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So yea, working atm on building a small 1000 pt ork army. The theme is military with each unit being representative of another entity. One squad being german stormtroopers in greatcoats, another us paratroopers, one british trenchers armed with shovels, axes, and pistols, and the last a safari/colonial era British unit.

While most is still on the workshop floor, some minor progress has been made.

Firstly the big mek leading this army is equipped with a custom force field, however I did not wish to model it on him, his model would be too cluttered as he will already have a backpack for gastanks and a power generator. (Concept is essentially similar to a commissar in look, but equipped with a burna. So to represent the power weapon side more so than the burna aspect it will be modeled as a custom sword, the 'flamer' unit will be in the hilt then with wires and cables going back to the back pack.)

atm the work in progress is:

The mud base for the Kustom force field generator, dreadnought sized base. Very light sculpting and the light brings out the lighter browns more than it truely is.




Here is the custom force field so far mounted on the base, very much still wip paint wise, it only has some of its base layers and wash for undershading.




And the current work on one of the ork kaptains. He will be leading the British trenchers. he still needs touch up and weapons have only been base coated.




Atm on my work bench are the three other kaptains, the big mek although still waiting on some parts for him, the 'safari boyz' trukk, and in peices the us para trukk. Then the trenchers and the german troops will have trucks built off of 'looted' chimera hulls to represent the extra armor and armed with rokkits (a cannon where the heavy bolter is) but left open in the back save for a canvas covering to represent open topped.

Then two looted wagons and I should be done lol.... oh yea all the boyz.....

Liking what you have got at the moment and awaiting new pictures of shiny goodness.

Ewww look at that mud. Nice forcefield, never really a fan of orks but love ork machinery, so crude yet so deadly.

Not alot done been a busy week but have a picture of some progress, still need to paint the grots on the kff and i finished the sculpt for the nobz base but I need to paint it first (will happen tonight hopefully)



I tried something new for the 'projector dish' which was a painting technique for lightning that works from the middle color to then add the dark spots in before thinly dancing the lighter colors in the middle. So far happy enough with it. Did manage to play a game with this (albiet blue-tacked to its base) and it, at times kind of gets in the way but the advantage is when it does that I can either temporarily remove it from the table or leave it in place as the squad moves on til there's room for it. It technically has no rules benefit, after all the force field stat wise is measured from the big mek's base.

I tried to bring out more of the nobz flesh, happy with it really, still have to do abit of work on the weapons but I figured hes close to being done. I liked this picture as its probably the best view of it as it really looks. (My cell phone apparently can take good photos I just have to provide it with a white background.



its slowly getting there, slowly but surely.




(Again sorry for all the edits but don't wish to double post)
Decided to throw in base progress of what this nobz' base looks like. I'll admit, im new to going out of my way to base my models but I've always admitted that a good base really brings out the model, but I never was sold on what I wanted to do with these guys so atm still experimenting. Still not the best but I hope these mud sculpts add a bit of character to them if nothing else break up the flatness of the bases.




This base was fairly simple possibly too..... varied. The 'dud' rokkit might have been a bit too much but it was as much an experiment as a learning experience.

I've only got a few orks but that's very cool thingamabob!

Thanks, odly enough the kustom force field was a 'sit down and drag out bitz box' project. I didn't know quite what it would look like til I stopped adding more bits to it.
The only parts I knew I wanted was it to be pulled by a grot, use a spotlight for an 'emitter array' and the nob warbiker's treads for the base. The first issue was balance, there was no way I could get the triangle shaped single tread links to stay up on their own or even look decent enough to support it so I looked for ways to either add more treads or tires. My solution was of course use parts from the rest of the warbike, issue it it went from being a termy sized based model to a massive dreadnought scale token but at least to me it sort of looks like a mobile power generator you may see at a construction site, of course orkified and re-purposed and on treads instead of a wheeled carriage.

I like the lightning on effect good job.

Nice stuff. cant wait to see what you do for the rest of the army.

Right I thought id at least show how I paint my mud bases for anyone interested ^^ not the best way to do it im sure but I get results im satisfied with for a tabletop level.

Step one:

A basecoat prime of army painter's skeleton bone (ive learned I love working with lighter primers, ive been testing them out to see what I like best and what works best for what, love army painter for its full coating ability without really being patchy.




Step two:

A very generous wash of devlun mud, honestly this step isn't needed as it will be addressed and even rewashed later but I like to at least work off of it when It wont do any harm.




Step three:

Essentially another wash but with scorched brown diluted with water, about 80% paint. Then basically carelessly applied everywhere




Step four:

Next I add my dark flesh to get in a little mid range color, this paint is really wet (my vial i use) but I didn't want to change that, this is almost washed in with the point of getting in all the pores and pockets I created in my sculpting. This helps add a little 'red' to the mud.




Step five:

As if in direct contrast, my scorched brown is very dry so I have to wet it to work with it (should get a new vial in fact almost all my browns need replacing or updating but im going to wait til the new paint line comes out and til I really need it or I can't work with this any longer lol. This is basically a base painting of scorched brown, trying to cover all the tops and general area, somewhat mixing in with the dark flesh.




Step six:

A little snakebite leather drybrush over the tips, this is to lighten the mud up a little, and this is what really made the mud look off color in my first image in this thread. It helps to lighten it but also in heavy direct light give it that other color range.




Step seven:

In this step I painted all the details fist, just a bit of base coating to give them their initial look then gave the whole model another heavy devlun mud wash, this is basically to darken and blend all the other layers together.




