+ inload: Hruk WIP +

+ inload: Hruk (for real this time) +

+ After an earlier boo-boo in building Hruk, I got down to brass tacks and started building my interpretation of this figure, from the RTB02 'Space Ork Raiders' set:

+ As with my update to Thrugg [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+], it's really the pose more than anything that makes the model above distinctive; so my version tried to capture the posture of the original. +

+ What a pain it is to convert the ork nob models! I'm glad I went with a plastic torso/legs, as I had considered working with metal. I trimmed away quite a large portion of the leg/hip area, aiming to keeping the leg itself intact, and worrying less about the waist/hip area, as I knew I'd be sculpting an armoured tunic that would cover the region. +

+ After reattaching it, I built the greenstuff up over two sessions; wadding it around the damaged/empty hip area, then taking more care with sculpting the skirt of the tunic over the top. Once that was cured, I came back to add the areas of tunic on the torso and padded shoulder. +

+ Once that was all in place, I added the head and left arm (right of the picture). The other arm is part of the original torso; a plastic one drawn from one of the more recent boxed sets (Battle for Black Reach?); which was handily in a similar position to the original model. When converting models like this, I aim to find a base body that's as similar as possible. +

+ The head went in later to allow me to reach in around it for the tunic sculpting. Brian Nelson's ork facial sculpts are amongst my favourites (the metal ork nobs he sculpted for 3rd edition are probably my favourite orks of all time) so as with Thrugg [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] and the other squad leader [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I used one of the metal heads from this set, adding a few tweaks to make it unique: in this case, there's a neck built up from greenstuff to alter the angle to match the Kev Adams' sculpt, and a lower lip added to make the head unique. The final touch was a series of small spikes on top; again to emulate the original. +

For this project, I'm aiming for each ork to have a unique face;
to match the classic character of the original models.

+ The model still needs weaponry, and I'm tempted to slightly tweak the angles of the arms a bit further, but he's coming along well, I think. +

+ Here's the original model, without the desaturation applied at the top. This makes the conversion work easier to see, and also reveals that I'm working on top of a painted model. Old models picked up from eBay or other second-hand sources are often at the heart of my conversions, as they're much cheaper, and – often being pre-built and painted – I feel less hesitation in getting stuck in and hacking them up. +

+ Keep an eye out for when Hruk gets kitted out with his shootas. Being a 'personality', he warrants something a bit special, so I've got vague plans for giving him a space marine boltgun. This fits with the scenario – the invasion of the Crimson Fists' home planet, Rynn's World – and also ties into the original Rogue Trader armament (as orks wielded bolters rather than 'shootas' back then). +

+ Of course, just sticking a plastic boltgun on is going to be a bit unimaginative, so I thought I'd run with a bit of Judge Dredd-style sci-fi. Like Dredd's lawgiver, space marine boltguns are sometimes noted to be keyed to the owner's genetic coding or armour, so that they can only be fired by the owner. Hruk will this have to apply some orky-know-wotz and get round this – so I'll have the unfortunate Crimson Fists' gauntlet nailed on and wired in to provide the correct protocols to get it to fire. Whether the hand remains inside will likely remain up to your imagination! +