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After years of forbidding myself from starting another horde army (I have ~6000 pts of IG) I've been bit by the Ork bug.  I've had IG and Marines for years, but all my previous efforts at new armies have stalled out (500pts of eldar, 700pts of tau, and 2000pts of half painted DE).  I loved the way that the DE play, but I didn't like the models.  Eldar and Tau suffered from bad timing, as my life turned busy a few months into each project.

Orks, however, have captured my interest on multiple fronts.  I love the feel of the army, I'm excited beyond belief about the new models, and the gameplay that the rumors portray look totally different from my IG.

My current situation is this: I bought a gorkamorka box about a year ago, giving me a few boyz, two old trakks and two old trukks.  Given the new trukk coming down the pike, I'm going to convert the trukks into buggies.  I have a smattering of old Gorkamokra blisters I picked up for a song to flesh out some squads, but any models I have right now are good for little more than a combat patrol and testing out paint schemes.

The following then, in no particular order, are my questions:

Are there any good Ork communities out there?  I found Da Waagh, and I'll probobly post these questions there, but any others, including model galleries, WIPs, etc. are all useful.

Is there any advice for painting dark green ork hide?  I want my orks to have a very "realistic" hue, not the bright green I see all the time.

Having painted orks dark green, is there any option for pants other than brown and red?  Would anything else look good?

How do you designated mobs?  colors, glyphs, dag patterns?

Is there any way to make the old vehicles, particularly the drivers, look decent?

Do rust effects look good on orks, and if so, how much?  Should all metal be rusty or only some?  Should it get a rust wash or be painted as rust from the basecoat up? (the brown, orange, fleshy, metal layers)

Can I paint Orks using mostly washes and drybrushing as my primary techniques?  I don't have the time and talent for layering or blending, and with 100+ models I want to stick with a few dry brushed highlights and a couple of washes.

Finally, is there any interest in a WIP thread/blog while I put together my army?

Thanks a lot for any answers!

I don't know of any ork communities except the Waaagh, although I'm sure they exist.
When painting skin I just basecoat Dark angels green and then drybrush up Snot Green->Goblin Green->Rotting flesh. With Nobs and whatnot I leave out the Goblin green or do a green wash.
I do blue and grey clothes, they don't look too bad.
I generally use helmeted heads for my shootas and bare heads for choppas, and individual mobs get different coloured rags (you know the ones on the arms and guns) This is because I'm too lazy to paint dags. If you aren't, go for it, it always looks good.
Heavy conversion is needed to make the old stuff look good. Gorkamorka has some variant drivers who look a lot better too.


Rust is good. How much is a matter of taste I suppose. I basecoat everything tin bitz and then drybrush boltgun metal, bing, done. Again, I'm lazy. But it looks okay on massed orks.

I paint mine with drybrushing and only the occasional wash, and they look okay. The great thing about orks is the over the top facial expressions which provide an easy to paint central point for the models, which looks really rather good.

I'd be very interested in a WIP blog.

From another "In consideration" warboss, the Vallejo Model color range is your friend. They have such great green, grey green and bronw green hues that would add to unique, yet beleievable and visually coherent variation within your boys. That's what I intend to do.

I love the old Gorkamorka ork models, and if I can find some I will include some too.

RUst and weathering of all sorts is made for orks. I will go crazy with both...

Oh, I'm all over that Vallejo model action. The stuff is made for military models, so it has the flat, rich tones that Orks need.

DaBoss: Thanks for the advice. I forgot all about the various markings/rags/doodads on the modern boys that can easily be painted blue/yellow/grey/etc. to designate mobs.

I'll be honest, Dags look good, but I can't help but think about Ska music every time I see it. I might use some limited dags on trukk boys, nobs and other tough guys, but my slugga boys are going to stick with reds and browns.

Thanks, I look forward to more advice from other bosses!

One other thing: Are there any alternative manufacturers of Ork style minis out there, either for units or vehicles?

Is there any advice for painting dark green ork hide?  I want my orks to have a very "realistic" hue, not the bright green I see all the time.

Start with a base of Dark Angels Green and don't highlight too far up the spectrum.

Having painted orks dark green, is there any option for pants other than brown and red?  Would anything else look good?

Heck yes. Black is good. Beige works pretty well. Khaki can work if you do it right. My preference is desert camo patterns for Orky pantaloons- it works really well. I would avoid any light, cool colours (winter camo, for example), but perhaps I just haven't seen it done well.

How do you designated mobs?  colors, glyphs, dag patterns?

Yes, yes, and yes. However, what I find most useful in differentiating mobs is modeling. For example, one mob might have shoulder armour plates on their right shoulder. Another mob has bare heads because helmets are for sissies. The kommandos all have backpacks for camping in the woods and none of them have open mouths (it's not wise to scream as you're sneaking up on people). In any case, remember that although Orks don't have standard uniforms in their armies, you should try to have two levels of coherency in your army nonetheless: a scheme that ties each mob together, and a scheme that ties the entire army together.

