This post is a little bit different from others I have done. About 25 years ago Greg and his dad were seriously into 40K. However, it fell to me to paint the Greenskin horde for Paul's army. So, somehow, going to Games Day as a family sounded like a fun thing to do. The three of us, two full armies, and a band of Savage Orcs, my entry for the painting contest, headed to Baltimore.
Well, I do not remember how well either Greg or Paul did during their matches, but I still remember well having it announced that I won an honorable mention for my Savage Orcs. This colorful band has cheered me on ever since to continue painting.
However, a lot has changed in the intervening years. The models have gotten much more complicated, the expected level of painting is much higher, and Greg started a paint company aimed at this market. So I decided it was time that I try painting up the current Savage Orc, or should I say Orruk.
I chose two figures of the Bonesplitter clan and started out by using what has become the traditional Games Workshop greens for the skin on both figures. Then I broke out the Turbo Dork paints.
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Tip: I was initially disappointed by the fact that Cool Ranch directly over the dark green orruk skin did not stand out the way I wanted it to. I then switched to drawing the tattoo in Black Ice followed by the Cool Ranch on top. This worked nicely. It is something that I think should be useful for other things done with Turbo Dork paints over a standard acrylic
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Back to the figures. The Wardokk (formerly known as a Savage Orruk Shaman) shown below is armed with a bonebeast stikk. He has a Redrum loin cloth, jewelry in Gold Rush and Hot Commodity, and Cool Ranch tattoos. The snake around his neck is done in Life on Mars and Black Ice. Lastly, I tried something a little different than I usually do for the skulls. I combined a bit of Shifting Sands and Pearly Gates.
The second figure is the Wurrgog Prophet armed with a ju-ju staff and wearing a beast mask. This wizard, with a direct link to Gorkamorka, has a Box Wine/Black Ice loincloth, a Redrum/Black Ice cape, and Gold Rush/People Eater jewelry. The ju-ju stick is Death By with Redrum. The mask is Shifting Sands lightly brushed with Gordian Knot and sporting Bees Knees and Curacao feathers. Tattoos and skulls are as described above. Lastly, the squig is Multi Pass over a white primer.
, indeed a lot has changed with the hobby in the 25 years since I painted my first figures. These Orruks are darker, grittier, and more beautiful in their own way in comparison to the mostly cartoon-like Orcs of yesteryear. I still have a soft spot in my heart, though, for the bright colors of my original Savage Orcs and hope they, as well as their more modern brothers, can provide some potential inspiration to all the Orc/Orruk lovers out there. Waaagh!
