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Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/08/14 01:37:49


Post by: catbarf


Hi all, I had the fortuitous timing to invest in a decent number of Chaos Renegade Militia from Forge World right before they went out of production. Whoops.

So, I'm building towards a 1k pt list to start with, using Astra Militarum with the Catachan doctrine as I find the current Renegades & Heretics list incredibly disappointing.

For colors, I was heavily inspired by the Renegade Militia of a player by the handle of 'Mika' about ten years ago. Their models used a mixture of green, greys, and browns to produce a motley appearance while still tying the models together with a unified palette. For my guys, I made some simple rules:
-If the model has a tunic (extending down to the thighs), it gets painted green, to look like a military uniform. If it does not have a tunic, then its shirt/coat is painted a non-green.
-Pants are a roughly 50/50 mix of green and non-green.
-Hoods are green if the rest of the model has no green, otherwise they're non-green.

With those rules in place, I took a Heavy Stubber team and three of the five models from the Command Squad, to test colors and paint technique:








I was quite happy with this test, so proceeded with the remaining two models from the command squad. I decided I wanted the commander to serve as a counts-as Straken, so I gave him an appropriate cap, replaced his chainsword arm with a bionic hand and scratchbuilt knife, and added a double-barreled shotgun made from plastic stock/tubing and a Krieg lasgun:



And painted up:



If you look closely on the banner, you may be able to see how the paint wrinkled when I applied a wash to it. I believe this was due to inadequate preparation of the resin, despite vigorous scrubbing with soap. For future models, I gave them a dusting of Testor's Dullcote before applying primer, and switched from brush-on gesso primer to airbrushed Badger Stynylrez, and it seems to have solved the problem.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Next up, the basic infantry. I'm using Forge World's Renegade Militia conversion set (torsos + heads) and Renegade Militia weapon arms (the arms), which left just the legs to sort out. Typically, I've seen them completed with Cadian legs, so I bought some Cadian legs from eBay and started assembling them. However, when I put the models with Cadian legs next to the FW complete models like the Command Squad and Heavy Stubber team, it became apparent that they didn't really match up. The Renegade Militia models are much closer to truescale compared to the chunky, 'heroic'-scaled Cadians, and it seemed a shame that the details on the Cadian legs were not up to the standards of the rest of the models.

So I started looking for alternatives, and ran across Victoria Miniatures. Their Arcadian legs looked very similar to the Cadians stylistically, but with better proportions. I decided to take a gamble and order a mix of Arcadian legs and Combat legs. Here's a set of Arcadian legs next to their Cadian equivalent:



There's a slight optical illusion in the picture- the Arcadian legs are leaning back due to flash on the bottom, so they appear to be taller than the Cadian legs. In actuality they're exactly the same height and exactly the same pose, but the Arcadian legs have more detail and slimmer proportions.

They're more expensive, too, at $16 for 10 sets of legs, but with the current price of Cadian legs on eBay being upwards of $12 per 10 sets, it seemed well worth it. The Combat legs are also interesting in that they're the exact same sculpts as the Arcadian legs, just without a tunic, so the two styles mix readily.

I also decided to add some armor plating, to better match the other sculpts. The Renegade Militia Command Squad has four normal troopers, with varying mixes of homemade groin armor plates and kneepads. I used plastic card and putty to add some plates to my infantry.

Also, after painting the command squad, I decided I was rapidly getting sick of trying to get an even coat of Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel, so I elected to try out the Vallejo Metal Color range. I used a 50/50 mix of Metal Color Steel and Metal Color Silver. It provided perfect, smooth coverage in one coat, and while the end result came out a little darker than the previous recipe, I think it looks a little better.

Here's the first squad of eight, completed by the addition of the previously-painted Heavy Stubber team:






(Oh, I should mention- I'm counting the awesome Heavy Stubber team as Heavy Bolters for gameplay purposes. It seems more fitting, considering how enormous the weapon is compared to the one-man ones used by GSC and Chaos cultists)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And lastly for tonight, here's a tutorial on the method I devised for painting this guys, because I'm still surprised at how well they turned out for how little effort I put into them.

I started, as mentioned before, by scrubbing the models with soap and water, letting them dry, giving them a light dusting of Testor's Dullcote, letting them dry again, and then finally airbrushing on a thin coat of grey Badger Stynylrez. And then letting them dry.



First, I apply the base green uniform color, since this dictates the color choices for the rest of the clothing, and the base brown color of the mud, because it's easy:



Followed by the rest of the base colors (exact list at the end of the post):



So, with all the base colors in place, I do a single round of highlights on everything but the leather and the base. No blending, no glazing, no mixing, just quick and dirty rough highlights using a lighter paint:



Next, I wash the leather using Vallejo Smoke, which is more akin to a technical effect than a traditional paint, and the metal with a mix of Smoke and Black Glaze. This provides a bit of shading, but mostly gives a gritty look to the leather and a worn, oxidized look to the metal:



Now the magic- Vallejo Black Glaze, which despite the misleading name is my absolute favorite wash. It's dark enough to shade effectively, thin enough to settle in the recesses, and viscous enough to have a slight darkening effect all over but leave edges more or less untouched. I apply this stuff all over the models, but one section at a time so that I can prevent pooling. It provides shading and ties the sloppy highlights into the base colors:



At this point, only details remain. I paint the eyes through a simple process (fill eye socket with light orange, dot center white, fill eye socket with transparent orange, wick away until the center dot is just visible), paint the plasma coils with a couple of orange washes over white, and drybrush the base with a lighter brown:



And just the varnishing and final touches. Soak with Testor's Glosscote, spray with Testor's Dullcote, glue on grass tufts, dust the models with AK Interactive Ultra Matte through an airbrush until they're consistently matte, and lastly use some Pledge Floor Finish mixed with dark brown ink to make puddles on the bases:



That's it.

Full paints list:
(All non-metallics are Vallejo Model Color, all metallics are Vallejo Metal Color)

Green cloth- Grey Green (886), highlight Pastel Green, wash 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Brown cloth- German Cam. Med Brown, highlight Cork Brown, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Light grey cloth- Light Grey, highlight White, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Grey cloth- Neutral Grey, highlight Light Grey, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Dark grey cloth- Dark Grey, highlight Neutral Grey, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Hoses- Dark Grey, drybrush Neutral Grey, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Metal- 1:1 Steel/Silver, drybrush/highlight Silver, wash 4:1:1 water/Black Glaze/Smoke, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Leather- 1:1 Flat Brown/Cork Brown, wash 1:1 water/Smoke, 2:1 water/Black Glaze

Mud- Flat Brown, wash 2:1 water/Black Glaze, Drybrush German Cam. Medium Brown

Plasma- White, wash 1:1 Transparent Orange/water (repeat until 3-4 layers reached)
Lenses- Light Orange, dot White, wash 1:1 water/Transparent Orange (wick off excess until the dot of white is just visible)

Puddles- Wash 2:1 Pledge Floor Shine/Secret Weapon Armor Wash (any dark wash will do)

Hope this is useful, and I'll have more models up over the next couple of weeks. All C&C appreciated, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/23 18:35:21


Post by: catbarf


Well, thanks to moving into a new house it's been a delayed update. Since the initial post I've gotten the Renegades fully assembled.



As stated before this is a 1000pt list using the Catachan rules. It broadly consists of:
-Straken
-Company Commander
-Priest
-4 Infantry Squads (2 with flamer, 2 with plasma/heavy bolter)
-3 Bullgryns (with Brute Shield, as the 4+ invuln seems a good analogue for combat drugs)
-Hellhound
-Leman Russ
-Leman Russ Annihilator

However, I also have decided to continue with assembling and painting a Death Korps army I initially bought over a decade ago, and thus have renamed the thread.

Here's what I have assembled so far. With the addition of another Earthshaker (and 3 more crewmen), it should constitute a decent 1000pt list under the Death Korps rules.



The list is:
-2 Field Officers
-1 Marshal
-3 Infantry Squads (plasma)
-10 Engineers with a Hades mining drill
-5 Death Riders
-5 Grenadiers (2 flamers, heavy flamer) in a Centaur
-2 Earthshakers
-Cyclops demolition vehicle
-2 Heavy weapon squads (one all twin heavy stubbers, the other all heavy bolters)

While I've painted some of the Death Korps already (as seen in the image), the layering recipe I used for them was a little slower than what I'd optimally like, so I elected to paint a test model using the same quick-and-dirty method as the Renegade Militia. I think it came out pretty well and will make a good counterpart to the Renegades.



That's all for now, more to come.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/23 19:25:39


Post by: Spiky Norman


Look great for such a simple recipe!
Looking forward to seeing more of your work :-)


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/23 22:38:53


Post by: shmvo


That's a great looking colour scheme! I love how grimy it is.

The Straken conversion is very nice too.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/24 00:04:40


Post by: Tyranid Horde


These look fantastic, I'm always a fan of DKoK but its really interesting to see these renegades. Following to see what you do next!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/24 11:31:04


Post by: Snrub


Absolutely fantastic armies, mate. Your method of painting the renegades, combined with your 3 rules is super effective in execution.

Digging your natty Straken conversion too. The sawn of shotgun is quite subtle.
Not much more to say other then it's a great looking traitor force you have assembled. Same goes for the DKoK too. But they hold less appeal to me then the renegades do.


I too picked up a squad of militia and the ogryn boss, when they were LCTB and i've regretted not getting another set or two of the militia torso and the command squad/enforcer pack ever since, as they are fantastic sculpts. Guess i'll have to just scour ebay for some.
Good choice on using Victoria Minis legs. They match up really nice with the militia torsos.
For future reference (if you're not already aware of them) Mad Robot Miniatures do some good leg sets too!

Here's a few i've been considering using for my renegades.
Spoiler:

Anvil Industries might also be worth a look too. They mostly do more high tech looking stuff, but they have a few civilian legs too if you wanted to add some non-military style guys to your force.


A question regarding your paints though. What brand of gesso do you use for undecoating? And how do you apply it? I've played around with using gesso but the results i've had are.... lacklustre at best.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/24 12:55:18


Post by: Elnibbus


Wow, excellent colour schemes and execution in their application.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/24 15:20:15


Post by: catbarf


Thanks all the for the kind words- I tend to experiment a lot with technique and procedure in painting, so I'm glad to hear that in this case it's been worthwhile.

 Snrub wrote:
Good choice on using Victoria Minis legs. They match up really nice with the militia torsos.
For future reference (if you're not already aware of them) Mad Robot Miniatures do some good leg sets too!

Here's a few i've been considering using for my renegades.
Spoiler:

Anvil Industries might also be worth a look too. They mostly do more high tech looking stuff, but they have a few civilian legs too if you wanted to add some non-military style guys to your force.


Huh, if I'd known about those totally-not-Blood Pact legs I might have gotten a bunch of those. The nice thing about the Arcadian legs, at least, is that they're close enough to Cadian to pass for GW at first glance. Around here my best place to play is a GW store, so using bits that can fly under the radar is helpful.

 Snrub wrote:
A question regarding your paints though. What brand of gesso do you use for undecoating? And how do you apply it? I've played around with using gesso but the results i've had are.... lacklustre at best.


I used Liquitex grey gesso, thinned slightly with water. I've found that clear gessos are too gritty, and the white ones don't cover very well without the addition of some black paint as a binder. At the same time, undiluted gesso is too thick and tends to form bubbles, but thinning the gesso too much compromises its coverage. So, grey gesso diluted with just a bit of water (about 2:1) is about optimal, applied by slathering it all over the model with a large brush, and then using the same brush to wipe away the excess and flatten any bubbles that formed.

Now, though, I've switched to airbrushing on Badger Stynylrez (who came up with that name?), as it's much quicker to get a smooth coat of primer. I haven't tried applying the stuff with a brush, but I suspect it would work fine (and the instructions say you can). It's water-based and pre-thinned so easy to work with, and a pretty good value in terms of volume for the price.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/25 14:09:41


Post by: mdeceiver79


A great pair of armies, cheers for the tutorial also


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/26 02:47:42


Post by: Snrub


catbarf wrote:
I used Liquitex grey gesso, thinned slightly with water. I've found that clear gessos are too gritty, and the white ones don't cover very well without the addition of some black paint as a binder. At the same time, undiluted gesso is too thick and tends to form bubbles, but thinning the gesso too much compromises its coverage. So, grey gesso diluted with just a bit of water (about 2:1) is about optimal, applied by slathering it all over the model with a large brush, and then using the same brush to wipe away the excess and flatten any bubbles that formed.

Now, though, I've switched to airbrushing on Badger Stynylrez (who came up with that name?), as it's much quicker to get a smooth coat of primer. I haven't tried applying the stuff with a brush, but I suspect it would work fine (and the instructions say you can). It's water-based and pre-thinned so easy to work with, and a pretty good value in terms of volume for the price.
The stuff i've used previously is a tub of Mont Martes black gesso primer. It does fine for terrain, and works well enough when watered down for undercoating bases. But it's probably not as good as the high end liquitex stuff is.
But yes, as you say, suffers from coverage issues if thinned too much, which I think you need too do to paint actual miniatures with it.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/09/26 19:52:26


Post by: Das_Ubermike


Wanted to pop in and say how much I love those Renegades. I always felt like they were near perfect designs and it was a shame that they never seemed to get the same love and attention from the community that the DKoK received. I had long wanted to put together an army myself, using the FW torsos and legs/arms from a 3rd party manufacturer, but FW discontinuing the line put an end to those dreams. Looking forward to seeing more, keep up the good work!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/05 21:31:26


Post by: catbarf


I had a go at painting up a squad of Death Korps. In the process I also experimented with a new-to-me technique of applying gloss varnish before the all-over wash.

Here's the full squad:



Now, one of the models in the back, second from the right, was done without this gloss layer, just like how I did the Renegades. Here's a side-by-side of with the gloss layer (left) and without (right):



The varnish appeared to do exactly as expected: The wash flowed more readily into the recesses, staining the raised/flat areas less.

However, as an unsurprising consequence, this means the highlights are less blended into the basecoat, and the shading is noticeably sharper in the recesses. In other words, it behaves a little more like a traditional blacklining wash, and less like the one-step magic that I love Vallejo's Black Glaze for.

