Topic: Ork Clan questions

[ΦMacGyvorkΦ]

Hey all,

I have recently been converting up my Orks to have all sorts of 'extra potential' but the catch is, is that I am not entirely sure if I have lumped them into the 'loota' category or just made them Orks modeled in such a way so that they appear to have extra kit. I do like to have a bit of variety with my ladz.

I am a little stuck for an overall theme for my army I suppose. I was originally going to paint each unit up as their respective clans eg: Kommandos as Blood Axes, Lootas as Deathskullz, Warbikers as Evil Sunz.

Units I use:
Warboss +Nob Bikers
Big Mek
Kommandos
Lootas
Boyz
Gretchin
Deffkoptas ( might be swapping to warbuggies )
Stormboyz ( on the odd occasion )
Battlewagons + Trukks

and some forgeworld things in the future:
Super heavy tanks
Grot tanks
Battle(gun)wagons

So my main question is: Is there any fluff benefit for having an army painted up in one particular way or not?

[adamscurr]

No...  Paint them how you want and play what you want...  Think of them like codex space marines...  You might play ultramarines or crimson fists, but realy it is just a paint scheme...  THey both use the same codex and rules...

Adam

[The GrimSqueaker]

A cohesive paint scheme can say what you like about your particular, or peculiar, Mob. Are they a tight crew that's been with their boss for a long time or a loose and easy band that pick up boyz where they like and toss'em away when they're boring? As a Mob gets bigger they'll attract all sorts so the paint schemes may be anything and everything you feel like. Like your idea to have each Clan their own style.

Basically, it's what you want to do with them at this stage. 

[ΦMacGyvorkΦ]

Thank you both for your replies.

I guess the biggest problem is that my army probably doesn't fit a specific clan 'theme'. With that said, I had a similar thought Rummy, to do a tough well knit mob as you said. However I am not sure whether or not in tourneys, a clan army scores more points or not. I am sure if I want a break from modelling and painting, I can write my army specific fluff.

The issues of paints are not a problem and I may even do the units with some sort of unity to the mob whilst having some of the traditional clan colours worked into their scheme.

[SKEETERGOD]

One thing to make a "cohesive" army is to have something in common. For my army each unit is painted differently, but all the models have the same color on the base (metallic blue). Each model of the unit is painted the same as the other models in that unit (i.e. blue shirt squad, etc.) while the basing may be flock, stone, grass, etc. the vertical part of the base is metallic blue on all of them. So every unit from MaNs to truck boys has the metallic blue paint on the base.

Here you can see my Drive By Boys and their base
Note: click on pictures for full size view


And here you can see the Mad Doc and another picture of my big mek Gitburna, all have the same painted base color
         

Of course most of my vehicles are red (thus the fire truck brigade) so it definitely sets out my army to be speed freaks.
     

[zachay2000]

First the funny:

I love how a coffee pot and batman are apart of skeeter's army !

Now the serious:

Sometimes it's very easy to over think how you should paint your guys. I have even seen orks with blue skin (ice orks) which still look really amazing. The important thing is that what you go with conveys what you want, for instance most of my army uses my Iron Sunz color scheme which relies heavily on gunbolt, red blood/red gore, and enchanted blue. It's overall theme is lots of metal moving very fast (so lots of dakka and lots of machines) so I drew upon a mix of Evil Sunz and Deathskullz for the inspiration. Building on this theme I made some kommandos but they turned out more bloody axes than anything else.

I still love to use lots of red blood on my models, as if they just killed something (highlight the fresh blood with varnish and it will really pop) so they are the start of what I am calling the Bloody Sunz. Go with your gut and build on that, there is nothing wrong with making your own sub army and it could lead to some interesting fiction for you as well.

[ΦMacGyvorkΦ]

SKEETERGOD: It is always great to see a cohesive army, complete and painted !!  Thank you for allowing me to see your army

Zachay2000: I think my army will be, very much like your own. The influence of Evil Sunz and Deathskullz will be very apparent in my army lists and colour scheme. I guess I will have some time to write up my own fiction too 

I will be doing something similar with my guys and I will be doing up a test colour scheme very soon!

My models (for the most part) will be converted/sculpted in this kind of manner:



For more pics just go to my WIP blog.

[zachay2000]

Where did that gun come from? It looks awesome! Also is that your big mek or just a regular dude?

