The Warforge Miniature Modelling and Conversion


Jul
2007
288:29
pm

The Rise of Gargrim

The whole thing started innocuously enough - at least, as innocuous as orks can be, which is to say with a bang. The particular bang in question was that of the enormous space hulk, Da Earff Shaka, entering the atmosphere of the Imperial colony world known as Feritas Prime.

This bang was proceeded by the sound of an even larger explosion that made the first pale by comparison, a sound emitted from the hulk as it hit the surface of the planet and proceeded to dig an impossibly long impact crater across the world's main continent. Needles scribbled across the surfaces of parchment in an erratic pattern, as seismic monitors on the world heralded the landing of these interplanetary guests. As far as orks go, their craterous landing might have been called subtle, had the hulk not come to rest directly in the center of Peralius, the primary hive city on the planet.

header

The events that followed the crash made the landing seem tame by comparison, as orks poured from between torn armor plating and open hatches into the city. Their survival of the crash stood as a testament to the brutal resilience the xenos possessed. In a matter of hours, Peralius had been transformed from thriving hive city to burning effigy of Imperial power. The world's Planetary Defense Force was ill-prepared for the sudden and bloody arrival of the aliens: the Imperial Guard stationed on the planet quickly lost any footholds they may have held in the city, pushed back to the fringes of the hive and the harsh deserts beyond.

Gargrim "Uge" Mungus allowed a grin to bloom on his face as he planted his chainaxe into the face of an Imperial Commissar half his size, his bulk musculature giving the weapon the momentum to easily chew it's way through the man's body and come free in a bloody mist. Gargrim was a massive ork by any standard, three and a half meters tall in his usual slouching ork posture. Overcome with blood lust and satisfaction, the ork felt delinquent laughter rumbling from his gullet. The sight of the enormous, muscled ork bellowing his exuberance over their severed leader was more than the remaining Guardsmen could bear, and they promptly put the tread of their boot to the test as they turned and ran.

Gargrim watched them run in an apathetic fashion uncommon for an ork. Surely, he could chase the remaining humans down, but Gargrim had bigger things in mind and was content in the knowledge that the 'Ard Boyz he led would make a suitable and bloody mess of the runners. "'Ave at 'em, boyz!", he bellowed, as though they needed his permission. He basked in the resounding roar that answered him as the heavily armored orks surged around him, hungry for the slaughter.

Turning to look at the smoking Earff Shaka, Gargrim considered for a moment before sparing a glance at the ground around his ankles. "Oi, youz still alive, Urk?", the massive ork inquired.

The gretchin clambered out of his hiding spot beneath a large rock, running over to Gargrim. "Yes, yes, I'z comin!", the small creature intoned. It stopped only briefly to pluck the Commissar's hat from his severed body before jumping onto Gargrim. The grot began scaling the rough iron plates that adorned his hide to assume a spot on the massive Nob's shoulder.

The difference in stature was immense - Urk, considered slightly runty among grots, was not even the height of Gargrim's knees. Any other greenskin Gargrim's size would be hard-pressed bother interacting with even some smaller orks, let alone a gretchin such as Urk, but Gargrim was unusual in many ways. Many of Gargrim's green companions found this practice dubious as best due to the disposable nature of such small creatures, but none would dare give voice to such thoughts; to do so would conclude in that particular ork emerging from the Painboss weeks later with half a squig for a brain, if he survived at all. Nobody quite understood why Gargrim would choose to associate with the small, goblin-like creatures. Truth be told, even Gargrim wasn't quite sure - only that he felt reassured by the presence of the small, timid gretchin.

"'Ow many waz dat, Urk?", Gargrim rumbled towards his shoulder-mounted companion.

Urk had spent the duration of the fight hiding under the rock as was the way of such weedy creatures, but he was also smart enough to make up a number to appease Gargrim. "Dat woz... carry da tew... 'bout twenty, twenty five of dem, boss, not countin dat kommy-sar," Urk replied in his high-pitched squeal of a voice.

Gargrim nodded in a manner that might be called thoughtful were he anything but an ork. Though the larger Nob wasn't able to count much higher than about fifteen with difficulty, he was satisfied with the size. "Add dat to da total fer me, Urk", Gargrim intoned, and watched Urk pull out a piece of scrap metal from within the folds of his clothing. The gretchin began scratching marks into the surface of the already pitted metal with a rock.

Gargrim assessed the downed Hulk a moment further, chuckling to himself as a small, random explosion blew off the remnants of a wing from the impossible vehicle. "Da meks 'ave made a right proppa mess uv fings dis time. Booma'z prob-ly tearin' em all apart fer wreckin' it. I'd luv ta see 'im frothing at da gob. Let's go 'ave a look, eh?" With that, the two greenskins began the trudging walk back to the downed ship.


Gargrim walked into the expansive mekshop of the hulk, it's floor tilted and askew thanks to the impromptu crash landing. The distinct smell of cooked flesh wafted over him. It's source was evident: scattered around the shop between huge hulking vehicles were the ruined bodies of orks that had been brave or careless enough to intrude upon Big Mek Booma's rage. Each smoking ork corpse bore evidence to the same method of death - incredible blunt trauma with something very, very hot.

