WH40K - Advisor to the Waaagh

Another bright idea: reviving the old (second edition?) Imperial 'advisor' to Blood Axe orks. That is, a commissar attached to the HQ of a Blood Axe Ork army, influencing the Warboss in ways that suit the Imperium. It would probably be a good idea if he was accompanied by a bodyguard of Ogryn.
This would only be feasible in an Apocalypse game, where army organisation is a lot more fluid. Then the Waaagh could fight pretty much any enemy, except possibly loyal Imperials. (Even then you could blame it on Chaos.) No special abilities for the Commissar, just his Ld and the Ogryns to act as stoic body armour. I don't even know that this would provide any major advantage to the Ork army in game terms. It just sounds like fun.
Ideally the model would be one of the old GW or recent Forgeworld commissars with a gas mask. Perhaps an Adeptus Mechanicus Translator Device should be modelled on our gallant liaison officer. The Ogryns should already be fairly fluent in all methods of Ork communication, viz shouting, pointing, chucking things and thumping someone.

(link to post in Librarium Online)

Update: I have just bought the Forgeworld Commissar pictured above. He should do the job nicely.

WH40K - Horrible Gribbly THING from the WARP!

I was reading the article about the sculpting of the shokk attack gun in the latest Australian WD and the fluff described a horrible, gribbly thing emerging from the warp. Now, that would be a conversion project!
I think I will make two separate models:

1) A space marine (possibly a Terminator, so there is more surface area to mess with). He would re-posed to look tortured and twisted, and bits of snotling will stick out of his joints and any gaps in his armour.

2) A horrible, gribbly thing made up from the bits of about three space marines, smashed together in a roughly humanoid shape, but combined with demon bits (green stuff) and snotling bits.

I am thinking silly ideas like a screaming snotling peeking out of his knee plates, snotling arms and legs visible in the joints and gaps. I'm not very experienced with greenstuff, so I just think I will separate the marine armour into its components, joined by tentacles and stretched fleshy looking parts, blended into hideously distorted snotling and marine faces. The basic form will still be humanoid, but blended, twisted, warped. A couple of spikes and tentacles couldn't hurt. Tentacles that end in mutated, screaming snotlings!

Sorry, I just paused to wipe some spit off the monitor.

The thing is, I haven't been able to buy the Ork Codex yet, and I am wondering if there is any reason to put this thing on the tabletop - ie a misroll on the Shokk Attack table, or am I just thinking this up because I am bonkers?

(link to post on Librarium Online)

WH40K - Baneblade Digital Camouflage (Digicam) Paint Scheme

In a rather boring meeting today, I had an idea. I will give the Baneblade Recovery Vehicle and the Stormhammer...

DIGITAL CAMOUFLAGE!

A quick googling produced this:

And this:

They are from a company called Hyperstealth who make Digicam style uniforms and have the contract to paint new digital camouflage on armoured and other vehicles for the Jordanian armed forces.

This, I think, will be a striking new look for the two Baneblade variants I am building.

(Link to post in Librarium Online)

WH40K - Baneblade Conversion - Stormhammer

... or as Mr Bean once said, "look at all those guns!"

Seeing as Project Bull Grox will have given me some much coveted extra sponsons for my second Baneblade, the easy part of constructing the Stormhammer will be giving it four twinlinked heavy bolters and four lascannon turrets. It probably won't have the forward twinlinked heavy bolter turret, as there won't be enough room with the battle cannon turrets.
The higher, rear turret will have the two long barrelled battle cannon - one from this kit and one from the Grox.
I bought a third from The War Store, but I will place that on the turret of a Leman Russ, making into a Vanquisher. The shorter forward turret will receive the short battle cannon from the Leman Russ, and the one I used a couple of years back to convert a Chaos Defiler into an Imperial Sanctifier (long story - I blamed some unemployed Squats and a deranged Tech Priest). The forward turret will have access hatches but no extra weaponry. The rear turret will have hatches and stub guns or storm bolters.
The main challenge will be making all the spare Baneblade turret bits into two convincing double-gunned turrets. I may look at some WWI and WWII battleship pictures for reference.

WH40K - Project Bull Grox - Baneblade Wrecker / Recovery Vehicle

Clarifying my ideas for a Baneblade Wrecker (or recovery vehicle, engineering vehicle, etc.)

- Baneblade chassis

- Large dozer blade on front from toy construction equipment.

- Large crane, offset to right hand side of turret, also from toy construction equipment.

- Smaller, twin dozer blades on rear of hull (thanks to http://www.thewarstore.com/)

- Sponsons replaced with mechanical manipulator arms, made from old Defiler legs. Claws on arms to be enlarged versions of Servitor type gripping arms.

- Manipulators mounted on rails to slide forward or back, along side of hull.

===>--[===== (probably too hard to make them actually slide on the model, might have to stick them in place and paint 'shiny' steel where the grease and paint has been worn away by 'moving parts')

- Larger version of demolition gun for, well, demolition work

- Stabilisers for sides of vehicle, also from construction equipment (hull of donor toy truck to be used as beaten up scenery).

- Considering side turrets or manipulator arms with flamers for clearance / anti-personnel use.

- Considering autocannon as 'coaxial' weapon to crane.

- Heavy stubber on turret hatch.

WH40K - Project Bull Grox - Baneblade Recovery / Wrecker

I have decided to build two Baneblade variants:

Firstly a recovery vehicle or engineering vehicle, which I have decided should be called a Bull Grox. This will be a Baneblade hull, with the turret replaced by a big crane. I will put a large dozer blade on the front and two small ones on the rear. The side sponsons will be replaced by manipulator arms. Some of these bits will come from a Defiler that I trashed a while back. The big dozer blade and crane should come from toys; the other bits from specialist websites (see below)

The second will be the ultimate in shootiness - the Stormhammer, which has a simply stupid number of guns on it. I believe it is two turrets of two battle cannon each, plus four heavy bolter sponsons.

I must give thanks to three sites that sold me the tanks and the bits at very reasonable prices:
The War Store http://www.thewarstore.com/ - check out the Street Violence cyberpunk minis!
The Miniature Market http://www.miniaturemarket.com/ - good prices including a discount on GW items.
Scrapdragon http://www.scrapdragon.com.au/ - Aussie website that sells GW and scrapbooking materials.