Lego - Sorting and Storage

As might be evident from a minority of posts, I don't just play with Warhammer 40,000 models - I also collect and build Lego. "Collect and build"? OK - I play with Lego.

My collection has been built up from what a lot of AFOLs (Adult Fans Of Lego) call my "Dark Ages". That is, the time after childhood, when you put your Lego away, until adulthood, when you pick it up again. So, I have been buying Lego for over ten years - since about 1998 when Star Wars Lego first came out.

In that time I have collected about 70,000 pieces of Lego, and that is a lot of bricks to pick from when building. There are lots of ways to store Lego. I use tray boxes - the sort that can be used to store stationery. I also use Fischer compartment trays (which I also use to store WH40K figures.)

The tray boxes are stacked in rough categories: from left to right they are Technic, transport (wheels, engines, wings), flats, the all-encompassing 'misc', bricks, slopes and creatures.

The stacks rest on a few kitchen cupboards, which are used to store other toys and games. Lego instructions and catalogues are in a filing cabinet. This is all starting to sound more than a little retentive - but without some sort of storage system, it would be chaos!

Minifigures and things minifigures use like tools and weapons are in the Fischer trays.

I use Keji storage boxes, which come in 5 drawer, 4 drawer and 3 drawer versions. Most of these were bought from Officeworks at about AUD 15 each. I also have a few slightly larger ones bought from KMart.

Because some of the drawers are getting full, I try to keep pieces of the same colour attached. (Sorting by piece type first is easier than sorting by colour.) This makes them easier to find in the drawer, and reduces the chance of an accident sending some crucial Lego part into the unknown recesses of the room.
There are also two much larger seven-drawer boxes, also bought from Officeworks. They can be seen on the lower right in the big pictures, in line with the cupboards. They are used for bulky parts like Lego train tracks, or parts for which I have accumulated a very large number like the classic 2 x 4 Lego brick.

Sorry about the blur.

Keji 5 Drawer storage box.

Lego - Commotion On The Pitch

I've been building a lot of my old Lego sets recently, including town buildings, cars and trucks, and the like. In 2000 Lego released some Football themed sets, and with the World Cup in mind, I added a small stadium, stands, and other accessories. (Check out http://www.brickset.com/search/?theme=Sports&year=2000 for a view of the range of Football sets for that year.)

Unfortunately, World Cup Fever seems to have overtaken one of the spectators, and a streaker has run onto the pitch!

Lego set 3409 Championship Challenge, released in 2000

WH40K - Ork Stormboyz painted by Mat

Like it says above, here are my Stormboyz as painted by my friend Mat. His work is first rate, and puts my poor paintjobs to shame. Of course I paid him for the job - it started when he asked if he could paint a Stormboy, just to see what they were like. I knew his Tau and Tyranid armies looked pretty sharp, so I gave him the job and these were the results. I still have to add some grit and gravel to the bases, but I was very pleased!





Stormboy character Zagstrukk (scratchbuilt with two plastic 'power klaws' for feet).



The Grenade Fairy comes to life! Tink! Tink! BOOM!

WH40K - Ork "Deff Dread" Dreadnought

This is my Dreadnought.



I built it pretty much out of the box. For a while I was tempted to reverse the body, putting the engine boxes on the round surface and painting the flat rectangles as armoured 'glass'. But I decided to keep it as is.

Before building this, I had seen another player's model and decided that it was a bit too spiky, so I have trimmed most of the spikes off. I also thought the four armed arrangement was very crowded on the model. It's cool, but a bit too busy for my tastes. I also wanted 'plenty of dakka' so I attached Big Shootas (machine guns, basically) to the arms. I also put some spare resin exhaust pipes on the engine blocks, instead of the original pieces.



The model comes with the option of using either claws or ends on the feet. I glued the claws on and added the bigger end pieces as well, to make its feet as big as possible. The Dreadnought is posed to look 'stompy' and the base is just scraps and bits from the bottom of the bits box. I use cheap superglue like an Ork Big Mek uses rivets. (More is better!)

The model is a lot more dynamic and detailed than the old metal dread, and fun to build. A lot of spiky bits!

Warhammer Fantasy - River Troll conversion ideas

Just some ideas for converting the new River Troll models. Apparently the pack has sufficient parts to make three trolls, with two spare heads. Two ideas present themselves:

River Trolls as Killer Cans. There are plenty of spare weapons and bits on the Killer Cans sprues; they could be used to arm (and armour) the Trolls. Might even have gretchin (goblins) riding/controlling the beasts. Optionally, they could have wiring and control panels, suggesting that they are cybernetic rather than just big monsters with guns and choppers.



Troll Giant. The Giant with a Troll head. Probably a bit of Green Stuff necessary to convert the body of the giant to show scales, river slime, etc. One consideration: colour. Would I paint the Giant green, to make it some magically created freak (but with the game stats of the Giant), or would I paint it skin colours, but with 'green paint' liberally slapped on by the orks? That would be a trickier paint job to do. I would want to make it look like a messy paint job, but in a way that is clear that it is deliberately applied messy over the natural colours, instead of just my poor brush work. I think adding 'hand prints', or even painting the green in shades like drying pond scum would help the effect.

