WH40K - Assemble the Away Team

I've been away from my hobby table for a while now, and will be for a few more months (hence the break in modelmaking and pictures of things that I have glued to other things.) My boss has asked why someone as nerdy as I am doesn't have some minis on my desk. So now I am wondering, is there a 'starter set' or a 'beginners pack' of WH40K, WFB or any other system, that I could buy on the internets, with figures, glue, paint, clippers etc. Or, do I have to go to some web-shop and pick it all out myself?

WH40K - B-4 M1931 203mm Howitzer model kit

Here's another model kit that would definitely look right on the WH40K battlefield. It's a 1/35 scale model by Trumpeter, of the WW2 Russian M1931 203mm Howitzer.

The tracks aren't powered, they are there to help when the gun was towed over rough, frozen ground. 203mm is about eight inches - that's a big gun, even by WW2 standards. The kit comes with the little trolley for carrying rounds, and a set of large wheels for the towing end of the gun carriage. You would have to do a little work to make it suit 28mm wargaming figures rather than 1/35 scale model figures. Also, being an accurate scale model, the parts would be a bit more fragile than the basic GW kits, when you are physically moving it to and around your games. There were several good reviews of this kit, and the price is about US $70. So, not cheap - but compares well with GW and Forgeworld.

One note of caution - in real life, this gun had a relatively small barrel - 25 calibres - so you might want to modify it for WH40K use. In my opinion the short barrel makes it look more brutal and suitable for the immediate battle, so I would keep it.

WH40K - Opportunity for rethink on Forgeworld

Late news but when I ordered the Forgeworld items I described below, I made a mistake with my credit card. FW sent a polite message letting me know, but I took the opportunity to rethink spending AUD $500 on toy tanks. Maybe when I get into playing the game more... Until then, I have cancelled the order.

WH40K - Bombard Battery from Forgeworld

I have ordered three (!) of the Imperial Guard Bombard vehicle kits from Forgeworld, because I want to make a siege artillery battery. They aren't cheap. (In fact they are outrageously expensive) but I have been thinking about them for quite a while and have decided to bite the bullet.

I have also ordered the Trojan support variant of the Chimera, and the Space Marine 'Air Defence Command Platform'. I plan to mount the dish piece on the hull of the Trojan, to make it into a Command Post vehicle.

In the new Imperial Guard codex, the same gun as the Bombard can be seen on the Colossus vehicle - which uses the Chimera chassis instead of the Leman Russ. Apparently the stats are the same (or similar), and this suggests that the Colossus could eventually become available as a plastic kit - a variant of the Chimera. However, I have finally decided that I won't wait that long. Also, I prefer the 'weight' of the Leman Russ chassis - it looks more suitable as an artillery carrier for a gun that big.

The Trojan suits my idea of a command car - the boxy hull is a bit higher than standard, something like the real life M577 variant of the M113 APC.

In the codex, up to three Colossus, Griffon, Basilisk or Medusa vehicles can be taken as an Ordnance Battery, in any combination. This encourages the modelmaker/collector to have a diverse collection, but I like the idea of a battery of the same types. In game, I think I could use the Bombards as proxies for the Colossus. The Trojan would have no particular game value, except possibly as a proxy for a command Chimera, or a Salamander.

As their main armaments are the big guns, which have a minimum range, as well as a maximum, they are actually vulnerable to close assaults. I think this weakness makes a more interesting game - they become as much an objective as they are a weapon.

28mm - Geezers! Shut it!

I was taking a look at the new Fernvale Specialty Scenics website, and followed some of the links from there, when I found this game based on 1970s British police dramas.

I have included just two photos of the almost 50 miniatures these guys have made - they look great and I intend to buy some. (Compliments to the painters too - good work!)

From the looks of it you could roleplay The Sweeney, The Professionals - even Minder if you were feeling creative (or Life On Mars if you wanted something with a twist). There is an 80's supplement with a Miami Vice feel. It comes with a range of 28mm minis for the game with great sculpting and character names and it looks the dog's proverbials, if yer know wot I mean.

