While I have converted many an Ork vehicle over the decades, one area where I struggle is with their walkers. I've had difficulty in the area of crafting limbs, as these tend to both intricate and small. You can't just rip the legs off a robot toy usually, Orks go in for a lot of exposed pistons and claws. There is currently a Morkanaut kitbash sitting unfinished as I couldn't make it work. So, as I had a week off, and felt a change of pace was needed after several fun months of BattleTech, I decided to go small. I would rummage through my bitz box, frequent a few discount stores, and make a Killa Kan. What is a Killa Kan? Well, in the wargame Warhammer 40,000 there are a number of mini-mecha robot types, because its a sci-fi setting. Because 40k largely runs on GRIMDARK heavy metal excess, the original examples had their pilots permanently installed as part of the machine, although as the setting has expanded that's not universal. It's very true for Ork-made versions though, which can be viewed as parodies of Space Marine Dreadnoughts. Now consider the common Gretchin, or Grot, the perpetual victims and slave cast of the Orkoid species. They do all the boring jobs, get bullied relentlessly, and suffer indignities like being used for mine clearance or emergency rations. Such abused individuals eagerly jump at the chance to become a Killer Kan pilot, assuming they haven't seen ianother volunteer being nailed into place. Now encased in a big scrap metal body, they now seek to settle old scores, such as by dismembering their bully at the local pub, which is considered hilarious by the wider population. As a retail worker, I sympathise. In times of war, I.e most days, Killa Kanz form units of powerful-if-cowardly light walkers, bullying infantry, only for their nerve to break when they find themselves alone.
The aim for this project was to spend as little money as possible, using my extensive/huge/stupidly-big/I-need-to-have-a-clear-out bitz box. I read around, did some image searches, and watched a few scratchbuilding youtube channels for inspiration. I eventually decided to use the guts of water pistols as useful pipes and pistons. This would allow for an early 3rd edition style of leg, and parts of the arm as it would turn out. I also used cable ties for toes and additional detail. The main body was part of a PC internal cable, bulked up with off-brand lego. The main pre-existing bit was the claw, which was formed from ‘Orkanaut toes and mounts from the trukk kit. Otherwise, it was a mix of plasticard, tank sprue, cotton buds, stick-on gems, garden wire, and so on. Construction was relatively smooth, bar glue mishaps, and I had to abandon an idea for leg springs. Painting the thing was also a matter of experimentation. While the major metals followed the same method as the Junkernaught, I tried "stippling" the blue. This is a technique where you apply the paint not in strokes but in dots, poking at the surface with a thick brush. While you can be elegant with that, if you avoid the edges and don't try to be elegant, you get a textured/weathered look befitting a rust bucket. It's not a universal technique, but I like the results. I also made use of baking soda to make a mud effect on the base, by mixing it with a brown paint. This didn't come out quite as intended, as I needed to seal it with PVA glue, but it looks alright.
Of course, I
couldn't just do one Killa Kan. I had a week off, and they come in
groups, so I started on another. In addition to lessons learned, this
one would benefit from my realisation as to how I could make pistons
from beads and wire. I'd also found a suitably flexible wire by
cannibalising some earbuds, so I could revisit the springy leg idea.
To mix things up, I decided to change the proportions, to make this
one stockier and less birthing hips. The main component here was a 3d
printed materiel case, subsequently bulked up with gunpla bits. I
admit the exhaust is ridiculously over-sized, but I didn't have the
heart to remove it. Also admit that it's possibly too stocky, and the
weapons aren't as scratchbuild as they could be, I was pacing myself.
Overall? I'm quite pleased with it, both as an end result and as a
learning experience. The arms are a delicate process that I couldn’t
really rush, and I refined my basing method to include sand and PVA
in with the baking soda. Baking soda was now being regularly used on the model itself too, assisting with the bonding of glue, and providing "happy accident" rust texture to things.
Kan 3 was about the point where I made a decision about the direction of the project. I'd been humming and harring about putting a force together for actual gaming, but I decided against it on the grounds I'd fall back into bad habits. So, I opted to scratchbuild a third ranged weapon type: the humble Big Shoota. This not something I usually need to build, TBH, it's a mundane weapon overshadowed by others, and you can but together one quite easily by extending the barrel of a regular Shoota with bits from another. I had not previously tried to make one from the inside of a pen and bits of plastic, and I'm happy to call it a success. Same with the claw arm, the basic idea is the same as Kan 1, but the claws are plasticard with bead pistons this time. For the main body, I revisited an old idea from the message boards, Kanz made from paint pots. It's something any miniature modeller has lying around, and its significantly less of a pain in the arse then dealing with big plastic tubes. This was dressed with a high ratio of GW bits, with the hatch area being something I was quite pleased with. Of course, I neglected to consider how these limbs and legs would go on the body, which prompted a hasty revision. The model was then painted in the same manner as the other two, although the base is a little different. This was a previously rejected experiment in basing, where I'd tried to exploit the interaction of super glue and baking soda to texture the base. I hacked away it so it was a touch more level, and then applied some home-made texture paint. You shouldn’t be able to tell the difference. I also refined my painting technique, and while I possibly went a bit nuts with the Typhus Corrosion, I got a better blue this time.
In conclusion: I'm very pleased with how this little holiday project turned out. I've managed to achieve a level of scratchbuilding I haven't reached before, and learned a new painting technique. I still don't think I'll play 40k proper, be it for price, bad habits, the number of Boyz I'd have to paint, the actual rules, pick a reason, but I'm still an ork at heart. It's been good to do this again.
Work-in-progress Pics
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