"Oi, 'Urk. You go 'an wait out dere a bit, ya zog. Booma'z in a rage 'an he'd krump ya inna-," Gargrim started to suggest before realizing the smaller gretchin had already fled from the room at the sign of danger. Gargrim began pacing around the husks of what used to be a Leman Russ Tank, working his way deeper into the shop.

As Gargrim navigated around the war machines, he felt a twinge of phantom pain in his right arm - or rather, where his old arm used to be. He flexed the dark iron forearm that remained in it's place, clenching the bionic power fists that was crafted by Booma as a replacement. Fully articulated with fingers, the fist was a masterpiece of greenskin engineering, it's hydraulic grip only letting loose the occasional spark and only sometimes leaking oil. Having Booma make the lethal replacements was only fair, thought Gargrim. Booma's rage had removed his original arms!

"'Ey, Booma! Ya still 'ere?", yelled Gargrim in the direction of Booma's workbench.

The gutteral roar of another large greenskin answered him from the side of a monstrous battlewagon as Booma brought his hammer around, connecting with a nearby ork and sending the immediately dead body flying clear across the shop. The body snagged on the tip of a spiky metal protrusion in the wall and came to rest suspended on it, hung in a grim but late warning.

"JUST LET DA ZOG WHO CRASHED DA 'ULK SHOW 'IMSELF! I'LL TURN 'IM INNA A TOY FER DA SQUIGZ TA FEAST ON!", the Big Mek bellowed over the revving sound of item he gripped with both hands. Glancing at it, Gargrim recognized the visceral shape and size of Booma's signature weapon and tool, 'Da Boomhamma'. Half Mek's tool, half power weapon, Booma's hammer had become a local orky legend among the greenskins on the hulk. Two enormously toothed gears served as the opposing heads of the mallet, with a massive engine serving as the joint between them. The gears spun at impossible speeds, glowing red-hot and crackling electricity, while an exhaust on the side chugged rough black smoke. The obscene weapon was capable of punching clean through the armor of a tank with ease, and made even shorter work of orks that tested Booma's temper.

boomhamma

Blind with rage, Booma hurled himself at the larger Nob, bringing the hammer back over his head to strike another fatal blow. Gargrim was prepared; he had lost his arm to the Boomhamma once before by being careless, and refused to let himself be caught unprepared again. He brought his bionic arms up to block the anticipated strike from the scorching weapon.

Mid-strike, Booma realized his error. The instant before the power weapon connected, Booma pulled the swing, digging the weapon deep into the metallic floor of the shop instead, where it whirred and coughed more smoke in protest before being switched off.

"GRAH! Wots da big idear, ya zog! Ya tryin' ta make me 'ave ta build ya anuvva set 'uv arms?" Booma glared at the larger nob a moment before wrenching his hammer free of the floor and giving it a cursory check. The Big Mek was less enraged in the presence of the large Nob, but still very clearly angry. "Ya know how I hatez ta 'ave my mekanikal werks broken. Just LOOK at wot 'az 'appened to da Earff Shaka! I'll krump da meks dat were steerin', just bring 'em 'ere!"

Gargrim frowned. "I'z pretty sure deyz dead already. Da Boss wud 'ave stomped on 'em if they survived da krash."

Booma turned in frustration. The Big Mek took great pride in all of his work, from the largest warmachines to the smallest whirring gubbins. Da Earff Shaka had been his greatest work - a hulk of enormous magnitude whose construction he oversaw, building it in the likeness of Gork. Or maybe Mork. Booma couldn't remember anymore, but it hardly mattered now that the once-great ship was a smoking mess of metal. "Dis iz gunna take fer-evah ta fix, ya know dat? All dat werk! Gone! I'z already got plenty ta do on da uvva ve-hicles without 'avin ta rebuild it!"

Gargrim wasn't really listening at this point; he was instead captivated by the huge warmachine he saw before him. The metal monstrosity loomed over them, half draped in a canvas cloth. The crash landing had upset it's covering, and the thick armor plating that was visible gleamed between rusty bolts and rivets. Somehow, amidst all of the ruin in the mekshop, this half-built warmachine had arrived impeccably undamaged.

Booma followed Gargrim's eyes to the machine and realized that it's covering had come loose in the landing. The Big Mek moved to pull the canvas back down over the parts that had been revealed. "Dis iz a top sekret projekt! Nobody seez it till I'z done!", Booma grumbled as he finished adjusting the cover. "Da force fields wot I put up saved it from 'da krash, thank Gork".

Gargrim's focus on the vehicle was broken as the last of the machine was covered. ".. er.. yeh. Right. I'z gunna go see 'ow da Boss iz makin' out, an' leave ya ta yer repairz. I 'magine by now all 'dem weedy 'umies 'round da 'Ulk are krumped by now, but maybe 'dere's some left ova," the Nob rumbled, turning to walk out of the shop. What had he just seen? he wondered.

