeit with bouts of hyperbole from MrBeast and plenty of adverts thrown in for good measure.
Understanding that the channel has to make money, I settled in to enjoy a joyful painting show. Unfortunately, not everything goes according to plan.
What went wrong with the miniature teachers?
The concept of Miniature Masters is fun, but that’s no surprise. The Bake Off formula has been applied to every hobby imaginable, from sewing to portraits, from pottery to interior design, from jewelry to makeup. There’s no reason why Warhammer shouldn’t be Bake Offed. Baked shown. You know what I mean.
However, viewers have problems with the ads. There are many, and every possible hobby tool is sponsored by one company or another. Vallejo’s paintings are an #advertisement, the busts painted in Episode 2 were an #advertisement, the lights are an #advertisement, the grass is an #advertisement. I’m not even kidding. However, the worst problem is airbrushes. I have nothing to do with the airbrush game, but as soon as the ads hit the competition, I’ll be out.
In episode 3, contestants were asked trivia questions and were rewarded with an extra painting if they answered correctly. If they made a mistake, they would lose a painting from their already limited roster. However, most of the questions were specific details about the Harder & Steinbeck airbrush range (#ad, #spon). One contestant lost a paint for not knowing what his mid-range airbrush was called! This was not the only reason he was deemed the worst painter of the week and therefore sent home, but it did feel like a particularly unfortunate contributor to his demise.
Credit: Squidmare Miniatures.
Criticism in the comments section of this video was quickly deleted, with the Squidmar channel writing: “Any hate will be deleted.” After asking the final two contestants to tearfully struggle to explain why they should stay in the competition in Episode 4, the comments section was “paused” in light of the criticism there.
Of course, few comments criticized the contestants, but many expressed disappointment in the inhumane format, causing the contestant, who had been open about her struggle with imposter syndrome, to leave the show. After all, it was no wonder he thought his fellow contestant should stay, given his pre-existing fears that she had no place in the hobby.
We need to talk about Maxime
Credit: Squidmar Miniatures.
There’s something else we need to talk about. His name is Maxime, a contestant on the show and former employee of Squidmar Miniatures. You can already see the ethical implications. But aside from accusations of nepotism that he won’t win any time soon, this poor man has clearly been asked to inject some drama into the proceedings.
Maxime always drops things. He is never an active impediment to any of the other contestants, but he does drop boxes, pieces, and even parts of his painted minis. Maybe I’m just a clumsy guy, but creating “good TV” definitely seems like a stretch. He is also the only contestant who always rushes to paint because he hasn’t given himself enough time. He makes mistakes, the judges criticize him, and yet he’s always safe at the end of the day.
Credit: Squidmar Miniatures.
I’m not saying that the Squidmar team created this entire TV series, attracted half a dozen high-profile sponsors, and introduced Emil as a MrBeast wannabe just to give his partner the $10,000 prize. If anything, it seems more likely that he has already been told that he will not win because of the suspicions that would arise and the arguments it would provoke. But he appears to have been recruited to create artificial drama, to raise the stakes.
I don’t know if this is because Squidmar didn’t have the confidence that the painting exhibition alone was interesting enough, they wanted to give his friend exposure as he entered more competitions, or he applied and succeeded without any nepotism, but it leaves a sour taste and, worst of all, is boring to watch.
The light at the end of the tunnel
Credit: Squidmar Miniatures.
There is a good show at Miniature Masters. Obviously, it’s the Bake Off formula. Squidmar has made some mistakes with publicity and staff this season, but the first episode has almost half a million views as of this writing. I would prefer high-quality photographs of the miniatures and more constructive criticism from the judges, but I’ll see this through to the end out of (potentially morbid) curiosity.
Many of these things could easily be fixed in later seasons. Mainly, I would adjust the focus of the drama to the painting: more close-ups, more comments from the judge, more explanations of the skills used. Watch an episode of Portrait Artist of the Year and it reflects all of this perfectly. I don’t care if the number of ads remains similar, I would just like to make sure they no longer affect the competition. What was wrong with the classic ad break anyway?
This program could work. It’s based on a killer premise and Warhammer is only growing in popularity. It already does many things well. Each episode focuses on a different skill, different scales of miniatures and painting styles are encouraged or enforced. The contestants are already displaying heartwarming camaraderie and bringing their own personalities to their painting jobs. I found a few painters who I now follow thanks to their inspiring efforts at the exhibition, and that cannot be understated.
Despite its flaws, I hope there is a second season of Miniature Masters for exactly those reasons, as long as it takes audience criticism into account. We’re all nerds here. We want to get into the nitty-gritty details of painting and see high-quality photo shoots of the contestants instead of forcing the two worst painters from Episode 4 to beg for the chance to stay in the competition in tears.
Miniature Masters is not going down well with its core audience, largely thanks to MrBeast’s style. The drama, the commercials, and even the five-figure prize are secondary to the competition we care about. But it wouldn’t take much to make it a hit with its core fans. If there is a next season, Squidmar must choose which audience he wants to cultivate; the lovers of YouTube reality shows influenced by algorithms, or the painting fans who helped his channel grow to where it is today.
