Orks is Orks

In the display cabinets at Warhammer World there are a number of Ork models.

The Kill Bursta mounts a huge-bore Kannon capable of destroying bunkers and siegeworks with ease.

Forge World’s big Ork tank mounts a huge gun ready to take on any Imperial BaneBlade or even Titan.

There are more photographs of this model in the Kill Bursta miniatures gallery.

I have had my Kill Bursta hanging around on the workbench for a while now, so it’s nice to make some significant progress on the model. See the workbench feature on the Ork Kill Bursta.

These metal Deffkoptaz were originally designed for Gorkamorka, and then became part of Warhammer 40K with Codex Armageddon and the Speed Freeks army list.

Deff Koptas are the lunatic inventions of Meks obsessed with flight. Each Deff Kopta is a one-man attack craft that has a set of whirring rotors mounted above the pilot’s head and a jet booster at the rear. Deff Koptas scream across the battlefield their underslung weapons spitting death.

See the gallery of Deffkopta or is it Deff Kopta models. See my Deffkopta workbench.

Killa Kans are smallish, bipedal walkers composed of a rickety, lightly armoured “kan” perched atop a pair of piston driven legs, and armed with a selection of ranged and close-combat weapons. Relatively primitive and weak by Ork standards, they are nonetheless fast and incredibly dangerous for their size.

Killa Kans bear many similarities to Deff Dreads, with their snipping klawz, chugging heavy weapons, and lumpy metal hulls. Yet in place of an enraged Ork, Killa Kans are piloted by cackling grots. Though individually smaller than a Deff Dread, Killa Kans charge toward the enemy lines in jostling mobs of riveted iron and roaring saw-blades. The Killa Kans’ Grot pilots put their relative skill with firearms to good use, blowing the zog out of anything unlucky enough to cross their path. Despite being hardwired into a ten-foot tall killing machine, Killa Kan pilots still retain a good degree of Gretchin cowardice. As a result they still believe in safety in numbers, and have a bad habit of losing their nerve under fire. It is not unheard of for Killa Kans to waddle about in circles or freeze up entirely at the first sign of danger.

I have the plastic Killa Kan models on my workbench. I also have guides on how I painted the (original) metal models of the Killa Kan including one converted to have a metal Killa Kan with a Rokkit Launcha. I also have a gallery of photographs of Killa Kans.

The Big Trakk is a heavy Ork transport can also be used to carry Big Gunz into battle. A brutal-looking machine, the Big Trakk comes with twin-linked big shootas, a massive gas-turbine engine, and ramming tusks. Originally this was to be a conversion of the Ork Trukk kit, however in the end it was decided to make it a full resin kit.

Big Trakk’s are essentially an enlarged and modified version of the Trukk, a Turbine powered Ork tracked vehicle with twin Big Shootas, designed to move across sinkholes, rubble, or ash wastes without getting bogged down. They are also designed to be bigger, louder, and carry much more armament over the standard Trukk and are frequently used as gun carriers instead of troop transports. In addition, for many Mekboyz without the resources or know-how to build full Battlewagons, Big Trakk’s are the next best thing. There are a profusion of Big Trakk designs favored by different Mekboyz and Clans, from the Blood Axes who often mimic Imperial patterns to the ‘kustom’-built Bad Moon gun platforms. And while some Ork Speed Freaks decry them for their lack of speed, both the Goffs and Deathskulls make extensive use of Big Trakks. The Goffs because they keep the big gunz mobile and can get to the frontline quickly and the Deathskulls because they’re capable of hauling large amounts of loot.

I have a Big Trakk model on my workbench. I also have a gallery of photographs of the Big Trakk.

On the site I have a number of galleries of Ork Models.

I have been for many years (some would even say decades) modelling and painting Orks.

Kaptin Badrukk

Kaptin Badrukk part of a the displays at Warhammer World.

Kaptin Badrukk

Kaptin Badrukk is one of the most infamous Ork Freebooterz or space pirates of all time. He has plied the stars in his steel-jawed Kill Kroozer Da Blacktoof for several blood-splattered decades. He is the commanding officer of the Ork pirate band known as “Badrukk’s Flash Gitz” who have fought with many of the Ork Warbosses active in Imperial space, including most of the more recent Warlords and their WAAAGH!s. He holds forth to any that will listen that without the devastating weapons of his Gitz, many of those selfsame Warlords would have been long dead — a claim that any who have seen this pirate band in action may well believe.

Handley Page Hastings

The Handley Page HP.67 Hastings was a British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and manufactured by aviation company Handley Page for the Royal Air Force. Upon its introduction to service during September 1948, the Hastings was the largest transport plane ever designed for the service.

This is TG511 (T5) on display in the National Cold War Exhibition at the RAF Museum Cosford.

Development of the Hastings had been initiated during the Second World War in response to Air Staff Specification C.3/44, which sought a new large four-engined transport aircraft for the RAF.

The type was rushed into service so that it could participate in the Berlin Airlift.

Here you can see the engines, even if this BMP-1 gets in the way…

Another view of the Hastings with the Dakota in the background.