Gargrim didn't know, but he liked it.


Gargrim lumbered his way through the Hulk's rusty corridors, flexing the articulated mechanical fingers on his power fists out of habit. With most of the great ship's greenskins busy creating havoc in the streets of the city, the dark iron hallways proved an easy route to navigate. Between bare plates of metal, the massive Nob could catch flashes of light from the fight below, and he felt the aching need to be off the wreck and back into the thick of things. Gargrim fought away the urge, knowing that bigger things were likely afoot in Boss Dreggog's den, and rounded down the last stretch of platform leading to the helm.

Any Imperial pilot would be loathe to call the scene Gargrim approached a helm, let alone admit any sort of intentional design to the chamber. In truth, the orks simply referred to it as such because it contained the most whirring gubbinz per square inch of the entire ship, but Warboss Dreggog had adopted the space as his own personal quarters. Located high atop the ship, it was from here that Dreggog was able to supervise the entirety of his Waaagh. Series of intricate pipes and tubes carried his always-yelled orders to corners of the ship where lesser Meks awaited direction or a stern kicking. Around the chamber, large windows and portholes allowed the Warboss and his kommand krew the chance to view the wanton destruction being wrought on the city below. A testament to Booma's engineering prowess, the room appeared relatively intact following the crash, as many of the gubbinz kept here continued their insistent clanking and ratcheting. Only one significant sign of damage - a gaping hole in one side of the chamber - was visible, and Dreggog was occupying himself with yelling at the mek attempting to patch the damage.

Warboss Dreggog was slightly smaller than the massive Gargrim, but his form was encased inside obscenely bulky Mega Armor. Waaagh! Dreggog was host to one of the largest and notorious bands of Deathskull Lootas in the entire sector - Booma'z Boyz. Reporting directly to Booma himself, these voracious scavengers would loot anything, even if it was solidly bolted down. In years prior, Dreggog had found himself frustrated with all of his 'dissapearing' prize possessions - kustom kombi-shootas, extra-choppy choppas - and the warboss had struggled to find a solution. The answer had been simple - bolt them to himself! Dreggog's Mega Armor had become a massive and unweildy collection of the boss's favored items and heavy steel plates, and the floor tended to buckle and dent beneath where he stood from the sheer weight of it. For his part, Dreggog took pride in the massive machinery bolted to his frame, and kept a constant supply of oiler grots on-hand to grease and tune the mechanical parts. This was commonly known as both an extreme privledge for the grot, and the last thing said grot would ever do; the backside of Dreggog's armor had flattened many a gretchin. In any case, the armored suit rendered the warboss near-invulnerable, and he made a point of lording it over the other greenskins with regularity.

"PATCH FASTA! WHY AIN'T WE FLYIN YET, YA ZOG?" Dreggog was bellowing as Gargrim entered the room. The Hard Boy Nob arrived just in time to see Dreggog's mega-armored boot connect with the mek with a sickening crunch, ending the greenskin's life as a mek and beginning his new career as a stain on the floor. Dreggog grinned contently to himself, satisfied with the results. The grin quickly turned to a snarl as a twisted ork voice intoned, "Er, Boss... ain't dat gunna slow down da repairz?"

As Dreggog turned to face the source of the interruption, Gargrim was able to catch a glimpse of the ship's warphead, Wurrzag Da Strange. "YOU FINK I DON'T KNOW DAT YA LOUSY RUNT!?", Dreggog bellowed at the weirdboy. Wurrzag raised his hands defensively, shying away from the Warboss and shaking his head. "Course ya did, boss, I'z just sayin'...", the weirdboy began, before Dreggog cut him off. "YER, WELL, DON'T! LAST TIME YA SAID SOMEFING YA ENDED UP CRASHIN' DA ZOGGIN 'ULK!" Wurrzag nodded solemnly, his face unreadable behind the crude wooden mask he wore. Still, the fire burning from eyes showed clear irritation with the Warboss and his antics.

Looking at Wurrzag always made Gargrim uneasy. His gut told him there was more wrong with the warphead than just his glowing eyes. Clothed in tattered robes and a variety of looted Imperial trinkets and ornaments, the weirdboy was much smaller than Gargrim or Dreggog. Wurrzag was both the ship's navigator and Dreggog's primary 'tactical' advisor, though the tactics often simply involved putting a choppa through whatever's in the way. Despite this, Gargrim got the feeling that the weirdboy was always planning something sinister and terribly unorky.

Gargrim's metal-shod boots came to a halt as he announced his presence to the distracted greenskins. "Oi, Wurrzag, ya best consider hidin' 'till Booma cools off if da crash wuz yer doin', 'e's in a proppa rage in da garage and 'e's out fer blood." Wurrzag's eyes flared bright and bled energy from the corners as the weirdboy's temper flared. "I ain't hidin' like no mangy grot! If Booma'z got a problem wif me, let 'em come 'ere and do-", Wurrzag began before being shoved out of the way by one of Dreggog's mega armored fists. "SHUT YER TRAP, YA GIT. GARGRIM, YA BRING ME ANYFING GOOD FROM DA FIGHTIN'?" Gargrim's eyes went wide as he realized he had forgotten to bring the Warboss a trophy from the battle for his suit, and his mind started racing for an excuse.

