I was planning on painting up some OPR OGRE units in John Deere and Caterpillar colours. Then the US tariffs hit and I decided I had better things to paint with my limited time on this earth. Then annexation threats started and I started leaning into Canadian national pride. So, the first project got… bigger. This became an effort of Canadian representation, a reason to research Canadian history, etc. The rules I set for myself was “companies started in Canada, still in Canada, owned by Canadians.” I started with the OGRE units in the colours of classic Canadian industrial manufacturers. Specifically, Versatile brand tractors and the palette of VIA Rail Canada.
With the bit in my teeth I found new inspiration, and printed out some smaller OPR GRUNT robots in palettes inspired by Princess Auto and Home Hardware.
Canada has lost a lot of companies to international conglomerates and private equity, but the ones that are still around are worth paying attention to. I picked up a couple of robots from Unit9 and painted them inspired by a couple of beloved Canadian food companies. I do love me some cheese.
I found some other Canadiana to paint once these were done, but I felt pretty satisfied with the theme, and my practice with my buddy’s battletech models has given me a pretty okay base skill set for getting mechanical models out the doot.
