After a long period of time away from the hobby, I have recently returned and decided to try out a Tyranids army.

After toying with the idea of Hive Fleet Kraken, I decided the paint job looked a little boring, so I'm now going with an Inferno/Flame sort of feel.

I'm hoping to develop the character and fluff as I go, but my initial project is getting the colour scheme down. I have started toying with flame like patterns on the carapace. Any alternative suggestions are welcome, along with criticisms and advice on how to do things better (I've also not been painting for a long long time!)

Here is a pic of my first fully painted 750 Pnt army - and over the next few pages you will see my journey in painting towards this, as well as some battle reports along the way.

Enjoy!



To start off, here are a few of my first hormagaunts. They're a bit dark, so I hope to upload some brighter pics soon.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Painting: Ok - I've started trialing some brighter blends for the carapace of my Nids, but it's not really turning out how I hoped.

My first try was using black - dry brush scab red, dry brush blood red, dry brush yellow - This is what produced the pics below.

In my second go, I have added an orange dry brush to the mix, but still not really getting there. Any ideas for better blending?


Theme: I have been trying to come up with some unique theme ideas for my army. One was to convert the army to be a 'serpent' army. I figured this would be easy enough on the larger units like Hive Tyrants/Warriors etc as I could use the tails from raveners to convert them, but the hormagaunts and genestealers seem a bit trickier - any suggestions on how I could do this? (or even an alternative theme?)

I have now added some pics for the second trial, and am starting on trial 3 to try and get something a bit brighter... Comments/suggestions on army theme, conversion possibilities and painting tips/advice are all very welcome

Ok, I've started thinking about a bit of fluff for my army and have a few different options:

1. Serpent army: A splinter fleet that crash landed into a volcanic planet. To survive the extreme temperatures and frequent larva spills, the fleet started evolving greater burrowing capabilities. This involved legged tyranids developing 'digging claws' and relying on a larger, stronger tail to move around (like the raveners) - The fleet will be Ravener/Trygon heavy as a result, and will involve converting all legged creatures to sit on their tails like the raveners, and replace legs with 'digging claws' where necessary.

I think the warrior, hive tyrant conversions will be reasonably straight forward, as I can use existing tails from other similar sized beasties. The smaller critters may be a bit more difficult though as their bodies (especially the hormagaunts) don't lend themselves to converting easily in this way, and converting 24+ hormagaunts is gonna take me ages unless I can find a simple way of doing it! Thoughts?

2. Independent army: I haven't thought this one through a lot yet, but essentially it's the story of a small number of tyranids being captured by the Imperium, who then go about trying to play god by experimenting on them, trying to tame them and override the Hive Mind that controls them. Essentially they use their Psykers to try and instill their own will on the aliens, and break the Hive Minds grip on them (a few themes taken from Aliens 4). The Imperium is successful in breaking the Hive Minds control, and seem to have their own 'pet' weapons to unleash against the enemies of the imperium until the tyranids become aware of their own consciousness and turn on their 'controllers' wiping them out. We then have a rogue tyranid brood free from the will of the Hive Mind but ultimately controlled by a single powerful Tyranid with psychic ability (Hive Tyrant - an idea borrowed from Star Craft).

I haven't really thought the potential conversions or army adaptions for this one yet, but I like the idea - any thoughts/suggestions?

ilike the first one a lot better! the second one will lead to fluff nazis hating you! noone likes the idea of imperial people controlling tyranids much, and most people even moreso hate the idea of imperials getting into the hive mind stuff. by most people i mean people really into fluff.

i don't mind too much, but i also don't like the idea of imperials messing with the hive mind, maybe have some other reason of independent army, a genesteeler cult gone haywire? a glitch in the hive mind maybe, something which could be more reasonable.

@Sageheart: I must admit I like the first idea better myself. I'm just not looking forward to converting 24-36 hormagaunts to look like serpents

I'll have to work on the fluff a bit more - I want to really build character around the army so that it's not "just another Tyranid force"

In the meantime, I've tried painting some more Hormagaunts to try and get the colour scheme for my Inferno Fleet down. The blending has come out a bit better on this model I think, and it is a bit brighter, but maybe a bit too orange?

As always - I encourage comments/suggestions on the background fluff, conversion ideas and my painting.

The first idea is good - but yes certainly a lot of effort. Guaranteed to be unique though I reckon.

I have no issue with the second idea - but how would you differentiate them? Seems the opposite extreme (modelling/paint wise)

I still have to get that list of threads together for you - but I've seen aquatic Nids, DOOM () Nids, Aliens Nids, Dinosaur Nids, Lizard Nids to name a few...

Looking forward to seeing these in person - I think the photographs are not doing them enough justice!

@ Arakasi: Alas - it has been overcast in (usually sunny) Perth the last week, and the flash on my camera turns my mini's into iridescent light if I don't stand 3 meters away from them...

Promise to get better pics up once light improves (which should hopefully be this weekend...)

Yeah, the 1st theme I think is better - The second theme mainly came from ideas from Aliens 4 and Starcraft, humans just can't resist meddling and experimenting with alien things (no matter what the risks!) so it seemed logical that the imperium would experiment on 'Nids and try to use them for their own purposes... though perhaps I just haven't read enough Imperium fluff. However it does limit conversion/theme options... where as the 1st idea will have me converting hormagaunts until I'm 80!

If anyone has any ideas on how to convert hormagaunts into 'serpent' hormagaunts in a time efficient manner, I'm all ears!

Ok, I've started work on my first converted Hormagaunt. You can see some stage pics below.

Essentially, I started by cutting off the legs and tail.

I then cut the legs off at the knee, and modified the hooves for my 'digging claws'.

Next I started modifying the tail. To give it extra length, I ran half a paper clip through a bit of plastic tubing, then bent it into the appropriate pose.

I will then coat the plastic in modelling putty to make it look a bit more fleshy, and fill in the gaps made by all the hacking I've done.

This is the first conversion I've ever done (I never used to convert models when I used to play years ago), but I'm pretty happy so far with how it's coming along. It's a bit time consuming, but hopefully it will be worth it (it will certainly look unique!)

Let me know what you think and whether you have any tips/suggestions.

Great models!

@element206: thanks, hopefully the converted hormagaunts will turn out well. If not, i'll have yo find a new way of converting them.

Wow, love the paint scheme. It's similar to Kraken, but The yellow is really nice. It should look really cool when you put it on some MCs. Good luck dude! Subbed also.

@Samus: thanks - my first mc is going to be the trygon. Hopefully it will come out well, but still playing eith the colours on the hormagaunts atm.

Ok, so i'm starting to think about my bigger nids now, and am wondering whether to use magnets for the arms of the trygon. My main concern is, that ive never done this before so i'm wondering a) is it worthwhile on an mc that isn't going to change arm configuration and b) does anyone know any good articles on how to do it as i've never done it before? (seen lits of examples where they state that they did it, but not how they did it)

Any help anyone? As this would be a good skill to learn for future creatures who do swap arms.

