Gorkamorka / 40K Ork Fort - Da Skullz

We decided that it would be awesome if each of the 4 of our regular Gorkamorka players had their own fort. Wasting no time,  I got started as soon as I could.

My idea was to create 4 small forts,  each with a giant skull on the front,  each painted a unique colour.

I decided to use the salt + hairspray weathering technique,  so as we speak the hairspray is drying.

for my own personal fort, i plan to usr magenta trim to match my planned colour scheme.

Gotkamorka / 40K Ork Scenery - Squig Fighting Pit

I had an idea for some more Gotkamorka scenery - a squig fighting pit!  This is the concept i came up with.

Flat Pack Gorkamorka Scenery

I've noticed that there are a lot of places that make and sell cardstock scenery for 40k (which in turn makes great gorkamorka scenery). The problem is, despite the fantastic artwork, people are left having to print the images onto - most probably -  poor quality cardstock and having to cut manually. even with a steady hand,  alliminium rule and an exacto knife, it's difficult to get the precision you really need. This is also very time consuming and 2ho wants to be cutting out card when they can be playing?

what this has inspired me to do,  is produce my own range of "flat pack" gorkamorka (and 40k) scenery. I have the tools to design and precisely cut the pieces I need to rapidly produce a very bespoke range of scenery.

I cut the main building shape and then designed a range of "orky" decals - such as sheets of metal, and spiked wooden planks. These give me the flexibility to design the buildings in a totally unique way - there are no plans, each one can be different.

I decided to make these blank/plain white as I intend to spray paint and paid the models by hand.

I've used layered card such as door frames and windows, and even pre scored corrugated "metal" to give an element of depth -  something you just don't get on download buildings.

The image below is a prototype of the first building I designed. ultimately these are going to be for my own personal use, but anyone interested in can easily enough stick these on sale.

Please excuse the green glue I used.

Gorkamorka Formula Waaagh!

The second building to join my Gorkamorka scenery.  Okay so it's not finished yet (the other side is unpainted hehe)

Gorkamorka Fever

I've caught Gorkamorka Fever and I decided to make some scenery. 

Making Warhammer Trees

I wanted to make a forest. I started by twisting together 1.25mm copper wire (Maplins: ~£8), and a much thinner iron wire (Independent Craft Shop: ~£1)

I cut off a few lengths about 15cm and twisted them together using two pair of pliers (I have delicate hands). I then twisted in the iron wire to form smaller branches

Once complete, I covered the tree skeleton with a combination of watered down pva and toilet paper. I used Milliput for the roots as it was heavier than the paper maché. I also embedded a neodymium magnet into the roots. 

 Sprayed Black and drybrushed Scorched Brown

On one of my modular gaming board pieces, I glued a piece of Magnetic Vinyl (Signmakers stock this~£4psqm).

I got some green Finland Moss (Independent Craft shop: £1.10) , stuck it to the branches with a hot glue gun (Wilkinsons £6). I added some more paper maché to the board to try hide the vinyl. I kndda messed this up and wish i'd used putty. c'est la vie. I sprayed the board with my textured spray paint, added some statick grass and some of the black bits from the moss.

Textured Paint Test & Rubber feet arrived

I bought a can of "deep forest" green textured spray paint as I thought it would be great as a surface for the battlefield. I tested it out on a couple of boards and it looks great - albeit a little dark, but I can easily dry brush a lighter colour over the top. I just really need to research aerial view fields for inspiration for the finer details. I'll need a few more cans to do everything as I used a whole can on 3 boards! It was quite windy though, so I'll wait for a much milder day next time!

The other great thing is that my rubber feet have arrived and so I've tested them out on my polished wood floor. They work great! I'm so pleased with my choice here - it was definitely a good decision. Although they don't stick the board's in place, they grip really well. It takes a fair bit of pressure to push just one board, and my thinking is that with boards 4-5 boards deep I'll have the table virtually knock proof.

A concern I had was with stacking the board's - but actually it doesn't make a great deal of difference to the height but in return I benefit from the same grip that I get while on the floor!

Modular Hills

I've had the dreaded lurgey so progress has been slower than I'd have liked, but today I've managed to cut my hills!

I've still yet to decide whether I need another layer. It's important that these hills provide a strategic element to the game, but also allow miniatures to stand on the damn hill (we all know the problem of balancing units on terrain).

Albino Lizardmen

Decided that I wanted to paint albino lizardmen. Partly because it's cool and unusual (everyone else has green or blue [mainly]), and partly because I'm lazy and it's a fast way of painting them. I'm not really prepared to spend hours on models that I may replace with the newer models.

Painted mainly with flesh wash (or whatever they are calling it now) and blazing orange. The paint job is poor but they will look great in a unit on the tabletop.

Brainwave

I just had a bit of a brainwave. On things like coasters and toughened glass cutting boards they have little rubber feet to help prevent sliding. If I attach 4 of these - one to each corner - they will help prevent the board's moving around and save on the cost of magnets. It might even make them more stackable. The more I think about this idea, the more I like it.
I need to save money where I can anyway, as I need to purchase a hand sander to help me with the rivers