The painting block I had planned for the second month was the one I was dreading (dreadnoughting?) the most. I think what put me off was the whole 3-vehicles-in-a-month thing. I know I said it last month, but painting vehicles isn’t fun for me. Painting 3 isn’t something I’d normally seek out, but it’s a challenge, and the subgoals are there for a reason.

My original plan for this block was to paint 2 Dreadnoughts and 1 Ork Battlewagon, but I found a few more dreadnoughts in my lead pile. So I decided to add another dreadnought. After all, if you’re painting two, might as well paint three and get it over with. So it’ll be 4 vehicles this month instead of 3. I also added in 2 more Blood Axe Kommandos, one of which I converted to carry a heavy weapon (because infiltrators in 2nd edition are fun, and infiltrators with heavy weapons are even more fun).

I started by painting this month’s battlewagon (“Hellion”) using the same process as last month’s battlewagon (“Painkiller”). I found a blister of “Tyranid Squigs” and a loose snotling which needed to hitch a ride. I wanted the 2 battlewagons to feel like they belonged to the same Mekboy motorpool, so this one carries on with the Judas Priest theme. The name comes from JP’s 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance, and the banner comes from their 1988 album Ram It Down (cover art by Mark Wilkinson). Of course, I had to change the blue arm to be green (for orkiness). Like last month, the banner is two-sided with the same image painted on both sides.

Then I started painting the dreadnoughts, which proved to be a pain from the start. The arms and legs needed extensive filing/drilling/pinning to get them to stay put. Then I changed my mind on the painting style several times, so no sooner had I started painting that I just had to drop them in the solvent bath. At that point I decided I may as well add another dread since I was starting over anyway. Starting over also afforded me a chance to rethink the weapons. I drilled the weapons and mounts to add in tiny magnets so that they are now interchangeable. That was something I always wanted to do, but avoided. I’m really glad I took the time to do it, even if it was a bit tedious.

After getting ready to take photos to submit this month’s block I realized the empty battlewagon didn’t look right without anyone sitting in it, so I decided to paint up 2 more Kommandos. Since Ork dreads in 2nd edition could no longer field heavy plasma guns, I decided to give it to a Kommando.

I’m happy with my painting this month. It’s really shaping up to be the kind of Ork army I would’ve loved back in the 90s.