"Er, ya see, boss...", Gargrim stumbled for a moment before remembering Dreggog's love of hats. "I grabbed a hat offa one a 'dem Kommy-sars before, but I 'fink Urk ran off wif it. Speakin' uv Urk, I wonder where da runt ran off ta..." Dreggog didn't leave Gargrim time to ponder, lumbering toward the Nob with fire in his eyes. "WOT DID I TELLS YA 'BOUT COMIN' BACK WIFOUT SOMEFIN' FER ME SUIT, YA GIT!", the Warboss bellowed, gnashing the scissoring teeth on his power klaw in frustration. " 'PARRENTLY YA NEEDS TA HAVE A LESSON TAUGHT TO YA!"

Gargrim knew the look in Dreggog's eyes; this would not end without a fight. Gargrim raised his massive metal arms, ready to scrap, but while he prepared for the brawl he found himself wondering...

Where the hell was Urk?


Deep in the belly of the Earff Shaka's Mek Garage, Urk trod with the sneakiest care he could manage. Urk had seen Booma and his revving hammer flatten too may orks in the past to consider exposing himself, and the Big Mek was in a particularly foul mood. Fortuately, the tiny gretchin was nigh-undetectable among the warmachines that abounded in the space hulk's holds.

The Mek's Garage was expansive, home to the Big Mek's half-completed projects and giant piles of scrap and junk. Booma'z Boyz were some of the most voracious lootas in the galaxy, and Booma had amassed a startlingly impresive collection of parts over the years. Many of these parts were banged and bolted into various forms and shapes that filled the garage from wall to massive wall. It seemed a shame to Urk that so many impressive, oily machines were left half-completed, but the tiny gretchin knew that while Booma tended to be impulsive, the machines he did finish were superior. It had become the duty of the lesser meks on the hulk to attempt to animate the Big Mek's incomplete projects, though many were so bewilderingly complex that only Booma himself seemed capable of the job.

Urk found himself captivated by the sight at a small, compact armored walker near one of the garage's outer walls and approached it for a better look. The unmanned Killa Kan stared back at the tiny gretchin ominously, its ugly armored features fixed in a permanent and orky grimace. A giant wrecking ball hung from the single, attached arm - though incomplete, the Kan still looked enormously dangerous. The obviously incomplete walker stood balanced against the base of a ramp with some sort of crude rocket-propelled bomb propping it up.

Urk sighed longingly as he surveyed the walker. It was the dream of every Gretchin to get a Kan of their own - sealed inside it's rough armor plating, even the tiniest grot would become a capable fighter. Unfortunately for Urk and many other gretchin on the Hulk, Booma's work never came cheap. Urk had been scrounging teeth together from Gargrim's kills where he could, but 'umie teeth were tiny and as such not worth much in the Orky economy. It would be much longer before Urk had anywhere near the amount he would need to buy a Kan of his own.

"It'z a shame dat Booma leaves dis sorta 'fing just lyin' round... but den again, I'z 'spose dat nobody'd mind if I take a closa look..." Urk stared up at the top hatch of the Kan, considering his options. Though Booma would surely hammer the grot into next week for trying it, Urk couldn't help but succumb to the urge to climb into the armored walker. Urk circled around to the back and grabbed onto the bomb that the Kan leaned on, starting to climb up to the top. As he scrabbled for a foothold, he felt something give underneath his feet, and heard a quick, sharp beeping noise.

Urk looked down in horror to see that in the process of climbing up onto the bomb, he had placed an unlucky foot upon a large, red button built into the weapon. A red light began blinking in rapid succession as the rocket began to light up and spark. Urk realized a few seconds too late that he had just accidentally activated and armed a grot bomb. The gretchin tried to dismount the weapon and run, but he found his pants leg had snagged upon one of the jagged fins of the bomb.

A second later, the grot bomb ignited, spewing gouts of flame out the rear nozzle. After a creaking start it rocketed up the rusty ramp it had been lying upon and out an opening that had been cut into the wall, dragging a screaming Urk along with it. The grot bomb careened off into the planet's ugly sky, spiralling uncontrollably without a pilot steering.

Urk knew he was doomed.


The impact was massive, and Gargrim's metal fists groaned under the stress of guarding against Dreggog's ungainly power klaw. Still, Booma'z handiwork held together, and the Nob was able to break loose from under the Warboss's assault. Dreggog toppled backward a few steps before righting himself, the massive bulk of his mega armor proving a hindrance to his mobility. Gargrim's hands flew to his back, grasping the chainaxe that was slung across it. Gargrim brought the huge weapon around and without even starting the blades began to hammer upon the Warboss's mega armored outline.

