The Warforge Miniature Modelling and Conversion

How fast iz we goin’ now?

In a continuation of my recent hairspray-powered painting endeavors, I wanted to try the method out on something larger and broader than a miniature. As I was previously a bit unhappy with how bland my tracked wartrukk looked, I set about experimenting on it's half-painted chassis. I hit the trukk with a coat of gloss varnish, then hairspray, and then thinned down Vallejo Blood Red into an airbrush and covered most of the vehicle.

With that done, I started to chip away at the paint a bit. I think I like it in it's current shape more than it's previous one, at least.

 

I think it worked a lot better on the back end than the front, though I couldn't honestly tell you why. In any case, now that it's somewhat weathered it'll be a good base to work from. I'm thinking if I grab some of the red oil paints I have, I can get some good variations in the hues and sharpen the details up a bit. I'll also work on cleaning up and painting the treads and other requisite details.

Rusty basecoat

My tracked wartrukk was one of those projects that I intended on painting up and posting updates of. I've had a quick go at getting some base colors on it, as well as testing a rust wash that I mixed up. It's obviously got a long way to go, but I figure you can sort've see where I'm going with it as far as colors.

 

The photographs are sort've shoddy simply due to the fact that my normal camera is unavailable, so I had to make do. Better shots will be forthcoming after I get a bit more of the paint done and clean up some of the details.

Rear end up to snuff

I have been busy as all hell with something of an early spring cleaning, even though the frost on my window is making it perfectly clear to me that calling it that is wishful thinking. Still, I've been able to put up a number of shelves and lights and generally improve my working area over the past day and a half or so, which was a nice break from the project. I also had the chance to grab some styrene tubing in abundance this morning, and so when my workspace was sort've clear-ish, I tried to finish the back end of the trukk up a bit. Here's what I came up with.

 

You'll notice I stuck with the boarding plank. This is half because I want to make sure I have it represented on the model, because it sounds like such a fun upgrade, and half because the way it looks grew on me a bit. I capped the legos off with a sort of bumper, smacked a lightning bolt on each, added some beefy exhaust pipes and other worky-looking tubes, and riveted it all up. I also added a license plate of sorts just underneath the ramp - my battlewagon had a license plate (DED 'ARD) and this will certainly have to have one marked D4KK4.

I think I'm going to leave the rollbar at the midsection of the trukk be. I kept picturing a rollbar system, but I don't think the trukk needs it and the more I load onto it, the less speedy it looks.

I actually think it's damn near done, save for perhaps the addition of some exhaust stacks up around the cabin area and a few touchups in select spots.

Boarding ramp action!

Alright, so I shortened the ramp up and attached it with a pair of pins just to see how I like it. I guess it's not bad?

 

I could shorten it up so it hangs vertically, but I think this length isn't bad. It's not exactly practical for boarding other vehicles unless the orks decide to periodically drive the thing 'round in reverse, but I suppose that's a possibility. Actually, I can picture them skidding up next to a vehicle and swinging the rear around to throw the plank down, I suppose.

Is this good?

Ideas for the rear

Messing around with a couple rough concepts for the back. It'll obviously need some form of exhaust pipe, but I'm sort've thinking I want to put some sort of support for orks to board it. I was just testing out a Cities of Death ladder to start with, and I kind've like it but I'm not sure.

Could probably hack it just below the 3rd rung... I don't know, though. I also thought of using one of the boarding ramps on the back, but I really don't like the way it looks when it's folded up - it throws off the vehicle's profile a bit.

 

I need some more ideas.

Somebody at the wheel

The driver was blissfully simple compared to the rest of the model. I hacked the rollbar off his seat that comes on the stock truck because I did not like the way it looked, and I replaced his head. Rather than the head that comes with the trukk sprue, I decided to use one of the Burna Boy heads from the new Spearhead - I think this one's really got a good, Mad Max-esque look to him. I'm not going to put a windshield up on him either in the thought that he would probably wear all that stuff on his head instead. He's removable so I can paint him and the things around him easier.

 

After a bit of digging, I've found that I don't have the right diameter styrene tubing handy to make two big vertical exhaust pipes by the cab like I would want, so I'm going to have to wait till the shop is open tomorrow to grab the stuff I need. I thought I might work a bit on the bed area, but... I can't think of anything. All I've done is stick one tiny gun on a rack back there.

I need to conceal the lego svisible in the back there and I'm thinking maybe one hanging armor plate off the back might take care of it. I've messed around with the idea of using one of the trukk's boading planks in the back, but I just don't like the way it looks when it's folded up, and the planks no longer fit on the sides because of the track guards.

There's a second rollbar on the sprue that I can put up in the back, too, but I'm not sure if I want to do that just yet simply because I kind've like how open it is right now.