WH40K - Ork Characters

Here are my plastic Warboss (from the Black Reach boxed set, but bought on eBay) and Boss Snikrot, the special character for Ork Kommandos:

I had converted the plastic Warboss slightly - new boss pole, new claw etc.

I wasn't very happy with Snikrot's paintjob, because he is a quite expensive figure, in dollars and points value. But he is good enough for table top play. I stopped where I did, because I had been considering giving him camouflage on his skin (very unOrky to hide from your enemies like that) but couldn't decide on colours. I want an obvious pattern that doesn't actually obscure detail. Perhaps like the warpaint Arnie wore in Conan The Barbarian.

(Painted figure of Conan by NECA)

WH40K - Games Workshop Deff Rolla Sprue

Fresh from Issue 47 of the Games Workshop Newsletter:

Incoming! Ork Deff Rolla
Ork Warbosses and Battlewagon krew everywhere have been awaiting the release of the Battlewagon Upgrade Pack since the Battlewagon's release in Janu-Waaargh!-ry - and today at Toronto Games Day, it was finally revealed.Ork Battlewagon Upgrade PackThis new sprue - the first plastic frame to be designed exclusively as a Bitz Pack - includes the mighty Deff Rolla, a lobba, a brutal-looking killcannon and a cheeky Grot rigger. Available to order from the 1st August, make sure you check out the Incoming! article on Monday to see more of this new Bitz Pack.

I think it is a fine construction - certainly a good addition to the Battlewagon kit, and as spiky and dangerous looking as any of the scratchbuilt versions out there. I will be buying one, and finding uses for all the other gubbins that come on the frame. The only concern I have now is that, since building my own version, this one might look a little small.

Ork, Warboss, Battlewagon, Killcannon, Grot, Deff Rolla and pretty much everything else I have written on this post are trademark Games Workshop. Thanks for the cool toys, guys!

WH40K - Ork Stormboyz

I bought a box of the Ork Stormboyz when they came out and have gotten around to building them. I also bought a few more of the Stormboyz bodies and rokkit packs (jetpacks) on eBay, since I knew I had a lot of leftover arms and weapons.

I have built most of them 'out of the box' and made slight modifications on a few, trying to make each figure unique. I didn't use all of the rokkit pack bits - I wanted to make the rockets single tubes, with a minimal amount of auxiliary gubbinz. So, I clipped some of the smaller details of the small parts and just used whatever was at hand to cover the gaps in the large rockets.

A couple of these guys have bodies made from a regular ork torso with the front ground down to about half thickness, glued to a stormboy front (there are six in the set, although there are only enough other bits to make five boyz). I have also tried to make each base unique, with other pieces of scrap plastic. Obviously not all of them are 'flying'; some are just standing on the ground.

I haven't decided if I will build a 'nob' (squad leader) for them - it might be made out of larger ork pieces, and I might even buy or build a couple of Power Klaw pieces for his feet, to make the character from the Ork Codex - Boss Zagstruk. There is a metal figure of him, but he doesn't come cheap.

WH40K - STOMP-E teaser

Not really a teaser as I am nowhere near starting work on STOMP-E. I just had an idea for a logo/glyph plate for the model.

It's just a piece of scrap plastic, from the 1/35 landing craft, I think, with a variety of pieces from the bits box glued on. The 'brackets' holding the hammer and axe are made from the twisty wire that came in the packaging for a Transformers toy.

28mm - Resin APC Identified as 'A.T.A.C.' or 'Scarab' by Grenadier/Grendel

Starting with the info I received from Cyborg Trucker (comments on the previous post) the APC has been identified as a model originally made by Grenadier/Fantasy Forge, and re-released by Grendel.

It was originally part of the Grenadier range of science fiction wargame miniatures and vehicles made in white metal and resin. I believe it was part of the Kryomek game. The fantasy side of Grenadier was Fantasy Forge.

It was re-released by Grendel as the "A.T.A.C. APC", with the model/product number F0007. A few modelling and gaming forums have the number as F007, and some call it the Scarab APC, which is a good name for it.


