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Hey DakkaNauts I am creating a freebooter themed battle wagon and I was just wondering if people would give me some suggestions. This project I am undertaking is going to take some significant time seeing as I am young and do not yet have the money to buy whatever warhammer 40k loot and bitz I want . I accept and would love any and all criticism as long as it is constructive. I will obviously make some mistakes (formatting especially) because, well, im about as new to warhammer 40k as I am to DakkaDakka! So all the facts aside i would like to explain the Kaptins Ship! I have taken a ship toy for kids (generous donation from my young brother) and have attempted to "orkify" it. I have added a few additions to the boat such as the sail and hive tyrant head however I am definitely considering adding much more unless others like it as it is. The boat is not yet painted (unless people already like the colors) and all the additions have not been painted yet. So once again I would like to emphasize that I am about as new to conversions as a new born (grown?) ork and I would love all the help others can offer. So without ado here are the pictures of my newborn ship!

Ps. If unclear I am mainly asking for suggestions and criticisms!

While I'm in a small minority that believes that it is possible to go too far with Ork conversions, I'll be the first to say that you've barely even scratched the surface, with this! The few additions you've made are good, but they're relatively subtle and, perhaps more importantly, they're few and far between.

No matter how many Boys you pack onto the deck, this is still a more or less pristine wooden ship. Think about changing the lines, somewhat, or at least marring the smooth surface of the hull and deck. Build ungainly add-ons (precarious firing platforms, crude armor plates, etc.), add haphazard patch plates, rope lashings, and shoddy timber braces... anything of that nature is going to help push it from "toy ship with 40k models on it" to "cool Battlewagon conversion."

On that topic, I think one absolutely crucial addition is missing - a means of propulsion (a wagon is just a box, after all, without wheels - a Battlewagon is no different, except for the guns). Anti-grav plates (even balloons tied to the gunwales, if you're feeling silly), wheels, tank treads, walker legs - you've got plenty of creative options. Without at least one of those (or something else of that nature), the suspension of disbelief is shattered.

In short: You dun good, just do it more. LOTS more.

 oadie wrote:
While I'm in a small minority that believes that it is possible to go too far with Ork conversions, I'll be the first to say that you've barely even scratched the surface, with this! The few additions you've made are good, but they're relatively subtle and, perhaps more importantly, they're few and far between.

No matter how many Boys you pack onto the deck, this is still a more or less pristine wooden ship. Think about changing the lines, somewhat, or at least marring the smooth surface of the hull and deck. Build ungainly add-ons (precarious firing platforms, crude armor plates, etc.), add haphazard patch plates, rope lashings, and shoddy timber braces... anything of that nature is going to help push it from "toy ship with 40k models on it" to "cool Battlewagon conversion."

On that topic, I think one absolutely crucial addition is missing - a means of propulsion (a wagon is just a box, after all, without wheels - a Battlewagon is no different, except for the guns). Anti-grav plates (even balloons tied to the gunwales, if you're feeling silly), wheels, tank treads, walker legs - you've got plenty of creative options. Without at least one of those (or something else of that nature), the suspension of disbelief is shattered.

In short: You dun good, just do it more. LOTS more.

Everything this guy said I second Basically, orkify it! basically plenty of nasty looking junk bits that appear to do nothing yet also appear to do everything Orks love scraps, extra armour panels, big guns and even more big guns This image is a little dated as ive almost completed it now, but I am working on a Battlewagon airship myself.


whoa, didnt quite realise how early of a photo this is, I will post a picture tonight so you can see the almost finished version (looks much more ship like!) but as you can see the panels are sort of very rough and scrappy looking plenty of bolts and rivets. id reccommend you pick up perhaps a trukk kit, as it comes with so many little extra bits of details and addons, that you could easily build a trukk and then use the spares to ork up your ship

Exactly as the others have stated. You need to add patch panels and I beams and just random WTF on the ship. Thats just for the ship. Then you need guns up the wazzoo......And speaking of Wazzoo, goto the blog sections and check out his Ork work, he does, IMO, the perfect scratch build Ork stuff. His work has just the right amount of Ork.


Who knows, itll probably inspire you, I know it has me

 KingCracker wrote:
Exactly as the others have stated. You need to add patch panels and I beams and just random WTF on the ship. Thats just for the ship. Then you need guns up the wazzoo......And speaking of Wazzoo, goto the blog sections and check out his Ork work, he does, IMO, the perfect scratch build Ork stuff. His work has just the right amount of Ork.


Who knows, itll probably inspire you, I know it has me

That is also a very good point Check out some of the other ork stuff on here, there is absolutely tonnes of great conversions and scratchbuilds This here is wazzoo, infact he was the first scratchbuilder I saw that made me return to WH. Truely inspiring just take a look at some of his stuff and see how you could add some extra detail to your ship

This is also the image of my updated airship (WIP still) i said id show -

The ship really does need some kind of jets, turbines or wheels - 40k isn't really about water based naval battles and a sail wouldn't be adequate propulsion.

Without all the guns and bling it fits more in with WHFB. Extensive conversions unfortunately aren't the cheapest to do if you aren't skilled with greenstuff or lack a big box of bits to work with. One thing I'd like to see for starters is big shootas every inch or so along the railing of the deck. Random wires (cables) placed here and there can also give it an orky feel. The hull also looks too plain, it really needs a scrap metal, bolted together look (Solar Shock has a good example of this in his airship).