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When the Speed Freaks list was published and Nobz biker mobs became available I
decided that such a special unit deserved to be properly represented, and set about
converting five models. The most ambitious conversion, shown here, was inspired by an
illustration in White Dwarf. |
Bits that are common to all the conversions
All of the Nobz are based on the standard plastic Ork biker kit. For all but the
leaning biker, above, I used the standard biker plastic legs, but replaced the body with
one from a plastic ork boyz sprue. The big shootas were left off the rear of the
bikes and alternatives glued onto the front forks instead. Some bits of the shootas
had to be trimmed off (such as the handles) and slight conversions done here and there
(such as swapping the trailing shell clips to the other side for one of the shootas).
The trickiest thing to get right with these conversions is the positions of the biker's
arms. I found that the best way to deal with this was to get a blob of modelling putty
bigger than I would need, and just press the arm into the position I wanted using the
putty as a blob, like blu-tac. Leave the putty to set a bit, and then trim off the excess
with a knife. Finish by smoothing the excess with a file and filing in the muscle lines if
necessary. If the arm snaps off from the putty you can just super-glue it back into place.
The simplest conversions
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These two models are the easiest to convert. For these I used the metal left arm from
the Gorkamorka biker. One nob was given a choppa, and the other a slugga. In the interests
of wysiwyg standards where a nob is holding a choppa there is a slugga strapped to the
rear of the bike and vice-versa. The normal big shootas have been left off and
replaced by the pannier bags from the Gorkamorka biker. To get the plastic ork body to
glue to the biker legs you'll have to trim a bit off the round midriff joint to get a flat
surface. For the top biker I used the shootas with the trailing shell clips. I swapped
the clips to the other side for one of the guns. The headlamps have to be chopped off to
make space for the shootas.
On the bottom nob I turned his head to the left slightly just to get away from the
uniform look of them all facing forwards. You may have to fill the gap at the neck with
modelling putty if you want to turn the head more than a fraction. |
Getting a little more ambitious
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In terms of complexity the leaning chainsaw nob comes next. This is some
people's favourite because they think it looks menacing and dynamic, an effect that
comes entirely from the pose of the figure and tilt of the bike. To get the sweeping
chainsaw I just cut through a normal boyz arm at the wrist and glued it back on in a
different position. The head was carefully positioned to appear to be looking at the
chainsaw, with a blob of modelling putty on the neck to fill the gap. |
I wanted the right arm of this Nob to be holding the handlebars and so I had to
come up with a different method other than using a Gorkamorka biker's arm. In the end I
used a normal boyz arm, beginning with one holding a choppa. Cut off the choppa but leave
a bit of the handle, and then cut through the arm at the wrist. Glue the hand back on in a
horizontal position and the axe handle looks enough like the bike handlebars to be able to
get away with it. Trim a corresponding length from the bike handlebars and position the
hand to make the axe handle look like the handlebar. To get the tilt of the bike I just
added a thick layer of modelling putty to the base and pressed the bike in at the required
angle. When the putty had set I glued the bike down.
Getting nasty
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A nob on a bike with a big power klaw...well, you just have to do it, don't you? I
wanted this nob to look as though he was spinning his bike and preparing to swipe off
someone's head in one fell swoop. To get the sense of movement I wanted the bike forks to
be turned sideways. You can't do this with the plastic bike kit...so you just have to hack
the front forks off and patch up the gap with modelling putty. I basically fashioned a
triangular bracket and glued the forks back in place in a turned position. The right arm
holding the handlebar is another axe arm from an ork boy. The power klaw is from an ork
nob. The bike is glued in a raised position by putting a blob of modelling putty on the
base, pressing the rear track into it, waiting for the putty to set and then super-gluing
the bike in position. |
And finally...
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The most ambitious conversion was inspired by an illustration in White Dwarf,
with an Ork leaning his bike and blazing away with a slugga. The bike is converted in
more or less the same way, except I glued the handle bars on upside down to give them a
dropped appearance. I used the normal biker banner pole with the big shootas cut off. A
couple of heads from the zombie sprue and a bit of chain finished it off, and a set of
vicious spikes around the front wheel bodged together from some sprue added menace. |
In the final version I swapped my (rather poor) self-modelled beast skull for one from
the Beastman chariot.
This rider had to be hanging off the bike, and I discovered that the normal ork boyz
legs were close to the required position. The right leg had to be straightened a bit
to fit the bike, which I did by cutting a slot into it at the back of the knee and bending
it forwards and then filling in the gap with modelling putty. The right arm holding the
slugga is taken from the Gorkamorka biker but had to be repositioned using modelling putty
in the armpit. The left arm is from the ork boyz sprue, and would normally be the arm
holding the barrel of a shoota. Using the arm in this position leaves a large gap in the
armpit which had to be filled with putty and sculpted to match the muscle shapes. This
wasn't particularly difficult and is easier if you let the putty set a bit and then trim
it into shape. The right shoulder is black because I wanted to see if the join would look
convincing once painted.
Painting
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I have a standard approach to painting orks, so that they have a uniform appearance
across the whole army. I always paint on top of a black undercoat. This is followed by a
coat of goblin green, taking care to leave black in the deepest creases and recesses. A
wash with dark green ink is next, and then a damp-brushing with goblin green again.
Finally I add a bit of highlighting by lightening the goblin green with a little yellow
and dry-brushing. |
| I paint the bikes by starting with a black undercoat again and dry-brushing the metal
parts with chainmail. Then I paint any black areas such as the tyres back in to tidy up
the dry brushing. The red areas are not painted as such, but coloured with several layers
of red ink allowing each layer to dry before adding another. This produces a
semi-transparent, red metallic effect that I like. Parts that are left silver are given a
weak wash of black or chestnut ink to tone them don and give a more weathered or rusty
look. The ink also brings out details like joints and rivets. |
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The bases are thick plastic that I salvaged from something (I can't remember what they
were originally). I give them a thin layer of modelling putty but trim it back slightly
all the way around the edge for a neater finish. This is covered with sand and the whole
thing painted black. The sand is dry-brushed with white or pale grey and static grass
added here and there. |
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