NinjOrks, may 31st - ONI MASK - Fear da wrath of Mork! Rating Options

[PeaceCraft]

Well, i've finally got university vacation, and some time opened up for me back in the hobby.

I decided to make my next unit to deal with the dang scumgrods lining up against the far side of the table in a shooty gunline, i always barely make it alive to them, so i wanted a new unit to dal with that. After much consideration in between stormboyz and snikrot kommandos i decided to go kommando to hit them from behind, especially because i had only half baked ideas for the stormboys of the "deff angels".
So, i thought up a theme and like most of my builds started sketching up some ideas for da lads, and during brainstorming and scribbling i came up with some ideas for... Ninjas! hey, how cool is that i thought, and so i decided to make a prototype like i see many folks here doing instead of following my usual method of sketching beforehand on paper. I noticed i don't produce much, so i thought about changing my build pace for a change, without wasting too much time fumbling on paper

So here were my ideas for the ninja orks:
-The aesthetic references where i got my inspiration were stuff like frank miller's ninjas, especially the daredevil ninjas from the tentacle related stories; cyberninjas from marvel 2099 and neuromancer; ninjas from lone wolf and cub and more recently to a lesser degree naruto yes yes weedy i know
-Asian looking martial weapos- i'd like to focus on the melee ninja part, as they will be mostly going hand to hand with enemy support units. stuff thats maybe aren't specifically ninja but would transmit the asian melee feel like katanas, ninja-to, sai, jitte, nunchucks, kama, kusarigama, etc, etc...
-Meleeish looking "counts as" ranged weapons like throwing daggers, blowguns, shurikens and crossbows, after all, what proppa ninja would not have a poisoned shuriken to throw into some unsuspecting fish'ead's eye? i guess this one will be a bit hard to pass out as sluggas, but i hope people will understand. Maybe wrist installed crossbows or something. this will be a bit hard to pull off
-sneeky looking poses for the ninjas, i wanted them to be stalking and just about to sip throats
-For the first time i'll try to incorporate the base into the model's pose- i want them interacting with the scenery they are gonna be sneeking through like hiding behind a cactus or crouching behind debree.

So I tried to think up something distictively ninja looking other than the obvious ninja mask for their armour, so i decided to try something that looks like cloth or maybe paded leather, and i came up with this square pattern shaped out to look like stitched leather, i'm not sure if the effect came out convincingly, but tomorrow i will experiment with some alternatives.
In this first pic I just started the armbands for ninjas-in the stiched leather pattern.

What do you guys think of the wristguards? does it look "light armour" or does it look like an apron or something?
i have quite a few sketches of ninja orks i made also, but its doodled in a drawing sketchbook i had to hand in for a design class. I don't suppose i'll get the sketchbook back anytime soon so i'll just make some new ones based on what i remember and post them in this thread.

at this point I have these issues i wanted you guy's opinions on:-
-i want snikrot to lead them, but i just haven't figured a way to blend the redskull kommando with the ninja theme in a satisfying way... maybe ditch redskulls altogether and just stick to ninjas, but if i can find a way i'll include redskulls though.
-I have no idea how to make many the ranged slugga equivalent weapons. a few are OK but making lots for the whole squad is gonna be tough.
-and my main question: I have a ongoing army theme of cybernetic ultra heavy junker orks. A possibility that went through my mind was making them CyberNinja Orks, as opposed to standard traditional ninjaorks... I was afraid that making them cyber would interfere with the asian ninja look... What do you guys think- cyberninja orks or plain ninja orks?

I know i don't have much done yet, but i need response to motivate myself to get the idea forward. I was milling over this idea for quite some time and never got it started...... so here is the idea all imature but out in the open.
All Comment and Critisism are much apreciated
cheers mates

[mitchello]

looks pretty shinobitastic my friend...i wish i had your greenstuff talents on my gangsta orks

[Gaf-Naz]

I think ninjas are a great theme for kommandos and you've come up with some nice ideas.

The wristguards look good and remind me of oriental padded armour. You've going to have to be careful they don't turn into ninja turtles though - no giving them hard shells!

I'd ditch the red skull and use a red bandana/mask/sash motif instead. Wrist mounted crossbows sound good to me as sluggas - are there any plastic WFB crossbow kits you can loot to make them easier to build?

