Inspired by a childhood love of nature sculpting, hobbyist Jacek Kołodziej built a Warhammer 40k Space Marine dreadnought entirely from conkers, acorns, and toothpicks. The fact that this assemblage of oddly-shaped nuts was instantly recognisable when he shared it in the Kit Bash Carnage Facebook group on Wednesday shows just how iconic the bulky war walker is.
The dreadnought exemplifies the world of Warhammer 40k; it’s a ten-foot tall, heavily-armed walking coffin piloted by a mortally wounded Space Marine hero. There are many different dreadnought designs, from the classic Primaris-sized Redemptor to the heresy era Contemptor – YouTuber MajorKill explains many different types in the video below. We can now add the Chestnought to the Dreadnought roll of honour.
Kołodziej says that “As a little kid, I always built conker and toothpick toys during fall”. Recently, “While I walked in the park with my dog I saw plenty of conkers and acorns laying around. Nowadays it’s easier to gather them, people rarely pick them up… so I filled my pockets with conkers and acorns and decided to build something”.
Kołodziej says his passion for Warhammer 40k started “a few years ago” when he started playing Kill Team. He decided that, since the dreadnought is such an iconic unit, it would be recognizable when recreated using lumpy organic components.
He adds that it’s quite easy to build things using conkers and toothpicks: “Some are just pushed into place”, while some have holes cut “with a small modelling tool”. “No glue” is needed.
This is probably the most eco-friendly Warhammer 40k conversion project we’ve ever seen, but it’s not the first using unusual materials. Check out our articles on Vashtorr the Arkifane created from tin foil, an all-Kroot T’au Empire army made entirely from sprues, and an incredibly accurate Space Marine Land Raider built from papercraft.
If you can’t see yourself ever converting over to nut-based wargaming, but do want to improve your environmental impact, read up on Games Workshop’s recycling policy for used sprues.