I've been lurking around Dakka for a long time now and recently I've been admiring all the work that people are putting into their armies as a result of starting project blogs.

Seeing all the great conversions and paintjobs has inspired me to start up a blog for an army I've been wanting to play for years: orks.

With the release of Assault on Blackreach and a great 5th edition codex, it seemed like the perfect time to put all of my orky aspirations to the test. But building and painting a horde army (something that really feels orky) seems pretty daunting. I've always been a slow, but pretty ok, painter, so typically I've stuck to really low model count armies (my first tournament army was a 24 model Deathwing army back in 3rd edition). Orks are going to be quite a departure from the small army trend, so this blog is going to be about figuring out how to paint quickly while still building and painting in a way that looks good on the table. Or at least in a way that I think looks good.

Of course, since I'm starting an ork blog, I figured the best way to get going was to build a Big Mek that I could have looking over my shoulder while I try to figure out where to glue that next gubbin.
So, I introduce to you RustGrubba NugLutz, Da BigBrain of Mork (or perhaps Gork):



He's wearing a very kustom force field and a sort of burna/klaw combo, so I can field him with either, depending on where my list needs point trimming. A good friend from my gaming group gave me the forgeworld nob biker head for some conversion work I did for him. (I got the better part of that deal. )

Since I'm using a bunch of Blackreach boyz for my list to start with, I'm going to be building choppy boyz for the core of my force. I figure NugLutz's KFF should be able to help the boyz get where they're going in one piece until I get vehicles wrapped around them for extra protection.

I hope to get some paint on NugLutz and some boyz soon - the boyz will probably get the paint first, so I can try out some new, fasta techniques.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

And thanks for checking out my work.

That's an amazing Big Mek conversion! I rarely see Meks that look mean, but this guy definitely does. I can't wait to see what else you'll come up with.

Aww yeah!

Fantastic, clean, orky konversion there.

Army profile article, pics of painted minis, pics of other konversions, and any WIPs that you don't finish by the end of paint night must be shared!!! Just ask me at the end of paint night to snap some pics in my light tent

Let the evil 'monkey on your back' that is the P&M blog fuel your creativity and productivity!

Awesome Conversion, More pics please!

Awesome conversion!! what did you use for the wires running into the various parts? Guitar wire?

Love da Mek, so much dakka

Quite a beautifully orky Kunvershun.

Just a problem with the Power Klaw, how's he supposed to grab something with it if the Flamer is in the way?

And I who for just a little while felt proud of my own orks.

Now that's a proppa looking Big Mek! Really great job on him.

A question about his wrench in his left arm - that looks like it is partially made from a warbiker arm for the haft of the wrench, but where did the front of the wrench come from?

Wow! Thanks for all the input and inspiration!

-Stretch - The cabling/wiring all over NugLutz is mostly guitar string and a little bit of green "floral" wire. Why it's called floral wire, I'm not sure, but it bends nicely and holds primer really well, so I'm not complaining.

-!? - Yeah, the burna-klaw might be a little troublesome, but I mounted the burna head on a piston with a hinge, so I figure NugLutz just swings it back out of the way when he wants to shake someone's hand/rip them in half with the klaw. It's probably a bit of a stretch... but I have a feeling that most of my ideas from here on out will be too.

-GrimTeef - The wrench is made from a nob choppa arm. I cut the choppa head off just below the blade and replaced it with the wrench head from a mek-boy's backpack (from the burna/loota box). It's a great bit for mekky fun.

I haven't gotten anything but primer on NugLutz yet, but I did get started on my quick-and-dirty Warboss conversion. He's a Blackreach boss with just a nip and a tuck here and there. I gave him a plasticard iron gob and a slightly bigger shoulder-plate to put glyphs on. Oh, and I turned his shoota into a kombi-skorcha. This is probably just the first version I'll do of him, so I can get in a few low point games with a painted HQ.

Without further delay, I give you the first, WIP (quick and dirty) version of Warboss GitSmack Daemonkilla, Da Arch-Krumpa of da Riven Cluster:



He's pretty much just base-coated except for the skin of his face, his mouth, the skin of his arm, and the checks on his loin-cloth. I tried to make the skin where is claw is jacked-in to his arm look iritated, yet orky.

Thanks again and I hope to have some more pics in a day or three...

Great use of bitz on the Mek. Also, your warboss is pretty sweet. I can't wait to see more of your work.

I like the boss, adding the jaw plate and shoulder plate is a nice simple way to bulk the AOBR boss up.

That loincloth is so painfully well done. I get away with ork checks because I just say 'they are orks they can't make straight checks'. But those are beautifully done, and the half checks half red looks great.

The skin tone is great too. By adding that little bit of warmth to the green it looks a lot more like skin and a lot less like a plastic toy. The pink of the mouth and the inner lip draw the eye up to the face. Even moreso when you get something on that gob.

Can't really see the brusing, agitation on the skin, but I think I see it... a little blue and purple washing? What I can see looks pretty good.

I'd ike to see him finished off soon! Doesn't look like you have much further to go. Once hes done you'll have a nice center-piece... or half centerpiece along with the big mek.

Wow, you have serious skills with the old paintbrush. And modeling, nice one.

I finished up the old Warboss last night and just took a couple of pictures of him:

From the front:


With a little bit of his bosspole showing (I really need to work on my photography skills ):


From above:


The glyphs on his shoulder-gaurd roughly spell out GitSmack.

I still need to figure out how I'm going to finish up the base (and the bases on the whole army). I'm considering adding snow, since I frequently play against Shep and his Vostroyans on his home table. At very least, I will be going with some rough, city-rubble dry-brushing and some dead static-grass.

As always, any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

I'm going to get to work on some boyz next and hope to have enough time to get a unit of 20 AoBR choppy boyz (with their PK nob, of course) done by this weekend. Wish me luck!

Wow! Great clean paint and I like that you didn't "jewel" the lenses. Actually reminds you that "yeah, this thing on my face is electronic" with the red-orange-yellow glow. Nice!

GJ on the Warboss man; love the checker design on his loincloth. Looking forward to see the finished mek.

You finished him?

Please bring him to paint night tonight!

He looks fantastic man!

Thanks again for the feedback!

I decided to get a little bit of the nitty-gritty part of my army project done next... I finished up a unit of 20 choppy boyz. They could use another go-over for extra details (tatoos, touch-ups, maybe some static grass, etc), but they're ready for the table without too much embarassment.

I'm not 100% on the color of the bases, but, like Shep was saying at paintnight, "they need to look like someplace you wouldn't want to be". I want to give them sort of a blasted urban look, so I went with Scorched Brown as a base and different grays as the drybrushing highlights. I might play around with some other looks, but I'm just glad to have them based and ready to play for the moment.



And, as a sign of things to come:



I needed a pain boy for the nobz that will be riding with my Warboss. I thought the regular pain boy seemed... well, really cool... but also really small compared to the orks he was cutting on and cyborking. In stepped the new plastic nob box... and out stepped a bigger pain boy.

I'm not sure if Big Mek NugLutz will be getting paint next or if I'll need to work on a ride for the boyz (read, BattleWagon) or even just a few more boyz for the list while I'm inspired to bulk/speed-paint)...

Thanks for the extra inspiration!

This is fantastic! I'm not a huge fan of the metal painboy so I might take a shot at making a plastic one, keep up the great work I'll be sure to check up often!!!

Looking good! Did you finish up that battlewagon last night?

GitSmack wrote:Wow! Thanks for all the input and inspiration!

-Stretch - The cabling/wiring all over NugLutz is mostly guitar string and a little bit of green "floral" wire. Why it's called floral wire, I'm not sure, but it bends nicely and holds primer really well, so I'm not complaining.

-!? - Yeah, the burna-klaw might be a little troublesome, but I mounted the burna head on a piston with a hinge, so I figure NugLutz just swings it back out of the way when he wants to shake someone's hand/rip them in half with the klaw. It's probably a bit of a stretch... but I have a feeling that most of my ideas from here on out will be too.

