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So, I'm just too dang cheap to come off the funds for a Forge World Ork Biker Boss.
I mean, someday I will... and I need 2 anyway... but I doubt I'll want to buy 2. Can't justify the cost.

So, I sat down and decided that I was going to convert myself one. had NO idea how I was going to do it. I thought I'd end up using an AoBR Warboss as the rider and God KNOWS what I'd do for the bike. I know I wanted a trike, though.

So, I gathered a big pile of crap... err... bits.



A few things became obvious. A couple bits left over from a trukk conversion/assembly would be the rear end/axel.



I might need a Power Klaw:



A pair of Wrecking Ball pieces for forks (I left the small bit of chain on there because I liked the look), and a smaller Trukk tire for the front tire. Both sides were filled with greestuff for uniformity, and a small wheel/handle bit from the Battlewagon box was added to each side. A brass rod was run through the center of the tire.

The forks have the holes drilled in them for the rod to seat into.



Try as I might, however, I just couldn't find any way to build a body with the bits & plasticard that I had handy. Sure, I could go out and buy some stuff to help... but it defeated the purpose. I wanted to work with what I had on hand.
Finally, I settled on something I didn't want to do.
Deff Kopta conversion. : (

Most that I've seen just look like rubbish. I did NOT want mine to look that way.

Carefully, I trimmed away the pieces I KNEW would be excess, then I assembled it. Note that the vents on the front are, now, covered with plasticard.



Some of the areas I trimmed away left gaps & holes since.... Well, they really weren't MEANT to be hacked apart, now, were they?
A thin strip of plasticard that I bought a package of a while back (on a whim) did the trick.



Not too shabby.

More to follow.


Eric

Intresting ! Keep us all updated

Yes indeed, very intresting! that claw could be cool operated like a joystick, so the boss can reach longer!

Cheers

LFF666

This looks promising.

Or have the bike leaning to one side, with the claw ploughing up a furrow as it hurtles forward and then make a larger diorama base with a firewarrior or guardsman running for his life to avoid getting snagged.

Ooo oo oo mad ork biker syndrome! I must admit I would never have thought of doing that until I saw your post. The best of it is, those Kopta's are so darn cheap to get a hold of.

I will have to point this post out to my friend so he can borrow your ideas for his force...

I am impatiently awaiting more results!

Tzarinchilla wrote:Ooo oo oo mad ork biker syndrome! I must admit I would never have thought of doing that until I saw your post. The best of it is, those Kopta's are so darn cheap to get a hold of.

Well, I can't pretend to be the first person to think of making that conversion.
I do think, however, mine is coming along far better than just about any I've seen (he's almost finished... the blog just isn't caught up yet).


Eric

I guess 2+ weeks is too long to wait to update this.
I'll have to see if I can get everything in this post & get it caught up to current.

So, I took one of the front bits from the Ork Trukk kit and added it to the rear of the Deth Kopta as such:



I was amazed at how little needed to be done to get this to fit. VERY little filing was done to the insides of the bit where they sat against the Deth Kopta frame. In fact, not much more than it took to remove the litle bit of flash that was present on the piece.

The only place this is connected is the rear center, there the "bottom" of the trukk bit meets the back of the Deth Kopta. As such, plastic glue was used. In fact, 95% of this piece, hobbled together as it is, is attached with plastic glue.


Here, you see the underside of the rear of the bike... I've attached the axel bit to the trukk bit shown above. Plastic glued again, of course.



You can see where it's connected to the Kopta fram, so that it looks like the drive shaft is coming from there. A little greenstuff will be used (very little) to fill the miniscule gap at the bottom.

A rear view of the connection:



The forks, attached:



As you can see, part of each Wrekking Ball arm was snipped away when compared to the earlier image of the bits. It just wouldn't work. Since the offending bit was on the same side, it was on the INSIDE on one side & the OUTSIDE on the other. As a result, it just wouldn't line up properly.
I'm not sure what I'll have coming from the open spaces, but I do not intend on leaving them "empty."

Lastly, the (nearly) completed "Warboss:"



Ad you see, it dwarfs the partially painted Bad Moons bike it's shown next to for comparison.
PLEASE, don't criticize the incomplete painted bike. LOL It's only there for comparison. It's one of 6 Nob Bikes that will eventually be shown when I'm done painting them.

You can see a few details in this image.
1) Nob head swapped out for stock DK head.
2) Battlewagon tires on the back
3) Boss Pole represented by bits from a Battlewagon.