Though the Nob's rapid and blunt strikes were enough to slough a layer of crude iron plates from the armor, Dreggog himself weathered the assault completely unharmed. Through the suit's enhanced voicebox he cackled harshly. "YER GONNA 'AVE TA DO BETTER 'DEN DAT IF YA WANTS TA HURT ME, YA RUNT!", the warboss laughed. Gargrim backed up a few steps before thumbing the ignition switch on his chainaxe. With a sputter and cough of black smoke from the exhaust, the weapon came to life in his hands, crude metal teeth spinning at impossible speeds. "I'z not even started yet, ya giant pile of squig dung!", Gargrim roared back.

Though the clash of the titans was a life-and-death affair, both orks involved wore wicked grins across their ugly mouths. There was nothing better than a good scrap, and this one had been brewing for some time! Even Wurrzag had his lips curled back in a grim smile, though none could see it from behind the rough wooden mask over his face. All of the activity in the hulk's control center came to a halt as the greenskins turned their attention to the developing brawl. Some started hooting for the warboss - others for the nob - but before long the cacophony was indistiguishable.

Dreggog and Gargrim clashed again, sparks showering the combatants as power klaw met chainaxe. Though Gargrim's huge axe whined under the stress of fending off the rough, scissoring talons, it continued to hold Dreggog at bay. Seeing an opportunity, Gargrim pulled one arm back, and behind his head. Electricity began to crackle over the rough iron knuckles of Gargrim's fist, superheating the surface. Gargrim let go of the chainsword with his other hand as he slipped to the left. As Dreggog's massive bulk toppled past the Nob, Gargrim swung a powerful blow with his charged fist into the mega armor's gutplate.

The sound was intense, and the greenskins in the room all bellowed exuberantly. Even Wurrzag was hollering his approval at the fight, his eyes glowing violently, resonating with the powerful Waaagh! energies gathering in the room. Gargrim jumped back from the melee, certain that the blow had to have crippled the warboss in some way.

Dreggog was unphased. His mega armor's gutplate bore a massive, craterous indentation, but the Warboss did not show any signs of injury. Gargrim roared in frustration. Dreggog's massive power klaw had embedded itself in the rough steel floor of the room, and his massive mega armored suit whined as it attempted to free the limb. "HAH! NICE TRY, YA MANGY GIT! IT'S GUNNA TAKE A LOT MORE 'DEN DAT - I'Z INVINCIBLE!" the warboss bellowed, still fumbling to free his power klaw from the floor. Gargrim flexed his arms, working the kinks out and testing his limbs to see if any serious damage had occured. "If 'dats wot you wants, I'm 'appy to oblige."


Urk was being dragged through the air by the careening, unpiloted grot bomb. The tiny gretchin had given up on screaming by now, busy struggling to free his tangled pants. Suddenly, the grot bomb lurched upwards, caught and redirected by a strong wind. Urk hung behind the grot bomb, only now seeing just how far up in the air he was, and resumed his screaming. The bomb began to corkscrew through the air before evening out and levelling off. Urk risked a glipse forward and saw that the grot bomb had managed to redirect itself 180 degrees and was now spiralling uncontrollably towards the crashed form of Da Earff Shaka.

hulkbomb

Back inside the helm, Gargrim was thundering towards the stuck warboss. Dreggog continued struggling, attempting to withdraw his mighty claw from the chamber's floor, but the suit's own weight seemed to be overwhelming him. Gargrim delivered another mighty blow to the armor's gut plate with a charged fist, but the armor refused to give.

Over the hooting and hollering of the greenskins in the room, Gargrim heard an unusual sound and ceased his assault for a moment, unsure. It sounded like... like some sort of rocket? His eyes darted around looking for the source of the disturbance before glancing out the gaping hole in the chamber's wall and spotting a grot bomb careening through the air, coming right at them. Gargrim squinted, and was just able to make out a tiny gretchin dangling from the back of the rocket.

"WHAT DA ZOG IZ DAT!?" Dreggog bellowed, his eyes widening as he caught sight of the incoming grot bomb. Gargrim hurled himself off the stuck warboss.

Urk's own eyes were open wide as the gretchin continued to struggle with the grot bomb. Prompted by the sight of the rapidly-approaching hulk, the grot gave one last, mighty tug on his pants, and came free of the bomb with a tearing sound. The grot was able to fall off the bomb just before it rocketed into the hole in the helm, and Urk bounced off the rough metal exterior with a sickening sound.

Dreggog had only the time to roar angrily before the unmanned grot bomb struck him cleanly in gut. The suit of mega armor tore free from the floor seconds before detonating. Shrapnel and debris rained down upon the room, and a handful of the greenskins that had been watching the fight too closely were annihilated by the blast. Bits and pieces of Dreggog's massive power armor littered the scene. The explosion hurled Gargrim's massive bulk across the room and into the wall with a thud.

As the smoke cleared, Gargrim was greeted by an incredible scene. Dreggog's power klaw had come loose from the rest of the armor on impact and remained jammed into the floor, sparking and smoking. Any remaning evidence that the Warboss had ever existed was splattered around the room - burnt trophies, smoldering metal plates, and charred chunks of meat. Gargrim looked at the hole in the wall that the grot bomb had entered through and spotted his tiny gretchin accomplice, Urk, crawling in through the opening before collapsing in an exhausted heap.