-GrimTeef - The wrench is made from a nob choppa arm. I cut the choppa head off just below the blade and replaced it with the wrench head from a mek-boy's backpack (from the burna/loota box). It's a great bit for mekky fun.

I haven't gotten anything but primer on NugLutz yet, but I did get started on my quick-and-dirty Warboss conversion. He's a Blackreach boss with just a nip and a tuck here and there. I gave him a plasticard iron gob and a slightly bigger shoulder-plate to put glyphs on. Oh, and I turned his shoota into a kombi-skorcha. This is probably just the first version I'll do of him, so I can get in a few low point games with a painted HQ.

Without further delay, I give you the first, WIP (quick and dirty) version of Warboss GitSmack Daemonkilla, Da Arch-Krumpa of da Riven Cluster:



He's pretty much just base-coated except for the skin of his face, his mouth, the skin of his arm, and the checks on his loin-cloth. I tried to make the skin where is claw is jacked-in to his arm look iritated, yet orky.

Thanks again and I hope to have some more pics in a day or three...

Woo! can you tell me how you achieve the colors of the banner / klaw at this stage? it looks like real steel!

This entire army is fantastic ! I can't wait to see the mekboy painted up!

Where did you get the wrench in his left hand?
I recognize that you cut an axe head off of either a nob box or the storm boyz box but where did the wrech part itself from?

Another week, another bit of insanity...

First, thanks again for the encouragement!

@Somnicide - Didn't get the trukk finished last night, but I'll throw up a WIP of it today... you might get a kick out of it.

@LunaHound - The steel look is almost too easy for words, really. It's just a good, even layer of Boltgun Metal with a nice, wash or two of Badab Black and a little bit of Devlan Mud and Gryphonne Sepia here and there for variation. These Citadel Washes are just friggin magic. As long as you let your first layer dry, you can keep adding layers and partial layers to get really nice, dark, gritty, yet still metallic metals.

@Foda_Bett - The left-hand wrench head is just cut off of the backpack of the mek boy in the Lootas/Burnas box. When I opened that box, I knew I was going to have some fun bits to chop into, and that one is one of my favorites.

Now, I didn't get a ton done this week (before or at paintnight) but I got pretty close to finished on a mob of trukk boyz and got started on their ride. Oh, and I got a tiny bit of base-coating done on Big Mek NugLutz, but ran into a time-crunch that left him at such a hideously early stage, he wasn't even ready to WIP yet. :p Sooo... I'll hopefully be getting some more paint on him in the next few days... hopefully.

In the meantime, I think I've decided how I want to paint my vehicles. I like the idea that my trukks and wagonz are hammered together from what's left of the destroyed vehicles of my warboss's enemies. Since I mostly play against Shep (Vostroyans) and Somnicide (Templars/Daemons) I started here with the front end of my first (very WIP) trukk:



I'm going to hit many of the panels with red (red paintjob), but there's going to be a lot of raw, rusty steel and scavenged chunks of other vehicles represented. I might try some scale ork graffiti, but I don't want to heap too much extra goofiness on these guys right away (they seem to have plenty to start with )... I'd rather have orks that look like you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley, or in a light alley, or really anywhere without a lot of distance between you and a bolter in your hand...

At any rate, I hope to have the trukk finished up by next week and NugLutz to a point where I'll want to put him in front of a camera.

Thanks again for checking in!

As always, C&C is welcome!

Wow, that looks awesome! Man, I wish my crosses were that good, I am gonna have to get you to give me the magic secret you use.

Beautiful armour plates!! it'd be great to see photo's of the profile and above of the models. great paint job.

Hey! Gimme back that piece of my tank! I need that! Haha, excellent work on the trukk so far, I'm just waiting till you finish before I start on any ork vehicles. I want to get all of the ideas you come up with in my brain.

... just a really quick update...

Ok... so I got a little painting work done on my trukk yesterday. I still need to finish up the driver and gunner (I didn't include them in the pics) and it may need to be muddied up a little on the tires and such, but otherwise, I think it's ready to go table-top.

From the front (with a templar termie helmet, courtesy of Somnicide):


From the side (the boyz wanted to paint it red to make it go fasta, but got a little carried away with some checks):


And from in the trukk bed (I was playing around with a new technique for rust by mixing crushed pastels and Gryphonne Sepia citadel wash to lock the pastels in place - that goes for all the rust on the vehicle):


Like I said, I probably need to muddy it up a bit and I may add a new panel color or two from new opponents, but once the crew is finished, I'll be ready to throw some boyz on it and send it into battle.

Let me know what you think...

That's that for now... I hope to have something else knocked out by the end of paint night tonight, thought I may not get pics until this weekend.

Thanks for checking my blog!

Waaaaagh!!
Keep up the good work.

That truck is looking pretty amazing.

By the way, when can we expect to see the big mek painted? You know we all want to.

Paul Atreides wrote:That truck is looking pretty amazing.

By the way, when can we expect to see the big mek painted? You know we all want to.

Word!

i will demand that he start painting that tonight at paint night. He already has 2 troops and one HQ painted. I think he can have some fun again!

Gitsmack... that looks awesome!

Yea, they look like they've had a hefty amount of Awesome pumped into them.

Thanks again for the words of encouragement.

As per popular request, I put a little bit of paint on Big Mek RustGrubba NugLutz on Wednesday and just got a chance to take a quick pic of him (very early WIP) today:



He has most of a base-coat on him, a bit of a skin highlight, and I THOUGHT his face was getting pretty close to done (except for the metal plates).
After the close-up pic, I can see some serious "oops" marks here and there though... so the face is going to get a lot more attention before I'm happy with it.
...for a first pass... I don't completely hate it...

I'll get some more paint on him this week (and hopefully get him finished by next weekend, though I'm not promising anything ).

Most of the metal will be getting "speshul orky artifikashun", and his KFF will be getting quite a lot of attention (buttons, gauges, leaks, etc).

Thanks for checking out my blog and I look forward to any comments and suggestions.

my pain boy looks like yours so much its scary!

Great grovilin grot gutz!!!!!! Gitsmack,man I have to say this is one amazing army you have going here,I freeking love what you've done so far,especialy the Big Mek..he's just amazing.
I am deffianatly looking forward to seeing more.

Holy cow!!!!! This is an absolutely stunning array of models. I'm now kicking myself for using the bits on the plastic Nob boxset and not making a Painboy. I painted the metal one and I'm just not overly thrilled with the model; definitely prefer plastic.

Your painting style works so well for the Orks. You manage to give a gritty look and feel to the model, yet the style is so very clean. Great work.

I'll be closely following this thread. Thanks for posting.

I love the glowing eye! My marshal will look forward to mounting his head on a pike.

good metal effect

I really like the "now dis bit go's dere" look of the pose on the mekboy.

LugNutz is shaping up well, I can't wait to see how far you get this week. All of the extra wires and hoses add a lot to the character. My renegades look forward to the day they get meet up with your hoard!

Can we get a view of the Mek's backpack? I'd like to see how you've done it!

Hey there! Thanks for all of the feedback!

I still haven't gotten NugLutz finished (I hope to get him done tonight), but I have taken some WIP pics of his KFF backpack.

Thanks for the suggestion Chrispy... I can't believe I didn't show a WIP of the KFF before.

Here's a basic, straight-on look at the KFF from the back:


The staining and dripping and distressed areas are just starting to get a little attention, so they're barely touched with color.

I think I'm going to go with this look for the main energy conductors/hose-lookin-thingies:


This is just really to show that he's not running it in the red-zone yet. :


I still have tons of work to do on this guy tonight, including weathering, painting mekky colors on things that he would have had is grots paint for him, finishing the skin... but I'm hoping 3 or 4 hours will get him table-ready.

