Orks, Orks and more Orks
After seeing Dave Cross's Orks on Tuesday 's blog and Blake's scenery on yesterday's blog, Jamie Forester came by my desk this morning with an Army Case full of Orks. I'm a little concerned there might be a Waaagh! growing around here...
Jamie subscribes to Dave's philosophy of 'get a whole bunch of Ork frames together and create' and has plenty of conversions in his collection. Here's a brief look at Jamie's Orks and a few close-ups of his units. I'll show you some more of his army next week.
Jamie has been working on his Ork army since last summer and plans to continue adding more units and some Forge World vehicles to his collection. He's particularly fond of bright coloured armies and has made sure every model in his army has at least one area of bold red or yellow on it. Notice the Deff Dread in the centre of the picture, which has had its legs replaced with the tracks from a Space Marine Thunderfire Cannon.
Jamie converted this Trukk to carry his unit of 'Ard Boyz into battle by adding a dozer blade and track guards from the Imperial Guard Accessories frame. Click on the image to see the rear tracks that Jamie made using Leman Russ tank tracks. Notice the canisters that form part of the tracks - these are Burna Boyz backpacks.
I was impressed by the crisp, straight chevrons on Jamie's Trukk, so I asked him how he painted them. He said he used a little artist's trick: 'If you look really closely the lines aren't completely straight. The trick is to apply the highlights in straight lines, while still leaving some of the original colour showing. That way your eye is drawn to the lighter area and follows the straight line of the highlight - making the chevrons appear straight'. Nifty.
Jamie converted Warhammer Orc Black Orcs into 'Ard Boyz by swapping their heads and arms for Ork Boy pieces. He felt that Black Orc bodies were ideal for representing the heavy armour worn by 'Ard boyz. Black Orcs are also taller than Ork Boyz and so by using their bodies, Jamie was able to model a unit of 'Ard Boyz that stands head and shoulders above the rest of his army. Click on the image to see the size difference.
Jamie converted Ghazghkull Thraka by swapping his head for the head from an old metal Ork Nob that he had in his bitz box. Jamie really enjoys painting Ork skin and tried to limit the number of helmet-wearing Orks in his army. He paints Ork skin by: undercoating the model Chaos Black and then basecoating the skin with Orkhide Shade. Jamie then layers on Knarloc Green, leaving Orkhide Shade showing in the recesses. Next he paints Gretchin Green on in vertical lines to accentuate the musculature, and finally highlights these lines with a 50/50 mix of Gretchin Green and Bleached Bone.
I took a look through the Ork article section this morning and if you fancy trying your hand at kit-bashing a couple of Ork vehicles or painting a unit of greenskins then check out this page, which has articles on everything from painting and assembly to Ork tactics and sprue diagrams.
Oh, and I've received a lot of emails recently from people asking how to model something they've seen here on the blog. Make sure you check out the Related Products list on the left-hand side of this page. I try to make sure I add all of the components used in a blog to that list, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to find the part you're looking for.