Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: Grot Tanks for the memories.

Having built new Grot Tanks, and mostly painted new Grot Tanks, I decided that my old ones looked all wrong. They were the first ork vehicles painted for Waaagh! Snaggatoof, and I have changed my painting style, so they don't fit in. I have stared to remedy this, and I'm also going to build a few more. I'm low on Plasticard (just ordered more) so I'm going to try to make them with as little structural plasticard as I can. As a result, the next two will be based on PVC pipe. I still have tons of .5mm plasticard to add details and plates, but it's a bit thin for structural work.
Anyway, time for pictures!

This is the second Grot Tank - this time armed with a skorcha. I was channeling Italian tankettes of ww1 and the ww1 Ford 3-Ton tank on this one. It's the first Grot Tank with exposed road wheels.

It has ended up longer than the others, mostly because I didn't think it was selling the whole 'flame' part of the design without the big fuel tanks.

Here it is with the Rokkit version from MFH Twenty-Nin.

And here is is mostly painted with a second rokkit version I built later.

Meanwhile, Scale Reference Cat is being stalked by the Morkanaut (actually, this photo is the result of me looking at Scale Reference Cat from behind and thinking that from certain angles he bears a strong resemblance to the Morkanaut from certain angles...

I've started to repaint my old Grot Tanks to match the new stuff - I was never happy with the weathering on them before, and everything else in Waaagh! Snaggatoof is pretty clean as Bad Moons are the only orks with enough teef to afford to run their vehicles through the car wash - since Scunthork is by the sea and has a salt-water car wash it's pretty hard on the exposed metal parts, hence all the rust to go with the clean paint.

Scale Reference Cat, meanwhile, is ignoring me and sleeping in a box full of miniatures - moslty Mad Juzzy the Flutist's Bounty.

Well, that about wraps it up for this update. I'm going to start working on some PVC pipe based Grot Tanks, and I'm also planning on building a Gun Wagon and Grot Mega Tank soon. Plus, I just ordered a 1/35 Tamiya Sherman online for a mysterious orky project of mystery!

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: My tank is BLAST!

Time for an update on the Kill Blasta (I think). I have not worked on it all that much of late - the weekly descent of the Hobbiests of the Hoodling's Hole has been lightly interrupted by Lego these last few weeks, but I have been spending some time either before work of after dinner most days.

This side is the more complete side. I have plated and detailed the upper hull, and plated the lower hull (not detailed yet because I have to work out the suspension). I have not added rivets to most of it yet, sort of planning to do that all at once in one big orgy of riveting.

Here's a detail shot of the exhaust mechanisms on this side.

This is the rear hatch which allows the 12 boyz carried in the armoured bowels of the Kill Blasta to spew forth and hit things. There'll be hatches on both sides and one above the main gun too. The four tubes top right are the rokkit lancher, and are just mocked up at the moment.

The main gun in only blu-tacked on at the moment, so I've removed it for a clearer look at the engine.

I've basically worked out how I'm doing the drive sprockets, road wheels idlers etc for the suspension, but I'm still working out how to make all the track links. Probably slowly.

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: Some sort of tank perhaps?

With the stompa finished, I've decided to take a break from that project (can't face painting it right now - that's a lot of yellow...) and work on a different orky vehicle. A smaller one. Although still pretty big. In fact it's also a Lord of War choice (or whatever they call them) - a Kill Tank. I can't remember which kind of Kill Tank right now - there are two with different weapon fits and the names are not sticking in my head. I think it might be a Kill Blasta, but then it might be a Killbursta...?
Anyway here are some pics.

Scale Reference Cat graciously consents to give scale to the project. About all I know about the design is that I want to have the main gun in a fixed front mount, and that I want to have a truck-style bonnet out front between the tracks. Also everyone thinks it looks like a boat.

Here's the almost latest with the engine installed, the bonnet part detailed and a lot of the plating done. The main gun is just blu-tacked on right now.

And the rear view. I am in the process of adding random plating everywhere and then I'll go back for detailing and rivets. There will be a large hatch in the rear notch to allow the transported orks to get in and out since the Kill Tank is also an APC.

Apart from that, I've got a few sketches and ideas running around. Nick Hoen of the Dwellers Bellow pod cast was nosing around HGC's terrain collection looking for some kit for an upcoming event, and mentioned some ideas, including a further expansion of the Gob Off terrain, so I've started work on a Shaman's hut made from a tree stump. It'll be a TFH Ishoo eventually.