So, I'm a little bit of two minds about it. On the one hand the sharper shading makes them pop a bit more at tabletop distance. On the other, to my eye it looks a little messier, and in some areas (particularly creases on coats) it seems like it might be too dark.

(If this sounds like nitpicking and/or overanalyzing, welcome to my painting process!)

Thoughts? I may try quickly painting up my last three artillery crewmen without the gloss wash just to test, then move on to a squad of the Renegades as planned.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/05 23:09:31


Post by: Tyranid Horde


I know it's common practise in scale modelling of tanks and the like where this technique is used heavily with oil washes in particular. I really like what you've done with the models though, they look excellent.

I think if you wanted to do the technique again, you could wick away the pooled wash in the recesses you don't want to be as dark. I quite like the effect it gives, especially from a squad perspective.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/15 22:22:00


Post by: catbarf


I gave the varnish-before-wash technique a go on a squad of Renegade Militia. I also washed each model in its entirety at once, which in retrospect was a mistake, as I had better results previously by being a little more methodical in application of the Black Glaze. Guess I got a little impatient here.

I'm also still trying to figure out the best way to take photos. I've been using a lightbox with my phone (Pixel 2) camera, and trying to get everything in focus has been a pain. I'll probably spring for a cheap DSLR, and spend some time to remove the now-quite-obvious cat hair from my backdrop.

Anyways, photos. Note that the squad has two plasma gunners, because one of them is actually to be exchanged with the autogunner from the Command Squad, so that I can have a dual-plasma Command Squad for some light fire support.






Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/15 22:37:20


Post by: Excommunicatus


They're pretty ridiculously good.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/16 02:56:27


Post by: amazingturtles


I'm really loving these guys, and the use of yellow throughout,


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/17 07:51:00


Post by: Snrub


Yeah the use of the yellowy orange really makes these guys stand out. The simple earthy colours used throughout both the models and bases help really bring the whole force together.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/18 10:41:53


Post by: acrowsperch


Agreed with the yellow comments, especially with the helmet lenses, makes them pop from the drab colors on their clothing-- fantastic stuff


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/24 16:21:29


Post by: Tyranid Horde


Echoing everyone else on the yellow, great job and it makes them really stand out!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/10/25 15:19:08


Post by: Ketara


I'm seriously digging this. Thanks for the tutorial!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/10 06:27:21


Post by: catbarf


This isn't a proper army update, per se- this year I'm surprising my three closest friends with painted Forge World models for Christmas, specifically a Great Unclean One, a Kill Blasta, and a Fire Raptor. I've just finished the GUO and while it won't be part of my army, I figured I'd post it up anyways.







I had a lot of fun both practicing zenithal highlighting on large areas (and, in retrospect, learning that I need sharper gradients than I thought) and using selective applications of gloss varnish to get a properly slimy effect.

Also, this is by far the grossest model I've ever painted.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/10 15:40:28


Post by: tinfoil


Great looking Unclean looking Great Unclean One! Very viscous.

And then (I'm arriving late at the party here), I love the color scheme for the renegades. Fantastic contrast, and a very vivid feel. Nice work!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/19 04:38:24


Post by: catbarf


Continuing the theme of 'stuff not related to the title', here's #2 of the Christmas gift list, an Ork Kill Blasta:






I currently have zero motivation to assemble/paint the Fire Raptor, so next up will be DKoK Earthshaker and the remainder of the artillery crewmen.

Also, as much as I like the color scheme and aesthetic of the Renegades, I'm finding that the Death Korps look better on the tabletop with their bright colors and sharp contrast, while the Renegades blur into a bit of a dark green-brown blob. It's a bit annoying that a scheme that looks great under the painting lamp and in photos becomes much less compelling under normal gameplay conditions. Has anyone else dealt with this?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/21 20:45:35


Post by: Tyranid Horde


That is a fantastic GUO and the Kill Blasta is brilliant!

As for your problem with your renegades, in my experience stark highlights and bright colours generally grab the attention on the board. I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much though, they look brilliant and if anyone looks up close at them. Do your yellows not provide enough contrast?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/25 17:48:22


Post by: catbarf


 Tyranid Horde wrote:
As for your problem with your renegades, in my experience stark highlights and bright colours generally grab the attention on the board. I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much though, they look brilliant and if anyone looks up close at them. Do your yellows not provide enough contrast?


Thanks for the feedback. The oranges do provide some contrast, but because most of the eye sculpts are recessed, they're sometimes hard to see from tabletop distance. I'm also running into the issue that as much as I love the sculpts, the army has been a little boring to play on the tabletop. Not a showstopper, it's just dampened my enthusiasm a little, so since finishing the Kill Blasta I've been working on the Death Korps artillery I mentioned instead.



Next up will definitely be the Fire Raptor. I'm not looking forward to assembling it, but at least the painting should be easier than the Kill Blasta and GUO.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also, just for the fun of it, took a couple of photos showing the simplicity of my painting process on the artillery crew.

1. Just basecoats and a single layer of highlights for everything but the leather, which received a Smoke wash.
2. Gloss varnish, then Black Glaze applied.
3. Matte varnished, bases drybrushed and finished.

Piece of cake. The varnishing step is really what pulls it all together IMO, as it evens out the finish and lightens the otherwise significantly darkened models. It may not win any Golden Demons, but I've yet to find a technique with as much return on time invested.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/25 18:45:02


Post by: King Thor


Stunning work, especially love the eyes on your Renegade guard.

Feels like they are straight out of a Black Library novel!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/26 00:34:58


Post by: monkeytroll


Great looking armies, and a beautifully simple way to paint them too


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/26 01:01:39


Post by: Commander Cain


Loving everything so far! The renegades in particular are very menacing. I picture them stalking through the darkness with only with creepy yellow lights showing, very cool.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/26 08:47:59


Post by: Ezki


Really good looking stuff! The yellow contrast works really well and loving the colors on the kriegsmen. I'm amazed with the results of such an quick paint job. Very efficient!

The earthshaker might need a bit more weathering, but maybe that's just me. I like my Krieg muddy and rusty.

I can also relate to your problem with the renegades. I try to paint every detail, but sometimes it takes too much time and no one even notices when I place the models on the tabletop.
A friend of mine has a different tactic: his models look mediocre up close, but absolutely amazing from the opposite side of the table. I've yet to find a middle ground in all this. What I have learned though, is that over the top highlights give good definition to the shapes, so the models won't blend into each other that much.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/27 05:26:06


Post by: Minigiant


You have a really cool painting style, I am digging it.

I look forward to seeing more, it might just encourage me to get passed the bulk assemble I am doing to finally add some paint


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/27 15:02:13


Post by: catbarf


 Ezki wrote:
The earthshaker might need a bit more weathering, but maybe that's just me. I like my Krieg muddy and rusty.


I did go back and forth on whether to weather the Earthshaker, but ultimately decided that I'll reserve the heavy weathering for my Renegade vehicles.

Speaking of which, I marathoned one of the two Leman Russes in the Renegade force last night, and realized that the greens from the infantry applied via zenithal highlight, with an additional lighter edge highlight, accidentally created a spot-on Death Guard scheme. So, I guess these guys are Nurgle now. Tonight I'll finish up the weathering and get some pics.

Minigiant wrote:
You have a really cool painting style, I am digging it.


Ah, that wonderful moment when my over-use of one speed-painting technique turns into a 'style' In all seriousness I really appreciate the feedback, I put a lot of R&D into figuring out how balance quality and time spent per model so I'm glad to see it's paid off.

In other news, the secondhand Fire Raptor I got on eBay is a warped, unsalvageable, likely recast soon-to-be piece of terrain. It was basically a bonus in an army lot, so I'm alright with cutting my losses. Instead of trying to cobble it together, I ordered a Redemptor Dreadnought as a substitute, so I'll be building that and painting it up in Deathwatch colors once it arrives.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/28 03:56:02


Post by: catbarf


And here's the first Leman Russ- probably the most enjoyable painting experience I've had to date.

The same colors that I used on the infantry worked well here. Basecoat Green Grey, then a zenithal highlight of Pastel Green straight down. I then got a lighter green, almost an off-white and annoyingly also called Green Grey, and edge highlighted the whole thing. Metal bits got painted in with the same metallic mix as on the infantry.

Then I applied Smoke via a sponge for weathering, and painted the treads in Flat Brown. Then the whole model got gloss varnish, two thin washes (1:5 Black Glaze/water), drybrush on dirt, the same sequence as infantry for the lenses, and it was done.

Took all of six hours. I'm very pleased with the results.





Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/28 21:06:19


Post by: Ezki


Really crisp paintjob! Looks very realistic.
Painting leman russes, or pretty much any Astra Militarum vehicle, sure is enjoyable.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/11/29 09:20:35


Post by: Ilgoth


Lovely work throughout the thread. Hoping to see more.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/01 22:54:33


Post by: catbarf


Got the last of the three Christmas presents done- a Redemptor Dreadnought for my buddy's Deathwatch army.

I'm not very pleased with how the macro plasma incinerator turned out. VGC Gory Red and Bloody Red are both awful, terrible paints, simultaneously excessively thick and insufficiently pigmented. I know reds are generally bad, but I don't remember any of Citadel's reds being this bad.

That said, this is my first time ever applying decals, so I'm quite happy with how those came out, as well as the zenithal highlighting.



While I had the lightbox out, I took the opportunity to photograph all the painted Renegade Militia:



Making progress! I think my plan at this point is to focus on painting up the rest of the renegades (to-do: two infantry squads, two vehicles, two characters, and a unit of Ogryns), then assess from there what I want to focus on.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/03 08:31:52


Post by: Snrub


That's a really sharp looking dreadnought. Very clean-lined. I feel you on the VGC reds though. When ever I use them I need quite a few layers for even really small things, and i'm normally just doing squad icons and gak. It's unfortunate, because the rest of the VGC paints i've used have been stellar.

Your renegarde force is really quite smashing when assembled like that. Lovely cohesive look to them, without just every model being painted exactly the same way. And with the lovely glowing eyes they start looking like the creepy zombie dudes from fallout: NV with the green eyes.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/03 15:57:56


Post by: catbarf


 Snrub wrote:
That's a really sharp looking dreadnought. Very clean-lined. I feel you on the VGC reds though. When ever I use them I need quite a few layers for even really small things, and i'm normally just doing squad icons and gak. It's unfortunate, because the rest of the VGC paints i've used have been stellar.

Your renegarde force is really quite smashing when assembled like that. Lovely cohesive look to them, without just every model being painted exactly the same way. And with the lovely glowing eyes they start looking like the creepy zombie dudes from fallout: NV with the green eyes.


Thank you! Hmm, I've been meaning to replay New Vegas, I never played the DLC with the zombie guys. Was that in Dead Money?

I thought I had posted this, but I guess I forgot- someone pointed out to me that Deathwatch canonically have silver left arms, and typically the right shoulder pad is from their original chapter. The intended recipient is big into lore accuracy, and I also wanted to fix up the macro plasma incinerator, so I went back and tweaked the model.

Also, I'm extremely pleased with how the transfers have turned out. I'm just glossing the transfer site, applying the transfer after soaking it in water, and then glossing again. Once the final matte varnish is applied there's no visible seam.




I've just primed the remaining Company Commander, Priest, and Ogryn Berserkers, so those should be next.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/04 10:26:09


Post by: Snrub


Yeah, Dead Money sounds about right. The one where you're trapped in the resort/casino place.

The dread looks much better with the silver arm and blue shoulder.
I personally like the look of the red casings. It looks sort of rain-washed, like what you've got going on on the silver arm.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/15 21:00:49


Post by: catbarf


Time for an update, and back to my armies. I delivered the Christmas gifts last weekend, since the recipients were in town for a mutual event. All were pleased with their gifts, and the new owner of the Kill Blasta has decided to pick up a few boxes of Boyz and start an army.

I'm trying to gauge what my painting output looks like and how much I can realistically do in a week, so I started all these models on Sunday and have finished them today (Saturday), just in time, with ~10-12 hours total. I think treating a batch of this size as a two-week project seems more sustainable, so at this rate I should have the Renegade Militia done by mid-January.

Anyways- Renegade Ogryn Berserkers. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, but if I were to repaint them, it would be with the thinner wash I used on my vehicles rather than the thick one I use on my infantry, which looking at the skin on the Ogryns was a little too thick. On the bright side, it's perfectly fitting for them to look extremely dirty, so I'm not too fussed about it.

















And as part of this batch, I also did the remaining two characters- a Priest, and a Company Commander (converted from an artillery crewman).





Also, in light of Chapter Approved, I got some Ad Mech and am planning to do at least 1K of them, while the Death Korps will likely go on the shelf until their rules get sorted out a bit better.

The only thing I dislike about the Ad Mech range is the Skitarii. While I like their design concept and aesthetics, the flat/untextured cloaks aren't particularly interesting, and I like the old fluff of Skitarii as no-frills cyborg killers, basically augmented Storm Troopers. So I got some bits and tried the fairly common Skitarii/Genestealer Cult Neophyte kitbash, with some modifications to the Neophyte bits:



I'm not yet sold on it. The ribbed armor doesn't match the plate style of the Skitarii bits, and the Neophyte armor and clothing is very non-uniform. I've also got some Scion legs and torsos on the way, so I'll probably give those a go as well. Thoughts? Suggestions on alternate kitbashes? Commentary that I'm crazy for not loving the stock Skitarii models?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/19 21:04:30


Post by: Ilgoth


LOVE THE OGRYNS! Well done.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/24 03:23:49


Post by: catbarf


I'm about halfway through painting the Hellhound and second Leman Russ, but couldn't resist painting up a test Skitarii Ranger.

(link to full-size image)



What do you all think?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/24 05:51:17


Post by: Ezki


Looking very good!
I really like your painting style with the matte surfaces (from the wash?) and crisp highlights.

Good work on that skitarii. Can't wait to see more!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2018/12/31 20:17:13


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Ezki. The matte finish is entirely from the AK Interactive Ultra Matte at the end; it takes a bit of time and effort to get a consistent flat finish but I think it's worth it.

In other news, I was able to put the AdMech stuff away for long enough to finish the second Leman Russ and the Hellhound. This was also a test for a lighter wash method; rather than a 1:2 glaze/water wash on the infantry or two layers of a 1:5 wash on the previous tank, I just did one 1:4 wash on everything, like I did on the Skitarii test.

