Old, New, 'Borrowed' and Blue

"If we wasn't meant ta loot it, it wudn't be where we cud find it!" - Death Skull proverb

I mentioned in my last post that I had an old tank I wanted to kitbash into an Ork vehicle, but I didn't know what to do with it.

Well, I decided.

I had been considering using the model as a Looted Wagon, either with an overly large 'boomgun' or a transport deck for my Goffs to ride in. Both of these ideas would have involved a degree of construction on top of the tank.

However, after perusing my bits box I realised that I still had a bunch of pointless mounted weapons from the Land Raider Spartan, including a heavy flamer.

A quick bit of research in the 5th edition Ork Codex revealed that flames, tracks and a little bit of extra armour on a buggy sized model could result in something that would pass muster as a Skorcha.

My Skorcha began life as a 'Tank in a Tin', a small gift I was kindly given by Mrs Cheaphammer quite a few years ago.

Due to the fact that it was an American tank in 1/72 scale, there was no opportunity to use it in Bolt Action or Flames of War, and so it has sat unloved and alone, as the 12 soldiers got transferred to 101st Binbound Regiment.

I had contemplated using as the basis of a mechanical Daemon Prince or some kind of Mechanicus construct, but these ideas never took root.

However, removing the turret and replacing it with a hatch and pintel mounted heavy flamer from the Land Raider Spartan crew I had something that could conceivably be a PDF or Arbites armoured car that's been 'liberated' by the Orks for use as a Skorcha.

Given that the Death Skull clan are known for looting pretty much anything not nailed down, I went with a chipped blue paint scheme and added a few bits to make it a little more Orky: spikes, grinders, bull bars, etc. and an undead shield design that passes for a Death Skull glyph.

The gunner was cobbled together from a Gorkamorka body, a couple of 2nd edition arms, a bit of Leviathan foot as a shoulder pad and a head from the 1987 Fantasy Regiments plastic box that I still had.

I decided to add the stowage on the back for a several reasons: I wanted to break up the blue paint; I wanted to lean into the Death Skull theme and add stuff they've looted, and I felt the vehicle still looked too imperial.

All in all, I'm really pleased with a vehicle that has cost me nothing, but adds to my army with a bit of humour and narrative. It's about the same size as the Trukk I painted last week, so it's pretty much the right size too.

The only downside side is that it is more anti-infantry weapons, meaning that I'm still not well place to deal with the Imperial Guard tank that all of my potential opponents now own.

Leaning into the lucky blue of the Death Skulls seems to have rubbed off, as Mrs Cheaphammer revealed that for some reason she had a £10 voucher from Games Workshop which was about to expire. Therefore I rushed off to the webstore to spend it.

It's VERY hard to only spend £10 in this manner.

Ultimately I decided to grit my teeth and pick up a Mek for the eye-watering price of £18 plus postage. I figured that after the voucher was deducted £10 was fine for a model I wanted for the army anyway and is only available online so discounts elsewhere weren't possible.

I do like the model though.

He's painted in Bad Moon colours to go with my Warboss and the largest clan in the army.

As part of the lucky streak, Mrs Cheaphammer and I were asked to take part in a survey on our local area and were each rewarded with a £10 Amazon voucher by way of thanks.

Fortunately (there's a theme here) I was able to find a very good copy of the 5th edition Ork codex for exactly that amount and free postage.

All in all, it's been a lucky week and most of that good fortune seems to emanate from Mrs Cheaphammer.

It seems I married well.

Acquired: -81
Painted: 58
Lead Mountain: 518