For magnetising mc's it depends alot. For creatures like carnifexes that have alot of options, it might be worthwhile if you magnetise it. For trygons that have only a few options, not so much. The only reason I could see someone magnetising the trygon, is if they plan to switch from trygon to mawlok to trygon prime. On your conversion work: Very nice. I know that it may seem like alot of effort to convert over 30 models, the end result is spectacular if you hang in there and work at it. I like your colour scheme, it's nice.

@munchmunch: thanks, I might just focus on my serpent conversions for now then

On coversions, my hormagaunt's tail now has his putty on him. Just need to file it back now and start painting. Pics to come soon!

I'm really interested to see how you pull of some of these serpent conversions. It's a very cool idea.

@tony_nids_10: Thanks for the comments - My first conversion isn't going as smoothly as planned, however I will endure.

My puttied up tail on my converted hormy ended up being a bit messier then I hoped. I'm trying to clean it up with filing, hopefully I will have some success. In the mean time, I have also recently started painting a gargoyle, so will hopefully be able to post him soon too. I will probably not be converting the gargoyles (as I'm not sure there's much point), but I will have some Tyranid warriors soon so new conversion opportunities will be arriving shortly

Unfortunately I'm extremely busy with work (can't you tell?) so my next pic will prob be a little way away...

Until then...

For the serpent tail, it doesn't look very natural when you you mix in the original tail. Maybe shorten it a bit?

@Munch Munch!: Thanks Munch - I will definitely try that on the second model - that way I can compare the two... It would also save me time I think in the long run

On a different note, he's all together now. Still needs a bit of sanding but the model itself is most of the way there.

See pics below (I have put a regular painted hormagaunt next to him for comparative purposes).

That looks pretty cool! I really like the more upright pose too. Looks more intimidating.

I agree with tony. The upright pose is much better, like a cobra ready to strike.

Thanks for the comments.

I am now starting on by next hormagaunt using green stuff, and not putting the original tail on the end of the putty tail.

So far I think the pose looks good, though I'm not sure whether or not I prefer using green stuff yet. It doesn't seem to be as messy, but may cause uneven thickness in the tail...

Will have to wait and see... either way, preliminary pics should be up later this week

Ok, I now have my second serpent hormagaunt up and running (slithering?) and have started on the third. I'm starting to get a bit faster now, so hopefully I'll have the first 12 up in no time!

Pics are below - I'm not too sure how the tails are going to come up when painted, but I'm hopeful they'll turn out alright. They should definitely look striking as a unit, even if the tails end up a bit off up close... Will have to see, meanwhile I will continue to improve my technique before embarking on converting the warriors (Though I'm not sure whether it would be easier to convert a warrior to have a tail or a ravener to hold weapons... thoughts?) - I think I'll try converting a warrior to have a tail first, as I want to put Raveners in the army at a later date, and don't want people to confuse them with the serpent warriors.

I have also started painting a gargoyle - I think I'm starting to get my painting technique down, can't wait to start on an MC

As always - feel free to make suggestions, comments, critiques etc etc

I'd make the base of the tail where it joins the body a little thicker. Yes, the width you have is what the 'normal' tail is, but the normal tail isn't supporting its body weight. It kind of looks like there is a hinge there at the moment and the belly of the gaunt isn't really connected.

@Morgrim: Thanks for the feedback. I have now added some putty around the join between the tail and body, giving a slighty thicker look to the top and smoothing the connection between the two parts. Hopefully it will all blend well once painted.

Ok, here's my latest gargoyle. I really liked the way the carapace came out on this model, so I've now started on a Zoanthrope in preparation for doing my Trygon.

Let me know what you think, I'll try and get a better quality pic up asap.

And Here's all my painted Nids so far (as yet unconverted). You will notice some of the paint schemes are slightly different, as I have been toying with how I want them all to look. This won't matter as much once I've done my converting, as these hormagaunt minitures won't feature in my completed force.

Looking good. I'd keep them in though (if it fits your list), a few slight variations in a horde list that's meant to be organic in the first place doesn't matter and probably won't be noticed unless you point it out.

@Morgrim: thanks, will definitely keep them until i have replacement minis.

On a different note, i now have my trygon, this will be fun!

And here it is, my first Zoey! Not perfect, but getting in some good practice for the Trygon I put together today

Nice! Looking forward to the Trygon...

I love the paint scheme and the idea of a serpentine Nid army. As for suggestions on converting gaunts/stealers using green stuff seems like the best idea. I have converted a HT and a Carni into a serpent using a toy I found called Skeleflex, this seem to be a moot point now with the trygon kit out but you can see them in my gallery if you want a bit of inspiration. Also checking out toy stores can give you ideas for converting bugs, that how I found that skeleflex.

Good luck with you bugs

Thanks guys - Here's another pic of the Zoey from the front. defintely looking forward to having more bugs completed now as I think thie army will really look striking when it's all together.

the colors on the spikes and carapace areas look great! Nice work!

Hello all!

Been super busy, so haven't been able to post recently.

Have a new update though - my first Nid warrior.

Blending didn't come up as well on this one, so I'll have to get in some more practice before I get to my Trygon (who is now undercoated)

Tell me what you think, and where I can improve.

Thanks!

And the back...

Looking good - though you are right, the blending is looking a bit forced. Are you watering down your paints?

Yeah, though perhaps not enough... what proportions do you use to water down your paints?

Water to a milky consistency. No, wait - what does that even mean?

It does take some practice eyeballing it. Mix up some paint and water on your palette. Apply to a test mini or piece of sprue. If it goes on thick with a defined edge (like what you see on your head piece) - it's not thin enough! If it runs all over the place - it's too thin!

The hard thing is, when it's right, it's very hard to actually see that your painting is doing much - you have to build it up over the same area multiple times.

Practise makes progress (I'm certainly no expert yet...)

Though I did learn an interesting trick on the GW Tank Masterclass this weekend - mix a fair amount of gloss varnish into your paint (instead of water, though you may still want some water). This will flow easier, and, not dry out as quick - you can actually move the applied paint around and get whatever effect you want - or remove excess and/or tidy up with a clean brush. (I've got to try this out on my Orks - rather than the practise tank...)

Ok, ill have to experiment a bit more...

In the meantime, here's my first hive guard. Suffers from the same problem as the warrior, but looks ok.

Wow. I just love the colors on the carapace. Fantastic!

@bunnygirl: thanks.

Here's another pic of the hive guard from the back.

First Battle report for my new Nids army: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/348598.page#2476135

Tyrant warrior take two. I think I got the blending a bit better on this one. Tell me what you think.