Step eight:

This step was to bring out more of the 'dodad's' details. I am still new to the whole concept of 'good' bases for my models so as stated its a learning experience, I did want them to be muted however.




Step nine:

This is what makes the bases shine, I added a thin layer of 'ard coat' gloss varnish, this lets the mud look wet. I find it gives a fun and quick tabletop level of mud gloss to it. Also I gave the details a bit more work, some had extra washes, others just a few bits of dry brushing various metals and colors, nothing too major.




Step ten:

Add the chaos black ring. Normally I like a brown for my bases to make them feel more natural but I tried that with the initial mud and I wasn't satisfied, this at least helps to bring out the mud as a detail, the ring of course is not gloss varnished so if I feel like changing it later, or find another color works in test models, I can easily change it.




Final Step:

Last but not least I mount the model to the base. When I was working with my sculpts I made sure that while the greenstuff was drying I would pre press the models feet into the mud where I wanted them to stand, this not only lets them sink into it a little bit but also gives them the exact flats they need for mounting which when glued, saves me stress and makes for a strong hold even without pinning.





The kaptain still needs quite a bit of work on his weapons but I figure mounting him wont get in the way of this plus lets me use him in a battle sooner.

And there you have it, my quick n dirty way to do a mud base. ^^

Nice work AvA, very cool mud bases!

I touched up a little on his boots, finishing the detailing tonight then ill dust off the proper camera.



Also added my ig sent for scale.




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Started tonight on a long dreaded part of my project but essential, sculpting.....more complex things then mud. I'm not the best nor do I claim to be even good lol, In fact my ideas often outstrip my means. Larger scale like a soapstone lawn ornament etc I can do well enough, but tiny greenstuff... well youll see lol.

My work here is for my big mek, I essentially want to make an ork version of a commisar, an army leader with the best toyz and gear teef can buy. Equipment wise its: ('eavy armor, cybork body, attack squig (will be modeled as well), and a burna.) the burna is going to be modeled as a power sword as essentially that's why im giving it to him for the power weapon apsect model wise but will model a functional 'burna' into the hilt, with cables leading to a backpack tank and power generator. (the main reason the kustom force field wasn't modeled on him as it would be too cluttered with the tank pack)


I've started the sculpt of the 'kommisar' chestplate. I realized quickly that my skills and experience were lacking so my initial idea for a smooth style and almost direct copy of a commisar traditional style breastplate was out the window, instead I figured id see what 'plates welded together' would look like, of course after being beaten into shape. atm I cant tell if im satisfied or not, which is kind of promising as im not hating it. Just on the fence, The sash really added something tha was missing though from just the chest plate. (also im not super worried about messing this up royally as if I do wind up failing miserably, I have extras of these fantastic resin kaptain bodys I ordered from Microart studios, I cant praise them enough, sure some have some extra flash that will be a pain to work with in some of the arm recesses but Ive had worse on metal models! And at the end of the day, the most important quality is its not metal.

Now the sculpt (not just the armor) is kind of crude but I hope it will at least work, if nothing else Its a learning experience!






the sculpt can only go so far as of yet, as the head im still waiting on an order from kromlech, but I realized I don't need the head to work on the project. After this drys I see if I need to really touch up (if its that bad) or if I need to start working on the custom backpack tank, the easy bit lol.

The light is a little much to work out the details on the sculpted breastplate, but the sash is very good. Do you think you could give it a quick wash of ink when it's cured so we can see the details?

It does look good, from what I can see.

Right, time to unveil the work ive done so far, still wip (needs wiring, my head to come in from kromlech, alot of work on his custom base,)

But so far happy..



The Big sword/flamer hilt and backpack are basically there to represent his burna, which of course is mostly there to be an 'ork power sword'. Far less efficient than its imperial counterparts, this weapon needs its own external powergenerator, which thankfully the mek was able to run with some of the same fuels needed to fuel his burna.








Also more work was done to finish up my ork kaptain, he still needs his arm lightened a bit but otherwise im fairly pleased with how he turned out



and of course a nice scale shot of him with the captain and another test model....

loving the power sword idea, very cool

Thankies ^^ odly enough its a track guard from a chimera hacked up. (plasticard order still not here but wanted to try it and it wound up working)

I mean I love power claws as much as the next ork player but For a character the same size and build as the other nobz.... It really wouldnt make him stand out, also the classic kommisar style leans towards power sword at least in my eye, Im wondering though if I should chop up an imperial eagle and put it in peices on his chest plate. also still need to do the wiring and greenstuff 'welds' >< then wait for his real head to come in,

Wow! Your skills with greenstuff is amazing! Plus, I love the sword! So cool!

LunarstudioAvA wrote: Im wondering though if I should chop up an imperial eagle and put it in peices on his chest plate. also still need to do the wiring and greenstuff 'welds' >< then wait for his real head to come in,

I think you should do something with his free hand, at the moment its in this cool position but it is kinda just hanging there, how about him holding a imperial eagle madalion with the chain in his hand and it hanging down. Or something similar, either way i think it definatly needs some sort of refference to dead imperials. Tbh though he does look awesome now so ?

Demdiddydizzy thankies ^^ im really proud of it so far.

The chain sounds like a cool idea, although I dont know if I could pull it off with my skills >< I mean I could hobby chain it but Id have to see how it looks, really atm going to work on his base and see if maybe that helps, trying to make it a bit more imposing than the other one, a bit built up, will have a bit more 'dodads' and possibly a squig in there.


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Have him closer and closer to being done, now with basic shot of base (pun) and a few of him so far, did the wiring and added a chest plate crest.