My Current Painting Project - 184 Orks

As I have mentioned in both my previous posts, I'm currently painting a 2500 point Ork force all at once. Most people I tell this either nod their heads knowingly (ususally because they have tried to paint a horde army themselves) or tell me I'm insane (typical response from Space Marine players).

I've been collecting Orks since second edition, and have a very large force. Depending on how I choose certain options I can put between 6000-8000 points worth of assembled Orks on the table. I have another 4000-5000 points in boxes - a good amount of the stuff in my games cupboard:

I've had my Orks for over a decade now (since 1993) and while I had made some progress in painting my old 2nd edition Orks, Games Workshop went and changed the whole look and feel of the army (f0r the better) rendering my old painted boyz obsolete.

Since then I haven't painted any. This is because I was actively painting my Blood Angels, at the rapid pace of one squad per year. But the irony is, I have always enjoyed gaming with my Orks more, and so decided my Blood Angels had seen enough attention, and it was time to give the boyz some love. So with new resolve I selected a good core footslogging force to start with, and began to plan the project.


The force you see above is made up as follows:
- two thrity-strong mobs of slugga & choppa boyz, each with a power claw equiped nob
- two thirty strong shoota boyz mobs, one with three rocket launchers and one with three big shootas, both led by power claw equiped nobs
- one thirty stong 'ard boyz mob with sluggas and choppas, led by a power claw equiped nob.
- twelve Lootas, led by two meks with kustom mega blasters
- six mega nobz - one with a combi-rocket launcher and one with a combi-skorcha
- ten nobz, with two pain boyz (these will be in separate units) and two grot orderlys.
- three Kanz - one skorcha, one shoota, and one grotzooka.
- One Deff Dread with a big shoot and a skorcha
- One Warboss with power klaw and twin linked shoota, with attack squiq
- One Big Mek with Kustom Force Field and Power Klaw

Starting in November, I started cleaning and assembling units. This took about two months, at an average of an hour a night, though I did get a number of units done in addition to the 184 lined up for painting. Once the assembly and cleaning (that is removal of mold lines and flash for the uninitiated) were done, I set up an assembly line to base the units. Some painters like to leave the bases until after the models are painted. These painters are insane. If I can offer one piece of advice, it is to base your models before you undercoat them and paint them. The undercoat and paint bind the basing materials onto the model, and look far more integrated than post-paint basing.

The other thing I cannot emphasize enough is the 'glue and dip' method of basing is also a mistake. This is the technique that you see in White Dwarf, in which you paint some white glue onto the base of the model, then dip the model into some sand or other basing material. This method leads to a lot of chipped and flaking bases, trust me. The method I use is a variation on this that provides a much more solid base - I make a mix from PVA Glue and water (about 1:1) then add the same amount of basing material - in my case three grades of silica sand. You can pay a lot of money for basing materials, or you can buy it for a few dollars a liter from most hardware stores - just ask for clean silica for making textured paint. Mix all three grades together - fine, medium and course, in a plastic container with an air tight lid, then stir in the water/glue mix until it is thick but wet.

When the mix is ready, spread it onto the base of each model, and let it dry overnight. This produces a nice course terrain, and it is rock solid.

After basing the models (this took about 4 hours effort all told) I ensured they were fully dried, then proceeded to undercoat them all black. This took a full 2.5 cans of Chaos black spray!

Following that, my plan is to take the whole army through the following steps, not moving on to the next step until every model is completed for a given step.

1 - Drybrush astronomicon grey on all clothing - DONE
2 - Drybrush all weapons, some armour, and key parts of the Kans, Dred and MANz boltgun metal - DONE
3 - Paint all skin Orkhide Shade
4 - Pick out some armour, gun parts and other minor details in Dwarf Bronze
5 - Paint belts and staps scortched brown
6 - spray wash with 3 coats of badab black wash
7 - Pick out detail and paint chips and scratches with chainmail
8 - Paint skin with Knarloc Green
9 - Highlight skin with Goblin green
10 - top highlight skin with Scorpion green
11 - Paint teeth snakebite leather
12 -Paint eyes bleached bone
13 - highlight teeth bleached bone
14 - paint eyes blood red (fully covering the bleached bone)
15 - extreme highlight teeth white
16 - Paint any minor details unique to any models

I figure making a solid go of this, averaging 5 hours a week, I can finish in 3-6 months. I'm up to step 3 now, here's a current progress shot of my Warboss and Big Mek:

My Workbench

In a blatant act of looting from MoodDuck over at Dysartes.com, I decided I'd show you my work area for painting and modeling. So to get the ball rolling, here is my desk:

The actual desk itself is one I built about five years ago to use as a computer desk. When my wife and I consolidated down from two PCs to one, we used her desk (having two PCs is a bit unnecessary when you have kids, as you barely have time for one person to use it, let alone both). The desk is a bit higher than a normal desk, as I built it so that the keyboard tray, now removed, was at the right height for myself. This makes the work surface of the desk a good height for painting - though it could be a little higher. I'm thinking about building some blocks to raise the desk another 200-300cm at some point.

The shelf on the back is a recent addition - I built it out of MDF about a month ago. Before that I had all my paints in a plastic drawer unit, which kept them out of the way, but made it difficult to find the right colour when I needed it. No problems now, the shelf holds all my paint, and a lot of other bits and pieces as well.