I'd keep them as plain ninja orks as I think you're right to worry that making them cyberninjas would lose their 'ninjaness'.

Not sure if kommandos can take ammo runts or not, but if they do then you'll need a ninja grot too:


Looking forward to seeing you progress.

[Soopa man]

You could blend Snikrot in by painting/modeling him as an Oni Ninja, redface and all. Or give him a mask with a red skull on it. Otherise, that model looks like a nice start.

[BobMakenzie]

My suggestion would be do Snikrot with a long scarf and a Skull Mask (Anyone play tenchu Z?) Dont forget to have at least one grabbing a guardsmen from behind with a blade to their throat. And smoke bombs wouldnt be a bad idea

Having one with No arms left but using a weapon in his mouth would be cool too I have an arm around here somewhere that has a ninja star...no idea where its from but I'll get you some pictures and what its from as soon as I can. I also have one throwing a knife I believe. As I see it the following would all be decent sluggas:
throwing Knives
Throwing Stars
Blow Guns
cross bows/ wrist Cross bows/Hand Cross bows
Javelins maybe?
grappling hook?
crude fireworks/Fire bombs?'
Short Bow/Long Bow
If you can get your hands on some musket type weapons they could look cool work too.

[Warboss Cammerz]

the skaven nightrunner box contains loads of throwing stars, throwing knives, slings ect.

[Ramashek]

well, being ninjas, they would even use slugga, silenced ofcourse, though with little modification a slugga could be made to a handheld crossbow, i think one of the main thing behing being a ninja is the use of any and all means of combat... their dress would be what stands out more, especially in an ork army, as they'd have nearly no buckles or spikes to minimize noise, and likely be all in black for super sneakiness...

you should list all the weapons you're wanting to use, and then go mortal combat, and think up a nice kill they'd do with them and try and pose it

http://www.entertheninja.com/ninja_fact/weapons.php

the kama look fun to me, and the chain whip (normal use, and garotting oomies) , and the throwin axes (what ork would pass that up?)

[DJ Lockjaw]

There are throwing knives and a tiny crossbow on the Mordheim accessory sprue. You might find somebody willing to trade.

[Mad Grot Docsnik]

I agree with Gaf, keep them ninja orks. If you do cyber-ninja-orks they will lose too much of the ninja theme. And how Snikrot do you really need to make Snikrot? Paint a red skull on his ninja outfit somewhere and make sure you always tell your opponent that he's Snikrot before the game starts. A well converted and painted unit always gets a good response from your opponent (even if he's a rules-lawyering git).

I really like the smoke bomb idea too. Paint up a cotton ball like a smoke cloud and have a hand holding a knife sticking out of it.

[Flyboy]

If you model a few of 'em with Ninja-esk glider things (and have a few folded gliders on the backs of others) then you would probably be able to use the mob as kommandos or Stormboyz. What a great way to keep regular opponents on their toes!

"Where are those ninjas from last time?"

"Oh , They're above me!"

[Yamagha]

Hey really lovely greenstuff work you got there. Wish I had that skill.

I actually have embarked on a similar track on making all my Kommandos ninjas but so far all I've done is take boyz, give them knives held inverted and greenstuffed simple face masks.

However, my snikrot is very prominently 'ninja-ish' and was inspired by the ps2 Samurai Warriors character Hattori Hanzo

Hugnzo:


Still WIP, obviously.

[Hardkandy]

cool idea. wots the greenstuff on that last ones face there for? its hard to see

[HankHarpoon]

So i think its amazing that so many people have gone with the asian-ish weapon theme. All very good work Yamagha that is an amazing weapon!

To the OP you should no question go with cyberninja orks. This will allow you to make not only more cyborks with are always good (augmented only not the +5 inv. rules) but also make these weapons larger, choppyer and more garish and orky! For example, a slugger turned crossbow, good but wouldnt all the ninjorks be attempting to inflict more and more damage than the ninjork next to him? Thus I propose that some would logically be wielding ballista with the assistance of a cybernetic arm. Looking forward to seeing where you go with these!

