Classic Space Ork Battle Wagon

One of the best gaming supplements ever written - as far as I'm concerned - is Waaargh the Orks. After fleshing out Chaos in the venerable Realm of Chaos books GW decided to really keep going and give their Space Orks some background. I bought the book way back when it came out in 1991. Even though I curse the decision to give it pre-punched holes for a binder and forsake any glue for the cover I still love it. I even attempted to start a Space Ork army way back then (and sold of most of my models over the years). One of the things I never bought when it came out was a classic Space Ork Battle Wagon (I couldn't scrape the funds together for a full mail order and there was no GW point of sales within reach way back then (and no internet*). Thanks to the miracles of 3D-printing I now have one. Obviously it had to be covered in paint as quickly as possible. No need to paint it red, you don't have to go fasta' when you'z got lots'a teef!

* A horrifying thought, I know

"Fasta' you zogs! We needz'ta leave! 'Oo knows what'll happen when two weirdboyz call shotgun at da same time."

The Ork Battle Wagon was one of the original first plastic kits GW produced. At the tail end of the eighties they brought out the plastic orcs and dwarves, following up with the Rhino and Land Raider sets. This model came out at the start of the nineties. You could say they have improved their plastic design skills over the years (and you'd be right), but there is just something inspired about these older kits. Beyond nostalgia they exude a certain freedom designers had back then to go wild. Having missed the boat when the kit was originally available, and being unwilling to pay crazy Evilbay prices for it, I was planning to 'one day' scratch build one. If any kit can be build by hand, I thought, it is this one. Then I found these stl's here on MyMinifactory. Why curse plastic card and destroy fingertips with a modeling knife when you can print a copy?

3D-printing: it takes a lot of effort to get to grips with it, but it is quite rewarding when it works.

It took my Anycubic Photon Ultra about four days to spew out the different parts. I ran into a bit of trouble because I tried a new slicer (the software that combines the design (stl) you buy with the specifications of your printer and info on the resin you use, turning this information into a file your 3D-printer actually understands). I added rather thick supports in Lychee (name of the slicer) and couldn't properly get them off the tub-shape that serves as the open topped cabin of the vehicle. It left marks and damage. On the plus side, it left marks and damage, which only serves to make an Ork vehicle look properly Orky. For future reference (and as a handy tip for fellow 3D-printing wargamers out there): if you have trouble taking supports off, leave the print in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, this heats the resin up and makes supports break off without a problem. 

The magic of weathering powders and (reasonably) properly applied colored metallics.

I ran into a second problem while printing the front wheels as the STL turned out to be damaged. I shot off a quick message to the creator, hoping for the best. To my amazement I got a reply and fixed files within the hour. I challenge anyone to beat that for service on a four dollar file (thank you Landon Alumbaugh). With that said, all that was left was printing the vehicle. I airbrushed the entire thing with Vallejo Metal Steel and followed up with a quick VM Dark Aluminum zenithal. Next I brushed two thin layers of GW Averland Sunset on all the panels I wanted to be yellow. After this dried, I airbrushed a random light yellow in the center of each panel. 

Back in the old days you could take as many models as would fit in a battle wagon and yes you where actively encouraged to convert the vehicles to hold more. I feel the itching need to make a proper British double decker variant (and call it doubla dakka and add extra guns on principle).

With the basic colors in place I went over everything I felt like with my standard rust recipe (Vallejo Red Brown, Rust, Hot Orange and a GW Ryza Rust drybrush/stipling followed by a very light metallic drybrush). I painted the black flames with a brush using Nato Black. Now it was time to go wild with the weathering. I started with Typhus Corrosion around the edges of the cabin and in select other places. I followed this up with weathering powders. I applied multiple layers of dusty browns on the wheels, added rust powders around the rust and used sooth and iron filing powders on the engine. I used white spirit to set the powders and when this dried I sealed it all in with a lot of matt varnish. 

The bottom of this buggy started in prim looking metal colors. You've got to love what an airbrush and a bit of weathering can do to that.

Now all I had to do was restore a semblance of detail as I got a bit too wild with the powders. I drybrushed a bit more metal paint on the wheels and bottom of the cab. The engine was too black so I used a trick I picked up a few years ago to restore the heated metal look. Instead of washing clean metal with purple and blue shades, I airbrushed streaks of purple and blue metallic paint in strategic places. As a final huzza I printed two classic Bad Moon banners from Waaargh the Orks. I used a lighter to burn of bits on the bottom before glueing the pieces of paper to the mast. Next I painted the top bits of the paper in a metal color and the back in Nato Black. As a final step I painted both the front and the back with a layer of PVA to give them a bit of body. I finished up with a thick coat of matt varnish on the banners to take the sheen off the PVA. 

Banners are making a bit of a comeback on recent GW models, but they're not at the good old days of multiple paper banners, back banners and spear banners yet. 

And just like that I finally have a proper Battle Wagon for a classic Rogue Trader type Bossnob to drive around camp with and shout random orders at Da Boyz. Someday soon I will paint the classic Bossnob I have squirreled away somewhere. For those of you wondering: yes I'm scouring the internet looking at classic style mesh armored Orc Boyz in STL. I've found a few interesting looking options, but I'm not fully sold on any of them so far. We'll see what the future brings (Battle at the Farm one day (most likely when I'm old and grey (older and greyer ;))).