What's great about this bosspole (from an assembly standpoint) is the way it's attached. In the sopt directly below the "cwoling" at the bottom is a hole that shows up them part of the Kopta is cut away. rather than having to cover or sculpt over that spot, I widened the hole & just slid the pole down into it to the cowling. With the amount of inserted pole & the use of plastic glue along its entire length, this bosspole is in ther VERY firmly.



Note that the arms are won't be attached until partway through the painting process, so they don't seem to fit right.

This shot givew you a view of the front with the "Power Klaw" attached.
I decided to go with this option, rather than an arm swap because (a) I didn't feel like having to add on an empty handle after removing an arm and (the biggest reason) I'm out of PK bits after trying to equip 10 Biker Nobs (2 squads @ 5 each).



This shows another angle from the front.
It shows how I REALLY need to find SOMETHING to do with the area where the missiles (rokkits) were sawed away from.
I was thinking about glyph plates, but I'm not certain that would be enough.



So, that's him. That's the (nearly) complete model.
Now, the rear tires & arms aren't attached, so forgive me if they look crooked or wrong. The tires will be attached AFTER assembly. I already mentioned the arms.

Any thoughts or ideas for that front end? I'd like to do a LITTLE something more with it.

Eric

Looks very good! A suggestion for the front end - if you've got any spare Lootas lying around that you won't use, you could always hack apart one of the Loota guns and glue it in place there to act as a Dakkagun - I bet it would fit pretty well, and what good Ork wouldn't enjoy picking up some hapless 'umie and holding him in front of the gun just before he shoots? Everyone'd get a good laugh outta that!

Thanks for the advice.
I actually think the loota bits are too valuable for that.
I do, however, have a couple big shootas I've "tied" together. I'm messing around with ways to mount them, now.
I tried to see what they'd look like sticking out of that space, but it looks like the Ork Bike equivalent of buck teeth. LOL

I DID, however, use a Mekboy gun as a flamer bit for a TL flamer on a Nob bike. Looks perfect.


Eric

MagickalMemories wrote:

Ad you see, it dwarfs the partially painted Bad Moons bike it's shown next to for comparison.
PLEASE, don't criticize the incomplete painted bike. LOL It's only there for comparison. It's one of 6 Nob Bikes that will eventually be shown when I'm done painting them.

Eric

I know you asked us nicely not to criticize the incomplete Bad Moons bike, but I just have to.

So...here goes....the only thing wrong with it is that it's a Bad Moons bike.

Just kidding MM. It looks great so far(the bad moons bike).


Any idea what you're doing for the Dakkagunz on the Boss bike? Possibly the Twin linked autocannons from the defiler kit, if you have them readily available? I think those would look rather nice, and suitably large and in charge so to speak for the Warboss to have on his ride. Loving the trike, though.

I like the trike, but the Warboss is way to weedy doesn't even look like a Nob to me.

@Guytie

Well, you're right that he's too weedy to be a Warboss.
I think I covered it above, though... It was just more work than I was willing to go through. I'm not trying to win any awards with this one, just represent a Nob on Bike.
Even if the rider doesn't have the size to pull it off (LOL) I think the trike does.

As for being too small to be a Nob... that's actually what he is. Death Koptas are, essentially, Nobs on Koptas. Size-wise, he compares to your typical Nob.

@Alaric

As it happens, I DO have a Defiler on sprue. It's available for bits, too, as I'll be using arms/legs from it in the Big Mek Stompa I've scratch built (mostly). It just needs arms, weapons & feet. That's where the Defiler comes in.

How would you suggest I MOUNT those guns, though?
The bit they mount to on the defiler is far too big for this bike.

Eric

Well, without having a set on hand for size reference, maybe mount one on each side of the bike with the boxy end towards the back end of the bike, maybe even as far back as under the wheel guards. You'd probably end up having to remove the ammo feeds doing that though. Looks like you have room on the rear underside you might be able to make an ammo box/feed for it there.

Or maybe, one on each side of the handlebars/forks...that might also help block out the one area you were looking at hiding/covering up.

Just a couple of quick thoughts is all. My thinking was to not use the mounting bit for the guns, but to find a way to mount them where you can/have room.

I only suggested them, because I'm trying to get a hold of a set of them, to mount on the Biker boss I have on the way from FW. So my mind is trying to figure out a way to attach them to it.

Thanks for the input.
As for your FW Bike boss... he really won't need MORE guns. Two of the guys I game with have the model. He's got loads of dakka. He's a spectacular representation for Wazdakka (spelling is off, I'm sure), in fact.
It's a great model. You'll love it.

