Since their release earlier this summer, I’ve had my eye on the Morkanaut. From what I’ve read they rarely make their points back and tend to not make it past round 2 being the bullet magnets that all Ork walkers are. So why be so gung-ho about fielding one then? It’s a giant robot! Not just of a robot but a huge ramshackled-together pile of loose plates that is piloted by green monster soccer hooligans. That’s why!
Seriously though, I have a raging ork-boner for the Kustom Mega Blasta and this guy rocks not only the standard KMB, but a Kustom Mega Kannon, 2 x twin-linked big shootas, 2 x rokkits, an external Kustom Force Field, a nasty over-sized power klaw called “The Klaw of Mork” and the icing on the cake, an internal transport capacity of 6. What’s not to love? Oh yea, the point cost (230pts) and Ork ballistic skill (2) but that’s never been enough to stop me from fielding kit that I love. When it was first announced, I pretty much knew that I needed one if I was ever to have a proper stompy army.
I assembled the kit keeping in mind all of the challenging angles I would need to feed a brush into to when it came time to paint. I kept those parts separate and will paint the kit in a modular fashion. Those modules include:
- Hull & Legs
- Klaw of Mork
- Main Weapon
- Hull Weapons
- Rokkit Launcher
- Kustom Force Field
- Crew
- Base
Half way through construction, I realized that magnetizing this model would be pretty easy and the only extra bits I would need to make it convertible to a Gorkanaut would be another main weapon arm (the Deffstorm Mega Shoota). I scoured eBay, picked up the DMS for cheap. I ended up magnetizing the hull weapons (KMB & Skorcha), the Kustom Force Field and the left main weapon arm. I don’t know which version of the ‘naut I’ll end up running more, but with this configuration, I’ve got my bases covered.
Going with my standard Bad Moonz clan colors, I NEVER base anything in black. Like ever. I don’t know why I chose to do it this time, but after a day of basing yellow… I remembered why. What a pain! I do like how the black fills the nooks and crannies of the model, but 3-4 layers of yellow is time consuming and repetitive.
I stopped at this point as I needed a break from all the yellow. I was no where near the detail phase of the model so I figured doing the base would be therapeutic. The original plan was to use the standard base that came with the kit, but I wanted something a bit more for such a cool model. Again I went to eBay and found a really cool resin base in the mini-titan size (I think it was 160x100mm) and pulled the trigger. The detail is better than my default mud & grass and I feel it will compliment the ‘naut nicely. Here’s a pic of the finished product.
Not bad for 1 day. I’ll keep posting as progress is made. I’m really enjoying this job and am pretty fired up to complete it. Keep watching the blog, more pics and details coming as progress is made.