Thanks for checking in... comments and suggestions are always welcome.

I love it! Thank you so much for delivering!

The only I could possibly suggest is to take the purple and blue fuels lines and make it a bit bolder. Most of your model is very grey-toned so far, and I think that a bit more color would really stand out and contrast nicely with your models.

Amazing conversion. Now that I've gotten a good look at your KFF, I'm starting to see how it came together, and I'm really impressed! I may have to "loot" a few ideas from this project, if you don't mind too much.

I did a bit more work on NugLutz last night, but he's still not finished. :( I took a couple of shots of him this morning to post, but they ended up too poorly lit to really show any of the new detail. I'll try to get a bit more paint on him tonight and then post up some pics, even if they're just more WIPs...

@Somnicide - Yes... have your marshall mount NugLutz's head on a pike... and then keep it very very close to him. Just ignore the red flashing light and the odd ticking sounds...

@Sarigar - Thanks for the comments! Yeah, that nob box is just loaded with great stuff. I feel like I'll be able to make nearly any non-warboss-sized character I want to with it. I might even need to make it the basis of some kustom MegaNobs... but that's going to have to wait awhile.

@typhus - Glad to hear the painboy conversion worked out for you too.

@AbsoluteBlue - I can't wait to take on your traitor guard. I may have to figure out how to mock up a traitor head or two for my Waaagh! Banner. Between you and Shep, you're not making it easy to gather trophies.

@Chrispy - Thanks for the color suggestions. I may have to repaint the purple sections to a brighter color... or maybe even change to orange or blue... I'm not sure yet. I like sort of a gritty overall color/feel to orks, but, you're right, a little extra contrast could go a long way... especially on a character model like this. I'll try to paint the rest of him before I go back over the purple or green sections, just to see which way the color composition leans. I have a feeling that this model is going to want touch-ups and modifications to its paint scheme even after it's "table-ready".

My god those orks are stunning! I really like the random look of the trukk. whats your recipe for skin?

Cheerz
Dakkapantz

I'm loving these Orks GitSmack! You're conversions are awesome, detailed and characterful. I agree with Chrispy's assessment of the cables, but as you've said, you'll look at that once you've completed the weathering.

Great work!

Hey! Thanks again for the input!

I got a little more paint on the Big Mek today. The white balance on my camera was a bit off, but I wanted to get a couple of WIP shots up so I'm posting them anyway.

Some more color up front (thought it would be fun to have a chunk of shoulder armor stolen from something Ad Mech. ):


And a little bit more paint on the KFF:


@Chrispy - Yes, loot away... that's what orkiness is all about.

@Dakkapants - Thanks for the compliments! The skin is a multi-layer process... I use black primer, Orkhide Shade for the base coat, then Ordic Olive (a P3 color) as a first highlight, Knarloc Green as a second highlight, a little Scaly Green (discontinued) in some spots as an accent shade color, then add a bit of Dheneb Stone to Knarloc Green as the highest highlight. It doesn't take nearly as long as it sounds.

@DaveTaylor - Thanks for the kind words and the suggestions!

@DaveTaylor and Chrispy - Yeah... the more I look at them, the more right I think you are about the cables and such... I'll play around with the colors over the next few days and post a couple more pics. I think the purple may just have to go... it's a neat color, but not quite bright enough to pop. Orange? Or is there too much red on the model... hmm... much more thinking to do, for sure. Any input you might have is always welcome!

If I can't nail down the cable color over the next few days, I may just let him sit on my workbench for a bit while I work on another part of the Waaagh. Maybe it's time to start chopping on a Battle Wagon and see what comes of it.

I'm thinking Orange would be too much (with the red and yellow you have). Perhaps it could be as simple as switching it for the blue/green color?

Cheers
Dave

Gitsmack , you have the best painted / converted ork on dakka!

o_o!

Hello again... long time no blog, but I haven't been entirely unproductive (less than I'd like of course, but that always goes without saying. ).

Thanks for all of the kind words... they provide fuel for the project in a big way.

Thanks to Chrispy and Dave, I've decided to repaint the purple cables on NugLutz the blue/green color of the other cables and add a little bit of a lightning effect to the paint to make it a little brighter and less vague. I didn't get any decent pictures of the new paintjob, but I hope to have a shot of the finished NugLutz posted this weekend. Thanks again for the color suggestions... a little outside input can be invaluable in situations like this.

In the meantime, I've been trying to get some work done on a unit of Nobs for the army. I've built most of them straight from the kit (and I'll say it again, what an amazing kit), but I did do a bit of kustom work on the painboy (the one I posted earlier) and now I've decided I wanted to make my own Waaagh Banner. I probably went a little bit overboard with the thing, but how could I not?

Here's a full-frontal shot of him. I went with a power claw for fun (and killiness and wound allocation...) and I used a big choppa as the basis for the banner because I figured, even if it is a banner, if it's orky, it's gotta be able to be used as some sort of weapon...:


I had a lot of fun trying to give the plasticard a rough-hewn metal look and got to do some fun things with rivets:


To make the banner visible on the battlefield, I figured having a flamer that could shoot gouts of flame skyward might come in handy (I may sculpt some flame for it later, just for kicks):


And, just for my gaming buddies, I added a couple of trophy heads. Yes, Somnicide, that will be a Black Templar helmet; AbsoluteBlue, the chaos helmet will be Black Legion of course; and Shep... I had to sculpt a moustache on that zombie head to make him Vossie for ya. We'll see who makes it on the banner next... :


I've built a unit of burna boyz to send with NugLutz on his personalized Battlewagon (fun, fun, fun) and I've also been working on putting together a Deff Rolla prototype. I'm not sure if I like it or not as of yet, but I'll hopefully post some WIP pics of it along with the finished NugLutz this weekend.

Thanks again for checking on the project. Once I get the Nobs painted, I'll be pretty close to having 1000 points of my 1750 list ready for the table. Maybe I'll have these guys ready for Vegas this year... fingers crossed.

As always, comments and suggestions are most welcome!

Whew! Time flies, and this past week-and-a-half has been NO exception.

I managed to get another unit ready for Waaagh! GitSmack to take to the table-top in the form of some trukk boyz to go along with that trukk I showed you earlier. Yes, I'd been working on them a bit on the side (so no miracles were involved in finishing this unit ). At any rate, here they are:



The nob totally botched his "where's the camera" roll for that first shot, so:



And, just for good measure, a crane shot :



I put a little extra red on the trukk boyz to link them with their red trukk and their need for speed.


I also took a few pics of my WIP deffrolla to see what you guys think. I wanted to try something that wasn't just a steam-roller, but still would read as a DeffRolla to anyone I might play against. It still needs some more pointy bits, a few more rivets and a couple more braces attaching it to the prow, but I think it's a good start:

Overview:



Enemy-cam view:



And a shot of the power behind the beast:



I'll let the rolla sit for a couple of days to see how I like it after I've stepped away from it for a bit (and see what suggestions you all might have). I'll probably leave the BattleWagon itself more or less "straight from the box" so I can start painting it once the rolla is complete.

Any comments or suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks again for checking in.

First off, everything is looking incredible! I especially like the Power Klaw Nob. Deff Rolla is looking pretty sweet too. My input would be to add at least 2 more saw blades to give it a fuller/heavier look. Basically, it looks good now, but is a bit "hollow," in my opinion.

Looking good - I kind of agree with Ab-blue - I think it needs more of something in there, even if it is just big round cheesegraters to thicken them up. I love the gears and engines thing that you made out of plasticard. I have a project which requires your skills....

I like the rolla to start... You need more blades, though.

Iif you use it, don't use the front armor on the B-Wagon. Attach it to the front of the actual trukk & save the front armor for something else.


Eric

That's excellent painting, but i agree with most that the Orks should have eyes that are fully red, makes them look more menacing.

As the above comment says, there should also be some more circular blades on the BW.

