From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

I was rooting around in my collection of minis and pulled out the second Ork Warboss with Big Choppa I had intended to paint for Orktober. I had bought it through eBay and cleaned it up from the dismal primer work it was caked in. The bosspole was missing which wasn’t a problem as it has allowed me to get into some kitbashing. I’m always interested in how to make the figure more interesting. Normally this falls to the basing aspects since I don’t play large army games and I try to limit the amount of figures I pick up for different games. I say normally and admit freely that Malifaux is one that I find myself purchasing figures of factions I don’t play.

Here I cut a length of rod slightly longer than that of the regular pole as I figured what I wanted to build would end up as a larger emblem than the ones for the missing section. I subdivided a second in order to build the “arms” to the sides and fixed them with JB Weld (an industrial epoxy) as I’ve gotten rid of my old soldering iron due to moving. I then took a rotary tool and gouged out the remnants of the pole on the pack and set the pole in with more JB Weld. The mechanical for that needed to hold was done and it was time for artistic fun to begin.

I drew out a rough sketch of an ork face before  adding a second layer to it after the deciding it was too boring and needed some depth. The rivets on it also came from this observation. The crux of the pole looked piss poor in detail as compared to what was taking shape so I added a riveted join to make it look purposeful. I’ve got a number of resin skulls lying about in my bits bin so I thought that might be cool as trophies for a warboss. Also looking in the bits collection I had spiked chains from Reaper minis that I had not used from a purchase I meant for a pirate themed display. Onto the pole they went to include some of the flash.

There is more work to be done on the pole in general but this is a WIP while playing around on a painting break.

With all that done and looking back to the first warboss the urge to make a good base was obvious. With plasticard odds and ends I modeled the forms and glued bits together. I slapped down textured plastic/brass scrap and used a file to add scratches to bring out later in paint. Yet again more rivets were added because orks need rivets. I had spare wire I picked up from the side of the road and added a length to act as cable. With that all done I put down a layer of Golden Coarse Pumice aggregate to give the texture of gravel/soil.There’s a small pipe that comes out of the base that I actually drilled into the resin to make appear deeper which will be in later installments.

Overall this is how I break up my painting lulls. Paint like a madman, kitbash like a fool.. It keeps me motivated to show off to everyone like you.