I'm inclined to say it worked reasonably well, and didn't dull the highlights as much, but since I didn't use as extreme of a highlighting gradient as I did on the Skitarii, the final result is a little more flat/bland. I also made a few mistakes when applying the wash. Lessons learned.

Just two units of infantry to go and then I'll be done with the 1K of Renegades.









Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/01 18:15:19


Post by: catbarf


And just for good measure, the full current state of the army:



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/01 18:44:50


Post by: Ilgoth


Stylish, very much so. What we are seeing next?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/01 22:54:08


Post by: catbarf


Ilgoth wrote:
Stylish, very much so. What we are seeing next?


Current plan is to marathon the last twenty renegades to complete the army. Once that's done I'll probably start painting up the 1K of AdMech I've been slowly assembling.

I have an outline for expanding the renegades to 1500, which is to add a squad of veterans, some sentinels, and a couple of Chimeras to partially mechanize the force, so I'll be coming back to them sooner or later.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/02 08:48:33


Post by: Singleton Mosby


Wonderful looking renegade army! Just love them.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/09 05:30:20


Post by: catbarf


After a week long marathon, I got them done! More pictures (and the full army) tomorrow, but one shot for now.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/09 14:51:32


Post by: Not Online!!!


catbarf wrote:
After a week long marathon, I got them done! More pictures (and the full army) tomorrow, but one shot for now.



It is beautiful!


To bad FW stopped producing them.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/10 00:02:22


Post by: catbarf


And here's a photo of each discrete infantryman (full resolution here).



I forgot to mention in my last post that my wife got me a DSLR camera for Christmas, so these are my first attempts with a proper camera rather than my smartphone's camera. They're coming out a little oversaturated here, but I think I'm figuring it out.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And lastly, here's the full army:



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/11 05:16:42


Post by: amazingturtles


An amazing set of little men, well done. It's hard to pick a favorite out of them, they're all so... nicely creepy.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 00:44:42


Post by: catbarf


Little bit of a delay since my last post, but I've got a first squad of Skitarii done.

This process involved, at one point, getting sufficiently annoyed with painting red that I repainted the two arquebusiers to grey before deciding I was better off with red anyways. That made them take a little longer than they should have.

I did learn in the process that Pledge Floor Shine, which is also becoming my staple gloss varnish, is an excellent thinner for paint. It's more viscous than water but reduces surface tension, so it allows the paint to be a little thicker than if diluted with water, but flows and self-levels to avoid leaving streaks. This was the key that allowed me to highlight the red without driving myself insane.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 10:58:44


Post by: Singleton Mosby


Those are very nice and tempt me to get some of these myself. Love the bases as well btw.

Edit: checking out the GW skitari they look differnt. What parts did you use for this build?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 11:55:50


Post by: Haighus


 Singleton Mosby wrote:
Those are very nice and tempt me to get some of these myself. Love the bases as well btw.

Edit: checking out the GW skitari they look differnt. What parts did you use for this build?

They are very nice. I think GSC neophyte bodies and legs, Skitarii ranger arms, and Skitarii rustalker heads.

It looks like the ribbed areas on the neophyte armour has been filled in and smoothed off (with some kind of filler?), I know this possibility was mentioned above It definitely matches the Skitarii aesthetic better.

I think they nicely create a more battle-worn look. Would also be a very good base for a Dark Mechanicus Skitarii force with the more varied appearance.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 15:42:02


Post by: catbarf


Haighus has it- GSC Neophyte bodies and legs, Skitarii arms and backpack, Sicarian Ruststalker heads. Note that pretty much all the bits besides the arms have been modified, to various degrees.

The armor was filled in with a plastic slurry made by dissolving sprue in plastic cement. I used a sculpting tool to scoop out gobs of the stuff and smooth it into the armor. I recently picked up a cheap set of syringes which should make it a little easier to control.

The Neophyte bodies were also adjusted to be more upright, primarily by bending the legs at the knees and ankle to remove some of the hunch.

The cowl around the head/neck was trimmed down, as was the little bit of armor overhang on the sides (it interfered with the Skitarii shoulder pads).

I also sliced the backpacks off the Neophyte torsos, to replace them with Skitarii backpacks with the dangling cables removed.

Lastly, I removed the hoses from the Ruststalker heads, and replaced them with a simple nub of plastic rod for a respirator. Then I filled in the heads with putty since the sculpts aren't the complete heads, then I could attach them to the bodies with a blob of putty to form a neck.

...You know, I originally bought the AdMech thinking it would be nice to have an army composed of all plastic kits that I could just assemble without having to do a ton of work. What happened to that? Well, I've got another 15 Skitarii and the rest of the army already converted and assembled, so now it's just building five more Vanguard and then they're all built. Once that's done I'll do an army shot so you can see what other conversions I've cooked up.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 19:38:01


Post by: Haighus


The plastic cement-plastic gloop is a brilliant idea- I am going to have to use that one.

Did you just chop the sprue up small and dunk it in, or sand the sprue into dust?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 19:44:22


Post by: catbarf


 Haighus wrote:
The plastic cement-plastic gloop is a brilliant idea- I am going to have to use that one.

Did you just chop the sprue up small and dunk it in, or sand the sprue into dust?


Whole chunks of sprue, and with a bit of stirring they completely dissolved within a day or so. I did end up adding a bit of pure acetone to the mix to thin it slightly so that I could spread it more easily, but varying the mix of sprue and glue is a good place to start.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/01/28 19:57:47


Post by: Haighus


catbarf wrote:
 Haighus wrote:
The plastic cement-plastic gloop is a brilliant idea- I am going to have to use that one.

Did you just chop the sprue up small and dunk it in, or sand the sprue into dust?


Whole chunks of sprue, and with a bit of stirring they completely dissolved within a day or so. I did end up adding a bit of pure acetone to the mix to thin it slightly so that I could spread it more easily, but varying the mix of sprue and glue is a good place to start.

Thanks!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/02/10 17:16:25


Post by: catbarf


Two weeks, and another squad done- feels like a good pace.

Vanguard, this time.



I picked up a box of GSC Neophytes with some interest in collecting a small army of them, so I might give those a try next before returning to AdMech.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/03/28 02:10:44


Post by: catbarf


These took me a lot longer than anticipated, due to getting distracted by other projects.

I also tried something a little different- instead of glossing the models with Pledge and then washing, I mixed the Pledge directly into the wash. Unfortunately, I think it worked a little too well- they're not as dark as the previous models, and some of the shading is a bit too stark for my taste. I might try reducing the proportion of Pledge slightly and see what it does.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/03/28 10:35:17


Post by: Ezki


Beautiful stuff oncce again.

I really liked the group shot.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/04/05 13:23:42


Post by: catbarf


After a little more experimentation I think I've got the wash behaving the way I want it to. There's a little bit of unwanted pooling, but overall it's giving a good mix of shading recesses and blending transitions.

So, here's my Grenadier suicide team. They never last longer than the turn after jumping out of a Centaur, but usually that's all they need to make their points back.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/04/28 02:49:10


Post by: Captain Brown


Beautiful work catbarf.

A great scheme and wonderfully painted.

Exalted.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/04 18:58:15


Post by: Fifty


These are wonderful. They manage to be gritty and grimdark without being dingy and black and hard to actually see.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/05 13:57:21


Post by: Qyleterys


These are all really good. Query: on the last picture what gun is the lead soldier carrying?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/05 14:08:40


Post by: Haighus


Qyleterys wrote:
These are all really good. Query: on the last picture what gun is the lead soldier carrying?

It is a hot-shot lasgun of the pattern carried by DKoK (I think a Lucius-pattern).


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/12 18:08:03


Post by: catbarf


Thanks all for the praise! I'm really happy that all the time I spent with R&D has been worth it, as the scheme is quite simple to paint- mostly just basecoat, one highlight, wash.

Fifty, you basically read my intent perfectly. I think the bright, vibrant WW1 French uniforms are a perfect base for weathering and mud. I really feel it does the sculpts a disservice to paint them in dark colors that hide their details.

Qyleterys- Haighus is right, it's a hot-shot lasgun (or hellgun), standard armament of Grenadiers. Because the BBQ squad is otherwise kitted up, only the watchmaster (sergeant) is actually carrying one.

Anyways, after some general reflection I came to the conclusion that while I really enjoyed converting and painting the AdMech sculpts, a whole army isn't for me. I've sold them to a guy who was looking to get into 40K, so they've gone to a good home, and instead I plan to paint some Tyranids, returning to my first army. I'm taking the approach of not having more than one box of Tyranids in my backlog, so I'll buy them as I paint them and see how committed I end up being.

Here's a final test scheme for the tentatively-named Hive Fleet Karkinos. It's mostly painted with washes, and the only traditional highlighting is on the eyes and teeth, so this makes for a low-effort and relaxing diversion from the Death Korps.



I'm simultaneously working on the Death Korps officers (two Lieutenants and a Marshal), so I should have those up next.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/13 17:56:52


Post by: Haighus


That scheme looks amazing!

catbarf wrote:
low-effort


*Looks at model covered in tiny dots*

My own painting efforts are lacking


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/15 14:17:37


Post by: Ezki


Really well working color scheme for Tyranids! Loving the vibrant colors.
Looking forward to see those officers.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/15 18:15:55


Post by: Boss Salvage


Great painting, and great plog It's a joy to hear your thoughts and see your progress as these armies really come to life. Like these lads:
catbarf wrote:
And lastly, here's the full army:

Have an exalt months after the finish

Nid looks great, going to be another tremendous army.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/29 04:37:51


Post by: catbarf


Small update, and a bit of a thought process ramble.

I've been procrastinating on the Death Korps officers- they're nearly done, but my attention has been largely focused on the Tyranids. I liked the test scheme I did, but it bothered me, and I couldn't figure out why. After much experimenting, it occurred to me that the problem was that it was basically the same color palette as my Death Korps- blue, dull orange, dark grey, khaki. I want to try something new.

I was still really taken by the idea of a 'crab' theme, since I feel that a crustacean theme is under-used in comparison to the ubiquitous insectoid themes. So I got to searching Google both for color schemes I could take inspiration from, and various crabs. I learned two things.

First, crabs typically aren't blue. Most are either orange-brown, or green-brown. The Atlantic blue crab is the most famous blue-colored example, yet it's predominantly green on the carapace. This got me thinking that an orange scheme would be worth pursuing.

Second, crabs typically don't have neat color-coded segments like we have on our models. Normally Tyranids are painted with one color for the carapace, one color for the exoskeleton, one color for the details, one color for the weapons/claws/hooves. It's very nice and neat and reads well at tabletop distance, but it's not especially close to nature. In the two-page spread of color schemes in the 3rd Ed codex, some of the more interesting ones used color gradations across the entire model, making no distinction between the exoskeleton and carapace. I liked the idea, but I felt it also squanders the detail inherent to the sculpts by treating them as one big homogeneous surface.

So, summary of findings: Try an orange scheme. Depict a difference between the carapace and exoskeleton, but not by just painting them different colors. I liked the dotted effect I did on the test model, so I figured I could work that in there.

This was all going nowhere especially productive (I've painted the same five Termagants about, oh, thirty times now), until I found a fortuitous result in Google.

Meet the coconut crab.





This thing is just weird. It's the largest arthropod in the world, clocking in at up to 10lbs. It's wholly terrestrial (and will drown if placed in water), climbs trees, and can exert over 400lb (!!!) of crush strength. They occasionally eat birds, and may have eaten Amelia Earhart as well.

That brief summary provides tons of fodder for army theming, but it's the carapace pattern that really interested me. I love the progression from dark brown, to red, to orange, up to khaki, with spots breaking up the colors. I simplified it a little by dropping the red (reserving reddish tones as a detail color), and then did some test painting:



I'm quite happy with how this first model came out. The patterning may look complicated, but it's basically just two colors layered over white, then dots to break up the transitions. The details are just a red wash, the claws and hooves are two black washes, there's a bit more simple highlighting and shading on the carapace, and then everything except the grey areas gets two layers of a custom wash mix. Overall it's not a lot of effort for something that I think comes out pleasingly intricate. With the beach-themed base I'd say I've finally nailed the crab aesthetic.

Anyways, that's enough fluff, let me know what you think! I promise the next update will be the Death Korps officers.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/29 15:20:39


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Wow, wow, wow. I don’t know where to start, there is so much coolness here in just three pages.

1. I love the renegades, DKoK and AdMech. They all look great. The renegades in particular have such a unique look and just ooze character.

2. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and methods. I definitely want to figure out to finish models faster and yours both look great and have a simple system. I have taken some notes and I plan to try some of your techniques (just need the right models). I also appreciate your trialing different techniques in the same army to get faster and better instead of feeling locked in. And it gives us the chance to directly compare the techniques and learn.

3. The new Tyranid scheme is really nice. Very natural, very unique and very bold/interesting on the table I’m sure.

This blog has been a huge inspiration. Keep it going!



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/29 17:37:44


Post by: Not Online!!!


i am most impressed at the crabanids- now i kinda want to see a carnifex painted up that way, with the claws.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/30 06:32:17


Post by: Ezki


Wow. Just wow.

That color scheme you tried out is magnificent.


catbarf wrote:

The patterning may look complicated, but it's basically just two colors layered over white, then dots to break up the transitions.


I think this is one of the best ways to paint an army. Finding out a "simple" pattern / scheme to paint, that either fools the eye or simply makes the colors dance in harmony.
Not sure if these were easy or quick to do (for me that would take ages), but they look very good.

Very original scheme and I love the idea of using a real arthropod as an inspiration.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/05/30 13:08:32


Post by: Boss Salvage


The coconut crab scheme is great, love hearing about the process you went through as well. Funnily enough I'm 45 minis into a ghost crab inspired scheme on a Kings of War army, so I suppose I'm particularly invested in crab-based paint schemes


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/01 17:01:09


Post by: catbarf


Alright, after a month of procrastinating I did finally complete the Death Korps officers.

The Field Officers were pretty easy as they're pretty much the same uniform as the Grenadiers, but the Marshal was a tough one. The coat in particular required a couple of tries, as striking a balance between standing out from the rest of the Kriegers, looking good on the model, and not deviating too much from the army color scheme proved difficult.

