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Hi everyone,

I am currently working on a huge project which will involve me requiring alot of tanks for me to 'orkify' for 40k. Does anyone know of a place that sells model tanks without the £30-40 pricetag, as its abit steep for me to then chop them all up.


Thanks

Karl

Your basic choice is between:

1/35th scale model kits
1/48th scale model kits
Toys

If you are going to orkify them I would seriously suggest a trip to Toys R Us and Poundstretcher to see what cheapo plastic or die cast toys you can pick up. You are going to bung a load of gubbins on them, so you don't need super detail. You want a chunky basic frame and wheels/tracks that let you stick your own extras on.

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Toys/Action-Figures-and-Playsets/Character-Building-HM-Armed-Forces-Challenger-II-Tank(0089460)?searchPosition=4

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Toys/Action-Figures-and-Playsets/Mega-Bloks-True-Heroes-Tank-Attack(0096511)?searchPosition=18

Other than that I would be looking at 1/35 scale, given the size and proportions of Ork figures. There is a very wide variety of kits available from Tamiya, Hobby Boss, Italeri, Zvezda and so on.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://www.poundland.co.uk/product-range/a-z/kids-toy-tank-with-light-and-sound/

I don't know what scale this is, but for £1 it must be worth a look.

Dragon 1/48 can be had for $15 after shipping off of eBay. Not a big selection and they're often more modern thanks than WW1/WW2, but they're cheap fodder for conversions.

I think the Supercat Jackal and Coyotes from the Airfix 1:48 Operation Herrick range are made for Orkifying, I mean their half way there!

http://www.airfix.com/airfix-products/operation-herrick-afghanistan/

Other than that whatever WW2 German tanks always seem to look the part when orkified.

Psst, KK - are you going to add onto this? Because I found it a fascinating read.

I ought to. There are lots more kits around now than when I first wrote it.

HobbyBoss has a line of 1:48 kits that you can get for super cheap off of eBay as well. Their KV kit would make a great base for an orkified vehicle of some sort.

Could have swore I posted in this thread...

Anywho, take a look at Tehnolog's Robogear line up. They have a lot of vehicles which are plenty chunky so as to work well with GW's heroic [chibi] proportions. They are in theory 1/48 for the most part, but much less finely fitted then a proper scale model. Many of the vehicles are mostly there already.

http://www.tehnolog.ru/product/robogear.php

Another company with some useful offerings is Monti Systems. They produce scale models and toys of mostly civilian vehicles - but since everyone converts tanks into ork vehicles...and orks are not necessarily going to be discerning in terms of what they use for their base chasis...how about some industrial or commercial equipment? They have buses, vans, light trucks, snow plows, dump trucks, 18 wheelers... Pretty good assortment. Most are 1/48 scale - but you can bulk them out without too much difficulty in order to match GW vehicle widths during the process of applying orkish engineering.

As far as avoiding the full retail price tag - it ends up being a local issue unfortunately. Since you are in the UK - you will want to find a local (or at least within the same geographical area) supplier to get them from as shipping for bulky items gets pricey. eBay is often a good starting point, though I would guess that there is one or two companies over there who operate like Hobby Lobby/Michaels does over here and offer regular 40% off coupons. For quite awhile I would buy up the Tamiya 1/48 kits with the coupon every week they offered it from Hobby Lobby. This gave me a stock pile of dozens of vehicles to use for both modeling and conversion work at around $20 each.

After that - I would say poke around in a regional modeling forum to find out who has the best prices for your area. In the US, one of the best is Scalehobbyist.com - most prices are 30% or so off retail. When I was over there - the big company was Hannants (IIRC) though I don't remember them offering any significant discounts.

And of course you have the various toys and what not that Killkrazy mentions from discount and toy stores. Quite often those can be picked up for cheap - and the various scale discrepancies that exist with toys are generally beneficial when looking for candidates for converting into 40K vehicles.

It's 1/48, but 1/35 works better for tanks. They will be big, but it's because they have realistic proportions. Don't let anyone gak on that scale and prevent you from using it.

How about this Type 61 gundam tank


mine looks like this


or this one


mine looks like this


they are not cheap though

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
How about this Type 61 gundam tank


they are not cheap though

how big is that compared to a baneblade??

Bit rusty - but I am pretty sure that it reads that it should be a bit over a foot long and 6 inches wide on that particular 1/35 model.

You could try www.toysoldiersdepot.com

They have some very inexpensive plastic tanks. I planned on converting some of the New Ray halftracks into Ork trukks, and may be ordering some of their APC's for my IG. Brushfire has some great conversions using them in his gallery and on this thread: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/354981.page#2586099

 warriorpriest wrote:


they are not cheap though

how big is that compared to a baneblade??

I found some useful tanks in poundland, that with a bit of effort and plasticard can be made into acceptable vehicles. I have a load for my guard

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/354683-.html

Nice use of a toy, lampy. I like it.

I too have found the occasional perfect tank at the dollar store. They don't have them all the time, but when they do, I'll grab 3 or so to convert. I take them apart and remove all the mould lines and stuff just like a normal kit.