^ F007 Scarab APC - according to Chronofus. Note that the hull is in more pieces than the model I own. It looks like this one has an upper and lower hull, plus a separate 'front bumper'. Possibly the model in this picture was 'reverse engineered' from an older version. This photo also shows the moulded tow rope that I clipped off my model.


^ F0007 ATAC APC according to the Miniatures Atlas. Note the one-piece hull.

28mm - Can anyone identify this Resin APC in 25mm or 28mm Scale?

Rummaging through the bits box, I found this old vehicle. I had to search for a while to locate all the wheels. I bought it some time in the early 1990s as a Cyberpunk or Science Fiction APC for Aliens style troops. (I have a lot of 28mm scale modern era and Cyberpunk miniatures for when I played Cyberpunk and other roleplaying games.)

Does anyone remember the game this comes from? The company made resin scenery and vehicles, as well as white metal figures. The theme was an Aliens type universe with a range of Space Marine style figures (armed with guns and flame throwers, and wearing everything from cotton tshirts to full armour suits). These were pitted against a spiky alien species, a bit like the Aliens from the movies, or the Games Workshop Tyranids, except with a tendency to serpentine tails rather than hind limbs.

The vehicle came as a main hull with seven separate wheels (including the spare) and a turret armed with a minigun. It also had some sort of hull weapon, which I vaguely remember clipping out and replacing with some plastic Games Workshop pieces. I also removed a tow cable that was moulded as part of the hull, probably intending to replace it with another spare part. I had spray painted the pieces and painted some of the details dark blue for some reason. Perhaps it was a colour scheme I was using at the time - blue for parade vehicles, desert cam for operational ones.

I gave it a few quick blasts of Tamiya Desert Tan spray - a bit heavy handed as it turns out, but it could easily be sanded down and another coat sprayed on top. The lines are simple but crisp and there is some nice detailing around the vehicle, including suspension and stowage.

WH40K - Ork Kannon from the Bits Box

Building the Battlewagons and Trukks has left me with some interesting 'bits' to put in the bits box. I put a gun from the Battlewagon on a boarding plank from the Trukk, added some old plastic wheels, and a few 'gubbins to make it go boom'. If I can find enough wheels I will build two more and make another unit of Big Gunz for my Ork Army List (WAAAGH Grabba!)

WH40K - Ork Deff Dread with four CCW

I bought an Ork Dreadnought (or Deff Dread as they are now called) a long time ago - I think when they were about 60 AUD, rather than the current price of 95 AUD! I never built it, and eventually used some of the bits - the buzz saw blade went to one of my Cyborks, the Burna to an ork boy in the Burna Mob, and the top hatch on the side of my Looted Wagon with Boomgun (originally an old Predator Destructor).

I finally built the Deff Dread with four Close Combat Weapons, because if I left the guns on, it could either shoot or fight, but not both. I would rather that the Deff Dread ran up to the enemy and got stuck in!

The plastic arms are from the Battlewagon kits. The big choppa is from an ancient (1990?) Ork walker thing, made by an Australian company called Inquisition, which I don't think exist any more (No relation to the GW game Inquisitor, or the Inquisition in WH40K). They were crude but imaginative models. The black weapon is the chain axe choppa from a Warboss, and the Grot and hatch are from the Trukk and Battlewagon kits. I think the Grot's head is from the plastic Gretchin box.

WH40K - Ork Flakka Trakk - Some paint and some Krew

I undercoated the Flakka Trakk with Citadel Black spray paint, and then went over it in Tamiya FS-33 Dull Red spray paint.


I made the driver pretty much standard, with a Burna Boy head (I like the goggles) and a gunner from the Trukk box. The Grot riggers are made from the Ork Grot Mob plastic set, with bits added to the weapons to make them look like tools. The cables are twist ties from the backs of toys - the sort that keep the toy attached to the cardboard packaging.




I will make a Mekboss for the top turret - probably holding binoculars or pointing and shouting at incoming aircraft. I also have to do a lot of weathering, dirt and stowage (ammo and jerry cans, mostly).