First I tried blue, and it looked too much like the rest of the army. Then I tried brown leather, and it blended in with the boots and scabbard, turning the model into a brown mass. Then I gave black leather a go, but it was too similar to the armor.

Ultimately I figured the khaki color is bright enough to stand out, while still being used elsewhere in the army, and is otherwise only used on the gas mask so it still preserves the definition of the piece. It reminds me of Rick Astley, but it works.

I wanted to give the model a little extra pop, since it is the general, and originally I was going to make the medals a multicolored assortment. But then I figured that The Death Korps don't seem the type to have gaudy decorations, so I went with white on the (sash? not sure what it is) instead, then decided to add red for a bit more color.



Next I'll be getting back to the Tyranids- likely putting together a tutorial for the scheme, since a number of people have been asking for it, then finishing the rest of the brood.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/01 19:50:58


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Fantastic officers. I think you definitely got it right on the coat and sash. That is the benefit of being willing to experiment and make changes until you are happy. These guys look so, so good.

-Rids


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/04 01:16:57


Post by: Dynas


Wonderful work. As a fan of Nids and DKoK I'm digging your work log.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/04 01:18:32


Post by: catbarf


I posted the Hormagaunt on my social media circles and got a bunch of people asking for a how-to, so yesterday I went through painting another and took a bunch of tedious photos along the way.









The all-over wash isn't quite behaving how I'd like it to, as it tends to leave tide marks, and could stand to shade a bit more strongly. I'm going to experiment with slight variations on the other members of the brood; probably just a single wash of straight 1:1 Soft/Light Tones on one, and using Army Painter's wash medium as the thinner on the other.

Still, the paint scheme really is not a lot of work so I'm pretty happy with it. At this point just minor tweaking before I can call it perfect.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/04 06:45:31


Post by: Ezki


Very clear tutorial, hats off to you!
Even though I don't paint Tyranids, this still gave me some ideas.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/04 13:05:44


Post by: Dynas


What colors did you use on the DkoK?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/04 13:38:22


Post by: catbarf


 Dynas wrote:
What colors did you use on the DkoK?


From my painting notes (all colors are Vallejo Model Color, except metallics, which are Vallejo Metal Color):

Coats- Grey Blue, highlight Pale Grey Blue
Leather- German Cam. Medium Brown, highlight Cork Brown, wash 1:1 water/Smoke
Metal- 1:1 Steel/Silver, highlight Silver
Bedroll/Mask/Puttees- German Cam. Beige, highlight Ivory
Grenadier Skull- 1:1 German Cam. Beige/Ivory, highlight White
Armor/Helmet/Hoses- Dark Grey, highlight Neutral Grey
Pants- Neutral Grey, highlight Light Grey
Mud- Flat Brown, drybrush German Cam. Medium Brown after wash (below)
Brass- Gold, highlight Chrome, wash 1:1 water/Smoke

After all of the above (except the mud drybrush), wash whole model with 4:2:1 water/Black Glaze/Pledge

Let me know if there's anything there that isn't clear.

Edit: Forgot to mention that on the Marshal's coat, I added an intermediate highlight step of 1:1 German Cam. Beige / Ivory.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/05 19:59:27


Post by: Haighus


Wow! I bloody love the Crabanids scheme. I really really hope you paint a bigger beasty with crushing claws in that scheme. I want to see some true crabanids

Coconut crabs are brilliant.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/05 20:35:00


Post by: Flapjack


Your 'nids look very menacing. Almost makes me want to do some just like that, so thanks for sharing your tutorial. Very clear and helpfull.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/06 02:59:39


Post by: Snrub


Seriously nice DKoK army there Catbarf. Glad to see you're almost done with them as well.
The Marshals came together really well. Good choice of colour on the coat, the khaki works so well. That sash as well, a fine choice. Makes him pop but doesn't make him crazy gaudy.


And those nids. Wow. Those are amazing. So simple, yet so striking and different. Would love to see that pattern on some larger beasties!
With the dots, how did you do them? Did you use a toothpick or fine pointy thing, or was it just gentle dabs with a brush?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/06 12:10:35


Post by: Tyranid Horde


Love the colour scheme on your hormagaunt and the tutorial along with it is really handy!

Really nice Death Korps too, great looking trench coats.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/06 12:14:19


Post by: catbarf


Haighus wrote:I really really hope you paint a bigger beasty with crushing claws in that scheme. I want to see some true crabanids


That's definitely the plan. I'm going to work my way up there to make sure I can translate the scheme to larger models intact, but I have a strong desire for an Old One Eye and a bunch of Tyrant Guard with claws.

Snrub wrote:Seriously nice DKoK army there Catbarf. Glad to see you're almost done with them as well.
The Marshals came together really well. Good choice of colour on the coat, the khaki works so well. That sash as well, a fine choice. Makes him pop but doesn't make him crazy gaudy.


Thank you; although I'm not sure I'm almost done. According to my painting log I still have two infantry squads, the second Earthshaker, the Hades, Cyclops, Engineers, and Death Riders to go, so I'm a little over halfway done with the Kriegers. Not overwhelming by any means, and I intend to intersperse them with the Tyranids so I don't burn out on any one thing.

Snrub wrote:With the dots, how did you do them? Did you use a toothpick or fine pointy thing, or was it just gentle dabs with a brush?


Brush. I was using my Raphaels at first, but some of them are having trouble holding a point (disappointing, to say the least), so I switched to a small, cheap synthetic and it's doing a great job.

I also found that adding a bit of surfactant, like my ever-present Pledge Floor Gloss, really helps the paint flow off the brush and makes it easy to produce clean dots without applying any pressure to the model.

Oh yeah, guess I didn't mention, but I'm now batch-painting the remaining ten Hormagaunts for the brood. So far I'm about two and a half hours in and have just finished applying all the dots, so I think I'm on track for a ~30 minute per model painting time. That might change if my intended experiment with water effects doesn't go well; we'll see about that.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/06 17:10:22


Post by: Captain Brown


Very nice tutorial catbarf.

Thank you for sharing.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/08 23:58:20


Post by: catbarf


And now I've finally completed the whole brood- I am quite happy with how these turned out, aside from a mishap with the bases.

On about half of them I painstakingly carved out holes in the bases, and built up green stuff on the underside to create pools. After I finished painting, I filled these small pools with water effects- specifically Envirotex Lite, a two-part epoxy resin, to avoid the shrinkage and durability problems of acrylic water effects.

Well, it turns out that capillary action is really strong, and the nice little pools of water crept up into thin layers of shiny goop spread across the surface of the base. It seems the stuff is really better suited for deeper areas with more of a defined border between 'land' and 'water'.

Fortunately, since it was still tacky, I was able to dump some sand on them and turn the water features into just more sand. Unfortunately, after painting this sand there's still a little bit of weirdness where it meets the already-painted sand. Oh well, live and learn. Not sure if I'll try water effects again on a larger base, or just stick to sand, rocks, and seaweed as the main basing elements.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/09 13:42:33


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Thanks for taking the time to do the excellent tutorial. Those Tyranids are looking very, very good. I love your stuff, keep it up.

-Rids


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/09 16:00:01


Post by: mcmattila


That coconut crab scheme kicks ass! I might have to steal it, if I ever get to painting 'nids..


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/12 09:59:34


Post by: Snrub


A stunning brood of intergalactic stabby space bugs!

Now for the whole army!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/12 14:35:41


Post by: amazingturtles


I love 'em, so adorably vicious.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/16 19:21:17


Post by: catbarf


After assembling these Warriors, I started painting on Friday night, finishing the carapace patterning. Saturday afternoon I did all the washes and basing, and then this morning (Sunday) I did the last details and they were done. All in all not too much work.

I'm still learning as I go. The bases look a little sparse, as I followed the same pattern as the Hormagaunts, but they have a lot more surface area to cover. I'm still experimenting with water effects to find a result I like, and I think a combination of more rocks and water effects should break up the sand. I have another two unassembled Warriors to add to this brood, so with those I can add what these lack.

I'm also still getting the hang of the wash mix. On these I did an equal parts mix of Soft Tone, Light Tone, Quickshade Wash Mixing Medium, and water. It produces a better gradient effect than the prior mix, but it flows so well that I have to keep wicking away excess until it fully dries, else it pools. In a couple of places, that's exactly what happened, particularly on the magnetized weapons which I had to paint at weird angles.

On that note, because the weapons are all magnetized, this is the first time I've painted a large number of magnetized pieces separately. I stuck them to a small strip of sheet steel, but I'm thinking that's an inadequate solution, because it made many of the parts hard to get to. On the next batch I might use putty to affix magnets to toothpicks or something, and then I should be able to manipulate each individually rather than painting on the strip.

Still- I'm happy with how they turned out, and I now feel confident about how this scheme extrapolates to larger models.






Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/16 19:26:11


Post by: Flapjack


Very cool addition to your 'nids. They look stunning. Perhaps one of the best patterns I've seen.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/17 13:28:11


Post by: Boss Salvage


Yessssss I've been looking forward to seeing you bring this paint scheme to other Tyranid beasties, might look even better on these warriors due to having more of the spotted carapace patches. Coming back to this thread, I've also grown quite fond of the black blades and may give that a shot on some Bloodletters I'm eternally working on.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/17 14:59:57


Post by: catbarf


Thank you both! I've got a Malanthrope up next and am excited to start on that, and I may have found a water effects technique that works at this small scale, so should be more coming soon.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/17 16:50:08


Post by: Theophony


This is turning into easily one of my favorite Tyranid army schemes.

No way you just need a few objectives with coconut trees on them, and the mysetic pods being large coconuts(okay the first not the last).


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/21 05:28:49


Post by: Neverwinter27


This is a Golden Daemon artist


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/21 06:56:29


Post by: Bschwi1


I know I'm a bit late, but those dots are amazing!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/21 12:53:58


Post by: catbarf


Malanthrope! With water effects! Water effects which took three days to clear up, eventually involving use of a food dehydrator to accelerate the process.

I didn't like how the model comes with a flying stand that gets in the way of its silhouette. With the tail still touching the ground, it looks superfluous, but really it's there for structural support.

So I took another approach. Since I've been pinning all the Tyranids so far to their bases, I figured I might as well drill as far up the tail of the Malanthrope as possible, and just pin it. So, the paperclip that secures it to the base goes all the way up to where the tail starts to bend forwards. There's a tiny bit of wobble to the mini, but it feels sufficiently secure, and I can't imagine it's any more likely to break now than with that fragile little flying stand peg.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/21 13:38:51


Post by: Boss Salvage


Yea man, that's legit I like how dark the carapace gets on the back spine and spires, adds even more weight to the larger critters as opposed to the lighter, smaller ones. Good call on the flight stand too, always felt that was a weird / bad choice on FW's part.

EDIT: Those pink exposed bits down the tail, so good.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/21 13:46:55


Post by: Theophony


Gorgeous, the pink is really a nice accent to the color scheme.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/21 16:16:37


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


WOW! The more you do with this scheme, the more I love it. I can't believe it looks that good and you can bang them out that fast. Very impressive.

-Rids


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/22 00:05:12


Post by: Snrub


The effect looks brilliant on the warriors, but it's absolutely gorgeous on the malanthrope.

It almost takes on a comic/cartoony look on the big beasties. It's quite an interesting result.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/06/30 18:28:13


Post by: catbarf


Termagants are finished. With these guys I think I've gotten the hang of water effects, so intend to use a lot more water going forward.

One thing I'm really focusing on for on this project is basing. In addition to all the little details like the starfish and seaweed, I really wanted to make the models look like they were interacting with the terrain, and the way bases are usually totally flat bugged me. To that end, every base has something that affects verticality. About a quarter of the bases have rocks, a quarter have water (in depressions cut out from the bases, so that the top of the base is sand level), a quarter have both water and rocks, and the last quarter have neither. Then about half the bases, including all the ones that have neither water nor rocks, have putty built up to make mounds and gentle hills. The end result is that none of the bases are perfectly flat, so when I then pin the models, there's some natural variation in height. Coupled with adjusting the poses, I think it adds a dynamism that hordes often lack.

Since I got the water effect working here, without the capillary action problems I ran into on the Hormagaunts, I'll definitely be using it more going forward. I'm actually using the thick, gel-like 'water effects' from Woodland Scenics, not the thin 'still water' typically used for water. The water effects doesn't shrink nearly as much when it dries, stays where it's put, creates a nice surface texture, and allows me to build up effects at the same time. I just applied globs of it with a brush, then smoothed it out.

As always, more lessons learned:
-Trying to build up a solid coat of white with primer is really tough. From now on I'll be doing two quick shots of Stynylrez to get some tooth, then airbrush on white paint to get full coverage.
-Because I built up a solid coat of white with primer, the surface was a little toothier than on previous models, and so the all-over washes didn't produce as strong of a shading/highlighting effect.
-Anything that fills in the texture of the sand- like, say, white paint to cover up where a wash spilled over from the model- dramatically affects how the sand looks after it is washed. I think painting the bases separately from the models might be the way to go.
-A food dehydrator is excellent for helping to dry water effects more quickly, or fully cure varnish so that I can safely handle the models. It likely would have taken 2-3 days for the water effects to clear up, but in the dehydrator set to 50C, it only took six hours.
-It's safe to matte varnish the water effects, as applying a layer of gloss afterwards clears it back up. I like to have a model completely done before I varnish, so this helps.







All C&C appreciated! Next up on my list is a Carnifex.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And while I'm here, one month of progress collected:



On the to-do list, in anticipated order of completion:
-Carnifex #1
-2 Warriors, 1 Tyranid Prime
-Tyrannofex
-Termagant Brood #2
-Carnifex #2

Which all comes to 1000pts, and then we'll see where I go from there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And now, looking at the photos, I realize that I forgot to paint the eyes on the Fleshborers. Whoops. Doing that now.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/02 05:33:35


Post by: Ezki


Oh man, they look even better in a group.
Nice details on the bases. They really bring some more life to the models and make them stand out even more.

Looking forward to see more big nids!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/03 00:42:42


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Really beautiful. Great sense of realism in the scheme. Also distinct, unique and - as you showed - practical and paintable.

-Rids


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/04 16:42:50


Post by: catbarf


Thank you both! If you're looking forward to big 'Nids, you're in luck. I don't often do WIP photos, but I figured I'd take a shot of what I'm gearing up for right now.