Liking it alot! Maybe you could try to finish the carpaces with some white, I think it would make them look more flame like

@ limbo: thanks! I'll have to try out the white, see if I can make it work.

In the mean time, take two I'm the give guards armour is also looking a lot smoother (imho). I think I'm just about ready to try it out on the trygon

Big improvements with each iteration - well done! Hive Guard is looking excellent. Unless you are purposely going for an earthy/dull look, I'd try edge highlighting with your brightest yellow (and if that *is* your brightest yellow, maybe a 1:1 mix with white) You could then do the very highest tips in pure white.

These look really nice.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the comments on my minis.

I am currently trying to touch up the highlighting a bit more on the carapace, and have started work on the skin of my Trygon (Pics to come soon).

In the meantime, I have another Battle Report for you.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/354150.page#2569134

This time against the Tau - Enjoy!

The start of the trygon! (or at least its skin).

I'm going for a leathery sort of look (like previous models). Not sure how this pic will look as I took it on my phone, but will try to get better pics up later.

Looking good!

Awesome work so far! Sub'd.

Thanks Boba Fex - Hope to get more pics up soon!

In the meantime - I have just posted another Batt Rep - My revenge against the Space Pups!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/355072.page#2583203

And now, another Battle Rep vs Tau.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/368029.page#2786771

I think my tactics are really coming along now, and I'm looking forward to upgrading my army to 1,500 pnts in the near future.

Progress on the Trygon remains slow however, but might get a chance to make some significant leaps forward this weekend...

Ooh, Hive Fleet Inferno. Was it perhaps named by Dante?
No, don't mind that, I think it looks very cool. I like flame patterns overall.

@ Saintspirit: Yeah - I suppose it could have been named by Dante - maybe I can work that into the fluff?

Thanks for the comments, hopefully the scheme will look cleaner, neater as I get better

The second battle against the Tau is finally up! - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/372694.page#2873529

Hope you enjoy. Been busy lately, so no new painting, but hopefully I'll have some updates soon.

Thanks.

Final Battle Report is up against Tau

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/372926.page#2878089

I've been slow to pick up on this one. I like the idea behind the serpent-ised gaunts etc. It will certainly make for a unique looking force on the table as your initial ones look like a good start.

One thing you might want to look at is making a couple of tails in different sizes and then casting them in resin so you don't need to make each and every tail separately.

Your painting is certainly coming along in leaps and bounds (no pun intended!) with each model

@ endtransmission: Ah - that could make things a lot simpler... and faster! (opens google and starts searching for how to make own resin casts...)

Cheers!

There's a good article here, or there's my trials and tribulations in the first couple of pages of my Guard blog.

I'm not sure where the best place to buy the silicon and resins are in Oz though. In the UK it's a place called Tomps.

If you do look at casting any bits, I'd just make the tail so you don't have to try and recast any of the actual GW models. Work out the best point to cut the legs off the model and then work the tail out from there. Even if you still need to do a little bit of sculpting to get the tail to join on smoothly, you'll have saved yourself time

@ endtransmission: Thanks for that - will definitely have to look into it.

Well, a small tournament has come along and so I need to pick up the pace a bit on my army. I don't think I'll have time to do my Prime properly first time round, so I've done a quick conversion using a warrior, the head carapace of a Trygon, and using upside down monstrous scything talons as bone swords

Front


Side 1


Side 2


After the tourney finishes, I'm considering using a Ravener body to make my official Tyranid warior Prime - which will fit in nicely with building on the serpent theme...


I have also started churning out the painting on my gargoyles. With 6 fully painted, and 9 well and truly on their way, I hope to have a full brood of 15 ready soon for the Tourny.

On the Tourny, it's 750 points, with the following OC:
1 HQ
2-6 Troop
0-1(2) Elite
0-1(2) Fast
0-1(2) Heavy

Essentially, you are allowed up to one unit in fast, heavy and elite, plus one unit in one of those slots only (so 0-1 in 2, and 0-2 in the third).

My current thinking is to leave my Zoeys, 1 gargoyle brood, and one hormy brood at home, giving me -

Prime - Twin boneswords and Deathspitter
4 warriors - 3 deathspitters, 1 barbed strangler
13 Hormagaunts
15 Gargoyles
2 Hive Guard
1 Trygon Prime

My only worry is that this force might struggle with objective missions...

Haven't been posting much recently as housesitting for a while and finding it hard to find the time to paint convert.

I have been doing some work though, and have tried doing a better job of the carapace on a termagant (trying to get it right before I finish my Trygon!)

The real life model looks a bit smoother then the pics (below), but not by much. I still don't seem to be able to get that smooth transition I desire. The scab red goes down ok on the black
(when I thin it down enough), and the blood red goes down well on top of that, but then I find the orange just doesn't look right... and then the yellow doesn't wuite look right either...

Any tips anyone has on how to do this transition smoother would be much appreciated. I am currently using black base, two coats of thinned down scab red, two coats of thinned down blood red, 2 coats of thinned down blazing orange, and finally two coats of thinned down sunburst yellow. I am considering washing the armour after this step with red, and then re-doing two coats of the yellow, but not sure how this will go...

Pic 1


Pic 2


Pic 3


I have been also working on improving the conversion of boneswords for my Prime.

Having looked at an idea from Dark Gear's blog (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/276421.page, I decided to try a different take.

The results are below (without green putty yet). Going for more of a 'arms morphing into boneswords' look rather than my previous 'hands holding boneswords' look.

Let me know what you think so far...





The one on the right fits together better, however I'm hoping they'll both look good after I've put the GS in...

Thoughts, comments and suggestions appreciated as always!

I think you are definitely improving. I imagine it looks quite striking from a distance (rather than blown up photographs). Your paint may not be thin enough yet - hard to tell - but the main issue at the moment is probably the jump between the colours you are using.

Try this: (thinned and coat until solid)
1. Black base coat.
2. Scab red
3. 1:1 Scab red/blood red
4. Blood red
5. 1:1 Bood red, blazing orange
6. Blazing orange
7. 1:1 Blazing orange/Sunburst yellow
8. Sunburst yellow
9. 1:1 Sunburst yellow/white edge highlights

The 1:1 mixes should help to smooth the transition.

Start you brush at the dark end and draw towards the light end each stroke. With each step, start progressively further away from the dark end.

You may also want to concentrate on only the ridges from about step 5...

It's a lot of steps - you may find some are unnecessary, or need to be broken down further - but you won't know until you try

A wash of some kind at the end will help merge the layers further (Baal Red and/or Sepia possibly?) and then re-edge highlight.

Of course - this all assumes you want to put this much effort into rank and file - but it will be good practise for your HQ!

Good luck - look forward to seeing the outcome!

@ Arakasi: Thanks for the tips. I think I'll have to try this... and yes, I think part of my problem is my paint isn't thin enough...