I guess I am one of the few that think the non-fully red eyes are GREAT! The use of pupils seems to add so much character to each model. Each one seems more "real" and individual to me with the beady little eyes poking through that scowl.

Yeah I also don't like the fully red eyes, keep going like you are, I say.

Hey, mind sharing your skin colour paint-scheme? I'm having trouble getting mine right...

Keep up the good stuff!

Thanks for all the feed-back!

@AbsoluteBlue, Somnicide, and MagickalMemories - I agree... the rolla definitely needs more blades. I'm going to add two more and then see how it looks... I may have to add some more pointy bitz in there somewhere as well, just to make the whole thing a little fuller, but either way, thanks for the suggestions.

@MagicKalMemories - Is it just me, or does the battlewagon look like it isn't finished without the prow armor? It would be fun to just attach the rolla directly to the wagon and use that prow for something else (perhaps a stompa ), but there's something about the wagon without the prow that looks a bit weedy. I think I'll play around with some extra plating and hydraulic arms for the rolla to see if I can make the wagon look armor 14 without the prow, but if I don't find a good, bulky, orky alternative, I'll probably put the prow back on and attach the rolla to it permanently... just to keep it brutal looking. (And yes, I used the word "prow" far, far too many times just now.)

@!?, Absolute Blue and Somnicide - I'll probably wind up sticking with the red irised ork eyes, at least for now. I tested an all-red eye and it didn't really seem to have the same pop... I couldn't tell where exactly the boyz were looking... silly, I know, but that adds something to the models for me. I'll do another test of fully red eyes on a future boy and do a sort of orky "taste-test" to see which one works best, but, for now, the IG can still hold their fire until they see the whites of my boyz'z eyes.

@NoobLord - The skin for the boyz takes a few steps, but it's probably even easier than it sounds. I use a black undercoat, then base-coat with Orkhide Shade, do a first highlight with Ordic Olive (a P3 color), and a second highlight with Knarloc Green. Once that's done, I add a bit of Deneb Stone to some Knarloc Green and do some really light highlight strokes with the mix... mainly on faces and such such.
Gotta say, I love the foundation colors for their flat, earthiness... they really work well for the gritty, worn, and dirty nature of orks. Using them for highlighting does require adding a bit more water than is typical for other Citadel Colors (or P3, or Vallejo for that matter), but the extra effort is offset by their awesome tones and qualities. Wow... just had a total painting geek-out moment there.

...now... back to the waaagh-bench...

Hello again! It's been awhile since the last post (work beats waaagh sometimes) but I've been slowly and surely making progress on Waaagh GitSmack.

I wasn't sure if the deffrolla prototype that I was working on recently was going to make the cut. It was coming along alright, and I liked elements of it, but it just didn't seem to have that special zing of inspiration.
But while I was sitting in front of it the other night, after a long day at work, watching it do... well, nothing... I decided to just "get 'er done".

This certainly wasn't going to be my last BattleWagon for the army (or even for the current list I'm toying around with), so why not get it to the point where I can start painting and try it out in a game?

In the orky tradition of "do more fasta", here it is:

The business end (with extra blades, thanks to the suggestions of AbsoluteBlue, Somnicide, and MagickalMemories ):


Some of the bracing:


A "driver's view":


And a fourth shot, because even numbers are neat:


I decided to keep it attached to the prow for aesthetic as well as practical reasons. I like the look of the prow on the BattleWagon kit, but also, if I decide to run a BattleWagon with out a Deffrolla, I can just pop the whole thing off. No magnets, nothing fancy, just a nice, solid, pop-on, plastic on plastic join.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out in the end. It's far from perfect, but it's orky enough to take the field and it should paint up pretty well. I should get it primed and ready for paint today, weather permitting.


Thanks for checking out the blog and please keep your C&C coming.

combine harvester style deffrolla, good idea, well executed, anymore convertin fer dis battlewagon, or is it onto the painting now??

What material did you use to make that dethrolla? Is it from a solid sheet of thin white plastic which you just cut out the shapes?

Honestly... it still just looks unfinished.
IMO, you need more blades (like, a minimum of 4 more).

LOVE the idea, though.

Eric

Very nice! I think that number of blades works well. It is enough without being cluttered - I personally like a bit of simplicity.

Can't wait to see it painted up.

Have you ever seen a carbide saw blade?
That would help this a lot.

Thanks for checking out my project blog!

nidsmaster wrote:combine harvester style deffrolla, good idea, well executed, anymore convertin fer dis battlewagon, or is it onto the painting now??

Thanks for that... I knew that growing up on a farm would come in handy for something. I think this BattleWagon is pretty much ready for painting. I built it straight from the kit, apart from the rolla, just to see how the basic kit looked and fit together... and to get it ready for gaming more quickly. The next wagon will have a lot more kustom stuff going on... I think I'll make the track portion wider for a start (I've seen some inspiring work done by others around Dakka and The Waaagh! towards this end) and then see what needs to be tinkered with from there.

Dobie wrote:What material did you use to make that dethrolla? Is it from a solid sheet of thin white plastic which you just cut out the shapes?

I used one main thickness of plasticard for the blades (I believe it was 1.5mm), cut the basic shapes, then filed and cleaned them to give the final shape. The rest was made of various thicknesses of plasticard, plastic tubing and plastic rod (for the rivets), with a little wire for some of the engine work. There are some pretty great variety packs available from evergreen plastics that give a wide selection of rods and tubes, or strips and sheets of plastic so you can get started modeling from scratch without investing too much. This stuff is usually stocked at model train stores and such, but I think I saw somewhere that P3 had put out some starter plastic packs, so you might just be able to check out your local gaming store.

MagickalMemories wrote: Honestly... it still just looks unfinished.
IMO, , you need more blades (like, a minimum of 4 more).

LOVE the idea, though.

Thanks for the suggestions More blades... hmmm... you're probably right about that, but I think I think this one will have to do without. At this point, it's gotten a little too crowded in there to fit my razor-saw for another re-cut. "Proper prior planning prevents p#@@ poor performance", according to some, and my planning on this wasn't quite proper. Paint may just have to make up the difference this time around; then I'll know for sure one way or the other before I make the next one. I'll take this as a learning experience.

somnicide wrote:Very nice! I think that number of blades works well. It is enough without being cluttered - I personally like a bit of simplicity.

Can't wait to see it painted up.

Thanks, man! Yeah... I can't wait to see it painted up either. I think this may just have to be the first piece I do with rediculous amounts of gore added to it... but we'll see.

sonofruss wrote:Have you ever seen a carbide saw blade?
That would help this a lot.

I looked at a bunch of different saw blades when I was first thinking about this rolla... I started looking at carbide edged concrete cutters and the like, but they just didn't look like they would mangle as much as make an amazingly clean cut. I based these on a picture I found of a steel-cutter circular blade that looked like it would do horrible, gruesome things to people... and LandRaiders that got in the way. The next rolla will have to have a good mix of blade types for multi-purpose deff-rolling, and for people like yourself that know their saw blades.

Thanks again! I'll try to have an updated pic or two by the end of this weekend.

They are just brilliant ork models! Absolutely genius.

Some might call this threadromancy... but honestly, the thread was just sleeping. Very soundly sleeping.

I have been steadily working on the Waaagh! (basecoating a bunch and playing a few small games), but really haven't had anything picture-worthy to share 'til now.

I thought it would be fun to show the preliminary paint (very WIP) that I've put on the the Deffrolla/BattleWagon, so here goes:

What better way to start the red paintjob than with a little gore:




... then on to a little chipped paint and a rusty exhaust:




And finally, a little tribute to a couple of my opponents:


I like the way things are coming along and I'm fond of the blood-splatter effect on the Deffrolla, though I know the physics of it are way off (the blood would run towards the edges of the blades due to loads of centrifugal force). At the moment, I feel like the splatter is more evocative than the spin pattern would be, but we'll see what wins out in the end.

