Trying my hand at ageing metal

Assuming that an Ork Big Gun is made up of a mishmash of various metals such as steel, iron, brass, copper and bronze, then in order to age the metals I would have to paint in grime, rust and verdigris. That ageing metal even came into consideration was because I decided to complete the two W40K heavy support Ork units - Ork Bug Guns Lobba and Kannon - after having finished the gretchins for a Hulk skin tone test. As I have no solid experience in ageing metal, I tried it out on the Lobba first.

A very old Ork Big Gun, of the Lobba variety

I love the colour scheme that a combination of rust, grime and verdigris makes

One wonders if this Lobba would blow up if used

In hindsight, after re-looking at natural occurrences of verdigris, I should have painted the effect more evenly on the copper/brass/bronze plate covering the top of the Lobba. I was torn between a good natural covering of verdigris versus letting enough bronze/copper/brass show through the verdigris to make the metal visible without having to closely scrutinise the Lobba. Meanwhile, I tried not to go overboard with the rust and grime as the Lobba is still supposed to be in working condition.

Aged Ork Big Gun (Lobba) - side view, right

Rust is minimal on wheels and steel encasing artillery bore to show Lobba is still in working condition

Aged Ork Big Gun (Lobba) - front view

I went for a combination of rust, grime and verdigris mainly because I simply love how the overall colour scheme looks like, namely the combination of orange, turquoise and brown colours. In my opinion, such a colour scheme gives the metal more 'character' as it were.  

All this Lobba is missing are its gretchin handlers

Aged Ork Big Gun (Lobba) - side view, left

All the effects were painted using a combination of Citadel technical and dry paints which I got purely as an impulse buy when out window shopping in a local mall with the family. As I forgot to take some 'before ageing' photos of the Lobba, I had to compare it to another Ork Big Gun - the Kannon - which is at the 'new metal' stage but soon to be aged as well.

Comparison between aged and new metal

Ork Big Gun on the right - the Kannon- awaits the ageing treatment

It is tempting to leave the Kannon unaged but that would be uncharacteristic of an ork weapon

So next up for these ork heavy support units will be to paint ageing effects on the Kannon. They have proved to be a nice little diversion from my main Game of Thrones and Marvel Universe projects but more importantly the Ork Big Guns have allowed me to practice painting metals. Until my next blog post, thank you for reading, and as always stay well and happy. 

Two Ork Lootas, An Ork Trukk Driver and Other Orky Stuff

Got to thinking about the future composition of my son's Ork Army that I am building, and decided to go with maybe 10 to 15 Lootas and 5 Burnaz with the help of some Ork Boyz conversions. That means I have to pick up the pace (I am sounding like a broken record) cause I am only at 2 of 10.

And then there were two ...

Takumi-san ... Ork Trukk Drifter extraordinaire

So much more to paint

More Ork Stuff in the works
Over the weekend, I got my hands on some of Mr Chaos's old stuff which will help speed up the formation of the Ork army. Luckily he was letting 'em go cheaper than what they normally retail for, otherwise they would have been beyond my budget.

Two Ork Big Gunz semi-assembled by Mr.Chaos

Ork Killa Kans, fully-assembled by Mr.Chaos, and now ready for a black undercoat

On my part, I got some parts from my Ork Battleforce and combined them with the Ork Loota Mek to get what I term as a 'Rokkit Mek' (and yes, it's in honour of that great Elton John song).

... I'm not the ork they think I am at home, Oh no no no I'm a rockkit mek,
Rocket mek burning out his fuse up here alone ... (modified from original lyrics)

For the final piece of Orky stuff for this post, I present you with the more detailed pictures of the second Lotta. I didn't do too much highlights on the black/grey metal parts so as to keep that dirty kinda look and feel. Mini could have been improved further but I think I have already spent too much time on it. Stating the obvious I know.

Chaos Space Marine Army
Will also have to concurrently get my own Chaos army up and running. Am thinking of a Black Legion army led by Abbadon which is allied with a Word Bearer Dark Apostle with his chosen marines and cultists, at least something along that line.

Joy of Painting versus a Practical Army List
My armies are forming more from a painting perspective rather than a gaming one. So hopefully I will still manage to find fellow hobbyists willing to give me a game. Also, fingers crossed everyone won't have migrated to the ForgeWorld Horus Heresy stuff by the time I get the armies done up. ^^