Although I probably won't go to this length on all my rank and file (there will simply be too many of them in the end), I do want to get it right on the samll guys first before I do my characters/big guys.

Tried the red wash on the Termagant - definitely helps with the smoothness of the blend, however leaves him looking brighter then I would like. I think I'll just have to try and get it right without putting a wash over at the end....

Pics below:






My gargoyles are also coming along nicely - I now have an additional 5 completing my brood of ten for the tourney. If I get time, I may add in a few additional details here and there, but for the purposes of making sure my entire army is ready for the tourney, I'm calling them done for now...



My boneswords are looking better then I expected. I've always been a bit nervous about using greenstuff, but I didn't think this attempt was too bad at filling in the holes, smoothing out the edges and even adding a little bit of detail (vains going up into the base of the swords):





Will start putting up progress updates on my new Prime as they become available.

Boneswords are looking good. Using Greenstuff to match existing details is much easier than creating entirely new detail - I find it a good step for building confidence (not that I've got to the creating entirely new detail stage yet myself...)

@ Arakasi: Agreed.

Ok, started doing more painting on a hormagaunt and a termagant using thinner paint and the additional steps as suggested by Arakasi.

I've also decided to document this as a step by step process so that if it doesn't work out, people can offer suggestions at where I've gone wrong. I'm essentially trying to get a smooth transition of colour from the black up the top of each scale, through red and eventually a bright yellow at the tip of each scale (like fire).

My proposed method is to start with a base of Chaos black, then Scab Red, Then a Blood red Scab Red mix, then Blood Red, then a blood red/blazing orange mix, then blazing orange, then orange/yellow mix, then yellow, then possibly a yellow white mix.

Step one - Scab Red

First Coat:

Some more progress on the carapace:

2nd coat of scab red




And the first coat of scab red/blood red mix:




Blending nicely so far, lets hope it continues!

I really like the way you've contrasted the carapace with the skin tone. Well done.

Looking good! Now you just need better/bigger pics so we can see flaws you'll never see from 3 feet away

Scratch that - apparently I clicked on the one small pic...

@ lord marcus: Thanks - I was hoping for something a bit different and that aspect of it turned out quite well. Now I just need to try and perfect the blending process and I'll be set.

@ Arakasi: Thanks - yeah, I've tried using an actual digital camera rather then my phone camera to try and up the quality of the pic a bit. Not sure whether to use Dakka's 'adjust pic' function, but the current pics of the termagant and hormagaunt are unadjusted.

Here's the second coat of the Scab Red/Blood red mix. The blend is still looking pretty smooth, but I'm starting to get worried that I won't have enough room to put down all the colours through to yellow or yellow/white mix... Not sure what I can do about that, obviously it will be easier on the bigger models but really hard on these smaller ones I'm suspecting...

Now applied the first coat of straight blood red. I definitely think the transition at this stage is smoother, still having concerns though that I'll run out of room for the final layers...

Unfortunately - you won't really know until the end I guess. But that's why you have so many of the little blighters to practise on! (That's what I delude myself with my Orks at least...)

Possibly you have left too much of the darker shades - ie not started far enough up the plate with each colour - but I'd wait until finished to see if a) it actually is an issue and b) to get a better idea of the spacing you need for the next one.

On the plus side - according to 'eavy metal - it won't come together until the last layer. If it comes together before then, you peaked early!

My Tyranids are snake creatures.

I sculpted a snake base for my Termagants and cast 67 copies.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Hive_Fleet_Kielbasa

It was pretty easy after a couple of initial mistakes.

My warriors have tails made of Milliput. Too expensive to buy Ravener kits just for the tails.

@ Arakasi: Yeah - I suppose you're right... and yes, I do have lots to practice on (I think I've got 72 Termagants and 52 hormagaunts...)

@ Kilkrazy: Wow - this is pretty much exactly where I'm hoping to end up. I decided to focus on getting a core force together initially so that I can start playing in tourneys, but then hope to develop a serpent/snake Nids army. My one fear with Snake based warriors was that the lay 40k Gamer might not be able to distinguish them claerly enough from Raveners - what has been your experience with your warriors in the tourney scene? everyone ok with them as warriors even though they 'slither'?

Latest painting update - second coat of blood red. Really liking the blend here - doesn't come across as well in the photos but looks pretty smooth in real life. Really hoping the orange through yellow comes off as good as this is.

Latest update on the carapace painting - first coat of Blood Red/Blaxing Orange mix. The orange is already looking a bit overpowering, even mixed with the red... Although I'm tempted to go over with a red wash now to deepen it, I'm going to play this one out to the end first and see what the end result looks like... then I can go back and try different things on later models...

If it's a bit overpowering, you may need to go for 2:1 or even 3:1 Blood Red to Blazing Orange. Hard to tell from the pics - not large enough in the gallery...

Yeah, I need to get a better digital camera - as once I crop in with the 3MP it doesn't blow up enough after that...

I'm hoping the orange will become less obvious as I progress through to yellow.

Anyway - here is the next step - second coat blodd red/blazing orange:

Just for something a bit different, here's a WIP pic of my Warrior Prime:



With the lower body of a warrior, and the upper body of a ravener to beef him up a bit. Next step is to attach the boneswords with the larger arms. Also thinking of using a carnifex head on him to make him look like a real brute - will have to play around with that one though as the carnies head might be a bit too big...

Back onto the carapace painting, and now we're really starting to look a bit orange - first coat of thinned down blazing orange:





I'm really hoping the yellow balances out all this orange... I guess I'll see.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Second coat of blazing orange:





The blending seems to be turning out ok, it just looks very very orange - again just hoping the yellow balances out the orange in the end...

Keep going! You can always use a Baal Wash at the end to tone it down/bring it together and then re-edge highlight if necessary

@ Arakasi: Yeah, I'm hoping I won't have to, but we'll see. Also, using varnish can help a bit, and gives the carapace that 'wet shiny' look which seems to work well on Nid carapace...

Next pic shows the first bits of yellow with the Orange/Yellow blend - already starting to brighten the minis up

Unfortunately the pics are not detailed enough (not on my laptop anyway) to see exactly how well you are pulling this off... You may want to just concentrate on the higher ridges for your pure yellow (still working towards the edge, but in thin lines on the ridges) - also good if you feel you are running out of space


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Still - I can tell it's much smoother than your previous attempts

@ Arakasi: Yeah - I can see I'll have to either get a new camera, or find a way of taking the photo closer to the mini without needing the flash... (weather hasn't been good for natural light pics here...)

Ah well... at least it gives you an idea of how it's looking, and it's definitely smoother than the last ones...

Here's the second coat of the yellow orange blend. I'm starting to feel a little less worried about the orange now, I think the yellow may just end up offsetting it enough...

Looking insanly good. Also a good conversion idea, but wouldent it be eisier to first convert them and then paint them?