I have a lot more washing, weathering and detailing to do before I'll be ready to call it done, but I'm really antsy get it table-ready and get down to work on the next unit...

Thanks for stopping by.

Looks great GitSmack! I love the rust, it photographs extremely well. I will have to recover that Crimson Fist armor from you!

Kan't wait to see the nobs all done and riding in it.

Oh yeah, the blade assembly looks so much more beefy now that it is painted. I'd like to see a better pic of the lawnmower engine on the side :-p Oh and where is the infantry model running for its life in the front?

Thanks Somnicide!

No shot of the infantryman running for his life, but here's a shot of the engine:


Again, very WIP, but I like how the little gear shield actually funneled blood splatter onto the gear ("to grease the wheels of progress with the blood of your enemies..." or something like that. )

Everything looks fantastic, seriously! I love the Rolla and the Space Marine armour plates are a great touch.

How do you get blood flecks? I seriously like this army and the way you've done the wagon.

I'm finally moved into my new place, and have at least a pretty good idea which boxes most of my modeling/painting supplies are in, so it's time to get back to work.

oni wrote:Everything looks fantastic, seriously! I love the Rolla and the Space Marine armour plates are a great touch.

Thanks for that! The positive feedback is always inspiring and I'm definitely going to stick to adding different looted armor plates as I continue on with this and the next wagon.

the_ferrett wrote:How do you get blood flecks? I seriously like this army and the way you've done the wagon.

Thanks again. I did the blood flecks with a little trick I picked up from some Fine Scale Modeling magazine I read a few years ago. I mixed Scab Red, a tiny bit of Scorched Brown, some Baal Red wash and Gryphonne Sepia wash, and then thinned the mixture down with a bit of water until the consistancy was very thin... more like ink than paint. Since it was going to be covering such a large area, I used an old toothbrush and dipped just one end in the mix. I then flicked this onto the model by running my thumb over the bristles. This is a pretty messy process, so it's best to set up a cardboard box or some other sort of splash shield to keep the paint off of the floor/drapes/walls...
On smaller scale things, you can create a similar wash and then just use a springy-bristled paintbrush and flick it using an old piece of sprue. Either way works to give a nice random splatter-effect that you can doctor with further washes of purple, red, devlan mud or sepia to get the effect you want. The pictures from the last post don't really have any additional washes, so I'll shoot a few more pictures when I get back to doctoring-up the rolla to the final look... it's decent enough to be table-ready right now, but there's always room for improvement.

With most of my paints still tucked away, I thought I'd try and knock out a few quick deff-koptaz with buzz-saws. I want to get a couple of these ready for gaming quickly, so the kopta itself is straight out of the AoBR box... the saw is the only embellishment.

Here's a general over-view:


A quick look at the back-side:


And... the part I like best... the little joystick that apparently runs the thing:


I have to file a few surfaces smooth and ding a few others (for proper orkiness), but I hope to be able to knock out a couple more of these fairly quickly now that I have the general shape down...

I'm looking forward to getting back to posting more regularly now that I'm not packing or unpacking like a mad-man... so thanks in advance for the continued inspiration!

The details with the joystick and cabling is key to making this look great! Good job!

AbsoluteBlue wrote:The details with the joystick and cabling is key to making this look great! Good job!

Thanks! I'm still working on adding appropriate levels of detail and such to things as I scratch-build. It's funny how the smallest detail can make or break a model...

On that note, I knocked together most of the second buzz-saw last night (minus the cabling) and have a third partially built.







I like how the hydrolics are looking on this and the third saw, though I'm keeping all three looking slightly different from one another to keep with the "Dis goes 'ere..." orky mentality... I'm pretty sure there aren't such things as standardized parts for orks unless they happen to be looting an operational mechanicum factory at the time...

I hope to have the third kopta with saw finished tomorrow night so I can get a group shot and then base them. I get a feeling they're going to be a lot of fun to paint.

Anyway, thanks again for checking my blog.

Wow, that is looking amazing! I love that you have used not only rivets but also bolts and nuts! I can't wait to see it painted up!

I love the joystick, it is totally one of those mechanical claw machines with the prizes in the case! That is ridiculously cool.

Thanks Somnicide. That's what I'll keep in mind as I use them to pluck guard and marine tankers out of their little metal boxes.

I'm having a lot of fun with the kopta gang - I'd proxied a couple in games before now and that put a little fire under me to get these three built. I managed to knock out the third one (and finish the second) just a few minutes ago, so I took a couple of shots of them in the fading daylight...

Here's Kopta 3:

... sadly, I didn't get a shot of the joystick on this one... It's even more of an homage to the "claw" game.

And here's a look at the whole gang:

I think I'll run them as three separate fast attack choices for now, but it's hard to say if there will be more in the list in the future...

I put them on temporary flying bases for the pic, but I'll have to get some real bases ready for them soon so I can start painting them...

Thanks for checking in.

wow...i have so much to learn from you. nice buzz saws.

Hello again. Well, I've been slacking a bit lately and not getting update pics taken, so the blog's been suffering. That's the bad news...

The good news is, that, though the blog has been idle, I haven't been completely unproductive... and I've been slowly and steadily getting more models ready to Waaagh!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been getting a second battlewagon ready for the 1750 list I'm painting towards. It's going to be carrying my burna boyz and Big Mek NugLutz himself, so I figured I should snazzy it up a bit.
Now, Burna boyz like nothing better than making folks do the "burny dance". In order to make their burny dreams come true, they need fuel... lots and lots of fuel.
With that in mind, I set about modifying a wagon to give them just that... more fuel.

The front (with a plank for NugLutz to reach out and claw other "wagons" from):


Did someone say promethium?:


That rigga looks like he's been sniffin' the barrel again:


A better view of the half-finished shoutin platform:


The rigga's ready for lunch or for bashin sumfin':


Still needs some work before I'm ready to throw rivets on it, but it's starting to take shape.

I think I'm going to have to get some small gage rubber-coated electrical wiring for fuel hoses so that it looks like the burnaz could fill-up or hook-into the big tank.

It might also be fun to add a few more oil drums strapped around the outside of the crew compartment... maybe leaking from bullet holes... but I'm not sure about that. What do you guys think?

I also want to add a deffrolla to this wagon, but with the new ork upgrade sprue coming, I may have to wait for it.

Should I add more plating around the shooting ports in the crew compartment, or do you think that it might seem like I've added an 'ard top (which I really don't want people to think I've added)?

In any case, thanks in advance for your input and thanks for checking my blog!

Your conversions are amazing!

Oui when you next see that wagon it will be blue cause I am nickin' it.

Lookin great! I love the grot with lunchpail - he must be a union grot! I like the flame coming out of tank too, remind me of those refineries.

Once more, I hate you.

Absolutely fantastic! It makes me want to pick up Orks, as odd as that is from a Guardsman view.

I hope we can get some tutorials for the buzzsaws and riveting techniques when you have time.

Keep up this fantastic work! I hope you inspire us all further, and us inspire you in kind!

Thanks for the great feedback! With this kind of encouragement, I can hardly wait to get back to the workbench.

@ ShadowRocket - A Guard player considering orks... now there's a compliment. It may be a little while before I build another buzz-saw, (I have to finish up this beast and get the rest of my 1750 list painted) but as soon as I do, I'll make sure to do a step-by-step tutorial (including the rivets)... they were loads of fun to do and I'm sure another one or two would come in handy. Aporkalypse?...

@ Somnicide - Hehe... the grot union... I can imagine such a thing existing, and I can also imagine that it wouldn't do them a darn bit of good. Like we were talking about the other day, though, I'm going to have to do a whole pit-crew of grots at some point.

@ sonofruss - When lootaz start taking interest in my conversions, I must be doing something right.

@ Vaako - Cheers! Now I need to finish my list.

