Big Mek Stompas require a bit of converting to the standard Stompa kit.
They make for a fun hobby project that when finished will provide an Ork army with a massive amount of dakka. In a recent article I showed how I converted a Big Mek Stompa, this article will focus on painting it.
The first challenge was to come up with a theme. Big Meks kind of “do their own thing” even when part of a war-band or tribe, so I wanted my Big Mek Stompa (BMS) to have a theme that was a bit unique and separate from the other models in my Ork army. I decided that the Big Mek who built this would call himself “Red Skull” and that would be the theme of the model when painting it. I also used a red color that was considerably brighter than the dark burgundy type red color I used on my other Orks. The otherwise mostly black with white accents and checks visually ties it to the rest of the army.
Large models like Stompas are often easier to paint in pieces before final assembly. I painted the arms, head, feet, body and exhaust stacks separately before assembling each piece as I went. I painted the feet first, then attached them to the body. This made a nice default painting stand for the body.
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| The body during the painting process. |
When the body was mostly finished I started on the extremities. I painted the head first to help myself get the feel of the character I was defining for this model. I deliberately made the Eye Of Mork a bit colorful and crazed looking to help bring out the manic Orky personality of it. Orks are simultaneously brutal and comical in Warhammer 40,000 and I wanted a bit of both on this model. The suitably impressive massive jaw was added using an extra ram from the Ork Battlewagon kit.
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| The head was painted separately, then glued on before final highlighting. |
The Deffgun with Supa-rokkits was painted separately to make it easy to detail the rockets. It was then glued onto the body.
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| Painted Deffgun with Supa-rokkits before attachment to model body. |
Check out the swirl pattern on the nose of one rocket. It is much easier to paint patterns like this before gluing this part to the Stompa body.
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| The Supa-rokkits were a fun place to add more colors and patterns. |
The Lifta-droppa arm was also painted separately before attaching it. Note that it’s a bit shorter than what was shown in my article about converting this model. I decided to alter the arm slightly before finishing the model.
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| The Lifta-droppa painted, but before final highlights. |
In the close-up of the Lifta-droppa you can see that the final highlights make the crystal at the end appear to be glowing. Gloss coat (Citadel ‘Ard Coat) was applied to the tip after the model was matte sealed to make it shiny.
Here’s a front view of the fully painted model after final highlights. Gloss coat was applied to the Eye Of Mork to make it glisten.
Following is a rear view of the completed BMS. I used a lot of copper paint on this model for some of the odds and sods armor plating though I did not use it on my regular Stompa. It was another way that Big Mek Red Skull could define his personal triumph in building his own Big Mek Stompa. After all, copper is naturally red!
The Big Mek Stompa is ready to go to war. Many a ‘umie is gonna get krumped! Maybe we’ll smash summa dem Space Elves and Fish ‘eaded boyz too! Space Marines, dey will know fear!
This was a fun project. I’m now about to begin painting a couple Big Meks including an all plastic converted one to be Big Mek Red Skull.
If you’d care to see this model in person I will have it with me at the all-night Iron Gamer and Iron Painter event at the Games Workshop Battle Bunker in Bowie, Maryland on September 14 during which the Apocalypse Warzone Armageddon battle scenarios will be fought. Come join in the fun and check out my Stompas and my Ork horde in person. The gaming tables and the event will be massive!