@ MrTau: Thanks! And yes - definitely better to convert them first. My main issue at the moment is that I'm on a tight schedule for a tournament coming up soon, so I'm just trying to churn out a fully painted army for that before I re-start the serpent conversions. Hopefully I'll be able to create a 'tail mould' which will make the conversion process faster and more consistent in the future!

Another update on the carapace painting - first coat of straight yellow:






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And the second coat of straight yellow:





Have no more concerns about the mini looking too orange now - it just needed the next layers to make the orange band smaller - glad I stuck with the process rather than changing it mid-way!


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Some more on my Tyranid Warrior Prime Conversion:

Ok - Back to a bit more painting - I have now applied the first coat of thinned down Yellow/White. It's interesting how I was really getting worried about how orange it was looking, because that's now not an issue at all. Doing the multiple steps is also helping with a reasonably smooth gradient of colour, and although it's not perfect I reckon it will look fantastic on the table top once they're all done.






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And the second coat of thinned down yellow/white - They're really starting to pop now:

Ok - Have now applied a thinned down coat of pure white. Mainly I've just used little lines right on the edges, as I didn't want the white to come through too strongly...

You probably didn't need to go as far as pure white - what you did was what I had in mind for your pure yellow stage. Your yellow/white would then have been an edge highlight (ie a very thin line along the very edges - not a blend) It looks good, but I think it was better pre the pure white - how do they look in person/real life?

I'm not too sure about the white. On the one hand, it really does make the carapace pop! On the other hand, it might just be a bit too bright...

Overall I think I prefer it at the stage before, however I wanted to go all the way at least once so that I had a basis of comparison.

Once I've done a second thinned down white coat, I plan to put some varnish over the top which should help to darken it a bit, smooth out the colours and give the carapce that 'wet' look. Next time I'll try finishing off with the yellow white edging as suggested, and see whether or not that looks better with or without the varnish...

Ok, after doing the second thinned down white highlighting, I've decided it probably would be better to finish with the yellow/white mix.

Also - after a few attempts I've managed to get some bigger pics of my little guys so that you can see all the mistakes I've made better...

As you can see, the blending looks reasonable until the white really. On the white coat, I don't think I removed enough of the paint from my brush before doing the highlighting and have put too much white on...

Next step is to try varnish over the top to see how it smooths the transition, and if I like the 'wetter' looking carapace... not sure how the photos will turn out though if I need the flash...

Bigger pics are good I think you have made a massive improvement - probably just tweaking from here. Looking forward to seeing your big beastie using this scheme.

Yes - the Trygon should look impressive

Hopefully not too much tweaking will be needed, but I suppose we'll see...

Thanks for all the advice - it seems to have made a significant difference

As a side project to keep me moving along whilst I'm finishing painting my army, I have started work on the concept of a Tervigon.

Essentially, I wanted to base the model on the carnifex, except make him a bit bulkier and stand more on all his legs.

The current WIP pics are my initial concept idea - parts are only blue tacced together so far, so nothing is set in stone yet.

I will need to wait on my second Carnifex to come in the mail to start gluing anyway, as I need the extra carapace to make 'matching pices' on the abdomen rather than the current 'mismatch' I have in this design.

I will also obviously need to put copious amounts of GS over the foam balls that make up the abdomen, and plan to have one or two termagants 'spawning' from them.

The head is currently not in place - but I'm sure you get the idea.

Let me know what you think, along with any critique/criticism:

Looks really cool. What are the white balls for?
Anyway looking forward to seeing this piece finally painted.

@ 40k Ninja: Thanks. The 'white balls' will form the base for the spawning glands/abdomen of the tervigon. Essentially, I plan to cut up 1-2 termagants and glue the front half of them in front of the white balls. I will then place a sheet of green stuff over the white balls, creating one large abdomen 'sac' that will join up with the armour plates. The 'sac' will then be textured, and a small lip will be molded around the 'spawning' termagants. I may also try and mold some thin stringy GS over the two gants to represent the mucus/sinews you would expect to see on them as they come out of the 'sac'. Hopefully, it will all work and look good, but I suppose we shall see...

Hope that explanation makes sense... It's kinda all in my head a bit at the moment...

As with everything you do it looks amazing. The foam balls are a great idea. I like how it looks almost like a beetle from above, the carapace pcs give it that effect. I really can't wait to see some GS on it! Keep it up bud!


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Ohh! Please tell me you are going to use the head with the tusks on the jaw!? It's my favorite

WOW dude pretty cool, ur concept seems pretty close to what I'd like to do, capture the tervigon right in the middle of spawning more bundles of joy....and death haha I myself really dig a cinematic type of look which Im hoping to acquire myself, cant wait to see it finished!

@ tony_nids_10: Thanks Hopefully it will all come together nicely - GS will have to wait until my second Fex comes though so I can have matching pieces of carapace on the back for each Tervy. I hadn't decided on which head to use yet, but I was leaning towards the one with the tusks so I suppose that seals it then.

@ Moartiki: Thanks for the comments - I can't wait till it's finished either - alas progress will probably be slow until I manage to complete painting my 750Pnt army for an upcoming mini tourney...

Ok, I know you've all been hanging out for more pics of the Trygon - so here it is with two coats of thinned down scab red, and two coats of thinned down scab red/blood red (1:1).

I'm not really sure how I'm going to do either the spikes or the talons yet - leaning towards more of a bone look to separate it out from the carapace... What does dakka think?










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Having looked at the pics, I also need to touch up the black in some places where some red has splashed over...

slice'n'dice wrote:Having looked at the pics, I also need to touch up the black in some places where some red has splashed over...

You beat me to it

Actually, the black spikes and talons is actually looking pretty good - you could try painting a really dark blue (Mordian/Chaos Black 1:1 perhaps) - shade down with black and sharp edge highlight with blues. I'd probably try that (or anything else) on a test model first though...

He will be very impressive!

I think you might be right - bone may look too close to the skin colour.

Having said that, I'm eventually planing to paint the sinews/tendons that show in spots on the skin of my Nidz in green in the future... Do you think black with a dark green highlight would work?

Yes - I was thinking it would be too close to the skin colour too.

Black with a dark green highlight would work - check out the entire Dark Eldar range

I will indeed check it out.

Progress has been a bit slow on the Nids recently due to moving house (back to where I normally live, from house sitting).

Hopefully, I will now get some more painting in.

The second Carny has now arrived too, so I can start more work on converting the first of my Tervigons

The tervigon is looking sweet so far kind of how i imagined it on it's spindly legs dragging the belly behind it, so kudos to you

Great blending too, the latest rendition is looking very smooth indeed, hopefully i get to see it at B&C

@ MikZor: Thanks. You will indeed get to see them all in action at B&C - though the Tervigon will not be making its debut at that event. I have however started gluing it together, though my wife has taken camera somewhere, so I can't put any pics up...