Lego - Digital Designer creations

I bought Lego set 10200 Custom Car Garage which came with Lego Digital Designer software. This is also downloadable from the Lego Factory website (about 100 Mb).

The software is simple and fun to use. You can build from a limited palette of bricks (still hundreds to choose from) and actually order the set you build from Lego. Not cheap but amazing to get your very own Lego design in the post! You can also upload your design to the website so others can buy (or copy, or even improve) it.

Removing 'filters' in the brick collection allows you to use even more pieces and colours - but not upload the design. I guess there is a limit to the number and type of pieces that Lego has alloted for Factory models. You can still save the design, building instructions and pictures of your creations. Beware - homemade designs come out a bit more expensive than the shop bought equivalents, especially when you use intricate combinations of unusual pieces.

Here are a few I have made:

A copy of the rare set 20004 - Indiana Jones Jeep (given away with Brickmaster magazine in the United States) :

A poor substitute for 886 - Space Buggy - released in 1979. (note the limited palette of colours for some of these pieces:

And my first elaborate construction: a Toyota Landcruiser type vehicle for the State Emergency Service:

WH40K - Fireworks Label

This is a long-delayed post:

In 2007, we bought some fireworks for Cracker Night. The fireworks were mostly Chinese made, with labels that contained various images, presumably collected from the internet and slapped on to make the products cool and exciting. Star Wars, Batman, Predator, etc. My favourite was this one:




So, GW, off you go to China with your lawyers and have a word with these people!

WH40K - Fernvale Specialty Scenics

I picked up some cast resin scenery pieces from Underworld Games in Ipswich, Qld.

These are made by Fernvale Specialty Scenics. I have found a number of miniature and hobby sites that sell them, but the designer's blog/website is here:

http://fss-resin.blogspot.com/

I bought five of the 'Rock' series and two 'Pond' series.

RF-001, RF-002, RF-003, RF-004 and RF-005.

WF-002 Pond and WF-001 Oasis.

These pieces are approx 10 - 20 cm wide and up to about 8 cm high. They are moulded in dark brown or black resin, with realistic looking rocks and a coarse, sandy/foamy surface for the ground. They look like they will paint up very easily, but I will add a little flock and dirt to the bases.

They do look as if actual rocks have been used as casting material, but I think this is perfectly acceptable. Nothing looks more like rock, and I don't have the time or the skill to find and assemble natural looking scenery and make terrain pieces from it.

The smallest rock looks like a good aiming spot for a firing squad.

The key reason I like these pieces is that they have been carefully arranged to allow WH40K scale (28mm) figures - with bases - to stand among the terrain without toppling over.

The rock pieces would look good in any desert or alien wasteland - add plastic aquarium or home-made plants to make them more like jungle scenes. The large pond could have a chemical tank and green paint added for that 'toxic spill' look. The small pond could easily be used to represent the horror of horrors, the nastiest place in any Ork settlement: The drops...

The smaller pieces in the Fernvale Specialty Scenics range were about AUD 5-6 each and the large ones AUD 8-10 each. Very reasonable in my opinion.

Lego - 8396 Soldier's Arsenal - Built in the bag!

Like Lego? Bored? Stuck in a confined space but with lots of time on your hands? Why not build your next Lego set entirely in its bag? This one is 8396 Soldier's Arsenal, from the Pirates range, released in 2009.

Obviously this only works if the Lego set comes in a single bag, but a lot of them do - particularly the Racers, the small Creator sets and the single minifig sets. (Impulse sets!)

There is no particular point to this; it's just a way of exercising the mind and fingertips.

WH40K - Test Fit of the Deff Rolla

I did some test fitting of the Deff Rolla (Death Roller) I was worried that it would be too big for the Battlewagon. Turns out, it is.

However, with the roof and turret fitted, it starts to look less ludicrous. Orks are many things; subtle is not one of them.

WH40K - Deff Rolla

Every Ork wagon needs one.





The plating came from a variety of sources, including an expired credit card. Some of the hooked spikes are clipped from the power claw of the plastic Warboss.