I had a lot of trouble painting the arms for the Warriors, as I had treated them the same as the magnetized Leman Russ bits. Which is to say, I stuck them all to a long strip of sheet steel, and painted them on that.

Well, that works fine for gun barrels, but the geometry of the Warrior arms made it really awkward to get all the angles, and I ended up having to carefully hold them with my fingers while painting.

Surprisingly, despite the plethora of tutorials on magnetizing minis, there's a real lack of documentation on how people actually hold the bits for painting. So I'm trying something new- I've stuck paperclip sections into pieces of cork, stuck the bits to the paperclips with their magnets, then used a tiny dab of superglue to hold them in place. When I'm done painting, I'll break the paperclips off, then gently file off the superglue residue and paint.



I've also started priming, and the new method seems to be working much better. I did two light passes with Stynylrez for tooth, and with just one layer of VMA White I've got pretty good coverage. Another layer, maybe two for some bits, and I should be good to go.

Oh yeah, and you may notice the pair of Tervigon claws. I figured those plus the larger pair of scything talons would make for a great Old One Eye. The only bits from the Carnifex kit I'm not painting in this batch are the heavy venom cannon, stranglethorn cannon, and deathspitters, as I don't anticipate using them much- my 1000pt list right now contains Old One Eye and a Stone-Crusher (currently on the way from Forge World), but I'll have all the painted bits needed to sub in a crushing claw + devourer 'Fex or a Screamer-Killer for one or both.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/04 16:58:18


Post by: Not Online!!!


So you make the crab

Finally, i honestly can't wait to see the finished stuff.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/27 20:47:58


Post by: catbarf


Man, talk about a delay- around the time of my last post I started coming down ill, and ended up being out of commission for basically the last three weeks.

I'm feeling better now, though, and resolved to get the Carnifex finished. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. In particular, and this is a minor thing but it's something I really wanted to get right, I really like how the splash effect turned out in the water. It gives the model a nice sense of weight.









The only parts from the kit that I didn't magnetize are the adrenal gland/toxin sacs (never had WYSIWYG complaints on those), the Thornback spikes (too fiddly), and the Heavy Venom Cannon, Stranglethorn Cannon, and Deathspitters, as I am not particularly keen to run gunline Carnifexes.

Since I've already gone to the trouble of magnetizing and painting all these bits, I could just assemble and paint the torso of my other Carnifex and have enough bits to fully equip it. But I've got the Forge World Stone-Crusher Carnifex conversion bits sitting here in a back, so I'm going to be doing those.

The current to-do list remains:
-12 more Termagants
-Tyrannofex
-Second Carnifex
-2 more Warriors and a Prime

Haven't decided which I'll tackle next.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/27 20:54:16


Post by: Not Online!!!


So this is the first crabnifex?
I adore it.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/07/29 14:14:47


Post by: Boss Salvage


Brilliant, and impressive to magnetize out your carnifexes. I love the stronecrusher claws, excited to see those in action, especially with the crab theme


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/03 22:49:56


Post by: Ezki


Just, wow!
The fex is looking freaking good.
The base turned out well and I really like the splash effect.

Glad that you are feeling better.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/07 02:27:50


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


I’ll say it again: this stuff is brilliant. The paint scheme works equally well on the little critters and big beasts. The splas effect on the base looks perfectly done. Great idea.

-Rids


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/16 22:10:17


Post by: catbarf


Two more Warriors! I also painted up a bunch more magnetized weapons (not pictured), including all the stuff I need for a Prime.

The Prime itself, armless and just primed white, is sitting on my desk. When I get the chance I intend to record the painting process and make a video tutorial out of it.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/27 22:53:56


Post by: catbarf


Tyranid Prime is done. I did record the painting process, so I'll be seeing if I can make a usable tutorial out of it over the next couple of weeks.

At this point I've completed enough models to build the Armies on Parade board I have in mind, but I think I might push myself to get my second Carnifex done in the next couple of weeks, as I feel it will really add to the presence of the swarm on the board.





Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/28 13:37:59


Post by: Boss Salvage


catbarf wrote:
Tyranid Prime is done. I did record the painting process, so I'll be seeing if I can make a usable tutorial out of it over the next couple of weeks.

At this point I've completed enough models to build the Armies on Parade board I have in mind, but I think I might push myself to get my second Carnifex done in the next couple of weeks, as I feel it will really add to the presence of the swarm on the board.



Nicely distinguished from the other warriors - dig the inverted eye in his gun

Still smitten with this scheme, and do need to give those black weapons a shot, very cool effect.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/30 01:14:12


Post by: catbarf


Thanks! I didn't remember until you mentioned the eye that I had, once again, forgotten to paint the Deathspitter eye on my previous Warriors. I seem to be making a habit of that.

Anyways, while I was doing the initial priming and basecoating on the second Carnifex, an eBay order came in- some of the old 3rd Edition Stormtroopers, a set of models that I'd always really liked but never gotten around to actually buying for myself.

I modified the Death Korps color scheme, adding in green as a secondary color (for grenades and the lens) and pushing the highlights just a touch further, and then used the same basing scheme as the Tyranids for contrast. I'm toying with the idea of setting up a Tempestus Drop Force as an antagonist to the Tyranids, theming them as the airborne QRF of an ocean world.

Well, I think I've succeeded in making it a little more colorful than the rather monochrome Death Korps, while still keeping a gritty/realistic tone that I think suits the models. But I'll let you guys be the judge.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/08/31 03:14:36


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Very cool. The bright green targetter eye piece looks good, like it has night vision. To me, Imperial Guard vs Tyranids is definitely one of the best, most flavorful matchups in the setting. I would love to see a Force if these guys against your Crab Nids on a beach battlefield.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/02 01:34:36


Post by: catbarf


Thanks! I've decided to incorporate a small squad (five models) of these Stormtroopers into my Armies on Parade entry, so that should be fun.

I also got the tutorial I promised completed. This should be a little clearer on the process than my previous Imgur guide.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/04 16:01:07


Post by: Captain Brown


Nice work and thank you for sharing catbarf.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/06 01:48:29


Post by: catbarf


The Stormtroopers are now complete, so at this point I intend to blitz through the Carnifex and then get to building the Armies on Parade board.

I had some annoyance getting through these guys, as I kept clumsily dropping the models and having paint chip. The sculpts are also pretty rough in some areas, so I kind of had to make the best of it, but I think the end result came out okay.








Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/06 02:22:01


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Beautiful work, as always. I love your style. And the nice photography always helps.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/09 13:33:13


Post by: Boss Salvage


Great looking squad, will be fun as part of the bugs' display board. Also fun fact, that plasma pistol sarge is weirdly one of my favorite Imperial minis. At the time his armament - two guns and no ccw?? - and helmeted head were really novel to me for a GW champ figure, who were usually waving oversized knife-swords and screaming. I suppose I've carried that affection through the ages (and should really paint mine up some time )


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/21 03:49:07


Post by: catbarf


The Stone-Crusher Carnifex is done! Now I can get to actually building the board, but I might divert slightly to do a basing tutorial first.





Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/21 11:43:22


Post by: Gordy2000


I could look at these minis all day. The painting on this blog continues to be outstanding and original.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/22 01:59:16


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Gordy2000, much appreciated.

Today I got started on the display board. I glued a piece of 2x2 insulation foam to a piece of 1/4" MDF, set up my models in a mockup of the final layout, and then drew in the intended terrain features.

Using the drawing as a guide, I glued down cork for rocks, used acetone to melt out some depressions for tide pools, and used a hot wire foam cutter to define the shoreline.



Since I need to wait for all that PVA to dry, I took a look at the plastic palm trees I bought for the project. At $13 for 30 trees, they were certainly affordable, but the appearance unsurprisingly left much to be desired.



However, with a bit of airbrushing and drybrushing, I was able to get them looking considerably more natural.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/27 00:37:15


Post by: catbarf


Another WIP: the display board is nearing completion.

Once the resin is fully cured, it's just a matter of adding water effects to the top (for waves), cleanup, and painting the edges of the display.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/27 02:25:25


Post by: Theophony


That’s a magnificent looking board, and it’s nit even done yet.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/27 13:56:17


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


That is a surprisingly simple technique for quite a good-looking board!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/27 21:56:28


Post by: catbarf


Thanks! With how easy this has been, I'm thinking I might get some more foam and make a proper beach table.

I've just applied water effects to the top of the resin, so now it's just a slow and patient waiting game for it all to dry. I dare not put it outside in the sun for fear of getting pollen embedded in the water, so it might take as long as a week to clear up sitting indoors.

It's not even October yet, though, so I have plenty of time.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/28 17:23:00


Post by: Shadenuat


How do you do splashes of water like under nyd feet? Pour resin/water effect and then drag it around with a brush?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/29 02:27:10


Post by: catbarf


So from the project logs list I can see a reply after the one above, but when I open this thread, my post is the last one. Very strange. Can anyone confirm that there is a post between this one and my previous one?

Anyways, I had some free time today so I finished editing and uploading my beach basing tutorial.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/29 08:29:36


Post by: sockwithaticket


Nice job on the re-painted palms.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/09/29 19:16:12


Post by: catbarf


 Shadenuat wrote:
How do you do splashes of water like under nyd feet? Pour resin/water effect and then drag it around with a brush?


Oh hey, now I can see the posts. That was weird.

If you check out the video I posted above, I apply the Water Effects around the 6:00 mark. It's a very thick product, so if I have an idea of where I want the model's foot to go, I can easily shape the Water Effects into a crater, then tease it out higher to form a splash.

Once it's dry, I drybrush the splash white, then put a small blob of Water Effects in the middle of the crater, and attach the model (pinned via the other foot). The blob of Water Effects works as a glue for the foot, and helps bridge any awkward gaps between the already-rigid crater and the foot.

In other news, this should be my last WIP before the display board is completely done. I just need to paint the water effects (the white parts are not fully cured yet), paint the rims, attach a name plaque I got laser-cut on Etsy, and do some minor touch-up.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/01 16:34:16


Post by: catbarf


I lied. I've decided to flip the board composition around, so that the Stormtroopers are on the beach, and the Tyranids coming out of the 'jungle'. I think this will produce a more natural flow to the board, rather than having the trees in the way.

With that in mind, the placard I had laser-etched- 'Terror From The Deep'- no longer seemed fitting. I did have the idea, instead, to draw from cheesy monster movies and make an ironic tiki-themed welcome sign as the placard.

Well, after designing a sign (using some freeware tiki fonts), printing it out, and gluing it to plasticard, I made the mistake of covering it all in a thick layer of Pledge- which, while it did a great job of sealing up the paper, also started to leach the ink out of the print.

So, I decided to roll with it. A spatter of blood, some random chipping, and the addition of a backer board and legs made from popsicle sticks, and now I have a billboard to insert just ahead of the treeline.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/02 00:59:02


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Beautiful. Gorgeous. Well done. What else can I say?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/07 13:16:31


Post by: catbarf


I've had an enormous amount of positive feedback to the coconut crab scheme. One of the recurring questions has been how to adapt the technique to paint cool colors, where the brown wash isn't suitable.

So, I did an experiment, painting a Termagant in a 'blue coconut crab' scheme. I basically used the same technique, but with blue patterning rather than orange/brown, and a black all-over wash instead of brown.




I've recorded the process and will be putting together a video tutorial while I wait for the board to finish curing.

Since I've still got almost two weeks before Armies on Parade, I'm also working on another brood of Termagants and an old FW Hive Tyrant (which the base in the basing tutorial was for!), so if I can get them knocked out quickly I'll be able to add them to the display.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/07 13:48:39


Post by: Boss Salvage


Waiting for final display shots before gushing, but I love where it's at, and appreciate that you flipped the swarm's orientation to have a last stand at the waterfront for the troopers.

'Cold' termagant is adorable too. Inverted eyeballs included (which I'm pretty sure the crabs have too, but they stand out more here).


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/07 19:48:54


Post by: Excommunicatus


Chrome just gave me a random notification about your new coconut crab scheme on that there Reddit that they have now.

catbarf wrote:


Given that this is almost exactly how I hope my agitprop posters will work out, would you mind awfully going into a little more detail?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/08 01:35:34


Post by: catbarf


 Excommunicatus wrote:
Given that this is almost exactly how I hope my agitprop posters will work out, would you mind awfully going into a little more detail?


Oh sure. There's not really much to it.

So first I worked up the design on my PC, and printed it onto ordinary printer paper.

Then I cut the sign out carefully with scissors, and scored and snapped a piece of plasticard to the same size.

I glued the sign to the plasticard with a thin smear of PVA, and let it sit an hour or so, until it was firm.

I used a toothbrush to apply the spatter of blood, first flicking it on, then dabbing a bit with the bristles.

At this point, it looked like this:



So then, I brushed on a thick layer of gloss varnish- well, the Pledge floor gloss that I use as gloss varnish.

I figured this would provide a real saturation coat, to seal up the paper. Well, it did that, but it seems that a saturation coat of a water-based varnish is sufficient to leach the ink, so that's what caused the bleeding effect.

That's really all there is to it. Standard inkjet printer ink + tons of gloss varnish = a sealed, faded, ink-bleeding mess.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Got the blue coconut crab tutorial together quicker than anticipated. I'm not switching my army color scheme or anything, but figured it might help people looking to build their own scheme.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/09 12:24:36


Post by: catbarf


The board is tentatively complete!



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/09 22:07:35


Post by: Theophony


Top stuff stuff.

I can just see the guys arguing on wether the Nids can swim or not.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/12 15:03:13


Post by: catbarf


While I wait for Armies on Parade, I decided to work on a sample for another Tyranid scheme.




Basically what I'm doing is iterating through a couple of unusual Tyranid painting concepts that I came up with through the 30+ schemes I tried before settling on the orange coconut crab scheme. As with the coconut crab scheme, they're all easy to paint, but do some unusual things with the models to make them interesting.

Once I've put together a set of samples and tutorials for each, I intend to produce a video guide tying them all together by explaining the underlying theory behind color selection, patterns, and keeping the models individually quick to paint.

That's the long-term goal- in the meantime, after Armies on Parade I'll be getting back into the coconut crab Tyranids. Next on deck are another brood of Termagants, and an old Forge World Hive Tyrant, which together will get me to 1000pts.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/14 13:43:25


Post by: catbarf


Here's a tutorial on the scheme:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/16 13:01:13


Post by: catbarf


Did a quick test of a Genestealer to see how it would look in the scheme. Please excuse the mold lines I missed; this was something of a rush job.






Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/16 13:14:58


Post by: Boss Salvage


 catbarf wrote:
The board is tentatively complete!

Stunner of an army and display This shot is particularly cool as it shows the built up water - the waves are still crazy good looking to me.

Genestealer looks solid! Dig that dark spine it shares with all its siblings.

I had a question for you re: using large amounts of AP wash. I heavily washed a pretty big model a week or so ago, using AP Strong to tint Contrast green on roots and tentacles and whatnot, and discovered last night that parts of the wash had dried white. Some research showed this is because during heavy washing the medium separates from the shade, and tries white. In retrospect I've had this happen before while heavily washing (with AP), but assumed that was the Reaper Bones I was painting's fault. Anyway, have you experienced this? Do you know how to fix it? Simply wash the white parts with Strong again?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/16 13:37:29


Post by: catbarf


 Boss Salvage wrote:
I had a question for you re: using large amounts of AP wash. I heavily washed a pretty big model a week or so ago, using AP Strong to tint Contrast green on roots and tentacles and whatnot, and discovered last night that parts of the wash had dried white. Some research showed this is because during heavy washing the medium separates from the shade, and tries white. In retrospect I've had this happen before while heavily washing (with AP), but assumed that was the Reaper Bones I was painting's fault. Anyway, have you experienced this? Do you know how to fix it? Simply wash the white parts with Strong again?


Hmm, I haven't had that issue at all, and I lay it on pretty heavily on the black/grey parts. I know that the wash is more likely to break if you mix it with just water, so if you're diluting it that could be the culprit. Other than that, how much are you shaking the bottles before use? I find they tend to separate over time and need some vigorous mixing to re-integrate.

When this same issue happens with varnish, a successive application of gloss varnish cleans it up, and then it can be re-matted. You could try doing the same- it'd have to be a lacquer or enamel, though, so that the carrier is 'hot' enough to reactivate the paint.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/16 13:52:30


Post by: Boss Salvage


 catbarf wrote:
Hmm, I haven't had that issue at all, and I lay it on pretty heavily on the black/grey parts. I know that the wash is more likely to break if you mix it with just water, so if you're diluting it that could be the culprit. Other than that, how much are you shaking the bottles before use? I find they tend to separate over time and need some vigorous mixing to re-integrate.
Frankly it may be that I'm washing for such an extended time that the bottle settles between coats, so when I run out I'm droppering in badly mixed stuff as the process goes on. I recently washed a ton of bone colored crab dudes (purely a coincidence ) and didn't have an issue, but I also wasn't doing multiple coats like on my current green stuff.

I'll give rewashing a shot and hope that's enough. I'm worried the ink will just make the white pop or something


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/16 18:48:10


Post by: Theophony


Still wonderful work, love the army shots.

I can’t help but think that the genestealer needs some color on his head though


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/18 13:09:12


Post by: catbarf


I put together a quick video on how the coconut crab scheme is applied to Genestealers. Nothing earth-shattering here but it explains the logic and shows the process.





Automatically Appended Next Post:
'Hey. Did you hear something?'
'It's just your imagination.'



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/19 03:24:05


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


The final board looks amazing. Of course, your painting technique and the scheme look great. But I love the unique atmosphere of a postcard from paradise. A great idea and so well executed. Bravo.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/19 19:27:28


Post by: catbarf


Thank you! Today I took home best painted, best scenic board, and best overall at my local store, so I'm quite pleased with that.

Here are the final shots of the setup:










Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/25 23:29:33


Post by: catbarf


Small update while I work on my Hive Tyrant and more Termagants.

Here's an alternative dot-based scheme derived from the coloration of the peacock mantis shrimp, a fantastically technicolor oceanic predator.

I wanted to demonstrate that the basics of my Tyranid technique- heavy use of washes, and carapace patterning- can be used for more than just drab colors or monochrome schemes.



I'll be putting together a video tutorial next week, but for now it's back to the coconut crabs.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/10/30 18:19:46


Post by: catbarf


And here's a video tutorial.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/03 03:52:28


Post by: catbarf


I tried an experiment on the wings here- I painted them like my normal procedure for the pink, fleshy bits of the models, but I first scrawled in some veins with VMC Brown Rose before applying any of the washes. I think it worked pretty well!









Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/04 14:26:42


Post by: Boss Salvage


Big girl is a proper beast! Your scheme worked out great on her, that resin sculpt has nice details for catching all that wash. Happy to see you went with the most Alien Queen of the tyrant options


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/04 19:53:07


Post by: Captain Brown


catbarf,

Very beautiful work and congratulations on taking home best painted, best scenic board, and best overall at your local store.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/05 14:39:11


Post by: catbarf


Thanks guys, I really appreciate the kind words.

I've done one more 'sample' scheme, intended to demonstrate a much faster/easier means of using dot-based patterning. It started as being inspired by hermit crabs and oysters, but ended up being quite Behemoth-esque.

It also took me all of 28 minutes, not including drying times, so there's that.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/07 15:17:51


Post by: catbarf


Tutorial is done:




Now I'm going to actually finish the last Termagants to hit 1000pts, then I'll be working on my scheme methodology video.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/10 16:55:31


Post by: catbarf


Second brood of Termagants done:






Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/10 19:09:02


Post by: Pomander Cask


Terrific! The Termagants look great. I really like the dot-based patterning, and it seems to work both close up and at a distance. The scenic board is amazing as well, particularly the water effects. Finally (lots of things to praise in this thread), I really appreciate your tutorials.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/10 19:34:53


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Pomander, I appreciate it!

One last photo for now- with the Termagants completed I've hit 1000pts:



I'll be taking a short break from painting Tyranids to work on my next tutorial as well as build and paint up a table's worth of terrain. Then I still have remaining:
-6 FW Ripper Swarms
-Tyrannofex
-4 Warriors
-3 Hive/Tyrant Guard
-8 Genestealers

Which will bring me to about 1650pts, give or take, but who knows what CA19 will do.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/10 22:42:51


Post by: Snrub


Congrats on the AoP success, Catbarf. Fantastic display and a really well deserved win!

That Hive-Tyrant though.
Hot damn that is a stunning looking centerpiece. Easily the best version of the hive tyrant and you've done it justice in spades. An absolutely monstrous and beastly model.


The force as a whole is just beautiful to look at. It's up their with Nard's Nids for extremely eye catching and unique tyranids. And i've noticed a few people on instagram who have started nid forces inspired by your coconut crab nids. So it's a scheme that's certainly catching on!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/11 14:42:14


Post by: Boss Salvage


Congratulations on hitting 1k! A stunner of a swarm


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/11 17:03:16


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


Wow, that's an incredibly well-painted army. I love the carapace on the carnifex.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/18 19:55:04


Post by: catbarf


Quick update- I've finished my video on devising a patterned scheme for Tyranids. It wound up being a lot longer than I originally anticipated:




I also built and painted a bunch of jungle terrain over the weekend, so once I get that properly matte varnished I'll get a pic or several.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And here's the terrain I built over the weekend:




Basically it's a set of large terrain tiles (one 12x8", two 9x6", four 6x6", four 6x4") and 40 individual dense terrain pieces on 60mm bases. The bases go on the tiles, and then can be removed to allow units to actually occupy the terrain.

My local group treats dense forests/jungle as LOS-blocking, so the tiles can be used for determining LOS, while the bases themselves are just for decoration.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/19 03:50:26


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


I love coming to this blog. I can always count on seeing something beautifully painted, of course, but plenty of blogs have that. I just find this one of the most inspiring blogs. Maybe because the descriptions and tutorials make me feel like I can learn some things and get better. But also because the armies, terrain, the bases, and everything just come together in such a well-thought-out and well-executed way. And the photography is brilliant. You are an inspiration!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/19 04:23:01


Post by: DV8


I really love how striking and crisp your color scheme is, and how simply and effective that water/beach basing is. Great work!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/19 16:03:06


Post by: catbarf


Thanks guys. I went and typed out my full terrain-building process for a Reddit post, so I might as well share it here too.

Palm trees
Tall leafy plants
Vines
Small plants
More small plants
Grass

All the materials were airbrushed- everything but the palm tree foliage got a black-green spray from below, and a pastel green or lime green spray from above (the palm trees got the lime all over, then the pastel from above). These were applied lightly so as not to completely cover, but still allow the base green plastic to provide coloration.

Next anything that came on a base or mat was removed from it. For the small plants and grass I glued them one on top of another to increase their height, so they'd be taller than a human-sized figure. The bases got the double-height plants, while the tiles got the single-height ones, so there's a sense of progression in height.

The bases (60mm MDF) and tiles (MDF cut on a scroll saw) were sanded and sprayed brown, then drybrushed tan. I glued the palm tree trunks to the bases before spraying, so they got the same brown base. The palms were heavily drybrushed khaki, then washed with VMC Smoke for texture, then I reattached the foliage. I used a bit of PVA to attach flock to the bases and tiles.

At this point it was just a process of drilling holes in the bases with a pin vise, and gluing plants in with PVA. Once those were all done, I added more of the grass pieces to fill in any gaps.
Overall it was pretty straightforward, just tedious.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/19 17:16:21


Post by: Boss Salvage


The jungle looks exceedingly great - I played Catachans back in 3E and would have loved to have all this foliage, instead of just pretending all that green felt had trees on it


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/19 18:21:24


Post by: Pomander Cask


The jungle terrain looks great! Vibrant colours. Again, thanks for sharing your tips with us!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/20 13:13:10


Post by: Tyranid Horde


Love all of that terrain. Giving me inspiration to try something like that myself, especially with those palm trees.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/22 17:35:24


Post by: Captain Brown


catbarf,

Beautiful 1000 points you have there.

Nice work on the jungle, I did something similar...with the exception of not having the trees on separate removable bases. The result for battles was a lot of figures falling over as trees were bumped. :(

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/22 21:07:43


Post by: catbarf


Thanks! I've still been working at terrain; today's addition is a pair of buildings from Laser Craft Workshop's Sector 38 terrain.



This was my first experience using chipping fluid, and it went better than expected. My biggest problem was actually sealing the MDF; it seems the spray I started with was inadequate, and the paint kept soaking in. I'm going to try my normal Stynylrez on the next set of buildings to see how it performs.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/25 20:24:22


Post by: catbarf


I'm still working on terrain, but here's a tutorial on another scheme, walking through the method I use for devising and painting a scheme:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/11/27 11:05:09


Post by: Tyranid Horde


Great video. I always liked the older Tyranid schemes and the sample schemes seen in the older codexes.

Big fan of the building too, blends nicely into the jungle terrain you've used around it.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/02 14:20:05


Post by: catbarf


Last video on Tyranid color schemes. On to other subjects.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/02 14:30:38


Post by: Not Online!!!


ohh, fancy.
What other projects?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/02 23:15:16


Post by: catbarf


Not Online!!! wrote:
ohh, fancy.
What other projects?


I'm finishing up the table's worth of terrain. I've got one more building to go, which I intend to record and put together a fairly short video on. Then it's back to Tyranids.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/08 20:16:47


Post by: catbarf


Sorry for the poor photo, but I've finished my terrain-building project.



I ended up making significantly more than needed for a 6x4 table- in fact, it should be enough for dense coverage on two 4x4 tables, which should be perfect for when my buddies from college come to visit for New Year's.

A tutorial on how I painted the buildings will be going up on Youtube tomorrow.

Now it's back to Tyranids.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/09 14:47:52


Post by: catbarf


Here's that tutorial video:




Next on the plate are six Ripper Swarms, a Warrior, a Lictor, and some Broodlord arms for my Hive Tyrant.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/09 15:24:21


Post by: Jin


Thanks for all the tutorial vids! I'm hoping that I can steal some of those ideas for my Nids that I've been putting off painting for ages .


(Also totally just noticed you're in Annandale, which is just a stone's throw away from me in Arlington)


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/14 02:24:24


Post by: catbarf


 Jin wrote:
(Also totally just noticed you're in Annandale, which is just a stone's throw away from me in Arlington)


Oh, so your location tag is accurate after all

In recent news I severely underestimated just how time-consuming it would be to paint the ~150 Rippers that compose six Forge World Ripper Swarms, but I'm making progress.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/14 04:17:47


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Good job on that building tutorial. Thanks for taking the time.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/14 14:16:18


Post by: Pomander Cask


The ripper spawns look great with your colour scheme, lots of dots and teeth.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/14 18:29:05


Post by: mcmattila


Your work on the coconut crab Tyranids continues to be as astounding as ever! The jungle terrain looks awesome, suitably lush and dense. And finally, big thanks for all the tutorials, sooner or later I'll dig out my few Tyranid models and try to replicate some of your paint schemes


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/15 19:15:36


Post by: catbarf


I got that last batch done this weekend. The Rippers were definitely a lot more tedious than I had anticipated, but luckily I have no plans to get any more than these six.

I'm also quite happy with how the Broodlord arms work on the Hive Tyrant. It's even more overtly an Alien Queen ripoff.






Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/15 19:32:23


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


That mountain of rippers looks fantastic with all those little teeth!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/16 14:49:39


Post by: catbarf


Thanks; I'm honestly just glad to be done with them.

Here's another tutorial video, this time on magnetizing Warriors.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2019/12/17 16:21:57


Post by: Jin


How fortuitous. I was just in the midst of figuring out how to magnetize all the ball-socket joints for my Nids myself.

Your video thankfully confirms my ideas for how to go about doing everything without hating life too much.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/02 23:50:10


Post by: catbarf


Totally forgot to post the follow-up to that video- how to actually paint the magnetized parts:




Anyways, this past weekend my friends from out of town came over. I got stomped by Orks (Deffskulls are mean against Tyranids), but the game against Death Guard went much better.

Case in point, here's the state of the board at the end of the first battle round, with me about to take my turn:



Long story short: The lead Carnifex used a combination of cover, spore cysts, Dermic Symbiosis for 5+ invuln, and Catalyst for 5+ FNP to soak up all the fire that came at it, then proceeded to charge straight into the Plague Marines and Daemon Prince, wiping out an entire squad.

Meanwhile Old One Eye behind it zipped around the left, charged into Typhus, killed him instantly, and consolidated into the Plagueburst Crawler, tying it up.

