Plamo: The Last Gorkanaut (Warhammer 40,000)

Thinking about it, this was an early mental health project, wasn't it? Twas May 2018, and I was in need of something, anything really, to distract myself creatively. So I went for a Warhammer 40,000 model which I hadn't done before, and fit my obvious biases. As you will probably guess, I have loads of Ork walkers, but I'd put off the Gorkanaut/Morkanaut kit on cost/performance grounds. I'm not going to go into great detail regarding the assembly and painting, it was some time ago and I didn't record much of the process. I did however take some passable photos, so, easy blog article! 

The primary metallics are, IIRC, based on a brown undercoat, followed by successive drybrushing, followed by a custom inkwash to dirty things. The guns started out with a shinier first coat, and a different inkwash, the intent being that these should stand out a bit more. No Ork would willing clean a machine, but guns would be made of different alloy, and burn off some of the crap while overheating. On that subject, experienced WH40K players will note some non-standard parts from other kits, as I feel that building any ork unit without some conversion to be missing the point. Especially when it's Deathskulls, which the blue should give away. One touch I was especially proud of at the time was the big red eye. This was a "self-adhesive gem" from a craft store, and I followed an online guide, to great success. I declined to add crew, as I felt this was unnecessary for a Deff Dread on steroids, and wasn't in the mood for painting green skin at the time. I consider myself to be pretty good, and fast, with metals, but given the choice, I'll skip infantry as I haven't found a quick and effective way. 

The Gorkanaut/Morkanaut is pretty typical example of how Games Workshop used to produce vehicle kits of this size. There's opening doors for a modest interior, separate assemblies for each limb, and parts for two variant robots. If you are so inclined and sufficiently skilful, you could trim some tabs for a more dynamic pose, or magnetise it so you choose a variant on the fly. I opted against either option, but left the door open to change variant later if I felt the need. The Last Gorkanaut is currently optimised for easy transport, with each arm and some of the smaller guns being detachable.

Why is it The Last Gorkanaut? Well, I was gonna call it Beergutz, then its debut battle happened. It was the last model standing, so I allowed myself a bit of pride.