Setbacks

So we all experience them from time to time, I've been experiencing one for the last week or so with having to completely up-end my work area for the need to use the Garage as a car-hold.

But despite that I'm back to work this time on Battlewagon 1, trying to get a little more of those details down so that few (if any) recognize that the sides are not GW grays.

So today's big work is in the side piston, which any real Tread head would know is integral to how a Tank can turn right or left. Of course any real Tread head would know what the hell they're called.

But that little dinky thing on the side couldn't possibly have been difficult, right? Well actually it was more difficult then it should have been, and I didn't even get it completely accurate since it's supposed to have some armor and rivits in a rectangle around it, but sometimes you have to let something go.

Of course I realized after finishing this near worthless detail that its not going to really be seen too often.
This would be my current plans for the sides. Unfortunately the Big Shoota got a little cut off in the photograph, but I think you can pretty much get the jist of it.

Peace
~OD

A Kannon any Pie-rat would love

Battlewagon 2 is going smoothly for the time being, with only bits and pieces slowly coming together. Since I didn't post a pic of it in the last post, here she is with the magnetic KFF

She's not bad, but could definitely use a bit more work, which is where this new experiment came in, a modular Kannon.

What started out as a Leman Russ Battlecannon is now an Ork weapon of war. But what's modular about this? It certainly looks unimpressive. Well if you were a Grot and you said that you'd get kicked, but no its not the most impressive thing in the world, although take a looksee at this.

This Kannon doubles as a turret and an artillery piece when the Wagon is not in use, and its always great to find a way for your conversions to be multifunctional.

Peace
~OD

Wagons Ho!

So my Order of the Leman Russ bits came in. Definitely regretting not getting one of the accessory sprues at the same time as money as gotten a little too tight again for any sort of expenditure other then the essential food and gas.

But I did get started with them a bit today. Already planning this one to be a reversed Looted (and Orkified) Leman Russ. I know nothing to look at now, but note where its been cut. Thats because this Wagon is going to have a detachable armored transport area for WYSIWYG armored top

But this one's on hold for the moment. Thats because with 2 of those Leman Russ sprues on the line I figured I'd tackle the easy Konversion first.
Say hello and a quick goodbye to the pristine plastic.
I think maybe this time I went a little overboard with the damage detailing. But then again its amazing how much a difference painting makes.

At first I thought the kannon in what's traditionally a Lascannon port would be best, but as time went I began to think about how it'd be nicer to have a Kannon on a turret of some kind instead of just mounted at the front. Also I thought about the awesomeness of a barricade and extended cab to further illustrate the differences between Imperial Leman Russ's and mine. Plus that barricade ended up being home to a number of shavings, filings, and other plastic flotsam and jetsam.

Oh and that extended back is also where I can attach/detach the KFF sat dish.

Tired, sleepy time now.

Big Mek part 2

Been toying about with the Big Mek.

I considered adding to him the Cybork Arm I made a while back and posted along with... er I thought I made a post about it but didn't.

Anyway made the Bionic Arm at the same time as the prototype Deluxe Kickin Legs that I've given this Mek (which would place the creation of both scratchbuilt bits at May 5th). This idea was scrapped though, as I came to realize that such a Bionic arm could and would be mistaken as a Power Klaw.

Finishing up the Mek I put together a little konversion of a PowerDrill, and to give him a second arm I figured a control device of some kind was in order. Sadly I didn't have something fancy like to use, so his controller is a little daff, but I figure with all the other work on this single mini (which again I should be postponing till the harder stuff is done as single HQ minis get a lot of attention and fun detailing) one shortcut isn't too horrible.

I was considering leaving his head alone with the accidental hardened Greenstuff covering his eye in an almost skarred effect, but a better idea came about as I discovered part of a bit from an Eldar Falcon.

The bit in question was what me and several mates used to consider as the Holo Field emitter. Which is why I had used most of it in a previous KFF and tossed the rest of it in my (ever decreasing) bitz box only to discover that they make amazing Tech-goggles!

As for that box behind this Big Mek... (hmm he needs a propa name, Big Mek GutZag) that box is a new idea I had. Since there's room on the base, and a need to add guitar wire from the drill to some sort of power source I put this little generator/tool box together, which not only is an interesting detail, but doubles as a counter for how many Grot Oilers he has left (or wounds).
Although I'm a bit iffy about how close the box is to the body, especially when viewing it directly from above. The Konverted Legs are able to stand the Mek on their own, but from this angle it looks like its relying on the box for support and balance. I might move it off the model and onto its own base, but if I do that I can't have the drill's power feed go into it.

So dats da Mek for now

Peace
~OD

Everything is still settling in the wake of everything that's happened, but life goes on. Set up shop in the garage a few days ago and sat down to work. Decided that of course my next big project was to be recreating my Kult of Speed from the ground up and making the entire force a tough hard Konverted piece.

Debating on the moment as to how I am going to base them. If I keep them in tune with my previous force then fluffwise they will represent the roaming tribe across the desert plains of Hanai 3 (whose only settlement is the oasis palace of DelGor), but I am also leaning towards perhaps making them entirely different fluffwise to the planet my Ork forces have previously been bound to.

Depending on which way I go it will either be Desert Terrain or City Ruins/streets for basing, which while it may sound dull and boring, the fluff and basing means a lot to me. Obviously otherwise I wouldn't be writing about all this.

Anyway there are 2 new posts underneath this one that revolve around what I am calling Projekt KOS 2.