The blue painting tray borrows some design elements from the tray made by Games Workshop, but it's a bit bigger. It's another custom build job, and was actually my first ever wood working project. I've since drilled out a number of additional holes for more brushes and tools.

Some people may see all this as a bit elaborite for paint toy soldiers, but I like to be organised, and the benefits this set up provides are worth it - I spend more time painting, and less time organising each time I paint. I have ruthlessly worked to remove all impediments to painting, and also to remove all inefficiencies. This allows me to overcome the biggest challenge I face in my painting - procrastination. This has to be the main reason I haven't got more models painted and ready to game with. I think it's true for many people. Lets look at an example of this - sya you have 45 minutes until it's time to sit down for dinner. if it's going to take thirty minutes just to dig out the paints, brushes, miniatures, water, newspaper, pallet and lights just to get started, that 45 minute gap you had becomes 15 minutes, and you go from painting ten models in that time down to maybe two or three. Only painting three models in a 45 minute gap feels unrewarding - or much less rewarding. If your painting area also happens to be the dining table, then you'll need clean up time as well and the 45 minute gap is gone before it starts - so you don't bother, and another day goes by with no progress towards completing your army.

This all sounds like a big push to build your own desk - it's not. You can solve much of the problem with just a painting tray and a shelf to keep it on, as it can be quickly picked up and put to use. I have the luxury of a bit of space at home, so I'm able to dedicate a desk to it.

You might notice a few oddities on my desk if you look closely. Have a look at this close up shot of my painting area:

You'll notice the artists canvas, and the plastic container with a sponge in it. The canvas is an idea I looted from MoonDucks article linked above - go read his reasons for it, as I took his advice and have to say it was a brilliant idea. The plastic container is my wet pallet. This brilliant idea save me more time, and saves me heaps of paint. It allows me to work for hours without my paint drying in the pallet (in fact, if I put the lid on the container, I can come back days later, give the paint a quick stir with a brush, and keep using it). Instructions for making one couldn't be easier:

1. Get a sponge, a shallow plastic container (sandwhich size is good), a small square of baking paper (a.k.a. parchement paper) and some water.



2. Put the sponge in the container and wet it down so that the water just sits over the top surface of the sponge.



3. Trim the paper to fit over the sponge, press it on, let it sit for a minute, press down any paper that is lifting.



4. Your wet pallet is ready for use. Using a brush, take some paoint from the pot and put it on the pallet. Wipe off excess paint on a clear spot on the pallet. Thin as needed, but note that you may not need to thin your paints quite as much.
   

The wet pallet and canvas allow me to stop and start painting in moments, which means I can squeeze the maximum painting time out of any gap I can find, which is not always easy. For those readers with kids, you can really appreciate what I mean.

You'll notice other aspects of my desk that may have obvious benefits - an iPod speaker dock for tunes, adjustable lamps for lots of glourious light (two lamps eliminates the deep shadowing you get when using one - especially important when painting models with a black undercoat). A comfortable chair, and all my brushes and other tools in easy reach.

You may also notice what isn't there - distractions. The one thing I don't like about MoodDucks desk is his PC - this is a big distraction that screams "don't paint them, the web beckons!". I find that the best way to keep myself focused to to remove anything that draws me away from my painting.

Thats enough for now. Next time I'll show you my current project - 184 Orks all being painted at once!

ColdWind Out.

A new power arises...

Hi Everyone, I'm Chris, a.k.a. Coldwind, and welcome to my BLOG. This will be mainly a place for me to post about my Warhammer 40k hobby activities - painting, modeling and converting, and possibly the odd ramble or rant.

A bit about me - In real life I'm an IT manager at a Telecommunications company in Sunny (some of the time) Wellington, New Zealand. I've been playing Warhammer and Warhammer 40k for quite some time now - since 1989 - so twenty years and counting...

At the moment I collect Orks and Blood Angels, and have started a Dark Elves army for Warhammer. I'm a collector first, as my large cabinet full of not-yet-assembled miniatures would show. The problem is I feel like I'm buried in plastic and white metal, so I have resolved to dig myself out, by painting and assembling everything in the next two years (not in that order of course).

To that end, I joined a new gaming group late last year, run by the manager of my local Games Workshop. This has given me a new driver to get me building and painting more (and buying more - so I'm not sure if I'm digging myself out, or deeper...) and it's been a lot of fun too. The group alternates between normal games and Apocalypse games, which means I often get to field most of my assembled army. I'll put up a list of my Ork horde to date at some point soon, and will do the same for my Blood Angels too. It's fair to say the Orks are getting most of my love at the moment though, with all the great new units and vehicles Games Workshop has released in the last eighteen months.

My current painting project is the biggest I've ever undertaken - I'm painting 2500 points worth of Orks in one go. That's 184 models. It's a bit of an insane undertaking, but if I stay with it, I'll have the majority of my boyz squads painted, along with most of the other foot slogging units in my army. I finish them, and I'll move onto my Trukks, Wagons and Stompas! I'll put up some work in progress pics as soon as I work out how to.

It's probably worth noting that this blog is intended to serve myself first, everyone else second, so while your comments are welcome, I'm not going to be posting for the benefit of the audience. That's a round about way of saying I may not post often, and my posts may be boring, so reader be forewarned.

ColdWind Out.