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.

The Evil Sunz

This impressive Evil Sunz army was in the display cabinets at Warhammer World.

There was a lot of ork stuff, including this Deff Dread.

Deff Dreads epitomise three main ideal of Ork warfare: big, shooty and stompy. They thunder and clank towards the foe, limbs waving as heavy weapons spit death into the enemy ranks and powered shears snip excitedly in anticipation of the bloodletting to come.

There was this Battlewagon. A Battlewagon is a catch-all term used for any type of Ork assault tank and heavy armoured troop transport.

The term Battlewagon seems to refer overall to a category of large Ork armoured vehicles. A Battlewagon can be wheeled, tracked or a combination of the two and is used in many battlefield roles. It always carries a large complement of weapons.

Also a Big Trakk was in there. Big Trakks are essentially an enlarged and modified version of the Trukk

The Big Trakk is 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.

See the Ork Miniatures Gallery.

Reflections on the Ork Big Trakk

I have been thinking about going through my Ork models and getting them finished and painted. I seem to have stalled and got distracted by Flames of War and Dystopian Wars (and Doctor Who) and haven’t really painted any Orks for ages.

One model that has only got as far as an undercoat was my Forge World Big Trakk. Looking back at the last update on this model (in 2011) it was apparent I was having undercoating problems with a fair few of my Ork models.

Eventually I hope it might look similar to this finished model that I photographed at Games Day 2009.

Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba.
Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba

I would like to get a dusty dirty look and I have the Forge World weathering powders somewhere in my collection of paints and inks.

Black undercoat for the Big Trakk

After giving the model a white undercoat, I wanted to give the main tracks a black undercoat.

I made a mistake. I used a can of Citadel black spray paint to paint the majority of the model except the flatbed. As you can see the results were less than satisfactory. The paint had dried and almost had a dusty look to it.

In the end I decided to respray with a different brand of matt black spray paint.

This seems to have worked better.

Big Trakk Cockpit

At this stage I decided that I would fix the driver into the vehicle. The original plan was to paint him separately, however seeing how much he is “hidden” and this is not a Golden Demon entry, I decided to paint him in situ. So he got glued into his seat. You can see his arm in the photograph below.

I also glued on to the cockpit mesh cover, this will hide much of the driver, so again less need to do a fantastic paint job on the driver, something simple should suffice.

The workbench feature on the Big Trakk may help anyone else putting one of these kits together.

Gallery of photographs of the Big Trakk.

Forge World Big Trakk Concept

One of the nice things about talking to the Forge World designers, whether it be at GamesDay or the Forge World Open Days is seeing how they move models from ideas and drawings to concepts to finished product.

This Ork concept vehicle based on the Ork Trukk eventually became the Big Trakk.

Forge World Big Trakk Concept

The other side was more of a half-trakk opposed to the full tracked side here.

If you compare it to the Big Trakk model you can see how the model evolved.

Forge World Big Trakk Concept

Ork Big Trakk with Supa Kannon

This Ork Big Trakk with Supa Kannon was part of the Ork Shanty Town display at GamesDay 2010.

I have been making my own Big Trakk and it’s a nice if somewhat complicated kit to put together. I am not going to arm it though with the Supa Kannon and will probably use a “normal” Kannon. According to Tony Cottrell at the Forge World seminar at GamesDay 2010, it would appear that Forge World have “finished” with the Orks for a while and will be doing lots of other stuff before they return to the Orks (it at all).

Of course what we still have to see from either Forge World or Games Workshop is a new buggy or wartrakk. There are images in the Forge World Imperial Armour book of a new design of a buggy, but so far no real concrete evidence that any new model is going to be released.

Adding the Big Trakk Tracks

The next stage was adding the tracks. These have been numbered on the sprues and this is the order around the wheels that they go.

The largest pieces of track I had were quite warped, but immersing them in hot water allowed me to get them nice and flat. The key I found in placing the track was to get the largest piece flat attached to the rear cog.

I managed to get the right side track to fit. It was quite a struggle to get the bits underneath the rear flatbed in, but it all came together in the end.

And now the left…

The workbench feature on the Big Trakk may help anyone else putting one of these kits together.

Gallery of photographs of the Big Trakk.