I will be posting pics of my army soon (including my comical Warboss on a Bike) but if your starting to paint now, the Iron sunz theme is Boltgun as the base for everything except for skin, then do detailing of checkerboards in red and blue (more the red than the blue, blue is reserved for luck on certain units).

On my warbikers and deff dread the metal facings are very important, half is completely red like a red version of brave heart with white checker board on the opposite side.



Keep in mind the Nob isn't 100% yet but is table worthy.

[ΦMacGyvorkΦ]

Zachay2000: That model is my standard Nob and has had his gun sculpted. Anything that is green or yellow is sculpted out of modeling putty. I used references of an Imperial tank mounted assault cannon for this construction. He has basically grabbed that, and a carries a backpack full of ammunition for it that a Big Mek MacGyvork has done up for him. I wanted something outside of the standard looking Nob that is badass and somewhat reminiscent of a gun-ho Vietnam/Predator type character. It is purely for aesthetics as in game he counts as a Nob with a PK + Slugga.

I will be sculpting up 4 more as Nobz, but I have been working on that dude for about 3-4 days straight for a total of 36hours and need a day off ! I am not used to using Milliput and am working out some learning curves I suppose.

That is quite a unique paint job you have there. I can see what you are talking about with the Boltgun metal and red. How do you find doing the checkerboards and dags?

If you are interested in the Nob, the rest of the pics can be seen here: http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=219479.0

[zachay2000]

You get used to painting them pretty quickly. I have a small detail brush for the infantry but for the larger models I will often use my standard size brush (as seen on his shoulder). It is also worth mentioning that I have an awesome art store near my local gaming store which sells paint markers (markers that write with acrylic paint). Once in a while when I am just too lazy to open a pot I will use the marker instead and fill in any blue or red (comes out pink) that I need. The codex shows a useful guide on how to paint checkers also but I find that just drawing a square to a border works even better (only drawing 3 sides and filling it in).

[adamscurr]

I am enjoying your ork blog btw...  You work is spectacular...  Rather than give you advise, I feel it's be better to take some from you...! lol

As for the checkers though...  I paint mine in all sorts of colors for each unit...  What I like to do is paint the darker color first...  So in the instance of black and whiet goff style, go with the black and block out the sections you are going to checker...  I like to make the edges of the block scuffed, like the paint has chippedoff partially...  Follow this by using the light color, painting your squares but leave a slight gap between them, kind of like an outline...  it is important to make the perfectly square...  I use a really sharp brush for this...  If you look at my rust link, you can see some of the checkers I've put on for reference...

Adam

[ΦMacGyvorkΦ]

It is also worth mentioning that I have an awesome art store near my local gaming store which sells paint markers (markers that write with acrylic paint).

Right! I had forgotten about those, I remember hearing about those marker pens that are really fine that 'some' people use to do freehand work with. I will keep an eye out for them.

I am enjoying your ork blog btw...  You work is spectacular...  Rather than give you advise, I feel it's be better to take some from you...! lol

Thanks man, but I am only a newbie of sorts. Still gotta find my Ork groove, I hope everyone will be pleasantly surprised once I start painting 

As for the checkers though...  I paint mine in all sorts of colors for each unit...  What I like to do is paint the darker color first...  So in the instance of black and whiet goff style, go with the black and block out the sections you are going to checker...  I like to make the edges of the block scuffed, like the paint has chippedoff partially...  Follow this by using the light color, painting your squares but leave a slight gap between them, kind of like an outline...  it is important to make the perfectly square...  I use a really sharp brush for this...  If you look at my rust link, you can see some of the checkers I've put on for reference...

Adam

Thanks for those tips, I have never painted checkers before and getting a bit of info first really helps the planning stage. I will knock some up this week with any luck ! Weathering is something that I will be focusing heavily on when it comes to my army, I have quite a few techniques that I tried with the Nurgle Rhinos I did, and will (hopefully) be perfecting it on a smaller scale with the Orks.

I have some beautiful brushes that I am very keen to use, so sharpness will not be an issue. I think I have 2x 000 brushes from Windsor & Newton and one Vallejo 000. The Vallejo one will more than likely be used for this task, as I am sure it will take quite the beating !

I am getting ants in my pants waiting for my new paints to arrive !

[SKEETERGOD]

I love how a coffee pot and batman are apart of skeeter's army !

Yes that picture was taken at my LGS during the set up for the Battle of the Bosses. You can see that Here

Good Stuff!