The pair of Carnifexes were joined by the Hive Tyrant and Warriors on the next turn, but they did some serious work on their own- between the nigh-indestructibility of the normal 'Fex (thanks to Catalyst and Dermic Symbiosis) and the sheer lethality + regeneration of Old One Eye, they were able to survive all the return strikes, and then OOE killed the Daemon Prince in one go (despite its 4+ invuln and 4+ FNP) while the Scything Talon fex made short work of the Plague Marines.

This was good because in both of my previous games, Old One Eye and the Carnifex both got deleted from existence by the same Super Shokk Attack Gun.

Anyways, I learned a lot and plan to change up my list, but for now I've got a Tyrannofex on the table so that's what's coming as far as painting.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/03 01:43:23


Post by: Ezki


It was a joy to browse all the updates I have missed in one sitting.

I have only one word for you: absolutely darn amazing! That's three, but hey ho.

The board you completed was top notch! It almost looked like a screenshot from a video game or something.
Liking the terrain projects you have been working on. I might steal a few ideas


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/03 04:28:18


Post by: Argive


I love the warriors.. Very jealous of your force my dude! Very jelous…

Your stuff looks crispy primed. I assume you airbrush prime?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/03 23:34:33


Post by: Captain Brown


Nice shot of the jungle board in action catbarf.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/04 00:04:29


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Fantastic battle photo. The table and army look great. But what’s the object in the center that looks to have a bar code on it?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/04 22:34:33


Post by: catbarf


Thanks folks. Really excited to have this Tyrannofex done as part of a list reshuffle.

Ezki wrote:It was a joy to browse all the updates I have missed in one sitting.

I have only one word for you: absolutely darn amazing! That's three, but hey ho.

The board you completed was top notch! It almost looked like a screenshot from a video game or something.
Liking the terrain projects you have been working on. I might steal a few ideas


I think I'm all set for terrain for the moment. What I built so far proved sufficient for two whole 4x4 tables, so while friends were over for the holidays we were able to run two games concurrently. I suppose I might add some really tall stuff to help out fliers and skimmers with LOS blocking, but I've been having a hard time thinking of stuff to match the general jungle theme of the rest of the terrain.

We found that having a lot of hills, and with the forests/jungles ruled as totally LOS-blocking and conferring a -2 to charge rolls, made for much more interesting games than what we were used to. Even the gunlines benefited from being able to lock down traversible paths, hide in cover, and spoil charges with that -2.

I am now totally convinced that lots of terrain- at least 25% coverage, preferably a full third- is critical to an enjoyable 8th experience.

Argive wrote:I love the warriors.. Very jealous of your force my dude! Very jelous…

Your stuff looks crispy primed. I assume you airbrush prime?


I do. I use two light dustings of Badger Stynylrez for tooth, then as many thin coats of VMA White as I need to build up solid color coverage. I've always had problems with white spray cans not getting solid color or gumming up details, but the airbrush stuff works great.

I'm thinking I might try Daler-Rowney white ink when I'm out of VMA White, just since I've heard so many good things about it.

The Riddle of Steel wrote:Fantastic battle photo. The table and army look great. But what’s the object in the center that looks to have a bar code on it?


That would be a bottle of Underberg, a concoction so bitter and unappealing to the typical American's tastes that it is legally sold as non-potable bitters rather than alcohol. I've got a few dozen of the things left and they made for amusing objective markers, although it also served as a reminder that I should make some proper objective markers (and maybe wound markers, status markers, etc) to complete the '100% immersive' board experience.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh yeah, and while I'm here I figured I'd talk about my upcoming Storm Trooper project- I gathered the infantry models together for a 1000pt Scions list I've been running on Tabletop Simulator lately.



The general comp is:
-2 Tempestor Primes
-10-man squad w/ 4 meltaguns
-10-man squad w/ 4 plasma guns
-10-man squad
-10-man squad
-2 Valkyries
-Vulture w/ twin Punisher cannons

Because having every special weapon trooper look identical bugs me more than it should, I have cast every unique head of each Storm Trooper sculpt, and produced a first set of copies, which I fitted to the set of primed STs on cork handles. The plan will be to ensure that each gunner looks distinct, and add a bit more variety to the line troopers.

Gameplay-wise, the idea was to put the melta and plasma squads in the Valks along with one Tempestor (with the Grav-Chute Commando trait from Vigilus), the intent being that they drop turn 1 and do as much damage as possible before the other two squads and Tempestor drop in, while the Vulture sits back and does its thing.

Now with the 2pt drop per Scion in Chapter Approved, I've got a lot more points to work with, and I'm not sure what to do with them. Volley Guns seem the obvious choice, but doubling the cost per-man for a weapon that is much less able to be mobile is a less appealing tradeoff than it was before, and a 70pt squad of bare Scions throws out a surprising amount of fire at short range under FRFSRF. I've got more Storm Trooper models so I could add some 5-man squads for objective-grabbing- maybe the HSVGs would be useful there, since they're not good candidates for orders, and the range would help.

Anyways, I still need the actual vehicles, and I'm doing more Tyranids before I get back to these, but they'll be coming down the pipeline sooner or later.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/05 04:31:36


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


I cant wait to see what you do with these Storm Troopers. Those first few looked excellent. These old models really hold up well and have such a great feel to them, especially when painted up as nicely as yours.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/05 13:05:34


Post by: gobert


Just been through your whole blog catbarf (great name btw!), some really amazing work knocked out in bulk at an insane pace! The Crabanids and their scenic board are inspired, the beach looks like it would’ve been a real paradise, before the devourer arrived of course! I think your renegades are my favourites though, there’s something about their grim darkness and the bright orange that’s just spot on! I’ll be watching more closely to see how the Crabanids and Storm Troopers come along. Will there be a tutorial on the head swaps and castings we’re done on the storm troopers?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/05 16:46:15


Post by: catbarf


 gobert wrote:
Just been through your whole blog catbarf (great name btw!), some really amazing work knocked out in bulk at an insane pace! The Crabanids and their scenic board are inspired, the beach looks like it would’ve been a real paradise, before the devourer arrived of course! I think your renegades are my favourites though, there’s something about their grim darkness and the bright orange that’s just spot on! I’ll be watching more closely to see how the Crabanids and Storm Troopers come along. Will there be a tutorial on the head swaps and castings we’re done on the storm troopers?


Thanks! I'll admit the Renegades are on hold at 1K points while waiting to see if GW ever gets around to a proper Renegades & Heretics / Lost & The Damned codex, as I'm not super keen on the very static kind of gameplay the Astra Militarum codex excels at on the tabletop, but I've got some more conversion bits to expand as soon as I have a vision for the army.

For the Stormtroopers, I've got one more head to cast (didn't have a flamer trooper when I made the molds, so I'll be sure to document that process now that I know how it works. As for the headswap itself, it's an ugly, ugly process of snipping through the solid pewter necks, gluing on the suitably trimmed resin heads, and then resculpting the transition in Green Stuff.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/06 14:51:57


Post by: Boss Salvage


Loving the metal stormtrooper project, impressive collection of that era Doubly impressive on the headswapping!

Cheers for the Nid game shots as well!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/06 19:18:08


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


I love this kind of tyranid paint scheme, with the speckled armor.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/06 23:29:28


Post by: Captain Brown


catbarf,

Good luck on the Storm Trooper project.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/09 14:39:05


Post by: mould2k


Just wanted to say how fantastic I think your coconut crab scheme is and thank you for the brilliant tutorial, which I have shamelessly stolen and adapted.


The whole army together looks so impressive together, it's fantastic to see!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/13 14:13:35


Post by: catbarf


Thanks all; I'm making slow progress on my Tyrannofex and simultaneously magnetizing a set of shooting arms for my Carnifexes and Hive Tyrant.

In the meantime I put together a quick tutorial on how I weigh down and magnetize bases:




I'm hoping to be done with the Tyrannofex sometime this week.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/14 09:59:36


Post by: Snrub


Glad to see you continuing to pound out high quality nids there, Catbarf.
Truly one of the most striking Tryanid armies out there.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/15 16:47:23


Post by: catbarf


Thanks mate. While messing around with some bits last night, I had a couple of thoughts.

1. The Devourer arm for Carnifexes is the same size and design as on Gaunts/Warriors, but it gets twice as many shots per gun at higher S. That seems weird, and I don't like how quad-Devourers looks on Carnifexes- it has a little too much of a T-Rex vibe to me.

2. The Forge World twin-linked Devourers are much better, but the arms they're on are huge. This makes sense since they were created to allow a quad Devourer loadout on a Flyrant, where only two arm slots are available, but using them as the Carnifex Devourers and having four on one model would be too much. They dwarf the Heavy Venom Cannon and Stranglethorn Cannon, which also doesn't seem right.

So, I took a spare Carnifex Deathspitter, chopped off the barrel, glue on two Devourer heads from the biomorph sprue, and did the absolute minimal amount of sculpting needed to mesh the parts. And I think it came out surprisingly well for very little effort, and should look a little more proportional to the other guns on a Carnifex or Tyrant.

This is part of an effort to magnetize up a bunch of gun arms and related biomorphs so that I can run a more gunline-oriented list involving the WIP Tyrannofex.

Top to bottom: FW, my conversion, stock arm.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/15 19:49:10


Post by: Ezki


Looks great. The converted one looks like it would fit a Carnifex a lot better than the original.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/18 07:55:03


Post by: Viterbi


Wow, I would go mad even attempting such a color scheme. Those are amazing nids!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/18 10:21:32


Post by: mcmattila


The Tyrannofex looks absolutely amazing, and nasty af!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/19 22:28:15


Post by: IGtR=


I really love how the 'nids of all different sizes come out well in this scheme and the work that you do in experimenting on variations of schemes. An interesting insight into the ways a good scheme can be worked up


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/19 22:28:16


Post by: Ezki


Wow! What a piece. That thing looks mean!

Showed this thread to a friend who also plays nids. He was amazed and thought these look really cool


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/21 09:27:05


Post by: gobert


:Wow:They look amazing all horded up. It got me thinking... how many dots have you painted in total I wonder!?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/21 14:25:39


Post by: catbarf


 gobert wrote:
:Wow:They look amazing all horded up. It got me thinking... how many dots have you painted in total I wonder!?


For the sake of my sanity, some questions are not meant to be answered.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/21 15:03:51


Post by: Jin


Looks great!

How's the list running with the new Blood of Baal goodies?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/21 16:57:21


Post by: catbarf


 Jin wrote:
Looks great!

How's the list running with the new Blood of Baal goodies?


Well it was amazing running Old One Eye with Murderous Size on its scything talons... but then that got FAQ'd so that you can no longer give Adaptive Physiology to named characters.

I will say that the 5+ invuln from Dermic Symbiosis is a huge improvement for the bigger creatures, with the wound bracketing bonus being a handy add-on. Most of my games have actually been through Tabletop Simulator so I've had the opportunity to try out lists that I don't have physically available, so I've run a Scythed Hierodule with Dermic Symbiosis, and it's been quite an entertaining missile of claws and teeth. In 1000pt games using my actual models, I've had a lot of success putting Dermic Symbiosis on a Carnifex with Spore Cysts to act as a screen for Old One Eye, which so far has ensured that OOE makes it into combat unscathed.

Big units of Warriors also benefit from the adaptation to treat AP-1 and AP-2 as AP0, and combined with their new Stratagem become very difficult to remove. They're also a good candidate for Single-Minded Annihilation, so present a credible threat. I think they're very useful now, but suffer heavily from diminishing returns since Adaptive Physiology and the Stratagem can only benefit one unit at a time.

Haven't had a chance to try out the Lictor yet, but it looks like it'll be a solid way to shut down Overwatch.

Lastly, I haven't been too keen on any of the custom hive fleet traits compared to Kraken, but I've also been toying with a gunline-oriented list, and with less need for high mobility to secure T2 charges I might experiment with some of the more interesting custom traits. In particular the one to regenerate a wound each turn seems like it'd be really handy for a list primarily composed of multi-wound models.

Overall BoB gave the army a solid boost. It's not enough to compete with 2.0 Space Marines (let alone supplements, let alone Iron Hands), and it does sting a bit having to give up a Warlord Trait to use Adaptive Physiology, but I'll take what I can get.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/26 17:43:00


Post by: catbarf


I finished painting up the converted Brainleech Devourers, for a bulkier and less T-Rex-esque Dakkafex.





But my primary intent is to use them to run a pair of Gunfexes with twin Devourers, Heavy Venom Cannon, Enhanced Senses, and Spore Cysts.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/27 14:38:58


Post by: Boss Salvage


Brilliant big bugs <cheffkiss.gif>

And great big bases, the water work really sings on the t-fex, and love the snail shells.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/01/27 16:21:23


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Boss!

And here's a tutorial on the magnetic storage boxes that I use:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/17 02:08:27


Post by: catbarf


Time for an update! After working off and on for the past two weeks, I got another batch of 10 Stormtroopers done.





I've also assembled and magnetized two Vultures and have another two Valkyries to build- plus another 40 or so unpainted Stormtroopers.

I've also come up with a minimally-intrusive conversion to represent Hot-Shot Volley Guns, so I'll get a pic of that when I can.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/17 02:42:27


Post by: Argive


 catbarf wrote:
Thanks Boss!

And here's a tutorial on the magnetic storage boxes that I use:




Nice tutorial.
I just got myself a couple of really useful boxes and bought 2 ferrosheets
(Commercialy available magnetic sheet with self adhesive)

Magnetic storage is really the way to go. I cant wait to transfer all of my stuff and just keep some plastic troops in foam as they don't really care much about being in foam



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/17 02:54:03


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


Thanks for the tutorial. Very useful.

And the old stormtroopers are looking nice. I can't wait to see what you do with the flyers.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/17 19:17:37


Post by: catbarf


And here's a tutorial on how I did the Devourers on my Dakkafex:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/22 20:50:19


Post by: catbarf


So, here's what I came up with for a pair of Tempestor Primes and Hot-Shot Volley Guns using the old sculpts.





I'm not quite done with resculpting/reshaping on the Tempestors, but I'm quite happy with how the HSVGs came out, given the inherent difficulty in modifying these old sculpts.