Is there any way to make the old vehicles, particularly the drivers, look decent?

No. Remove the driver and gunner and convert new ones from Ork boyz.

Do rust effects look good on orks, and if so, how much?  Should all metal be rusty or only some?  Should it get a rust wash or be painted as rust from the basecoat up? (the brown, orange, fleshy, metal layers)

Rust looks good on any vehicle. Even Tau. How much is rusty is up to you, obviously. Look at some modelling magazines/books/sites for tips on where to put rust, how much to lay down, and techniques. Also note that there's a product out there called Rust-All, which deposits actual rust on your model. Selectively clear coat the model first, as Rust-All also seems to remove paint.

Can I paint Orks using mostly washes and drybrushing as my primary techniques?  I don't have the time and talent for layering or blending, and with 100+ models I want to stick with a few dry brushed highlights and a couple of washes.

No. Unfortunately, each ork must be properly layered and blended and include sourced lighting and non-metal metal. I once tried using a dry-brushing technique on an Ork model, and the brush immediately splintered into tiny peices. Similarly, if you try using washes, the model will catch fire.

Finally, is there any interest in a WIP thread/blog while I put together my army?

No. We hate blogs. Especially blogs about modeling. EWWWW!

Thanks a lot for any answers!

You're welcome!

I too will be converting new drivers to fit my old models - the old drivers just look sad in ncomparison, but some of the old vehicles are still cool

Posted By Polonius on 09/27/2007 8:37 AM
Are there any good Ork communities out there?  I found Da Waagh, and I'll probobly post these questions there, but any others, including model galleries, WIPs, etc. are all useful.

The Waaagh is the best and only ork community you need bother yourself with!  No, of course I am not biased.  What a thing to suggest.

Is there any advice for painting dark green ork hide?  I want my orks to have a very "realistic" hue, not the bright green I see all the time.

part of the unrealistic green color that orks can take on is the fact that the green is only shadowed and highighted with other vibrant greens.  Wash your orks with a brown ink, and they will appear grittier and dirtier.  The warmer brown works well against the cool green as a way to bring attention to the face and really bring out the detail.    When highlighting, don't use white to highlight, as that washes out the color and makes things too bright.  Use  a light brown or tan, or maybe a pale yellow.  This will add another layer of color to your boyz and make them more interesting.

Having painted orks dark green, is there any option for pants other than brown and red?  Would anything else look good?

I have used a tan color and that works well for me.  It really depends on the ork clan that you want to go after and the other colors your uniforms have.

How do you designated mobs?  colors, glyphs, dag patterns?

Those are all good ways, you can also make larger simpler areas be your designation, like the shirts and pants color being swapped in mobs.  This will help give the whole army a more rag-tag feel, while keeping the color scheme cohesive.  Sluggas can have light shirts and dark pants, and shootas can have the opposite.  Something like that.

Is there any way to make the old vehicles, particularly the drivers, look decent?

As was already stated, swap them out for the new orks.  Use the legs if you must.

Do rust effects look good on orks, and if so, how much?  Should all metal be rusty or only some?  Should it get a rust wash or be painted as rust from the basecoat up? (the brown, orange, fleshy, metal layers)

Wash the red/brown/orange wash onto certain areas, this is really a judgement call.

Can I paint Orks using mostly washes and drybrushing as my primary techniques?  I don't have the time and talent for layering or blending, and with 100+ models I want to stick with a few dry brushed highlights and a couple of washes.

It can be done, though orks require a gentler hand on their skin tones as they can look really unnaturally gritty if not done properly.  One way you may want to try is similar to painting with watercolors - painting light first going darker as you go.  Start with a mid shade, and then wash with the next darker shade over the whole area.  When that dries, do a smaller wash into the deepest areas with a darker color.  This helps you control the washes of color a bit more, as you can use a dry brush to suck the liquid wash away from places you don't want it.  Do this also for the high points on your first wash, to keep areas of the major color untouched.  Once those 2 washes dry, do a light drybrushing on the highest areas.  This keeps the gritty drybrushed look down, and oesn't take too long.

Finally, is there any interest in a WIP thread/blog while I put together my army?

What, are you crazy?  Why would we want to see that?  Of course, I'd like to see something like that for my part.

Da Waagh is the only community for orks. The webiste Work In Progress is also good for building.

For pants I have painted them blue as well as different shades of tan that have come out real nice.

Rust, dirt and oil all make ork things look good.

A wip thread of your army would be great so start building and posting pics.

Thanks to everybody who answered my questions. Since there seems to be at least some interest, I'm going to start up a thread in the WIP forum. My first post will be up soon.