Hastings continued to be heavily used by RAF up until the late 1960s, the fleet being withdrawn in its entirety during 1977. The type was succeeded by various turboprop-powered designs, including the Bristol Britannia and the American-built Lockheed Hercules.

Ork Fighter Bommerz at Warhammer World

These Ork Fighter Bommerz were on display at Warhammer World in Nottingham.

The Fighta-Bommer is the Orks’ primary tactical and strategic bombing aircraft. The Fighta-Bommer is capable of both void and atmospheric flight. It is used to bomb enemy bases and to assault enemy starships, or even in some cases to dogfight with enemy aircraft.

Constructed with typical Orkish crudeness, these rickety, gravity-defying contraptions are often surprisingly effective and dangerous to friend and foe alike, as is common with most Ork technology. Fighta-Bommerz are often deployed as air support during large Ork planetary invasions, or to serve as point defence for Ork starships.

Fighta-Bommerz are created by the few Meks who are interested in aircraft. As with all Ork vehicles, Fighta-Bommerz are kit-bashed affairs that usually defy the laws of aerodynamics, and fly despite their ungainly, brutish construction.

Workbench feature on my plastic Ork Bommer.

Workbench feature on my Forge World Ork Bommer.

More photographs of Ork Bommerz.

Warlord Battle Titans

These Forge World Warlord Titans were on display at Warhammer World.

Another view of this Titan model.

The Warlord appears to be the most common class of Battle Titan in use by the Titan Legions of the Imperium of Man, and many Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Worlds field their own patterns of this class.

See the Warlord Titan Miniatures Gallery.

Bristol Fighter F.2B

The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, other popular names include the “Brisfit” or “Biff”.

This Bristol Fighter F.2B was on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

The definitive F.2B version proved to be an agile aircraft that was able to hold its own against opposing single-seat fighters; its robust design ensured that it remained in military service into the 1930s.

Warbringer Nemesis Titan at Warhammer World

The Warbringer Nemesis Titan serves the Collegia Titanica in the role of heavy fire support. It mounts a single Warlord-scale weapon on its upper carapace and Reaver-scale weapons on its arms – sacrificing the speed, armour and manoeuvrability of a conventional Battle Titan in favour of firepower far in excess of its size. Though rare and specialised, the Warbringer Nemesis is a sight to inspire dread in all but the most battle-hardened enemy princeps.

Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World

This Warbringer Nemesis Titan was part of the Assault on Zybos display.

Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World
Warbringer Nemesis Titan on display at Warhammer World

Douglas Dakota

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota  is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front-line service with various military operators for many years. The Douglas C47, known as the Dakota in the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth services, became the world’s best known transport aircraft. The type saw widespread use by the Allies during the Second World War and by Air Forces and airlines post-war.

In the Cold War Exhibition at RAF Cosford, suspended from the ceiling is a Douglas Dakota.

The C47 Skytrain and C53 Skytrooper were military versions of the DC3 airliner. The DC3 first flew in 1935 and was ordered by America’s airlines. With the outbreak of war these aircraft were diverted to the Allied Air Forces, followed by 10000 military variants constructed before production ceased in 1946. Japan and the Soviet Union also built over 2000 unlicensed copies.

The first of over 1900 Dakotas received by the RAF arrived in India in 1942. Dakotas served in every theatre of the war, notably in Burma, during the D-Day landings and the airborne assault on Arnhem in 1944.

Most RAF Dakotas had been retired or sold by 1950, the last active aircraft leaving the service in 1970.

The Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough operated a former Royal Canadian Air Force example (ZA947) from 1971 until 1993, when it joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) took their first deliveries of Douglas Dakota C47s in 1943 and the last of approximately 60 aircraft in 1946. During WWII Dakotas were operated by both the RAF and BOAC. After the war, BOAC sold the fleet, fourteen of which went to British European Airways when the airline was formed in 1946.

Coventry Armoured Car

The Coventry armoured car was a British four wheel drive (4 × 4) armoured fighting vehicle developed at the end of the Second World War as a potential replacement for the lighter Humber and Daimler armoured cars.

This Coventry Armoured Car was on display at Bovington.

The Coventry was an advanced design and featured a similar layout to the more compact Daimler, but with a more conventional suspension and drive system. It included duplicate driving controls to allow rapid disengagement in combat.

Some Coventry Armoured Cars were sold to France and later saw action against the Viet Minh during Indochina War.

New Aeronautica Ground Assets on pre-order

The ground assets for Aeronautica Imperialis that reflect the forces in the Skies of Fire boxed set and the Taros Air War campaign are now available to pre-order from Forge World.

Unlike the previous release of ground assets which was a plastic kit, these are resin models from Forge World.

For the Astra Militarum there will be a Hydra Flak Battery, a Basilisk anti-aircraft emplacement and a really nice sturdy refuelling station to represent as an objective.

The T’au weapons are the KV 126 Skyfire Platform and the KV 129 Stormfury Platform, and there is a nice T’au Air Caste communications tower as well.

Each set consists of the three models and are £22 each and are available to pre-order now.