Hopefully, I will have lots of updates once I reclaim the camera. My Prime now has his skin on, the Trygon is slowly progressing (unfortunately, he will also now be left behind for the B&C tourney), and I have started work on the colour scheme for the Great Sapce Marine (Eldar?) Swap whilst I'm waiting for the Autarch to arrive...

Also going away for a week, so probably no updates for about 1.5 weeks, unless I use the camera on my phone either today or tomorrow...

Haha, love the tail thing

A cool tone would work well on either the carapace or 'fleshy' parts you mention, so as to gently contrast with the warm tones you're using. Perhaps using Asurmen Blue as a wash on a green basecoat?

@ lindsay40k: Thanks, I'll definitely be trying that. I was originally thinking straight green, but I think the blue wash would suit better (in theory).

I had some updates on other progress (gaunts, prime and Eldar Guardian for MikZor) but the camera on my phone hasn't been up to the task, so I'll have to wait till I get back from my trip.

Ok, after a long time away from Dakka, I finally have some updates.

As you will see, I've been busy preparing the swarm for a small tournament. Behold the scuttling tide:





These guys took me ages to build, undercoat, base, wash and highlight. Of particular annoyance was the adrenal glands and poison sacs on the hormagaunts:



But it's done, and now onto the carapace. (Unfortunately, the spray undercoat/base coat lost a bit of detail on the models in places... but not too badly generally).

Also - you can see that my Warrior Prime has finally got a lick of paint on him, and looks very impressive and menacing amongst the swarm.

I have also been painting a test guardian for MikZor as a part of the Great Marine (Eldar?) swap:





So far I just have the armour done. This mini is in preparation for the main event, which will be an Autarch on a jetbike!

Stay tuned for the next update, which will hopefully not be as long a wait as this one has been

Can we get some dedicated pics of the Bonesword wielder (Prime?), please?

+1 to the prime shots
The swarm is looking good, cue production line gaunt painting

As for the guardian, it looks pretty similar, hit it with badab black and it'd be spot on.
I'll fling you a pic of the idea behind the farseer i'm making for you when i get a chance.
Hopefully i'll update it on my blog by monday, along with my B+C progress

Good to have you back

Some dedicated Warrior Prime pics -







C & C welcome as always

I'm with you on the prime until the GIANT HEAD. I realize it's prolly too late for you to want to change anything, but personally I think a souped up warrior or ravenor head would look better. Just my 2 cents, if you like it the way it is then ignore me haha.

The paint scheme looks great! Keep up the awesome work!

That looks great, like he's really chopping some unfortunate enemy to bits.
I don't mind the head, as primes are meant to be bigger and smarter, besides he looks very menacing with it

@ Doomface81: Thanks for the comments - yeah, the head does look a bit crazy. It doesn't look quite as bad in person (the mini is leaning forwards, so in the pic the head is significantly closer than the body making it appear even bigger in comparison than it does in reality... if that makes sense...) I think I will try a Ravener head for my next one. It didn't look quite big enough when I originally looked at it (the ravener head that is), and I didn't want to fall into the trap of many Warrior Prime's I see where it's really hard to distinguish it from the other 'normal' warriors in a brood (Rather then saying "which ones the prime?" - with the response inevitably being "The only one carrying a bonesword and lashwhip" rather than "The big one" )... Thanks for the comments on the paint scheme - wanted something a bit different from the norm and hope I'm onto a winner (should look even better when there's lots painted up).

@MikZor: Thanks - I tried to get a nice dynamic pose for him. I think the left arm is possibly at too much of a right angle to his body (could probably be angled a bit better) but other than that I'm pretty happy with it. The head was always going to be a bit contentious, I eventually decided to err on the side of Enormous munching brute rather then risk falling into the trap of 'just another warrior with boneswords who counts as a prime'. Whether people like the head or not, I think it'll will clearly get the message across 'at a glance' that this guy is bigger and meaner than a standard warrior... or at least that's the hope...

Painting is continuing at a relatively slow pace now as I try and give all my swarm their black carapace, in preparation for the inferno scheme to come.

- Also, after getting halfway through painting the Trygon, I've decided that the talons/claws of my force might be better served painted black and edged in blue to both a) contrast a bit with the 'inferno' carapace and b) provide some 'cooler' tones to the overall scheme. Does Dakka have any thoughts on this? or do people like the 'inferno' scheme painted on the talons and claws as well as the carapace? Love to hear your thoughts!

My Ball and Chain Tournament army: Painted, deployed and ready for battle!



Will soon be posting battle reports of my exploits (5 games) - so stay tuned!

Will also now be able to begin/continue work on other projects (without stressing about the time I have left to paint!)

Tuned!

First Battle Report up for the Ball and Chain Tourney here - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/400399.page

Second Battle report is now up! - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/401949.page

Third Batt Rep from the Ball and Chain Tourney is available here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/403019.page#3427206

Also, for those who are interested in my Painted Prime:







Overall it's not too bad for my first significant Nid conversion.

Things still to do -

Redo swords - will try smoothing out the blending, but may end up re-doing totally... not sure yet
Carapace - Smooth out blending
Teeth - learn how to do teeth, redo teeth with improved technique

Things I would change in future:
Try a smaller head - I don't mind the Fex head (and he certainly looks bigger and meaner than my other Nid Warriors), but I'de like to try maybe a ravener head next time...
Better angles on the arms - I don't think I did too bad with the right arm, but the left arm is at a bit of a weird angle...

Anyways - C+C welcome and encouraged as always.

Thanks!

Start of next Batt rep is up vs Blood Angels. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/403668.page

Rest of Rep will be up tomorrow - feel free to C + C in the meantime on your thoughts of the chances on both sides.

Okies - so it's been a long time since my last post.... so what have I been up to?

Well life mainly, however on the side of life I did manage to put together about 60 termagants, come closer to finishing the conversion on my first Tervigon and played another game.

Tervigon pics as follows:









So... it hasn't really turned out the way I wanted it to, but I suppose what can you expect from your first try?

My main problem with the model is I feel there's too much of a gap between its rear legs and middle legs. The overall size feels about right though. I may see what I can do to bring the back legs in a bit closer....

Anyways, tell me what you think and how you think I could improve it? (or what I could try differently next time).

Also, I played another game on the weekend which can be found here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/413755.page

All C+C is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks

Maybe move the second pair of legs (scythes?) closer to the mid point between the front and rear pairs?


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Where's Ball & Chain Battle 5? I want to know how you fared overall in the tournament!

Instead of moving their position on the body, why not upscale the rear legs? Saw each section in half, pin it longer, and GS the gap. Maybe add some bulk; just smoothing a sausage of GS on the raised bits can make it look a lot beefier:

That Tervigon looks WICKED! I might be building one for my army now haha

Great Gaunts!!

