The Road to Golden Demon 2023 - Part 1

Jan 20 2023

You can say I've well and truly got the bug back for Golden Demon. After many years not entering, I grabbed a finalist pin last year so I'm hoping to push for a commended piece this year.

Planning

Last year I entered Warhammer 40k vehicle for the first time. I threw around a few ideas for this year, but I decided if I wanted to build on my experience from last year then let's stick with the same category and keep pushing year on year.

I've always been a big fan of Necromunda way back to the first edition in 1995, and with the recent addition of Ash Wastes the opportunity to create a Mad Max style vehicle was too good to pass up! Cawdor seemed like the perfect choice to go with this theme and I started looking into options.

Browsing through the Games Workshop website I came across the latest Ork buggies. These would be ideal! Remove any Ork symbols, replace the crew with Cawdor gangers and Bob's your uncle. I can see the roll cage being wrapped in strapping to tie into the Cawdor theme too.

I also have a Klovis the Redeemer & Deacon Malakev I bought ages ago I could take some parts from - the big book from this set could be on the back with someone preaching to whoever will listen.

Then, Games Workshop previewed some new Ash Wastes releases for the Cawdor faction. The riders of the Ridge Walkers are ideal and will save me trying to completely re-sculpt some sitting legs for the driver (it'll need a tweak but not an entire re-sculpt). Plus the Ash Wastes upgrade kit previewed here includes backpacks that can be in the back of the buggy, along with covered heads for the crew.

Starting the build

First thing to do was to build the bulk of the buggy. This was pretty simple following the instructions in the box. Once I had the main chassis built I could see the lay of the land in terms of where all the Ork symbols were and what I'd need to change.

First bug bear - Games Workshop's wheels. These damn things brought back bad memories of building Gorkamorka sets back in the 90s. It seems almost impossible to build them without a join line showing down the middle (as they are in 2 halves) and each half has mould lines which follow the tread pattern. They are so bad I keep going back to them and removing more and more. They are going to need a bit of filler down the centre line at least. I think ultimately once they're painted up if any mould lines are still visible they'll have to be hidden by some tactical dirt.

I also grabbed a box of Cawdor and began working on the crew members. The gun mounted on the back would be an ideal spot for the giant bow in that set, I'll build something for it to be strapped to and that will work great. I then built one of the crew to be the gunner.

Next, I built a preacher using the leader body, I had a set of the Forge World extra weapons to make him holding a wrench in the air (why not) and a grenade ready to throw at a non believer.

Currently they're all part built as some heads and arms are needed from the previously mentioned upcoming Ash Wastes releases, so that's all I can do on the crew for now really.

Patching up

On to the Ork symbols. I grabbed some 1.5mm plasticard and cut some pieces big enough to cover the symbols. Threw in some rivets and a bit of battle damage with a knife and those are good to go.

What's next?

Next, we will need some strapping. Strapping is important to Cawdor gangs, you'll see it all over their arms, legs and guns, so they'd obviously wrap it around their vehicles too. My green stuff experience is limited, but I've found a decent tutorial on YouTube and will give it a go and see how it turns out!

Then on to some painting! Until the Ash Wastes releases are out I can't do much more on the crew, but I can make a start on the buggy itself. I'm looking at a rusty red as my main colour. In a future post I'll go through my process of picking a colour scheme in more detail.

For more regular updates of progress make sure you're following me on Instagram.