Grots, gretchin, gobbos

There are still a couple of projects that I completed last year that I haven't had a chance to share yet, so I'm remedying the first of those now. Especially seeing as one of the units in question is about to receive a handful of reinforcements when 11th edition Warhammer 40,000 drops.

I first shared these diminutive lads, who basically serve as the cannon crew and cannon fodder for my Ork Armoured Brigade, back here and here, in a somewhat less complete state. But I'm now pleased to say they are fully painted and tabletop ready. At least until the seething contents of the aforementioned Armageddon 40K box bolster their ranks again.

At the moment my front line 'shooty' Grots are slightly outnumbered by support personnel and gun crew. But those extra fighters in the Armageddon box are set to redress that balance in the very near future.

As with most of my armies and collections I like the idea of individuality. I always try to vary markings, skin tones and clothing colours, even at a lowly troop level, wherever possible, and also, if appropriate, have a few subtle size differences in there. With Grots, if you get particularly small fellows, there's always the chance they might actually belong to the oft-overlooked Snotling caste.

In keeping with all my Ork vehicles I wanted the Big Gunz to feel heavily mechanical, brutally functional and a little haphazard in their design. So I eschewed the official Citadel models and instead spent some time (a good few years ago), scouring the internet for kits and parts that could help me achieve this. I ended up buying a few different cannons from various places, including an earlier version of this Orc Howitzer from Kromlech, and a bunch of others from a couple of now-long-forgotten Kickstarter campaigns.

And because my Big Gunz were either scratch-built, kit-bashed or converted, I didn't have any crew for them. As a result I then spent several months loitering on eBay, searching for more models. The Lobbas below are manned (or perhaps 'goblinned') by a mix of Forge World Grot Crew, Brian Nelson's models from the legitimate Big Gunz release, some plastic lads from the Ork Mek Gunz kit, and whatever else I could lay my hands on at the time. 

One or two of the older Citadel Gretchin models I found had slightly different facial designs, so I gave them minor re-sculpts to subtly alter the shapes of their noses. I think one of them is holding the parchment sign next to the second of these Zzap guns.

I also made a crew member by converting an older Orc model in my collection. The original model, from the Oldhammer era, had a much smaller body than contemporary Orcs and Orks, so I shortened his legs even more and swapped his head for a plastic Grot one from the fantasy range. He's in the first of the below images of my three Kannons. 

I'm aware there's only meant to be two crew members per gun, but I think I got carried away. This project was such an interesting mix of different pursuits and skills that I lost myself in the enjoyment. Especially the construction of the cannons themselves. Below are some work in progress shots for those who like to see behind the curtain. 

Oh, and one last thing, there actually appears to be a single Grot missing. Where did he go? Always sneaking off.