@ Arakasi: I'll have to see if moving the middle legs back will work... looks like it might work well on the left, but might be tricky on the right...

I had forgotten about the last battle report - will have to put that up either tonight or tomorrow

@ lindsay40k: That could work - it would allow me to rock the Tervigon back a bit too which may help...

@ Tlo1048: Thanks! Let me know how you go with yours.

So, I now have a tervy to try and re-work, and about 24 Stealers in parts to glue together, as well as an Eldar Autarch on jetbike for my great marine (eldar) swap... Too much to do with no time to do it!

Ok - the last game of my Ball and Chain Tourney is now up

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/415717.page

New Batt Rep up - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/416742.page#3676197

Please read, enjoy and C + C

Ok, after having a bit of a break from the painting and what nots, I've decided to get back into it, and what better way then with the inspiration of Dakka - and some new Nid minis.

Although I won't be getting a new Tervy anytime soon (I have already converted two), the new T-Fex looks too good to pass up.

I will also be restarting my painting by getting a bunch of stealers up and running, and finishing off the trygon.

Oh, and speaking of the new Tervy, how does mine compare?





Not quite as tall, but still pretty beastly - will be even better once I refine it and put some paint on it

Will get back to you dakkites with painting updates soon (I promise!)

Until then...

I really like how you paint the carapace on your Nids, Ill have to show my wife and see if she is brave enough to try something similar on her big ass bugs. Great work so far man, keep it up

@KingCracker: Thanks - let me know how she goes!

Ok - I promised some pics, and here they are.

Just so you know, I am well aware of the 'mold lines' that seemed to get left behind on these stealers - I must have selected some of my old ones that I hadn't filed down yet, and then forgot to in my mini break.

Either way, I'm experimenting on 5 stealers to see how my stealers will end up being painted. This trial uses my normal Tyranid flesh, but the carapace on stealers is a bit different to my other Xenos.

My first trial is to blend the colours starting with black at the outside left and right edge, and moving through red towards light yellow down the 'spine' of the carapace.

Here are some work in progress pics, done some scab red and blood red work on the carapace already, but still has a ways to go.

Let me know what you think, as well as suggestions, comments for the future!

They seem to be blending in with the background... looking forward to seeing them progress though!

@Arakasi: That's what stealers do

Ok, Some updated pics of the stealers on a somewhat more 'distinguishable' background.

I have now put the 1:1 Blood Red/Fiery Orange onto the carapace.







Can't decide whether or not to start working on the blending now, or once I've done all the colours... I'm erring towards the latter as I find this doesn't start looking really good until closer to the end anyway...

Let me know what you think

Ok - I now have some orange on the carapace - slowly starting to come together...







Thoughts? Suggestions?

The blending seems to be going ok, but I think I'll need to do a wash, then re-highlight at the end...

Ok - more progress on the stealers, now with an ochre brown layer - hoping htis will help the transition from orange to yellow better - let me know what you think.







I know these pics may seem a little laborious and repetitive, but I find it the easiest way to see the transition and a better way for you dakkerites to point out where I'm going wrong (or pick up on things you like and how I do it )

Either way - let me know what you think

The carapace colours are coming along nicely.

I was wondering though.. would it be quicker to paint the carapace if you started off with the orange and then used some washes of the red and then Red/black to darken it down towards the edges?

@ endtransmission: Thanks - It might be quicker (it's certainly worth a try). My main concern would be that the orange may not look as 'clean' if I do it straight over the black - but I could always do a few coats...

Next up is yellow - and now it's really starting to catch the eye (IMHO):







Let me know what you think - I'm planning on doing one more yellow:white mix on the tips before using a wash to blend the colours a bit more. Will aslo start focusing on one stealer at a time to fill in details like the sinew, tongues, toxin sacs etc.

Ok, I have now finished off the first round of highlights on my stealers carapace with a yellow:white mix, and boy does it add some pop! (IMHO).

The next step is to use a devlan mud wash to tone it down a notch, before I decide whether or not to re-highlight the edges.

Here are some more pics:

(Sorry, this one came out a bit blurry )


Hmmm, and this one, but you get the idea of the brightness...


This one's a lot better


Next up I'll be focusing more attention on 1 stealer at a time, and also magnetising a foot Tyrant!

Will also have to revisit that Trygon who is begging for more paint, and start painting up the Tervy conversion!

Until next time... Feedback/comments and what you want to see more of (less of) always appreciated!

You need to add some thing to the sacks there just to smooth. Maybe add some gournts popping out?

Genestealers are looking neon-tastic. Very bright bug like

Those stealers are looking a bit like mine! Except mine are green and yours are painted better

Saw your army at B&C, looking good

@ daxx367: Thanks for the feedback - will do!

@ Arakasi: Yes they are These next pics will show them 'dulled down' a bit

@ Warboss Gutrip: Thanks! - I can't remember whether I actually got to see yours or not - perhaps we'll have to organise a game some day...

Ok - now for some pics - Stealers now with washes on carapace (slightly more blended, not quite as bright)







Keep the feedback/comments coming

And let me know what you think of the wash, whether it should be darker in the recesses, and whether I should re-highlight the tips

Ok, so I've now been focusing in on the detail of one of my stealers, and want dakka's opinion - particularly on the blue sinew. I decided to test out blue (to offset the warmer tones of the carapace). Another option would be green or cyan. Alternatively I could stay with the warmer tones and use red...

Here are some close up pics - let me know what you think.









Would love to hear your thoughts - I'm personally a bit on the fence as to whether it offsets the other colours nicely, or if it goes a bit too far and is starting to look garish...

May need to be darker in the recesses - the claws blended from black look like what the rest should

@ Arakasi: Ok - are you referring to the blue sinew, the fire carapace, or both? I'm assuming the carapace - and I have to agree. I am going to trial a black wash in the recesses and see if that helps - will post pics in near future.

On a different note, I've started putting together my finecast Hive Tyrant. I couldn't decide what armament options I wanted, so I've decided to experiment with magnets

The only problem here of course is, I'm not sure how it will all pan out and what the possible implications are of how I'm doing it. My last attempt at magnets (on a wave serpents guns) ended with the magnet coming off the gun and remaining on the magnet on the chassis. To try and rectify this, I have decided to paint greenstuff around the sides of the magnets after super gluing them to try and give them extra hold. This has the added bonus of covering up the sides of the magnet, so they will be completely hidden when the arms are attached. Here is my Tyrant and weapons so far:

Side 1


Side 2


Body and weapons


One question I do have, when painting do you normally paint over the magnets?

Anyway - please let me know if I'm doing something wrong here - or any other suggestions you may have.

Also - no comments about the blue sinew on the stealers? yah or nay?

I think I like the blue sinew, but I'm not sure. I might limit it to the tounge and the slits on the arms and legs.