Though many of the greenskins in the room bore signs of injury from the blast, Wurrzag appeared untouched, floating a few feet in the air with a shimmering green orb crackling around his body. The field dissipated as the weirdboy touched down and flipped his mask up. Gargrim had never seen Wurrzag without his mask, and looked on curiously. The wizened and eyeless face that stared out from beneath it surveyed the carnage for a moment before sliding the mask back down and into place.

Wurrzag slowly strode over to Gargrim, the weirdboy's staff clacking on the floor in the dead silence of the stunned orks. The weirdboy looked up at Gargrim for a moment, as though considering, before beginning to speak in his twisted voice.

"Nice one, Boss."

The orks began to bellow their approval.

Jul
2007
2810:35
am

The ever infrequent update

Well...

The good news is that I have gotten both of my Secret Santa gifts done and out of the way. The bad news is that I completely and accidentally deleted the photographs of one of them in its final stages, so I'm going to hope that my recipient can take some decent photos of it and sent it along to me. Either way, now that they've been sent out, I think it would be a good time to point out the 4th Edition Lootaz project, as it won't ruin the surprise any more.

I also had the good fortune of winning an unusual model on Ebay. Apparently, a company called 'Demonblade' created models very similar to Games Workshop's... They promptly got sank under the lawsuit, but there are still a couple of these old models floating around, and I thought I might pick one up and give it a look-over. And while I'm at it, why not give all of you a chance to look as well! This is their 'Orc Warboss' model.

Demonblade existed around the time of 2nd edition orks, which might help explain some of his appearance, though that face looks more like a squig that has become humanoid! The Klaw is a neat touch, though - I like it a good deal simply because it looks good and orky. The gun is actually a bit inspiring, not because I find it particularly well made, but because it looks like it would make a reasonably good Big Shoota model. I'm actually contemplating making a similar weapon now, with the ammo drum and clip in a similar fashion, and maybe casting it for the benefit of my Flash Gitz. Either way, it's an interesting model - the face needs a bit of work, but I think if I get a big enough iron gob on him, he might be passable as a proper ork, though of what variety I could not say. Maybe he can be a mek, or something.

One last detail: I got the entirety of my BWBits Mega Grab Bag order. I'm pretty satisfied with it. I have posted loads of pictures of the spoils here so if you care to see them, venture that way. I'm feeling far too lazy to thumbnail and post up all of the pictures here when I think that post sums it up much better and cleaner, honestly. Not much ork stuff; primarily chaos, dark angels, marines, and nids, with little bits of everything else thrown in for good measure. I feel like I just broke even on the cost of the two bags, honestly.

Jul
2007
2810:17
am

Naughty or nice?

As part of The-Waaagh's Summer Secret Santa, I had to make a gift for a fellow by the name of Stuart. I did a bit of research on Stuart, and it turns out that he plays deathskullz as his ork army, which means that he requires a number of lootas to satisfy his army requirements. With that little tidbit in mind, I set about leaning how lootas work, and what the most effective weapons might be.

As it turns out, autocannon lootas are one of the more powerful choices, according to my fellow orks. I've never had the chance to play with lootas and test 'em out, but I figured it'd be fun to make heavy weapons squads out of them.

Unfortunately, I set about building these models at a time when I was lacking most of my tools. We had literally a dozen family members visiting all at once who basically evicted me from my normal living space, and with it, access to most of my tools. As such, I did the best I could in the course of assembling these, but they're not perfect; particularly when it comes to mold lines on items, as I didn't have the tools at my disposal to remove them as well as I would have liked.

I set about building the Nob first. My initial ideas for the leader of such a squad were pretty basic - wearing a helmet, and maybe a beefy close combat weapon. I thought to myself that a Nob might see a chainsword dropped by a slain 'umie as a prime choice in looting, so I set about making one from scratch. It was only after I finished making it that I realized I had way, way overshot the size I was going for.

A buddy of mine also told me that Loota Nobs are best equipped with a big shoota, anyhow, so I reconsidered a bit and instead slung it across his back as a sort of 'looted eviscerator'.

I have no idea what the helmet is from - I have a couple of them as bits that I got in a trade that just happen to be roughly the right size.

The next thing for me to do was to get going on the autocannon teams. I figured I'd set them up true to imperial style, with both models on the heavy weapons base, and the second of each removable via the use of magnets. The first one went pretty quickly once I figured out how to pose an ork firing the autocannon.

Each pair of heavy weapons teams I tried to get to match in terms of certain details - for example, these both are wearing helmets and have pairs of marine shoulderpads on. I was pretty happy with how the first pair turned out, so I started working on the second pair...