I'm hoping to get some more build time in on Sunday, but, in the meantime, here's a shot I forgot to post yesterday:


I'm pretty sure I can fit the boxy big shoota turret in that turret ring, but I might go with a hatch instead and just have one of the big shoota boyz stand on the platform to represent the wagon's armament. Do you think anyone would have a problem with that being considered WYSIWIG?

As long as they are armed with what they are shooting you can do what ever you want with the gunners.

Back again with a little progress on my second BattleWagon.

Here's a quick tour around:













After taking the pictures, I've noticed a couple of places that I've missed a rivet or two, but other than that, I'm pretty satisfied with how it's shaping up.

I'm using the new BattleWagon upgrade sprue's lobba to put a regular "kannon" in that little hatch up front. I may have to do some barrel modification on it so it will live up to WYSIWIG, but that shouldn't be too difficult (fingers crossed). Once that's done (and I've added the missing rivets) I'll only need to put a filler handle on the other end of the promethium hose and I think it'll be time to prime this puppy.

Thanks for checking in.

Looks great. I like the empty holes where the rivets should be - I say you leave it like that - orks are lazy gits, if it holds with fewer rivets then that is all that is needed ;-)

I also like the corrugated looking iron plasticard you are using in some places. Can't wait to see it all rusted and craptastic.

Thanks Som! I replaced the lobba barrel with a Kannon barrel last night, so the "Burny Dance Party Wagon" might just be ready for primer.



I also decided to cheat a little bit and magnetize the fuel tank so that it can pop into and out of the back of the wagon. Just in case my burna boyz need to take a vacation from the list at some point.

Tomorrow I think I'll be able to get a group shot of the army as it stands thusfar.

Hello again.

Well, I couldn't find a decent place to lay out my army and take a shot of it, so I had to make do with the kitchen table... and a gray day in L.A..
Add some terrible lighting to a poor backdrop and guess what you get? A bad picture of an army, but a picture nonetheless!



That's the whole 1750 list in progress right now. Two units of 12 trukk boyz with PK nobz, a unit of 15 burna boyz with Big Mek NugLutz in a battlewagon, a really krunchy unit of 10 Nobz in another battlewagon with Warboss GitSmack, and three Deff Koptaz with buzz saws and twin linked rokkets. Not the most competitive list, but it has a little punch and has been pretty fun to play so far.

Speaking of Deff Koptaz...



I got the metal on them base-coated last night so I can start painting them this week.

And while I was taking these shots, I realized that I'd never posted a pic of painboy RibSplitta (...not totally sold on the name... I'm open for suggestions. ) with paint on him:



Looks like time to get back to painting for awhile until the next converting bug bites.

Thanks for checking the blog, and, as always, comments and suggestions are welcome!

Really awesome painboy you got there. Where did the dirty lil syringe on the Nob buzzsaw arm come from?

Man, looking at that army pic has got me all excited for you.

It really shows that you aren't that far out from getting it finished up. And the extra mile you went on each and every model is actually quite visible, even from a bad picture, taken at a bad angle, in bad lighting.

This would be a fantastic army to be at the center of your collection, and as per what we have been talking about for the last two months, I have to now endorse the orks as the army you take up to apocalypse size. Forgeworld is just about to give you a shot in the arm, BIG TIME. Plus its one of two out of sixteen armies with plastic superheavy support. It is kismet really.

And Planetary Empires comes out this weekend. You are hereby challenged... See if you can wrest Nimbosa from the Vostroyans, star-savage! (spits)

Phenomenal pics and notes - every post you make seems to throw up new ideas for conversions

Thanks for the feedback.

@Ronin - That "dirty lil syringe" (made me laugh to read that ) is mainly from one of the hand weapons on the biker boyz sprue. I think it's supposed to be a torn out transmission or somesuch. I chopped the handle off of it, drilled out both ends, ran guitar string from one end into the backpack (made of the promethium tanks off of a cadian flamer) and then clipped then ends off of a couple of pins and glued them into the other end. I filed the pins a bit before clipping them so the only blood on the model would be artificial.

@Shep - With a challenge like that, how can I say no? Thanks for the extra encouragement in the direction of orks. Setting things out on the table this morning got me thinking that I might be able to finish this list off more quickly than I'd previously thought. With all of the fun I've had converting things (and all the new ideas that keep popping up ) and how quickly a Stompa or two would add up points-wise, I'm starting to see more and more green in my future. Oh, and I'm pretty sure it's spelled Aporkalypse.
Nimbosa, eh? Vostroyans? Planetary empires, here we come! As long as there's sumfin there to fight, it's on!

@ComeFindMe - Thanks for that. It's always cool to hear when something I've knocked together helps spark another player's imagination. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Cheers all and thanks again for checking my blog.

Your work is very inspiring. Makes me want to get to painting (if I can get away from my kids). Awesome job!

Unbelievable work. Amazing.

The blood looks really good! tutorial steps please! ( the doc's mask )

also the deff kopta arms look so good too , should cast that :3

best conversion ive seen yet for a deff rolla!
Awesome looking army!

Looking great Gitsmack! I love the metal effect you have for the base on your dethkoptas

Can't wait to get in a game!

Great looking conversions. The blood effect on the deffrolla and chipped / worn paint are superb. Keep up the amazing work GitSmack .

OMG that is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Congrats on winning Player's Choice and Best Painted (good on ya, Dave - btw, a true gentleman and avatar of the hobby) at the Battlefoam Wild West Shootout with these boyz!

Patrick

Thanks to Somnicide for the kudos and thanks to Dave Taylor for being one heck of a great sport as well as an amazing hobbyist. Somnicide, let's try and get in a game next week. Dave, I'm looking forward to that next shot to get a game in with you... shall we say 2011?

@TheKellector, Lumpy, LunaHound, ShotgunFacelift, s1gns, and SuperSN: Thanks for the inspiring words... I wish I had responded to your posts before now, but your feedback really helped keep me motivated to finish for the BattleFoam Wild West Shootout (which was a blast!). Thanks again!

@LunaHound: I'll try to get a good blood effects tutorial worked up soon. Just to prepare, if you're getting ready to throw out an old toothbrush, clean it really well and keep it with your painting/sculpting tools instead... it'll come in handy for the small scale splatter effect.

So... long time, no updates...

Life got pretty busy around the middle of August and I was only able to keep one part of the hobby rolling from then through last weekend. Since I couldn't very well blog about an army I wasn't working on, it was an easy choice to stick with finishing up "Da Waaagh".
With a lot of squeezing hobby time in around the edges of my schedule, I managed to get my army finished in time for the BattleFoam indie GT last Saturday and managed 4 draws and 1 loss over the tourney (weirdest... record... ever... ). I had a great time and played against some really great gamers (4 out of 5 of whom were from Fresno, oddly enough...) with crazy-awesome looking armies.
There's nothing like playing against 5 different armies, all with amazing paintjobs, to inspire thoughts of the next army or project. In this case, I had so much fun playing my boyz that I'm going to keep on expanding my collection instead of jumping over to another army.


I have to take some shots of the finished army today/tonight and I'll post them as soon as I do.

After that... I'm not entirely sure which models are going to be on the workbench next... shoota boyz? lootaz?

decisions, decisions...

Hey Gitsmack

it was great to meet you and the guys over the weekend and see these great models up close. We'll definitely have to get a game in "next time"!

Cheers
Dave

Thanks Dave! It was great meeting you too and getting to talk "hobby". I'll put up that brush review for you as soon as I get a few good weeks of painting in with it.

Ok... so after getting back from the tourney, I've once again jumped into the soup of life-being-crazy. Because of this, I wasn't able to set up the display board and get it well lit enough to really see much more than a pile of grubby, nasty figs; so I opted to take a few individual pics of pieces that you've all only seen in WIP stages up 'til now.

And, yes, I still need a light-box.