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: The Stompa is COMPLETE!

It's been a very long time coming, but the stompa is finally complete! I started this bad boy at Easter last year, worked on it slowly until June due to a spectacularly nasty and long running cold, and then sort of stalled until a few weeks ago. And now it's done. I built the final twin-shoota pintle mount yesterday, finished it up today, added some final rivets around where it's installed at the lower jaw, tweaked a few more rivets here and there, and then installed pilots to the supa rokkits. And now the vast task of painting comes...

So now there are actually a whole NINE kit parts on the model - all but one being figures. But just look how happy the ork gunner here looks!

Here's the twin big shoota pintle installed, all the riveting done, and me thinking 'YAY! FINISHED!' until I noticed the pilots in the supa rokkits not being there yet...

I suspect the boy here may suffer from deafness due to having a Mega Gattler going off right over his head all the time...

Here's the right-side supa rokkit on it's launch rail.

And the left side rokkit - this was the first one I built. 

Here's the mighty Deff Kannon as it looks installed, with the new Supa Rokkit shoulder pad installed above it.

And now the Mega Choppa or whatever the damn thing's called. There were some parts hanging off the back designed to link to a hydraulic system to push the arm up and down, but they broke when I dropped it, and I liked it better without.

And finally, here are the supa rokkits with the pilots installed. The one closest to camera is a complete grot, trimmed down to fit. The other two have green stuff bodies.

Well, I guess I should probably start working on the paint now. Which could take another year.

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: Back on the bench.

Guess who's back on the workbench? That's right, after a very long break, I'm working on the Stompa again. So far this has just meant working on the Deff Kannon (or mega kannon or whatever they call it these days...)

This is where it all started - the ammo cylinder. Originally, I was planning on a sort of revolver design, but I ran into some problems with making the cylinder properly (this is part of the reason the project stalled). I decided to simplify and go for a drum magazine instead which was much simpler. The end caps are MDF cut using a hole saw and drill, which have been plated with plasticard.

To get a rough idea of the gun's length I cut out the barrel and tested it - obviously there's more gun behind the cylinder.

The more gun behind the cylinder in question.

The gun as fitted to the shoulder. I was also having trouble with arm design until I realised the gun was too big to fit to an arm without clashing with the legs, so I just welded it right onto the shoulder. 

And here's the gun fully detailed with underslung skorcha - there's also a big shoota mounted to the top but it's not visible here. The gun is about the same size as the old Rhino kits, and gives the current Rhino a run for its money.

Well, there it is. The Stompa is now well on its way to completion. I'm working on the supa rokkits now, and then it's just a matter of a pintle mounted twin big shoota on the lower hook of the moon.

And paint. Oh so much paint.

The race that once more fails to stop Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: The Sequel.

Here it is, nearly 2100 on cup day. Not a great deal got done this afternoon. Things sort of slowed down and I got sidetracked by DVDs. However, some of the mystery surrounding the Shokkjump Dragsta can now be shed.

Here's the dragsta with the body mocked up. This is not quite the final position, but it's close enough to give you an idea. That's a 1:32 toy kombi van by the way.

Here's the driver - he's from one of the trukks that formed part of Mad Juzzy the Flutist's bounty. The beige stuff is all part of the kombi's interior. The rest has been cut off to make room for the shokk reactor which will be going into the back.

The race that once more fails to stop Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects.

It's just after noon on Cup Day here in Victoria, and while the various glittering socialites are parading around Flemington race course in tiny hats, here in the mekboy workshops of Grot, we're doing what we always do with cup day long weekend - building stuff. I like to try to get a huge amount of hobby in over the long weekend - in the past I have actually run a challenge to build, paint and complete a whole model over the course of just this one day. This year, I am scratchbuilding a Shokkjump Dragsta.
Once again, I am not that mad about GW's model. It doesn't really scream 'dragster' - it looks about as  heavy as all the other new vehicles, and apart from being on drag slick tyres, it's not really very dragster shaped either. So obviously I have to build one and make it very clearly dragsterish. Also, I get the fun of building a Shokk Reactor. Which I am certainly excited about.

The chassis is now basically complete. The wheels are not glued to anything yet, but the axels are all mounted and it rolls nicely. Wheels are from a 1:32 scale toy car (front) and a 1:25 scale model Pro Street car (rear)

The engine is almost done - I still need to add some belts to drive the twin super chargers. The area between is being left clear to allow the Shokk Rifle to fire through the engine.