All pictures in this post are from the GW website.

WH40K - Minor conversion of Ghazghkull Thraka - Painted

Here's the biggest of the Big Meks: My converted Ghazghkull Thraka, with a lick of paint.

Undercoated in Citadel Black, then Tamiya Dull Red. Plenty of Boltgun Metal and various colours for detail. Sprayed with Tamiya Clear, which I must have done a bit too heavily because it came out glossy. Sprayed again with a very light coat of Citadel Purity Seal (clear matt varnish) which took the shine off a bit. The base is a GW resin piece, done in shades of Codex Grey, blended through to Space Wolf Grey.

WH40K - This always happens...

... you spend a while converting or scratchbuilding something that does not exist in the production range of the game you are playing. Three weeks later, they make that kit. This always happens to people I know who put a lot more effort into their models than I do - particularly with realistic military scale models.

I was inspired by cheap pieces of hardware to use this plasterboard (drywall) screw as a 'drilly bit' on my Deff Dread and a conversion of Ghazghkhull Thraka. Sure enough, the new GW Killa Kan kits have drilly bits!

Actually these kits, and the new plastic Deff Dread, look really good - and whichever way you build them, you would have plenty of interesting bits left over for your conversions. Now I am tempted to buy them!

WH40K - Minor conversion of Ghazghkull Thraka part 3

The converted Thraka model now stands on some of the resin 'Cityfight' base pieces released by GW a couple of years ago. I have added some more details to the upper body, including a sight piece on the gun/claw, and a missile launcher and sensor cluster on the shoulders. The missile launcher was made from one of the 'rokkit' bits on the Lootas sprue, trimmed slightly to fit into a pintle mount piece from the Battlewagon kit. I ended up leaving the legs as they were - it would have been a fiddly job to separate them, and I don't think it would have changed the pose much. I might still change the details on the kneepads before painting the figure, but that's it for the lower half.

WH40K - Minor conversion of Ghazghkull Thraka part 2

I have added the 'drilly bit' on top of some cog shaped 'gubbins'. I also glued some old earphone cable to bits of paperclip (for strength) and placed pieces of styrene tube on the wires. These make 'power cables' to drive the drill.

On to his gun arm: I had the idea of mounting the claws that come with the original model on the fist shape. I did quickly clip a notch into the base of the claws so they would fit better. I also used the single claw from the plastic Nobs sprue, trimmed to fit. I wasn't happy that the gun barrels were large enough, and even broke them off at one point. But I have added some more styrene tubing over the original barrels to bulk them up and I think that improves the look. The barrels are in fact slightly wonky, but I don't think it will show once everything is painted. His waist has been extended by a plastic cog, and the cables from the drill have been passed through that piece and wrapped around. I haven't modified the legs at all, except to clip off the mounting peg.

I am still considering putting some sort of claws on his feet, perhaps cut from the end of a Trukk boarding plank. Also, I want to put something on his upperback/shoulders - perhaps some missiles or a sensor mount. Nothing large, but enough to use up some of the space there.

WH40K - Minor conversion of Ghazghkull Thraka

Ghazghkull Thraka is a character in Warhammer 40,000, a famous and brutal warlord for the Orks. The model is quite impressive - larger than any other ork figure, except for Deff Dreads and vehicles. He has over-the-top weapons and armour, as is appropriate for an Ork of his stature. Unfortunately, his weapon/arms are posed in an ungainly position, extended at his sides and pointing downwards. Fortunately the figure comes in pieces so he is not too difficult to rearrange.


I will be making some minor conversions to the figure to make a Mega-armoured Big Mek. I have enjoyed converting my ork figures and vehicles and think there is a heavy Mek influence in my force. On the table top he will still be played as Thraka, but with a name like OverDriver, or Da Big Spanna. It may be a while before I find a cool enough sounding name for him...




In this case, I clipped some of the power cables back a little, and I drilled and pinned at the joints so that the arms would stay on. I used the head from the plastic Warboss in the Black Reach boxed set, which is actually even bigger than Thraka's head. I also glued one of the hub pieces (actually two pieces) from an Ork bike over Thraka's jaw piece. It's now outrageously 'gobby'.


He also has a plastic cog glued to his chest as a sort of Mekboss medallion. I have since snapped that off - I want to make it more of a trophy on a chain (very '70s).

Since taking the photos, I have added a backpack fuel tank (from the Burnas and Lootas) trimmed to fit over his powerclaw. This gives me a flat surface to attach another 'screw' piece like the one on the Deff Dread. I will include some 'gears' and other bits to make it look more like machinery that is powered and driven by some sort of greasy engine. Orks are great advocates of the 'Dieselpunk' aesthetic.

I also added some plastic tubing pieces to his guns. I think the guns are a little underscaled so I might continue to add more ammunition, sight bits and gubbins to bulk them up.

I haven't decided whether to re-pose his legs. They are a solid unit, and it would be tricky but not impossible to neatly cut one off and place it at a different angle, but I don't think it would change the pose of the model much. I will add a 'belt' of plastic parts to give him a couple of millimetres extra height. Then I will decide what sort of base to put him on. Maybe something from Back2bas-ix.

Thraka as he appears for sale on the GW website.