When it comes to the Ork fleet, the eventual end point for a player is usually the Space Hulk. Its most unique vessel Orks have, and one of the largest in the setting overall. Its also a scratch building project through and through. Space Hulks are a demonstration of the Hyperspace is a Scary Place trope, being distorted amalgamations of derelict spacecraft, each a chaotic assemblage of garbage and the damned. They tend to be filled with Genestealers and absurdly valuable salvage, so having one appear in orbit is very bad news as treasure hunters and other dickheads go aboard and comeback infested. Also, there can be Daemons, Necrons or indeed any amount of eldritch weirdness. The orkish response is however to board, spend a satisfying few weeks gleefully evicting what lurks there, and turning it into a colossal warship. Then a Waaaggghhh! happens, which is a different flavour of very bad news for the first planet they come across.
The model was built and painted in much the same way as my Roks, just on a larger scale. You may well recognise various parts from earlier projects, mainly the big bag of spaceships, that 3D printed cruiser, and off-brand lego. It was preceded by a much smaller prototype, where I experimented with DIY filler as an alternative to polystyrene or modelling putty. I was heavily inspired by the various scratchbuilding videos I've been watching on youtube lately, specifically, this one, which had me doing Roks in the first place. This filler proved to be easy to work, and good for stone effects, but it's too squishy to make a whole model from. As a result, it ended up being a surface element and, well, a filler, on a polystyrene body. Aside from that, the only real hurdle was its base, Hulks being far too bulky for the GW standard, causing me to permanently install a plastic tube for stability. This isn't ideal from a gameplay perspective, but I'd rather it balance without worry. Mind you, it's a bit of a bodge.
Speaking of gameplay, a Space Hulk is the rare Ork vessel considered intimidating by both players and the fluff. Its roughly the same weight class as the Planet Killer or a Blackstone Fortress, and will quite happily trade fire with them due to its extremely bullet-spongy nature. A Hulk can take on a fleet by itself, and if that fleet didn't bring the right tools for the job, it's gonna have a tough time. On the other hand? A Space Hulk has the same basic weaknesses as a Rok, ie very limited mobility which hampers its guns and vulnerability to weapon batteries. This means a foe can "kite" around it and wear it down.
Overall, things turned out nicely, but I didn't quite capture what I was aiming for. It's clearly recognisable as a Space Hulk, but it's maybe too Rok-like. It may also have benefited from more recognisably BFG bits. That said, people seem to have really liked this one.
Up next? Well, I have a Gorbag's Revenge I never painted, but once that is done, there's nowt for me to do but actually play...
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