Anyway, here are a few shots; let me know what ya think:

First off, my DeffKoptas:

I figured the one with the biggest Buzz Saw had the most teef, so he got some extra yellow paint (and a wicked grin ) :



The one with the second biggest Buzz Saw tried using even more red paint to go fasta (with no observable difference in-game ):


The Kopta with the smallest saw was more Goff... practical, not showy:



I managed to get a slightly more gory effect on the Boss's DeffRolla (which was a lot of fun plowing through Plague Bearers with ):


In tribute to a friend's Dark Angels, I added another trophy plate:


And, because I plan to scratch-build a Fighta-Bomba or two for Aporkalypse, I figured an aerial identification marker for the Boss's wagon would be cool:


Nuglutz (the brainz behind the army) wasn't about to give the Boss all of the best bitz, so his wagon got a nice, personal treatment too:


With a little extra fuel for his burny buddies:




With his own aerial I.D. marker:


And a little "zazz" for his boarding plank :


And lastly, I didn't ever post PainBoy RibSplitta's backpack of "fun". Sure the Nobz get Feel No Pain from it, but that's only 'til the game's over... then there's pain aplenty:


Anyway, thanks again for checking my blog.

I wouldn't have ever gotten to 1750pts. without the inspiration you all have give me.

Now... on to the next lot...

I love it! Especially Ribsplitta. Would you consider sharing the technique you used for his mask? I have a medic who could really use a suitably gory paint job.

Also really loving the paint job on the Wagons. Are you going to keep adding trophy plates as you (inevitably) win?

This things looks great man! You have really got the things to look very orkish, keep upp the good work.
-Q0rbin-

I simply adore RibSplitta. He oozes character and is extremely well painted to boot. I'm not usually a fan of Orks but do enjoy a well painted Ork army

I agree with Infiltraitor, really well painted army

Gitsmack,

I love the way you've painted your wagons! I've been trying to come up with a paint scheme for mine and I am inspired by your "trophy" panels. I now plan to decorate my wagons with panels such as these modelled after my buddies SM and CSM army schemes.

Absolutely brilliant!

Great work so far! I might borrow some of you ideas for my Waaagh!

Excellent job, your burgeoning Waaagh looks fantastic!

Nice dude, real nice.

I would say you have a perfect looking army, i salute you!


Slappy

The gore on that razor saw on the Battlewagon made me feel queasy, or maybe that was lunch? Anyway, i am kicking myself for focusing on Sersi too much and ignoring this awesome blog.

loving this as I jsut picked up the thread. Great work overall and moe to the point I love the gore, but really like the ork flesh work you did.

Thanks for the great feedback! This army has been a blast so far and I'm already working on the next bunch (no pics yet, but I've knocked together some shoota boyz and a few lootaz that I hope to get some primer on tomorrow).

I'm glad to hear that the trophy panels are going over well. It's great fun trying to figure out what part of an enemy symbol an ork might choose to loot, show, and where they might put it. Add in the bonus challenge of trying to keep a riot of colors from seeming too muddled and it's even more fun.

I figure I'll keep adding trophy panels until I run out of room and have to start a new vehicle.


As for RibSplitta's mask... The splatter effect only requires a few things. First, grab some water, some baal red wash, some sepia wash, scab red, scorched brown, and chaos black paint. Also grab a toothpick and a fairly springy brush like the GW standard brush or small drybrush. You'll probably want to set up a cardboard box or something similar to set your model in while you splatter it. Use it as a back-splash/splatter-catch to keep the paint off of your carpet, walls, bed, windows, etc....
Now, on your palette, mix some scab red paint, a bit of baal red wash, a tiny bit of scorched brown and add water until you have a very thin mixture (similar to the consistency of water but well pigmented). If you want it to seem a bit less fresh, you can add a tiny bit of chaos black to the mix - be very careful as the tiniest bit of black makes a huge impact. The sepia wash lends a bit of yellow and can be added to the mix or lightly brushed on the spots after flicking to represent some of the blood plasma oozing into the fibers.

Once the color seems right, place your model in the box and pick up your toothpick. Hold it parallel to the base and a couple of inches from the model you want splattered. Load the brush just slightly (you want it to be fairly dry so the droplets will remain small) and brush it perpendicularly across the toothpick so that the bristles flick paint onto the model. It's best to err on the side of less paint than you think you'll need... you can always adjust to add more if you're not getting the desired effect, but it's really hard to go back once the paint starts flying.

I'll knock out a tutorial with pics for the splatter effect (and the gore on the deffrolla, if you all would like it) as soon as I have a chance...

Again, thanks for checking the blog and keeping me fired-up.

I think you rock!!!

DC

Hey there... no blood-splatter tutorials yet, but a quick little update on the Waaagh-front...

I've joined up with Shep, Somnicide, AbsoluteBlue and a bunch of other folks at our FLGS for a "Tale of Many Gamers" league. I'm not entirely sure if this was a good idea (), but it may be just the fuel I need in order to add a foot-slogging horde element to my army and get it assembled and painted relatively quickly. My first 1750pts were all pretty "choppy", so this time around I'm going to build a bunch of "shooty" units, just to see what they can accomplish.
Again... not sure if this is a good idea, but only time and sanity (or the lack thereof) will tell...

Since the first 500pts of my burgeoning horde (following the limitations of 4th editon's combat patrol) needs to be painted up by December 19th, I've been building boyz like a madman. Thusfar, the list looks something like this:
14 Lootaz - 210pts.
30 Boyz with 3 rokkits, Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole - 250pts.
10 Grotz with a Runtherd - 40pts.

55 infantry models in 52 days. What did I get myself into!?!?


I've decided that part of the theme for Waaagh GitSmack (which I've been writing up some background for and will post later) is that it all started on a Imperial Material Reprocessing World. I figure that the Munitorium or Mechanicum would recover high quality scrap from battlefields and send it to some sort of storage/junkyard planet near a foundry/forgeworld to be turned into new equipment for the Imperial War machine. This kind of world would be a mekboy's wonderland and a great place for a few ork spores to turn into a huge amount of mischief/trouble for everyone.

To represent this, I've started adding a bit of scrap metal (plasticard off-cuts, dinged and damaged to scale) to my models' bases as part of that theme.

Just a couple of quick shots to give you an idea of where I'm headed:

My Grot unit (complete with their scrap heaps):




And what junk-yard would be complete without a squig-hound?


A quick look at my first 30 shoota boyz:

And their nob:


And my first bunch of Lootaz:


After putting together so many boyz, I thought it might be fun to start working on a unit of Killa Kanz for the next 250point bit of my ToMG list. I'm not a huge fan of the current metal Kanz, so I thought I'd try making one that looks a bit more like a big metal ork. This is a really early WIP, but I kind of like the way it's headed:


Now, back to work so I can prime these puppies this weekend and maybe get a bit more done on that Kan ...

Thanks for stopping by!

looks nice, cant wait to see the killa kanz

Cheers

LFF666

Dude, where'd you learn to be so skilled with plasticard like that?!! The leg of that Kan rivals some of FWs stuff IMHO. I think you're stuff is really awesome, way to go.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Just a quick little update... I managed to get a hip joint on the leg:


I put in a little bit of work on the second leg and the base of the Kan body, but realized I didn't have any 60mm bases handy.
I did a fairly long search on the interwebs to try and find out what size of base GW sells Killa Kanz with. I know they used to be on 40mm, but I found a few recent pics of them on 60mm bases... hmm...

Anyway, no pics of any of that yet, but it looks like I'll be waiting for a GW order of 60mm bases to make sure I can get a fairly stompy action pose out of the li'l git.

Cheers and thanks for checking in.

Nice cant wait to see the kans "pod" that would be awesome

Older Kans came with 40mm bases newer ones come with 60mm (or not at all, which is why I know the sizes off hand).

Great work on this. I love the BWagons!