I think that, whatever guns I use, they'll have to be mounted to the tops of the wheel guards. There really is minimal room under there with the big Battlewagon tires in the back.
I looked at side mounts and, with the lines of the Kopta that it's based on, it won't work withough a bunch of fixing. If I just glued it to the side, the guns would shoot out at a weird angle. LOL

Thanks for the input. Keep it coming.
It's helping me get some ideas churning!

Eric

totally awesome conversion, but your 'biker boss' is gigantic! Are you worried he's going to be a massive target?

Nah. Not so much.
My primary enjoyment from the hobby is modelling. Secondary is the social aspect. The actual game comes 3rd or 4th, depending on how I'm feeling about painting at that particular moment. : )

He was made because I wanted a BOSS I thought was cool, without paying FW prices for 2 of 'em (I'll EVENTUALLY pick up a FW version).
If I was worried about targeting, I'd just convert a regular biker.

Thanks!

Eric

Has anyone mentioned the truck grill for the front of that boss ride? It looks like it would fit perfectly, but I'm not sure... cause they aren't both in front of me to try. I think it would look pretty sweet with the grill too.

Wow ..this is pretty nice Cant wiat to see it painted

The Good Green wrote:Has anyone mentioned the truck grill for the front of that boss ride? It looks like it would fit perfectly, but I'm not sure... cause they aren't both in front of me to try. I think it would look pretty sweet with the grill too.

I thought the same thing. Unfortunately, I thought the same thing AFTER the forks were assembled & attached.
The radiator (I think that's what you meant) is wider than the front of the Kopta. So, the grill would have needed SERIOUS trimming, or the forks would've needed widening.

Widening the forks would've ruined their look, and trimming the radiator would've looked weird because there wouldn't have been enough housing around it (IMO).
I was quite disappointed that it wasn't a bit smaller.

Good thought, though.


@gretar
Thanks!

Eric

MagickalMemories wrote:

The Good Green wrote:Has anyone mentioned the truck grill for the front of that boss ride? It looks like it would fit perfectly, but I'm not sure... cause they aren't both in front of me to try. I think it would look pretty sweet with the grill too.

I thought the same thing. Unfortunately, I thought the same thing AFTER the forks were assembled & attached.
The radiator (I think that's what you meant) is wider than the front of the Kopta. So, the grill would have needed SERIOUS trimming, or the forks would've needed widening.

Widening the forks would've ruined their look, and trimming the radiator would've looked weird because there wouldn't have been enough housing around it (IMO).
I was quite disappointed that it wasn't a bit smaller.

Good thought, though.


@gretar
Thanks!

Eric

I've just attached the trukk radiator (it looks like a grill) to a deffkopta (after taking the rokkits off in a similiar manner, for an apache gunship styled deffkopta conversion I am working on) - and it fits perfectly! Are you sure we are all talking about the same thing? I had planned this for awhile so that I wouldn't need to patch the gap left by the rokkits - and it looks cool / like it was meant to be too.

Keep up the good work. As always, I find these threads great for new and interesting ideas. Just sorry I can't really add anything back at the moment...

Arakasi wrote:I've just attached the trukk radiator (it looks like a grill) to a deffkopta (after taking the rokkits off in a similiar manner, for an apache gunship styled deffkopta conversion I am working on) - and it fits perfectly! Are you sure we are all talking about the same thing? I had planned this for awhile so that I wouldn't need to patch the gap left by the rokkits - and it looks cool / like it was meant to be too.

Keep up the good work. As always, I find these threads great for new and interesting ideas. Just sorry I can't really add anything back at the moment...

I can image it WOULD look cool... and it wold be a great way to convert a Kopta that wasn't using Rokkits. Unfortunately, if you run your fingers along the sides of the Kopta in the front, you'll feel that the radiator is slightly (milimeters) wider than the Kopta, which narrows in the front.
Due to the angled nature of the front of the Kopta, the forks are angled, too. Since the sides of the radiator are flat, and not angled like the Kopta, it won't fit in the gap.
Without the forks limiting the room, though, I'd imagine that it would fit easily.

...of course, at that point, I'd be back to the issue of the forks not attaching properly.

Eric

MagickalMemories wrote:...I can image it WOULD look cool... and it wold be a great way to convert a Kopta that wasn't using Rokkits...

Mine *is* using rokkits - just underslung a custom built wing *** thread jacking about deffkoptas removed *** Sorry that it didn't work out for you