So, waaayyy back before I started building things for the Cauldron event, I had the urge to work on scratch-building an Ork Dreadnought. I know they've gone by various names- Killa Kan, etc, but the ones that really appealed to me are the very old ones from early editions of 40k. I've been building a bunch of roughly 40k-ish Ork stuff over the past few years- go back on my instagram and there are some trucks, a motorcycle, etc. I do eventually want to play a game with these things (Gorkamorka, Rogue Trader, maybe just OPR Grimdark Future), but I've mostly just been building them on and off. Ork stuff is fun to build because it's deliberately kludged together and kind of scrappy and messy. It works well with my approach to kitbashing and scratch building, and since I'm generally an orc and goblin loyalist across fantasy and sci-fi, it made sense to just keep building stuff. I have a good selection of space orks for Space Gits an any other purpose you can imagine, so why not keep building stuff.
I've mentioned my DIY ethos in other posts, but there are a few reasons behind it. One, this hobby is ludicrously expensive if you just buy things, especially seeking out old models. Right now that's not in the cards for me. Second, I think creating stuff within constraints is both fun and meaningful. I try to hold onto this in my art practice as well, but it's fun to say- let's build a dreadnought and spend exactly $0 on it. I'm lucky to have an extensive shop, some light machine tools, and a kind of infinite amount of scrappy materials/hardware/etc.. and I've accumulated enough model bits from kits etc. that I feel pretty well equipped to do these goofy scratch builds. And I know I'll care a lot more about it (and feel freer while doing making it) if I work from scratch. Spending money makes me precious with models and materials- and this is the opposite of that approach.
This guy started out with a variety of components. The claw and part of the gun are Ramshackle Games bits I've had. The ork head is from Spellcrow, and the arm with cigar came with my Space Gits Kickstarter. The torso is from Mantic Games (I don't love their stuff, but I have a lot of their Space Orc Commando parts). The real fun is in the body of the thing.
The body is a piece of PVC pipe, turned down on my lathe to add some ridges and details. The legs are made from some oddball Molex type connectors sourced from Ax-Man Surplus in St. Paul, MN.
Sidebar- if you ever find yourself in the Twin Cities, go visit Ax-Man. I went there on a field trip during my first ever sculpture class along with my dear friend Andy (Whalehazard Guitars among many other awesome things.) Whenever I'm back in the Cities, I insist on Andy driving me to Ax-Man and perusing in great detail. Everything is on offer, from glassware monogramed for other people's weddings to a baffling selection of electronic components, dental tools, strange knockoff toys, and an aisle labeled Realm of Tape. Go visit. It will change your life.
The guns and feet and the missile rack are all made from crimp-style wire splices and spade terminals I've been hauling around forever. One of the great joys of bashing is just looking at an object and saying what could this be?
Then this thing basically sat on the back of my work table for two months while I cranked out everything for the Cauldron event. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and went after the painting in earnest. 
And there it is! Perhaps I should refine my sci-fi photo setup a bit, but I'm pretty happy with this monstrosity. Banners like this are always particularly fun. So the hobby table is weirdly empty at the moment... debating my next move, but it might be a circular 1490 Doom board. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
i like your sci fi photo setup! thanks for another Delightfully Detailed process post, this was a lot of fun to read, and i appreciate your zero dollars scratchbuild ethos.
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