The downside to the design of the autocannon, as I saw it, was that each autocannon 'firing' ork had to be to the same side of the weapon, as the autocannon's ammo drum stuck out too much to allow them to hold it the other way around. It was also hard figuring out what to do with that gunner's left hand, as the only options I could think of involved the same general pose as the first gunner. Instead, I decided he would have a special handle that allowed him to balance it and aim it a bit easier. I chopped down the haft of a choppa arm, cut at the wrist and turned it, and replaced where the choppa was with a length of wooden spear. You'll notice these two match in their single shoulderpads. Then came the third...

The upraised hand was the last thing I could think of to go with the posture, which seemed a bit more relaxed than the other two, who were intent upon raining bullets at their targets.

My final efforts:

lootaboy22

All in all, I'm happy with how they turned out. I hope Stuart gets some good use out of them - he has taken and posted his own pictures of the group here.

I hope to add shots of the painted models up when he does put a brush to them.;)

Jul
2007
252:15
pm

Out of my gourd

I knew there was a reason I wasn't working on that squiggoth project. Left alone in the darkness of my display case, it was forced to asexually reproduce to keep itself company!

I'm obviously batshit crazy. I've come to terms with that. I did manage to get the new one for pretty cheap - , shipped. Honestly, though, between these two models and the stompa I can play retarded amounts of orks, which will be perfect for Apocalypse.

It's actually a bit weird. The new one needs a bit of cleanup, yes, as it's former owner did some things I don't approve of, and I am going to need to break it down to components to easily put the speaker in, but the new one is a better cast than my first. What the hell, Forgeworld? For example, see the feet; on my first, I have this webbed 'clump' of crap between the toes that I thought was standard. It's impossible to remove because the resin is so thick, though... whereas this new one has perfectly cast feet. Certainly makes my first one look cruddy by comparison... I guess quality control's a bit lacking.

I plan on putting speakers into the new one as well, yes. My plans for the method of music have changed significantly, though. My biggest obstacle was figuring out how, if I put a speaker in, I would make both of the squiggoths sync up with sound - if I put two mp3 players in, it'd never, ever match. Instead, I have come up with what I think is an ingenious solution - radios! I have an FM broadcaster on my 60 gig ipod for my trips in the car so I can listen to my own music, which means all I would have to do is toss a small pocket fm radio into each squiggoth. I'm pretty sure I can get a pair of them for ridiculously cheap as it's the sort of trash marketed at joggers and bikers.

To try and make them a bit different, I'm going to be scratchbuilding howdahs on both. I also think I'm going to leave the tusks off of one and instead replace it with a big, chunky iron gob akin to the one on the smaller FW squiggoth.

All in due time, anyway. I have a couple other things to finish up with before I can get to working on these!

Jul
2007
2112:50
pm

Eye(s) of Terror

You knew this was coming.

smled4

It had to be done. After loads of precarious drilling, filing, and sanding, I now have a light-up necron head for my lord. It looks pretty great mounted on the body, too.

One thing bothered me, though, about the way the light looked. The appearance of it, after you drill out the eyes, is not necessarily of the eyes being lit, but rather the eyes being lit at the back of a tunnel. Also, it tends to look like crap when the LED is off, because you've got these gaping holes in the face of whatever you were working on. I needed to add some sort of 'lens' to the outside of the eye that was clear to let the light through but solid enough to be an eye.

I found a great solution!

Using a needle, I sucked up some water effects. The stuff is awful as actual water, but for eye lenses, it does the job once it dries!

cronlord7
Jul
2007
202:38
pm

Barbeque Ribs

After aquiring the mandatory boatload of parts that would be necessary to facilitate a Necron Lord conversion, I find myself drawn to the use of my SMT LEDs to make the model come to life with built-in lights. I began the arduous process of hollowing out the plastic ribs of a Necron Destroyer to facilitate light shining through.

carvedcron

The initial results weren't bad. In the above picture, I was using an LED pen to illuminate the ribs for simplicity's sake. They had been hollowed out using a needle and some sandpaper - I would poke the needle through the rib indentations clean out to the other side, pull it back out, and make another hole right next to it. Eventually I had poked enough holes to actually remove the bulk of the rib. It's too fine a job for an xacto knife, and I didn't have any files small enough as to cope with the size of the gap between the ribs, so I resorted to the next best thing - sandpaper. Taking some very fine-grit sandpaper, I cut long, 1mm wide strips of it. These strips were then threaded through and into the ribs and either end of the strip was held stable (one end in my teeth, the other between the fingers of one hand) as the spare hand moved the chest piece back and forth in a manner to sand the interior spaces down. After that was done, I took some Ambroid Pro-weld and brushed it between the gaps of the ribs. This was done mostly to smooth things out further, as Pro-weld is intended to melt plastic together, and helped me brush the surface of the plastic even.

Here was another test with a red SMT LED:

smled3

Of course, I intend on the final rib lights being green, but that's not quite worth worrying about yet. I have a head to attend to!

Jul
2007
202:08
pm

‘Spike’ lives up to his name

Interesting day, today! I had the chance to go out and pick up some guitar wire after work, as I was all out, and in the mean time a package of mysterious origin was being delivered at my very door!