New Boss and Mek prt 1

For me the process of making Special Characters always needs to come last, as I tend to spend special time and attention on them, making sure that they are impressive pieces that stand out more than anything else. Well thats usually, but this time I broke that a bit...

So heres the first planning stages of my New Boss which is using the now oop Fantasy Starter Troll.
First step was to trim up that nose and (attempt) to Orkify it. Not exactly the most succesful attempt in the world, but Hey he's gonna be such a mean looking Biker Boss you'll never know the difference. And take a look at this, after cutting the arms, getting rid of the feet, and some (un)talented work with a file to remove some of the unwanted Troll bits he's actually about the same size as the Metal Warboss.

Before anyone asks (like anyone would) the Warboss in question was decommissioned from tabletop playing in 06 with a plan to remake him into a Warboss mounted on a cyboar (a konversion which was abandoned because once I got him on top of the Cyboar he looked too funky to even attempt any further work and has been enjoying retirement at the bottom of my ever decreasing Bits Box.
As for the arms, one of which I'm already planning on modifying with some Cybernetics and a chainsaw style PK.

But I can't work on Da Warboss right now. I need to really save him for last so I know how to improve his Bike compared to all the other Bikes I'm gonna build. So what do I do? Do I wait to get more parts or possibly get a job to pay for a couple of Battleforces that I need to really make the project?
No, I start working on new Big Mek! One that happens to have a Magnetic KFF like I've always been planning on doing, but never really got around to (well that and my old KFF Meks were so awesome that I never felt the need to do another). Taking a new approach on the KFF, I designed it as a Satellite Dish that is eerily reminiscent to the one on my new neighbor's roof. Ok, not eerie I ripped/Looted the idea.

So the legs came from a previous blog posting as my first attempt to make a complete pair of Cybork Legs using 0% of GW material, and the KFF pack does consist of an Eldar bit, because like my previous KFFs you just need Eldar bits for Force Fields. Its like a rule.

Anywayz, for the time being I need to work on other parts of Projekt KoS otherwise these HQ models will have lost all flair and interest to me by the time that all the other stuffs done.

Battlewagon 1

Okay, so now that I don't have any Battlewagon's left and with a serious need for them I turn my head back at the past. Way Way back, to an unfinished project from 2005 maybe 2006, a looted Imperial Guard Leman Russ...
Not great, and not exactly complete I know. But hey I didn't pay for the Leman Russ. Then again the Leman Russ wasn't exactly a complete model and without a receipt I couldn't go in and say, um hey I'm missin a sprue here!

So I originally went the extra step and not only made my own trakks but the side plating as well, which still is not completely Imperial in design, or finished being Orkified.

Not a perfect copy, I admit it, but I am so pleased that I went to all the trouble in doing it. With GW's recent new and improved *cough cough* Leman Russ they released a couple sprues of the old Wagon on their Bits section. Expensive, but I've ordered 2 of the old Chassis sprues which has the center chasis, the top half of the Turret mount, a lascannon, heavy bolter, something I'm guessing are hand grips (I haven't held the sprue for a couple years) and some other assorted bits I might use, all at about 1/3rd of the cost for a Leman Russ.

And since I still have one of the sides to work off of I think I can replicate and then Orkify to a point where no one will suspect its Plasticard instead of GW grey. Or at least I hope.

One other useful addition is this...
Yum beer... But there is a reason for supergluing a Beer bottlecap on the interior of a Leman Russ (soon to be Battlewagon). What exactly? Well its fungus Beer what do you think powers Ork vehicles and gives them a good buzz? No actually the metal used is magnetic, allowing me on the back to mount something which I have planned but never actually as of yet built.
A magnetic KFF which can/will detach from the Mek when he enters a vehicle and that KFF attaches to a point on the vehicle for quick reference and as a reminder to me to exactly where the KFF is.

Last but not least is that I know that a Leman Russ is a little small compared to the release of the new Battlewagon mini from GW that honestly is one of the worst kits they ever produced. It lacks imagination, width, intrigue, and just looks god awful. (I could go on and on, but I think that's sufficient). I will be creating a Base for the Land Raider(s) which will add height, an extended back portion, access doors, Sponsons, armor plates, and all other gubbins so by the end it'll look propa.

July 2010 Upkeep

So I haven't posted anything for a while. A long while.

Haven't been doing much with my time, it just seems to slip by almost unnoticed.

Had a rather large amount of my Ork army stolen, lost my grandmother, moved to the golden city of Los Angeles, had most of my family turn into monsters with lawyers and thievery. Still looking for a real job, thought there must be work in LA. But this kind of talk is not my standard fare for the blog. Not like anybody reads this anyway.

So truth be told one reason why I haven't updated is that my new place doesn't have television or internet yet. Another is that with this whole grief thing I haven't felt like playing or building anything. Oh and I shouldn't forget the loss of my KoS Biker army, which at a current GW price point would cost around $800 dollars. (For 2000 points 4 units of 10 bikers, Wazzdakka, couple of Battlewagon conversions from Land Raiders, and 9 buggies.)

But say la vie. In fact I suppose this just means that my hopes and desires to fix up the army for Apoc with some konverted scratchbuilds, will just have to be built to replace what was lost.

But that's eventually. Not anytime soon. I'm not deleting the blog, still kinda hoping somebody out there will read it and go, 'wow that stuff he builds is cool!' But for now until such a point that I have the energy to build stuff, a working camera and an internet connection that doesn't require me to be at my parent's house the blog is on hold.