I still need to fine tune the engine's position and add some mounts. At the moment the exhausts get a bit mixed up witht he wheels.

The rear diff and suspension has just been mounted. The yellow bit in the middle is a bead I found at a $2 shop - more of them will be used in the reactor.

Stand by for further updates, including what I'm using for the body of this thing later this afternoon or evening!
And if I win anything on the cup, who knows, I might spend it on actual GW vehicles models - but mostly so I can point out all their many failings and sneer at them while scrath building things I like.

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: Waaagh! Gruntblasta and Retro Gobsmasha

For some time now I have been working of and on on a Gobsmasha for the retro Waaagh! Gruntblasta. Mostly off. I had planned to turn it into a Modelling For Hippos ishoo, but I seem to have lost the step by step photos of the first half of the project. Sigh.

Anyway, I've been painting up more of Waaagh! Gruntblasta in the last week or so because I wanted to display it at GeekFest, what with the theme being retro and all. This got me excited about the Gobsmasha again, and I ended up finishing it today. It's based on plans which GW published in an ancient White Dwarf (which you can find easily online - both as an image and also a copy of the full article on Scribd I think). Turn out the Hoodling owns the right White Dwarf too, but I only found out about that recently.

The Gruntblasta JUST before finishing -I forgot to add some rivets on the sides so I thought it was finished and got excited and photographed it. The Mekboy in the hatch has had his legs brutally sawn off so he fits. The scale reference chap will turn up in later pictures and be explained there.

Here's the Gobsmasha with the Braincrusha. The Braincrusha is a battlewagon under 8th ed rules - I think the Gobsmasha will have to be used as a Looted Wagon, but I have not seen the rules for them yet.

Scale reference cat demonstrates the exact size of the project.

I've also been painting up quite a few vintage Orks (as mentioned above). Some of these are super old - I picked up 15 from Little Wars last year which have 1987 and 1988 dates on their tabs. I rummaged around on Stuff of Legends a bit and found them listed as part of RT02 - the second boxed set released for Rogue Trader as 40K was known at the time.

The four orks on the right are the 1987-88 type. The guy on the left with the big axe is from a bit later.

This guy was actually part of my original 2nd edition Ork army back in the day. I've had him since I was 13 or 14, when he was the second in command of my Blood Axe army. I sold the figure who was in command, so he's been promoted. Until I finish painting the Warboss on Supa Cyboar, when he'll be demoted again.

Apparently, vintage orks object to being in focuse. Who knew.

This guy's jaw is a bit confusing. I get the metal bit along the bottom, but there's an odd bit on the side before the highe of the jaw which I don't understand.

According the Stuff of Legends, this chap's name is Buzzy Buzzax because back in the day, every individual model had a name. Some of them were really bad - all the Squats were named after weapons makers and the Slaan where nothing but vile puns.

This is how Waaagh! Gruntblasta looked just before GeekFest - I also painted up some orks with heavy weapons and a Mekboy, but they didn't get individual photos.

While rummaging in the vintage ork box, I found this. It was painted in the 90s by Scatterlaser's brother. He will be preserved for all time just as he is.

Ah, the Psychadelork. I think I might actually paint up a mate for him using modern painting techniques.

Following GeekFest I finished stripping the paint off more of the very old RT02 Orks and painted up six of them. I'm pretty fond of the flamer model - I have two of them. I'm planning to get another bacth of six done soon, which, along with the three I painted earlier will give me a 15 man squad. Which means Waaagh! Gruntblasts will be just about a legal army in 8th edition (if a small and rather odd one).

Well, there you go. I ma currently working on a mek with shokk attack gun (I've got two...) the super cyboar and a normal mekboy, plus I can undercoat the Gobsmasha and start in on that now.

I'll try to get some prettier pics on the weekend and I might even have a shot at making some matching terrain.

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: Stompa video update.

There's now video on my YouTube channel of the Stompa. Nothing that has not been covered in photos on the blog, but these pictures... move...

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: That's not a choppa... THIS is a choppa!

This morning I have started to work on the arms for the Stompa. Or at least on the supa mega deff saw 2000 or whatever ludicrous and impossible to remember name GW have saddled the Close Combat Weapon with. The blade is a full 12cm long.

One side of the blade with spacers and chain links waiting to be glued on.

Chain links have now been glued on to this side.

Blades added and the chain links are in place on both sides of them.

And finally, both sides on the saw have been installed. Time for detailing.

I am hoping to get some video of the Stompa shot this arvo and up on Youtube.