I'd traded off my old Guntrukk to a buddy named Gizmo in the UK, and in return I obtained a huge warboss ot lead my army in the interim while I work on my own Big Boss. 'Ere we are:

The trip across the Atlantic was fairly kind to this warboss, named 'Spike' by his previous owner, but I took a few liberties of touching him up in a spot or two, adding eyes as he lacked them, and varnishing the whole thing up for the sake of protection. Lots of the boss seems to be sculpted right from scratch, which is pretty unique. My only caveat with the model is a lack of power claw, which any proper boss should have, but my opponents are usually flexible enough as to attribute him one based purely on the size of that weapon. ;)

Fairly exciting day, all in all. I am expecting a few things from ebay to come in the mail in the next few days - a bundle of ork vehicles I got for absurdly cheap that included a remote control tank (Can you hear the gears in my head turning? Can you?) and a very bizarre OOP Alternate Warboss by a company called Demonblade which I hope to examine in greater detail in the next few days.

Jul
2007
169:28
am

Nothing ambiguous about this duo

Here is my finished dynamic duo for entry into a painting contest.

I'm pretty content with it. I would have liked to spend more time on the grot, but recent events did not quite allow me the wiggle room I was hoping for. I'm hoping very much that I can win the painting contest and Forgeworld inquisitor!

Jul
2007
129:11
am

Heavy metal

A bit more progress has been made on this thing!

In my endeavors to try and break up the solid colors, I have been picking out the parts that I thought might be more metallic - namely the hydraulics, a little bit of the joints, and the claw - and going over them with boltgun again, followed by a bit of Vallejo smoke ink to knock down the ridiculous brightness of Boltgun.

Afterwards, I tried a new trick - I have drab colored pastels that are surely not intended for this, but they seem to do the job!

gargantcolors

Grabbing a drybrush, I would dip it in a container of water and then rub it on one of those long chalky things. The pigment would come off, and as I brushed it onto the model, it would pool around things like rivets. I did this with the bright orange one - using a lot of water to make sure that it didn't powder the model too much - and let it dry. It looked awful when it was all dried off as it was all powdery residue, but then I hit both sides with a diluted black ink wash which evened the whole model right out nicely and got rid of a lot of the problems with the powder.

So, now I've got two reasonably distinct shades of metal on this thing. In the course of painting it up, I've hit it twice with Testors Dull Cote - the washes I use tend to make the whole thing really glossy. Plus, I figure that I never, ever want the paint to flake or chip off this thing, so repeatedly sealing it can't be a bad thing, right? It takes paint overtop really well, which I don't believe would be the case with Gloss Varnish, but you need to be mindful of how you use it as inks and washes don't go on over it all that smoothly.

Up next is hopefully that time where I start picking colors out. I was thinking I'd do that big, thick cable up in a yellow color, pick the wires out in random shades, and add some orky glyphs or two to it, though I'm not certain where there's room yet.

Jul
2007
1011:07
am

Final straws

I give up!

Ever since I finished building this thing, I've been asked so many times about it.

'What ever happened to that ork titan, Ein?'
'Did you ever finish your gargant, Ein?'
'When are you going to paint the stompa, Ein?'

A man can only take so much! I concede defeat! And thus, I begin anew on this project, hopefully for the last time. I figured I'd paint it in the order I built it. I don't know why, it just seemed like the right thing to do... So, I started with the claw arm.

I began by trying to drybrush boltgun over the rust primer, but I really didn't like how it was looking. Admittedly, I think I might have gone a little too heavy with it.

pipgargant1

Following that, I proceeded to hit it with a wash mixed from Vallejo Smokey Ink and Scorched Brown to try and tone it down a bit. I think I might have succeeded in doing that a bit too well in the following few steps of painting, as I have a mostly uniform rust color now that extends across the entire claw. While I do like the shade of it, it's a bit boring.

The colors, as best as I can tell, are a little bit off in these photos, as the gargant looks a very vibrant orange when it's not really that strong in person. Having natural light would have aided in a bit of true color immensely, but I've been trying to assemble a somewhat reasonable photo studio out of the corner of a room, and my lighting tends to be inconsistent based on time of day as it is located right next to a window. Come tomorrow morning, the sunlight should help me take more accurate photography of it, I think. Though, I doubt it'll be looking all the much like that!

I'm trying to come up with decent ideas for coloring it. Obviously the cabling gets picked out in distinct colors... The claw should also probably look like it is used and worn, I think, as it would take the most beating of any part of that arm. Chipped metal in abundance on the talons is probably appropriate. I'm thinking of going over the armor plates on the arm with boltgun as well to try and accentuate them. I was also thinking that big, thick, chunky cable would look good in a yellow color, which would be fairly easy to execute thanks to the Foundation paints.

I want to put checkers on it somewhere but the opportunity doesn't seem to be presenting itself with the particular architecture of the arm. Maybe I can get away with a few gyphs and dags here and there.

Give me feedback on this thing! I'd hate to ruin it with my novice painting, but it apparently needs to be done. :D