[Frozt]

for the hand crossbow ideas, the dwarf quarreler sprue might just be what you are looking for. they have several that come with the bow on the string, as they are simply glued onto the stock of the gun. hope this helps

[orrik]

looks great the left wrist guard looks quite strange but porbely just the angle its at

[Killa kans]

I recommend all of these tips listed from these post. However I think the orc boys would provide some good heads and weapons as well.

[Shadow]

crossbows. simple

you can find alot in dwarf box sets. especially the ranger box. the mechanical bits loot like a perfect match.

shade

[PeaceCraft]

Wowowow these are great great suggestions, they really got me going guys, thanks a lot!
I had no idea where to start getting the ranged ninja weapons and all these suggestions are perfect, i'm starting to seek the bits i need.

@mitchello, hardkandy, killa kans : Thanks for the comments mates!
@supa man: Awesome! that is the coolest idea, the oni mask never occured to me! I'll soon start working on some sketches of asian oni masks for snikrot as soon as i get comfortable with the ninja leather armours- i'll save snikrot for last
@gaf-naz, Mad Grot Docsnik :thanks, i was trying to go for the padded armour look. hehe i love the bird on the sneeky grot. Gaf, i'll definately loot your nunchucs for me ninjas. I'll try to keep them straightforward ninjas at first, but if i feel comfortable with the ninja elements i might try a few minor cyberfication in the future... not too over the top as to avoid the loss of ninjaness. And i'll definately try a smoke bomb "disapearing" orkWe'll see
@Bobmackenzie: Ah, never played tenchuZ, i stopped at tenchu 2, long time ago... not sure on the scarf thing but i'll see if it suits him when i get to building snikrot
@Warboss Cammerz, DJ Lockjaw, frozt, Shadow: Thanks, i didn't know where to find these bits, they will com in nicely thanks! I was at a loss as to where i could start the looting, i was worried i would have to sculpt all of them from scratch... now if i can only find some local folk willing to sell/trade...
@Ramashek: great link man, thanks a lot! i checked out everything and the site even had some stuff i doidn't know yet- i'll definately have to make punching daggers and neko-te for climbing.
@flyboy: hmm thats i nice idea, but i'll keep that in stock for he last ladz cuz this one seems kinda hard to pull off...
@yamagha: cool! thats just what i was thinking for my kusarigama wielding ninja! sweet, i like the killyness!
@hankharpoon: thnaks, but i'll take it slowly and see how the test boy comes off before moving on to cyborking them, just ninjas for now, maybe later i'll do that
@orrik: your actually right, i forgot to sculpt the frontal bracer thingy, i'll fix that next

Well folks, it seems like i couldn't help myself, i think with my hands so i ended up drawing sketches anyways... i got carried away as i researched images and refrences on the internet. Anyways, i just sketched down a list of asian looking weapons on paper, maybe later i'll orkify them and make some more studies:


I also made some sketches of Ninja uniforms to see what style seemed most apropriate for them ninjorks, but i could just go crazy and use different masks on each one. I was kinda thinking a standard all black pijama would be a bit plain, so i made some initial studies in more unorthodox videogame looking ninja uniforms. I'll delve deeper into that later. Uniform stuff:


But the most important development i made was some studies in leather/padded armour patterns to sculpt out, i really need a good base to sart sculpting or else my ninjas will be wearing fugly GS rags rather than a kickass sneeky ninja uniform. I wanted you guy's opinions on witch patterns look better or look more ninja-esk, i was thinking in maybe using a few different types of these armours for some variety. Gimme your votes on witch one look most proppa!


Later on i'll sketch some orks posing with actual orkified ninja weapons to see how it looks.
Tell me what ye guys think of the new ideas so far, I wanna know if ye guys have more suggestions for the light armour textures as this is my main issue at this point... C&C are very much welcome.
next step i will move on to sculpting the armour on test subject 1
Cheers, and thanks for the input!

[Zogmagog]

Great idea. I love you concept sketchs. Don't forget the infamous ninja blow gun.

Also if you modeled the ninjorks on trees or pieces of wall all sneaky like they would be way more ninja-esque.

[Lorax of the Ble...]

You probably have already seen this, but I thought I would share. The guy makes a samurai ogre, which entails some of the patterns that you are looking at, anyways he documents how he does it, and it turned out rather fantastic.

Image of the Bull samurai
Great article on how to make a samurai out of an Ogre.

Lorax