I thik you'll find that, once painted up, those scrap heap bases are going to double th quality of the model. All my orks are on city ruins bases (CoD bits, plasticard, pipes, etc). It's amazing.

Two suggestions:
1) Fine sand. When painted gray or brown with the scrap heap bits, it'll look awesome
2) If you go with the fine sand painted brown, you can put in little patches of static grass. VERY little. A little badab black in the middle of a patch of static grass, and it looks oil-stained.


Waaagh!


Eric

ok, here comes some questions about paint Are you using foundation paints on your reds and yellows etc? because they look really sweet! and also, what washes are you using on your metals?

This army takes awesome to a new level I tell ya!

cheers from RM

No new pics today... tiny bits of progress on the kan, but it's not quite picture worthy, so the next look will have to wait 'til this weekend.

@LiveforFun666 - I'm looking forward to getting the "pod" into a more final configuration. Right now I'm debating having a grot somewhat visible and wired into the thing... not sure about that yet, but I'm thinking about having him peaking through a slit much like the "windows" on the new BattleWagon kit. It's either that or slide slightly more towards the "penitent engine" look, but without quite as much exposure. I should have some pics this weekend, but suggestions are welcome.

@Grimgob - Thanks for the info on the 60mm bases. I ordered some and they arrived yesterday, making me one happy big mek.

@MagickalMemories - Thanks for the compliment on the BattleWagons. I'm pretty pleased with them and their game performance... I was actually able to deffroll two units of plaguebearers and a unit of horrors in one go during game one of the Wild West Shootout... rare but memorable.
I'm really looking forward to upping the ante on the rest of the bases for my orks. The scrap look is more and more fun to create every base I do... and it's a good thing, with at least 45 more boyz, a couple HQ's and a herd of walkers for the next list I'm building towards.
I've started gluing a mix of fine sand and medium ballast (about 90% fine sand) to the bases around the scrap, with a little bit of fine sand in select areas on top of the scrap and, though paint is absent, it looks like it's going to turn out nicely. Thanks for the suggestions.

@Rose_Mountainz - Thanks! Yeah, I'm mainly using foundation paints for the army as a whole. They give a nice flat appearance and are fairly muted and earthy... perfect for orks. I tend to mix in a little bit of Dheneb Stone as a highlight to the vehicles... it gives a sun-bleached look to the already muted foundation paints that really goes with the sort of desert world theme that I've been playing with.
As for the washes... I use a lot of Badab Black for getting the dark steel look (mainly on the vehicles and weapons) and Gryphonne Sepia for much of the armor and metallic equipment on the boyz. Gryphonne Sepia is probably my favorite wash for making things look used without over-powering the detail. It's subtle with a capital B.

Thanks for checking my blog... now, back to the daily grind, already in progress...

Wear did you get all that plastic card I would like to know pleas, and a really good job keep it up

this is too proppa! I'm flabbergasted!

Great work GitSmack. The paintjob on your battlewagons is fantastic!

Beautiful work. Definitely giving me a lot of ideas.

I'm still loving the overall job your doing herte. Hell you are making me want to do up some orks just looking at them. My favorit so far to date though a tough one would have to be the doc. I have to say the eyes looming over the mask and the needle potruding out from the side of the fist really clinches it for me. I like many others look forward to seeing more as time goes on.

a little idea for the pod could be that oyu make big metal jaws, like the fw deff dread. or when it comes to killa kans, who are grots, a smaller "runtier version.
Think of the oversized weapons an ordinary grot is carrying, think of a kan as a metal grot carrying big gunz
All i could think of for now

Cheers

LFF666

what is your recipe for the metal...somnicide gave me a run down off his head...can you confirm? your army looks great!

No preasure but we were told that there would be a update last weekend but were is it
XD just joshin around, i can understand if youre bussy butg would love to see more of what you've done

cheers

LFF666

First off, thanks for all the great feedback! Regrettably, I don't really have anything new to show you today as my hobby time has been temporarily clobbered by work/life stuff, but I did want to get back to all of you that have taken time to check in...

@Death Gear - I pick up plastic card mainly at a little hobby shop in Burbank, CA called Burbank House of Hobbies. The store is a little neighborhood hobby shop that mainly specializes in model cars and trains, but carries a lot of Plastruct and Evergreen Plastics products. Really, any good model store or model train store will tend to have plastic card. I use both Plastruct and Evergreen Plastic products mainly, as they tend to be the main plastic card producers supplying hobby shops around here and most of the west coast of the U.S.. I know that they both have an online presence and you can order directly from them, but I never have, so I can't really say much about that... I may have to try it in the future, but for now, I'll keep supporting my local hobby shop.

@daedalusaf - Flabbergasted... now that's a word I haven't seen in awhile... and it rocks! Thanks!

@Anung Un Rama - Thanks for that! I've been checking out your ork handiwork for quite some time... kudos right back at ya!

@Tyyr - Thank you as well, and I hope that some of those ideas turn into fun projects for you.

@Empchild - Another potential orky convert? Excellent (said with a "Mr.Burns" tone as opposed to a "Wayne's World" one... whew, there's an old reference...). I'm glad you like RibSplitta too... When I saw the plastic nobz box, I knew that I'd have to build my painboy out of it and I'm pretty happy I did. Thanks for extra encouragement... I may have to put in some more time with green stuff soon...

@Antman677 - Thanks for the compliment. The metal recipe that I use for most of my army is pretty simple. For vehicles it's boltgun metal (or pigiron from P3) overbrushed over a black basecoat then heavily washed with Badab Black. I usually then go back and pick out areas that need more grubbiness with more black, sepia or devlan wash, or sometimes washes of scorched brown, graveyard earth and other watered down colors for added depth.
The main metal recipe for my boyz is boltgun washed with Gryphonne sepia. I love the way that the sepia takes the shine off of the metal and makes it a little worn without losing any of the detail. I usually go back and hit edges with boltgun, chainmail or mithril depending on how much abuse the edge may have taken...
Considering how well you use NMM technique on your termies, I can't wait to see what you're planning to do with this...

@LiveforFun666 - Thanks for the suggestions! I was already thinking that a giant jaw-plate would look good and your suggestion is sending me further in that direction.
I can't wait to get back to work on that Kan... it's just lying there in pieces on my workbench... a sad state of being that I must soon remedy...

Cheers and thanks again for checking in...

Oh... and, for a little teaser... while not "new" new; here's a quick shot of something I started bashing together when I put together that mob of lootaz earlier:

It needs a LOT of work, but it's a start.

Hehe...

hehehehe....

That looks pretty cool.

LOVE that gun, it has LOTZ of dakka

Cheers

LFF66

Sweet project. Looking forward to seeing more conversion-y stuff like the BW modifications and excited to see what shape the Kanz take! Different shaped Kanz in one mob I think would be cool.

- Blackbone

Awesome thanks Gitsmack, will have to grab some badad and give it a whirl!

Awesome models, loving the gun

Thanks for checking in!

Just a quick few progress pics of the Kan before I take a little break for Thanksgiving week (lots of work to be done).
I haven't gotten too much done, but I have gotten in a bit more work on the second leg and I got the basic shape for the lower part of the Kan and the hips worked out. Obviously the lower part of the Kan is nowhere near done, but I thought I'd stick things together temporarily for a look at the stride:

First up, a frontal look:


Little bit of the very rough left leg:


And as it strides away:


Again, everything is in the really rough early stages and I won't get to put much more work in for at least a week, but the shape and the stride of the thing are starting to come together. The torso of the Kan probably won't be more than double the height it is now, so it will be nice an squat.

As always... comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

very nice! looks like hes lumbering around awkwardly...just like a gretchin in a trashcan would!

of to a good start, be sure to make it gritty and groty

Cheers

LFF666

as usual great stuff man.

AMAZING CONVERSION WORK!!!

Very orky, you should be on the 'eavy metal team.

Great painting. Great, orginal conversions. Great everything.