Identifying, Updating, and Painting a Bucket of 90's Era 40K Orks with Lawnor

With everything primed it is time to start painting.  Green is the most common colour and I may have troubles painting it over darker colours, so I am starting with that.  The Skorcha turret has an Ork head visible through the top and I want to preserve the zenithal on the rest of the vehicle, so I have applied a line of Silly Putty around the head, stuck some cling film to it that wraps around the rest of the model, and then sealed it down with a second ring of Silly Putty over the first.  This will allow me to apply the green through an airbrush safely.

Paints used on the flesh:

• VGA 72.730 Goblin green
• VMC 70.967 Olive Green
• P3 Cryx Bane Base
• P3 Ordic Olive
• P3 Sanguine Highlight
• P3 Wurm Green
• P3 Menoth White Base
• P3 Menoth White Highlight
• GW Carroburg Crimson
• P3 Sickly Skin
• P3 Thammar Black

I figures the Runts and the Orks are different subspecies of the same family so they might have different tones to their skin.  To aim for this effect I chose to base them with different but similar greens.  I started by airbrushing the Runtz with VGA 72.730 Goblin Green.  I was very glad I didn’t start the Orks with this as it turns out my pot is old and thick and a little lumpy.  My airbrush was not happy with it.  I was glad I only had 12 models to do with it as it took more work than it should.

I had a look at my paint rack for a green that was different but not too different, and chose VMC 70.967 Olive Green.  I ended up thinning this down 3:1 thinner:paint, but this will vary from person to person, and pot to pot.

Everything was given a shade with an all over wash made from a mix of P3 Cryx Bane Base and P3 Oridc Olive and then left to dry at its own pace.

Another wash was made up using Cryx Bane Base, Oridic Olive, and P3 Sanguine Highlight.  This was applied in a much more targeted manner to the recesses and shadows only, paying close attention to the face.  This is where you want the eye drawn so this is where the most detail should be encouraged.

When painting a horde army sped and simplicity is the key so a drybrush highlight seemed the way to go.  I mixed up P3 Wurm Green and P3 Menoth White Base 2:1 Green:White and drybrushed everything, again paying close attention to the face.

With the flesh done, this just left the eyes, teeth and occasional boil.

Teeth: Base coat Menoth White Base, then highlighted with Menoth White Highlight

Eyes: P3 Sickly Skin (Because its off white and different to the teeth) with a dot of black in the middle

Tongues, Boils, and Scabs: I applied a dot of Carouburg Crimson wash to them and hoped for the best.  perhaps I could have put a dot of flesh tone on the top first and let the wash transition to the green?  The wash was also applied to any visible tongues and along the edge of the metal plate on one Orks head.

The gallery below also includes a close up of my favourite of the Orks.  he has so much expression on his face.  He looks like he’s been up for days working on something important and surviving on too much coffee.  he’s been asleep for about 45 minutes and the alarms have gone off.  he’s up, he’s ready for action, but he has no idea where he is, what time it is, or even who he is anymore.

He also has a Runt on his back, possibly manning the horn that connects to his ear.  Can anyone explain what the horn is supposed to be for please.  Is he supposed to be deaf?  Is it so the Runt can whisper to him?  Is it a strange Ork Radio?  It might help me decide how to paint it.