This project has its origins in the last few days of vacation time, early Orktober 2022. Actually, before that. A few years before. The Orkish answer to artillery, Mek Gunz were a fairly big thing in the 8th edition of 40k, a bandwagon I'd jumped on, only to jump off the game entirely at the next stop. By most accounts, they aren't as desirable now, but still suffer that unfortunate pricing paradox where a unit with a low cost in game has an unreasonably high plastic cost, if only due to its size. These replaced the much smaller and simpler Big Gunz units, incidentally. As it was Orktober, I was running ahead on my blog posts, and I was bored, I decided to revisit the concept. If all went well, I could slide it in the schedule, and if it didn't? Well, I had plenty of stuff to buffer delays. Fortunately, I proved not to need the buffer, and here we are.
So, let's get some context for Mek Gunz then. Crew-served artillery is a pretty fundamental unit type in 40k, with examples present from first edition. Along with bikes and walkers, these were a concept easily implemented with the casting technology of the time, which is why so many disparate factions field them. Artillery is however is much less popular than those other two, and mechanically have been a touch inconsistent and obscure over the decades. Previously, rules variously treated the gun and the crew as separate entities somehow, but the convention used for Mek Gunz presently is to treat the crew as purely decorative, with the gun having a combined profile representation of their efforts. Putting aside the paperwork though, Mek Gunz are interesting mainly for their crew, the humble Gretchin. I.e. small, green, goblin types known for being generally unthreatening until they are entrusted with a suitable weapons platform. Mek Gunz offer effective and inexpensive firepower, while the Orks do the fun bits.
The construction of the gun carriage was broadly similar to my trukks and such, using part of a connect 4 game as the foundation. This was built up with flat packers, scrap plastic, EVA foam and so on. The wheels are off a Transformers Construct-Bots toy, and possibly a touch big, but it works. It's gun was also something a little different, which used a wooden bead for the business end. Here I applied gap filler to roughen the texture of the orb, attempting to approximate the brassy effect of the official model. I didn't really get that, I'd need different materials, but it helped roughen it. I placed the completed gun on a 100mm base even though I didn't need to on the grounds of pragmatism. Its probably simpler all round this way.
The somewhat optional crew meanwhile were largely metal models from the old Big Gunz kit, with the "gunner" being off the dethrolla sprue. Painting was attempted in what I suppose is my signature style now, although this is the first time in years where I've attempted what amounts to infantry and a vehicle at the same time. I tried to optimise the steps so washing & basing happened as a group. One of the grots is a rougher than I'd like, but its fiue in a group
As a project done with minimal preparation, I'd say this worked out pretty well. I'm getting a handle on what I' m good at, and what I enjoy doing. This sorta stuff is very therapeutic for me. But, with Orktober coming to a close, I'm gonna take a brief brake from Orks, and clear some of the aforementioned buffer/backlog for a few weeks.
Work in Progress Pics
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