WIP: Grot Kommand Tank Prep & Conversion

After finishing the first Grot tank, I got the itch to start another.

So, instead of working on the piece from my miniature-painting-related travel back in April, I've been putting time in to prepping this Kommand Tank:

My plan has always been to outfit this tank skwadron with either Grotzookas or Big Shootas. I scratch built one of each for the Kommand Tank:

As the kommanda is allowed to carry two armaments, I initially thought I would be able to use them interchangeably: Whichever armament the skwadron choose, the other could be the kommanda's secondary weapon.

But I quickly realized that interchanging them would look odd because they're both so big:

So I constructed smaller secondary armaments to compliment each main weapon.

Grotzooka with complimentary Big Shoota:

Big Shoota with complimentary Grotzooka:

The two Grotzooka muzzles came from the Grot tank kit's megaphone bit:

They were separated, hollowed out, filled with scrap, and attached to sheet styrene turret mounts. See here for more info on scratch building turret mounts.

Forge World's (FW) Ork Weapon Set supplied the Big Shootas again. I simply cut the barrels from their receivers and mounted them to their turret mounts.

The weapon set, which I've found to be invaluable for customization, also provided the mount and pin for the pintle-mounted Shoota:

I just sandwiched a piece of resin sprue that I heated and bent into shape between the two FW pieces. See here for more info on constructing a pintle-mounted shoota.

Because a kommanda needs to stand out in the crowd, I added an Ork nob's banner pole and threw on an extra glyph:

Of course, everything is magnetized for easy swapping and storage:

And after a trip to the spray booth for undercoating...

I'm ready to start laying down base coats.

Next up: Pictures of something with paint on it! Not sure if it's going to be this tank, more Cawdor stuff, or the travel-related piece; will depend on what I'm in the mood for.

So, until next time, keep painting!

Showcase: Grot Tank

Annnnnd, we're back.

I've had few opportunities to sit down at the painting table over the past nine months. But as of this past Tuesday, I am officially unemployed.

The candidate I was working for lost her election. So it goes. I can say, however, that you should never be afraid to go after something you believe in. It will always be worth it.

Now that I temporarilly have some time on my hands, I've been able to finish up the first Grot tank:

I'm really pleased with how it came out. I was worried the tank was going to be too weathered, but I think it's going set the perfect tone for the scrappy little Grot mob I'm planning.

I followed a lot of the scale model tips and tricks laid out in Forge World's Model Masterclass volumes to finish the tank off.

After applying a liberal application of burnt umber oil wash, I applied rust and dust effects with mixes of watered-down paint and MIG Productions weathering powders.

The exhaust soot is straight powder applied with a cotton swab. I also added a light dry brush of a dark metallic color to the tracks to highlight their wear.

I snapped a couple WIP shots after the oil wash and thought it would be cool to pull a bunch of shots together to show the model's progression:

Keep an eye out for more regular posts for the foreseeable future.

Up next: Details of a special painting-related trip I was able to make back in April.

So until next time, keep painting!

WIP: Grot Tank Weathering

Subtitle to this post: A Hiatus From My Hiatus.

I got a few days off from work over the Thanksgiving holiday and took the opportunity to get some hobby time in.

The siren song of the Grot tank was too much to resist; one day I'll finish the latest additions to my Cawdor gang.

But first things first, some Grot tank progress:

I started by shading the metal pieces with watered-down Vallejo Model Air (VMA) Metallic Black (073) and then drybrushing highlights of VMA Aluminum (062).

Yellow areas received a drybrush of Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Sand Yellow (916), and brown pieces got a once over with VMA Rust (069).

I also detailed the pintle-mounted shoota:

And added a few transfers:

According to the folks at Heresy Online, the driver of this Grot tank likes speed (the "Wazza" symbol on the turret) and is a ruthless veteran (the "Grim" and "Skraga" symbols from top to bottom on the hull).

To lay down the decals, I started by brushing on some Future floor polish to the areas. This makes it easier to slide the transfers onto the model and then adjust them once on. I also used Vallejo Decal Medium (212) to further lubricate the surface and then Decal Fix (213) to keep them in place.

As you can see in the above photos, I forgot to take pictures of previous steps before moving on to adding paint chipping.

To achieve the chipping, I cut up old blister pack foam into small triangles and then lightly dabbed on Reaper High Density (RHD) Armor Grey first and then more selectively applied VMA Steel (065).

There's still plenty left to do before I put this bad boy together. I want to try my hand at an oil wash and then apply powders to simulate rust, mud, and dust. But I'm really pleased with how the weathering has turned out so far.

I have time off around Christmas, so I should be able to put in more hobby time.

Up next: Maybe a showcase of this fine little Grot tank.

So until next time, keep painting!

WIP: Grot Tank Basecoat, Shading & Highlighting

After some fits and starts, I've finally finished laying down the basecoat and initial shades and highlights on the first Grot Tank:

Taking inspiration from Paul's fantastic Medium Panzer Walker over at the unrealistic artist, this tank is dark yellow with spot colors of blue, red, and various metallics.

As Grots are willing to pull scrap off of anything to help construct their rickety war machines, I attempted to evoke that ramshackle messiness without making the paint job too busy.

I started by airbrushing the basecoats:

The hull, turret, and a few road wheels got a coat of Vallejo Model Air (VMA) Dark Yellow (025). A big thanks to Paul at UA for helping sort out the yellow.

Then, the tracks, grotzooka ammo box, exhausts, and a few pieces of the hull and turret got a once over with Vallejo Game Color (VGC) Charred Brown.

Finally, the big shoota and its ammo box, the pintle-mounted shoota, a couple road wheels, and several hull pieces got shot with VMA Steel (065).

Noticing that the dark yellow had a tinge of green, I thought mixing in a dark green (VGC Cayman Green) to shade would be an interesting experiment:

It was interesting, just not that pleasing to the eye.

You'll notice that I added a bit too much airbrush thinner to the mix and also got too close with the airbrush when spraying, hence the small pooling effects.

Still, I hadn't made up my mind about color choices yet and went ahead with highlighting. I mixed in a touch of Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Ivory (918) to the dark yellow and went for a gradation effect:

I went a bit overboard with the highlights and killed any gradation.

At that point I decided green was the wrong shade color and elected to start over. I taped off the appropriate areas and reshot the dark yellow.

This time around, instead of a green-hued shade I chose VMA Camouflage Medium Brown (038):

The brown is more subtle and helps better unify the paint scheme.

Also, instead of ivory, I picked a less dramatic change in hue for the highlight and went with VMC Sand Yellow (916):

There's still some work left to be done before I can move on to weathering. I need to clean up some overspray, add drybrush highlights, and shade the metal painted areas with ink.

But, I'm finally satisfied with the tank's basic color scheme, which will help me move through the later stages a bit faster.

Up next: Finishing up the latest additions to my Cawdor gang.

So until next time, keep painting!