I'm totally open to ideas, but I don't think I want to move the outer rear walls any.

Big shootas and weapon storage

I've had a fairly busy morning, but I managed to get a little bit done so I thought I'd post it up before I moved on to the next part of the vehicle.

I produced a turret front that will hopefully work as a decent Big Shoota. It's pretty simple - just a couple styrene tubes and some sheet cut to size, but it gets the point across.

 

I wanted to show off an extra little detail that I was not planning on, but am happy with. Usually when I come up with modularized weapons for things, they tend to get lost or misplaced or I end up having trouble figuring how out to transport them from home to game and back again. Instead, I've managed to mount the extra turret weapon discreetly on the underside of the trukk for storage until I decide to change the trukk's weapons.

I figured the detail on the underside was already a lost cause because of the wiring and switch and battery compartment, so I decided the underside would also be a decent spot for extra turret weapon stowage. The left half of the last image shows the magnet that sticks out on a thick strip of styrene - the weapon slips right onto that spot and does not stick out too far, meaning I can flip the trukk over and set it down on it's tires without any trouble. It hardly even shows from the side!

Both weapon variations (rocket and big shoota) fit discreetly to the point and help keep all the parts for the vehicle together.

Now I'm going to make the driver.

Gretchin dakka emplacement

So I've been messing around a bit today and I thought I might put it up for feedback.

I didn't like the standard boy in the cupola design, so I decided I wanted to put a turret in that spot with a grot gunner inside. This is what I've banged together.

 

The turret rotates comfortably in the mount and is magnetized down. The front of the turret also comes off so that I can design a big shoota variation to change the trukk's wargear.

I'll probably do a double-barrel design with that as well just so that it fits the width of the area that the gun can magnetize onto. Then I have to add the driver in, who I think will be an ork because fitting a grot into there is more hassle than I care to go through in my current mood.

I've been considering taking the back walls and moving them out to the track edge, but I don't think I'll go with it simply because there's a lot already secured and pinned in place back there and I don't know how I would reconcile the edge's height difference between the track guard and the trukk bed. Instead, I'll make sure I add some hand-holds on the outer walls for the orks to hang from.

Also gotta make some nice big exhausts!

Man, this project is taking a lot longer and becoming a lot more involved than I initially pictured. I like the possibilities of this kit a lot, though - I already have an idea for 'theming' the trukks I next make for the squads that will use them. This is something of a generic all-purpose boyz trukk, but I think the next one I make will have a 'loota' theme to it and use a lot of rhino parts.

Hooking up the jiggawatts

And viola!

That was a little easier than I thought, actually. I got a nice new soldering iron for Christmas that behaves much better.

 

I left myself a lot of excess wire to work with which I simply tucked away under there. The switch is placed fairly simply - it's in a spot where it won't get toggled to 'on' by accident underneath the trukk's body, meaning the lights should not turn on in my transport case and burn themselves out. It's still accessible enough to toggle at will, though.

The batteries are located between the tracks and held into a tiny enclosure I made by scotch tape, so if they ever burn out I can grab 'em and replace 'em. The lights run off a pair of hearing aid batteries - you can get something like 10 for at Radio Shack, and I think they're something like 1.3v each. I never really pay attention to voltages, I just stack batteries until it works and resistors be damned. I never have the lights on for long periods of time anyway, just enough to show the occasional viewer.

Now I suppose I'll work on the cockpit.

Lights, front grill, action!

The front end of this thing is looking a lot better after a bit more work today, and I hope you guys agree!

I took the LEDs I wanted and decorated them up with dags and rivets, then secured them to the top of the wheel guards. The nice thing is that the way they are set up right now, I can actually change the LEDs in the event they ever burn out, as they're simply held in the assembly with a rubber gasket.

The front end needed some love badly, so I started adding orky teeth to the spiked ram front. It wasn't much later till I realized I didn't like the look of just the bottom row of teeth, so I did my best to come up with a grill to protect the engine and add a top row of teeth.

Pictures!

 

The LEDs aren't live yet, as I'm still working on how I want to wire the underside together.

I like the way it looks all put together, but I'm starting to regret actually assembling some parts of it because painting this will be mostly impossible. It would have been really smart of me to leave bits like the engine out, but it's already securely glued down and into the frame. Stuff like the front grill as well, I can tell, will be a source of pain if I ever decide to pick up a brush for this thing. Same goes for the track undersides and the side walls on the rear of the truck.

Still, no sense worrying about it for now. Honestly, when do I paint anyway?

I hope to get the wiring all set soon.. maybe even later tonight, before I move on to the driver area. I will certainly leave the driver out until later painting, for what it's worth.

Just a little addendum:

Thought the eyebrows were necessary.