I think youll have better luck with the magnets how they are there. I've had them pop off on a few things before too, I think it just happens. But those look pretty secure.

@ Doomface81: Thanks for the feedback - I'm also not completely sold, though the more I look at it the more I think it will look better with lots of them painted like that Hopefully I won't have too many problems with the magnets...

Ok - more progress, I have now put a black wash in the recesses of the carapace to darken it a bit. I have put a non-washed stealer next to a washed stealer so you can see the comparison and tell me what you think (washed one is on the left - but if you can't tell that, there's a problem )



Without flash:


With flash:


Judging by the first photo (which came out best), I think the results speak for themselves - what do you guys think?

Actually, I meant the blue sinew

Not that it helps, but I often glue my magnets behind 1/4mm plasticard to stop the escaping... (easier on kustom built Ork vehicles...). I have heard drilling a slightly larger hole, putting in GS first, then press in the magnet as perhaps a better hold.

I paint my magnets (no harm there) - but they will need to be varnished heavily - I find mine subject to a fair amount of chipping (especially where magnet contacts directly with magnet)

Picture quality aside, the washed one does look better!

@ Arakasi: Ah - I see. Well, it ended up working out well anyway - I much prefer the carapace now with the darker shade in the recesses. I'll have to try washing the sinew next... I wonder if painting GS over the magnet would work similar to using plasticard? Probably not as smooth though so would probably lead to more chipping... Have to remember the varnish!

Ok - more group stealer pics, they now all have black washed carapace giving more definition between the plates.

I have also washed the blue sinew on the middle/front stealer to darken it - what do you think?









All comments, criticisms welcome and appreciated


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And some close-ups of the stealer with the blue sinew so you can actually see it:

Well, *I* think it looks a lot better

@ Arakasi: Thanks!

I think I'll have to finish off the sinew on the other four and see how they all look together...

Mean time - I've started on the next five stealers, I have some modelling work to do on the Tyrant, but most importantly, I need to finalise my army for a tourney late April so I can focus my painting and modelling towards this cause...

(Now - how long until my T-Fex arrives...)

After getting away from my painting for a bit and thinking about different Nid builds I could field in an upcoming 1,500pnt tourney, my eyes quickly settled on my inspiration for fielding Nids in the first place, my partially painted Trygon. I couldn't believe that the unit that inspired me to start Nids in the first place was sitting on my shelf, so I decided it was time to finish him off.

I've now applied more coats to the carapce, and have only the following steps to go in finishing his carapace:
1) apply a yellow/white highlight to the edges;
2) wash with devlen mud to smooth out the colours
3) re-highlight edges as necessary
4) clean up splatter in black recesses

You can see the current stage pics below:







After re-starting the painting on this Trygon, I couldn't help myself but put together a second. After all, why have one Trygon when you can have two at twice the price!

My main aim for the second Trygon was to make it different enough from the first without getting into conversions (Tervies have currently sapped my conversion juices)... and so I present my second Trygon (next to the first for comparison):





You'll notice the arms and head are angled quite differently (and used slightly different bits in places) so as to have them relatively similar, but still unique in their own way...

Anways - I now have lots of painting to do.

Let me know what you think of my beasties - all comments/suggestions/criticisms etc welcome as always!

Your work on the Trygon scales is looking really good - you have come a long way with your highlights/blending - well done!

@ Arakasi: Thanks - it's certainly coming along... only problem is it's now making me want to field it on the table

Subscribes... I really like the colour scheme of your nids, its just reall warm and well well pulled off. very nice

@ bigfish: Thanks! I tried for something a little more unique, which will hopefully look great en masse

More work, this time on modelling my new Flyrant. My main concern with my Flyrant was how to model the tl devourers on it whilst it has wings... After unsuccessfully trying to find ways of mounting the devourers on the wings themselves, I have settled for a simpler and I feel far more elegant solution to the problem. I've drilled two holes in the top carapace of the flyrant, and mounted two devourers on pins. This way, I can choose to mount devourers on my Tyrant, or not

Here's what I have - first without devourers:





And now with devourers:





Let me know what you think. Of course, the bone sword and lashwhip are magnetized for option goodness

Love it!

This is a cool blog. I like how you are doing your Tyranids. The work on the Prime and how did the boneswords for him is very cool.

Your Hive Tyrant looks good. Placing the devourers as you have on the carapace like that looks good and works well.

@ Norn King & Leech: Thanks guys, it really helps with the inspiration to hear people like my work

Unfortunately, my luck has taken a turn for the worse recently with me breaking my left hand It's my non-preferred hand however, so when I find an easier way to stabilise mini's, I should be back into it. It will however make painting towards the next tourney more difficult, not to mention slowing me down in playing the tourney (thank goodness I was going for a big bug strategy and not a swarm! )

Anyways, I'll have further updates once I've worked out how to paint well with a broken hand - any suggestions would be welcome

until then...

I love the cockroach color scheme on these. It suits them very well and makes them seem more gribbly.

@ killykavekommando: Thanks I had never though of the resemblence to cockroaches but now that you say it I can't believe I didn't see it before.

Ok guys, been away for a bit but have managed to get some games in with my new Nids.

2 battles vs Tau with a reserve based Nid list - who do you think will win: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/446025.page

Also, more progress on painting to come, despite being somewhat hampered by a broken hand

Hi All,

Back from a long absence from Dakka, so I thought I would start of with something new and small to get me back into things...

... and so, I have started making more hormagaunts, but am trying to make them a bit more characterful (cinematic?) then the previous ones I have done.

Here is the four I've started on so far...







Please tell me what you think, and any suggestions you have either for these hormagaunts, or ones I do in the future (I'm hoping to do a brood of around 20, so the more suggestions the merrier

Hey dude, I really enjoyed reading through your blog. You've chosen a cool colour scheme and I see you improving all the time.

The new gaunts look great, really interested to see where you take them.

@ Casey's Law: Thanks - my painting is definitely evolving, need to work more on my converting though (only one way to learn )

Ok, So I've got another couple of gaunts that I've started working on. I'll probably aim for about 16 before I undercoat/paint them though - but until then...

This hormagaunt is leaping into the air, ready to land on his prey:


I've slightly re-positioned the rear leg to be up closer to the tail, and used a jetbike stand to give him a bit of height (currently bluetacked onto the base until I find out how the base will look...)


Next I have a hormagaunt leaping over an old tank trap:


There has been a bit more reposition work on the legs here, converting the traditional 'rear leg' to become the 'forward leg' that the gaunt is using to spring forwards off the tank trap:


Let me know what you think, and again - any ideas for future gaunts are welcome as I still have 10 to go

I recently played a game against the new Tau, and have started writing the battrep for it which can be found here - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/521904.page

Ok - full battle is now up - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/521904.page#5531459