It still annoys me that Scions can't take boltguns, not only because regular Guard can, but because there's a new relic that says it replaces a boltgun. Obviously just sloppy editing on GW's part, but it's almost like GW themselves have forgotten that it isn't an option.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/23 09:40:36


Post by: Viterbi


Nice conversion work, really interesting to see them before your amazing paintjobs!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/24 00:57:30


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Viterbi, I'm looking forward to painting them but have some Tyranid stuff to get through first.

I've finally finished the brood of Genestealers, which all in all took only about thirty minutes per model. Next I'm tackling the last three Warriors.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/24 01:06:12


Post by: Argive


 catbarf wrote:
Thanks Viterbi, I'm looking forward to painting them but have some Tyranid stuff to get through first.

I've finally finished the brood of Genestealers, which all in all took only about thirty minutes per model. Next I'm tackling the last three Warriors.



You did these at 30 min per model ?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/24 01:46:18


Post by: catbarf


 Argive wrote:
You did these at 30 min per model ?


Well, the only parts that aren't washes are the patterning, miniscule amount of edge highlighting on the carapace, and eyes/teeth, so it's a lot easier than it looks.

Genestealers have the advantage of having very little carapace to pattern, which makes them a little less interesting than the other members of the horde, but does make them a lot quicker to paint.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/24 02:04:21


Post by: H.B.M.C.


Make all the excuses you want. Just know that we all hate you.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/24 15:06:51


Post by: Jin


I too, am grossly envious of your turnaround time on those minis.

The army continues to look great!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/24 17:29:53


Post by: Boss Salvage


I applaud your commitment to those old metal stormtroopers, and am excited to see the conversions painted up


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/28 20:54:35


Post by: catbarf


No actual new models to show, but I documented the painting process for my Stormtroopers, which is the same technique as on my Death Korps and Renegades:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/28 22:56:52


Post by: Captain Brown


Nice share catbarf.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/02/29 00:37:08


Post by: Ezki


Great video and a very useful one at that!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/12 16:08:41


Post by: catbarf


I've been (slowly) working on another brood of Tyranid Warriors, but in the meantime, here's the continuation of the previous video:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/15 14:05:41


Post by: catbarf


I've managed to finish my last of the 9 Warriors, which means I am just a couple of models away from a fully painted 2000pt army.






Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/16 13:00:14


Post by: Jin


They continue to look great!

Get a group picture once you're done!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/16 13:42:49


Post by: Boss Salvage


Congrats! This set looks excellent as ever - dig that anchor


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/16 16:20:19


Post by: King Thor


Looks awesome, looking forward to the group shot!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/17 20:05:47


Post by: Fifty


Still really great, like everyone else has said.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/18 01:53:19


Post by: stonned_astartes


Such a sweet tyranid army, done to such a high standard. All of the armies on this page look great. Nice to see a tyranid army with a more organic style. Nice.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/18 22:03:27


Post by: Snrub


For as great as the overall work on these beasties is, the pattening, the bases, etc. I think the part that really makes them is the eyes. The way you've done the eyes gives them a real sense of malign intent. It works extremely well on the genestealers.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/22 10:17:52


Post by: Illumini


Thanks for the tutorials, I will attempt your style with my own renegades, and the glow effect is going to be used for sure. Ordered all the transparent vallejo colors, as the effect you have with your renegades is amazing.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/03/31 00:44:04


Post by: catbarf


It took rather longer than I expected, but I got three Hive Guard done. In the process I recorded footage of the whole process- I intend to upload a Part 2 of the coconut crab scheme tutorial, basically going over the process in more detail and with tips and tricks I've learned along the way.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/01 00:08:52


Post by: catbarf


In another of my rare WIP shots, here's the base for the Hierodule before priming. I was a little nervous about hacking up a $15 resin boat to make it look like it's been stepped on, but I think it's working out.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/01 01:07:01


Post by: insaniak


 Snrub wrote:
. I think the part that really makes them is the eyes. ...


catbarf: So here's three beasties without eyes!





Looking fantastic, though.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/01 01:28:10


Post by: catbarf


 insaniak wrote:
 Snrub wrote:
. I think the part that really makes them is the eyes. ...


catbarf: So here's three beasties without eyes!





Looking fantastic, though.


Eh, their guns have eyes, close enough


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/01 05:41:35


Post by: Viterbi


I can understand your qualms about "destroying" the boat model, but it looks really good and will be an awesome base!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/01 07:44:44


Post by: Not Online!!!


As Viterbi said.
With the food solidly within the wreck that will look awesome.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/06 14:32:26


Post by: catbarf


Short update: I finished editing a video on further iteration on the coconut crab scheme. This is basically going through the whole process again, but focusing on the areas where I've noticed people tend to have issues.




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/08 13:32:36


Post by: catbarf


Another of my rare WIPs: Basic patterning laid down on the Hierodule, so now on to a few... thousand... dots.

On this model I've made a conscious effort to increase the complexity of the basic patterning. This should help to obfuscate the borders marking the color transitions, which I feel is something I could have done better on my Tyrannofex.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/10 21:21:21


Post by: catbarf


Another WIP. I'm recording the entire dotting process and keeping a running tally of how many dots I've applied.

At this point I am roughly halfway done with the dot patterning, at 1,999 dots over 67 minutes.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/10 21:33:56


Post by: monkeytroll


I'm not sure which is the more impressive, the actual dots, or the willingness to keep track of them.I

Good job, looks great so far.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/11 04:40:23


Post by: Snrub


That's a lot of dots. Which is frightening given that you're only 50% done.

It's going to look unspeakably awesome though when you're done. No doubt.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/11 05:04:58


Post by: catbarf


And one last WIP: All the patterning done.

4,531 dots. So I was a bit under halfway.

129 minutes of patterning, start to finish.



No more WIPs, next will be the completed model.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/11 07:50:32


Post by: Viterbi


Nice seeing your scheme in the WIP stages and counting the dots is insane (but in a good way ) and very cool to know, because for the life of me I wouldn't have been able to guess the number in any way.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/11 17:29:04


Post by: gobert


That’s a LOT of dots! Awesome work keeping track as well as laying them all down.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/13 13:59:02


Post by: monkeytroll


Excellent beastie! Love the splash effect on the base.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/13 14:15:29


Post by: Viterbi


Magnificent miniature with a super paintjob! Crashing the boat paid of, it looks really great on the base. Second monkeytroll on the splash effect, marvelous!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/13 16:24:16


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


Concur on the splash and the boat, they make for a really great dynamic base.

I love your scheme, after seeing it on 'Gants, Warriors, and now a big ol' boy, it really does work at every scale for the Tyranids! Now all you need to do is try it out on a Hierophant Bio-Titan.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/13 22:03:31


Post by: catbarf


Thanks all! I had a bit of a crisis of faith yesterday where I considered rebasing all these Tyranids to a jungle theme, on account of the sand lacking contrast with the exoskeletons. After seeing some of the praise for the basing, however, I decided to stick with it.

Anyways, with the Hierodule I just reached 2000pts, so here's a group shot:



That said, at the moment this looks like one of those hodge-podge sample armies you find in the codex that isn't optimized at all, so I've still got more models in the backlog so that I can make some adjustments. At the very least, I plan to ditch the Genestealers and Hormagaunts for now, and instead take another three Hive Guard and more Termagants.

I've also got a Neurothrope, a trio of Zoanthropes, four Biovores, a limited edition Lictor (with claws folded up- and not a recast!) and some more Hormagaunts, so I'll be getting to those too.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/14 05:16:06


Post by: Viterbi


I find that to be one of the beauties of your basing. The Tyranids would try to blend in with their surroundings, at least in my mind. And through the top of their carapace there's still enough contrast in my eyes.
Love the army shot, that is a beautiful force!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/14 15:20:05


Post by: Boss Salvage


 catbarf wrote:
4,531 dots. So I was a bit under halfway.

129 minutes of patterning, start to finish.


Completed Hierodule looks brilliant, army shot is really delicious

Happy to hear there's more to come with this army. Always a blah feel to sideline painted models based on in-game effectiveness, but the meta does push us on to new units and armies, which is more or less a good thing. Here's to the next 10,000 dots!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/14 17:31:16


Post by: Stevefamine


Wonderful basing work with the splashing water


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/14 20:34:26


Post by: catbarf


 Boss Salvage wrote:
Happy to hear there's more to come with this army. Always a blah feel to sideline painted models based on in-game effectiveness, but the meta does push us on to new units and armies, which is more or less a good thing. Here's to the next 10,000 dots!


One thing I have enjoyed with Tyranids is that there are very few units that I feel like don't have a use. The issue is normally just numbers- nothing wrong with Genestealers or Hormagaunts, but they need to be fielded en-masse, and 8 and 12 respectively aren't very useful. I'll probably use both when, eventually, I get enough models to fill out the units. At the very least, they'll still see use in the interim in Kill Team.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/20 14:58:17


Post by: catbarf


Upon recount it turns out I missed ten minutes in my accounting, so the Hierodule actually took 139 minutes to pattern. Mea culpa.

Over the weekend I got around to editing and uploading the footage I recorded, and this morning released a time-lapse of the patterning process:




Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/20 23:05:01


Post by: H.B.M.C.


 catbarf wrote:
One thing I have enjoyed with Tyranids is that there are very few units that I feel like don't have a use.
The model you just painted doesn't have a use.

'Nid LoWs are junk.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/21 12:54:09


Post by: Jin


 H.B.M.C. wrote:
 catbarf wrote:
One thing I have enjoyed with Tyranids is that there are very few units that I feel like don't have a use.
The model you just painted doesn't have a use.

'Nid LoWs are junk.



But they're pretty junk!

@Catbarf: god bless you for the patience on that Heirodule. Them's a lot of dots!


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/22 16:43:46


Post by: catbarf


 H.B.M.C. wrote:
 catbarf wrote:
One thing I have enjoyed with Tyranids is that there are very few units that I feel like don't have a use.
The model you just painted doesn't have a use.

'Nid LoWs are junk.



Hah, you say that, and normally I would agree, but once you start stacking the buffs the Scythed Hierodule in particular becomes very interesting. It can take hive fleet traits in a Super-Heavy Auxiliary detachment, and with Dermic Symbiosis for a 5+ invuln and gentler degradation, and under Catalyst and Onslaught and with a little investment in CP, the thing can sprint 18", shoot, charge 3D6-drop-lowest, fight twice, and then sprint another 18" back out of combat (and preferably into the waiting embrace of a Malanthrope). It then has a 5++/5+++ to help survive artillery, and if properly screened is hit at -1, so it's hard to kill and stays 100% effective until it gets down to just 5 wounds remaining. So basically it's a thoroughly mediocre LoW to start with, but when you start piling on abilities that cost the same whether they're applied to a Hormagaunt or a Hierodule, it starts to get disproportionate return on investment.

Or to put it another way: One of my regular opponents said much the same thing. Then it ate his Knight

Okay, hype aside, yeah it's still significantly overpriced for what it does and I'm hoping it gets a decent points reduction in the upcoming FW index. But at least it's not Harridan-tier. There's no amount of buffs that can save that poor thing.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/23 18:27:06


Post by: Captain Brown


The army looks spectacular catbarf.

Exalted.

Cheers,

CB


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/23 21:01:04


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Captain Brown, much appreciated.

I decided to try something different, just for the fun of it, before jumping back into more Tyranids.

Inspired by the book Fire Caste I set out to make a jungle-themed Fire Warrior. I did a bit of research and found a camo pattern I really liked by a painter who goes by the handle of 'Tael'. Theirs was urban, but I figured the pattern could be used with greens.

Unfortunately I didn't count on just how much my weathering process would desaturate the camo, so it doesn't look very 'jungle'. I have some ideas for how I might alter the scheme, either to get some proper jungle greens or to push it more in an alpine direction (with basing to match), but I don't plan to do anything with Tau in the immediate future, so for now this was just a fun experiment.




In any case, now it's back to more Tyranids. I'm going to try to do the remaining thee Hive Guard and six Termagants in one big batch.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/24 05:11:29


Post by: Viterbi


That's a great, if only experimental, mini! The Camo actually makes a Fire Warrior look threatening, that is a feat in itself


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/25 04:43:17


Post by: H.B.M.C.


 catbarf wrote:
Hah, you say that, and normally I would agree, but once you start stacking the buffs the Scythed Hierodule in particular becomes very interesting.
Sounds like a lot of resources to make a bad unit decent. You'd be better focusing on your strengths than trying to patch weaknesses.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/25 05:01:07


Post by: catbarf


 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Sounds like a lot of resources to make a bad unit decent. You'd be better focusing on your strengths than trying to patch weaknesses.


When the resources involved (Adaptive Physiology, psychic powers, Stratagems) have fixed costs that are the same whether applied to a LoW or a pack of Rippers, I find they confer disproportionate return on investment when applied to a stronger unit. Its basic statline may not be worth the cost on its own, but it's extremely AP/psychic/CP efficient, and that has value.

I would suggest having a look through the Tactica thread for Tyranids. Nitro Zeus in particular has had success with the Scythed Hierodule.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/25 06:09:49


Post by: A.D.


I like your bases dont change them. With monsters like these you're not trying to draw the attention anywhere in particular because all of the details look great and frightening, the bases actually help the effect making them look more real in the environment. Well painted from what I can see.

If you wanted to change anything I would change the black rims on the bases to something more GW style so when they are on the table you're not having black rings everywhere. I usually consider black base rims to be for display models. Maybe a sand/brownish colour. Not sure. I wouldnt worry though honestly they look really nice.

Edit: Yeah I think graveyard earth like the GW base rims would take it to the next level visually, I dont think a jungle base would suit these as well, they look more like desert dwellers


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/04/25 12:27:00


Post by: stonned_astartes


Scary beastie, wouldn’t have noticed the water effects if it wasn’t for the above comment but so glad I have now looks great. Makes me want to go to the beach.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/05/18 23:51:21


Post by: catbarf


Been dragging my feet a bit, but I finally got the last additions needed for my 2K list. These sub in for the Genestealers and Hormagaunts.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/15 22:05:47


Post by: catbarf


Biovores and Spore Mines done:



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/16 03:39:58


Post by: Argive


is the spore mines heads contrast ?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/16 06:15:42


Post by: Sherrypie


Damn this is a beautiful sight. Also adding to the choir of keeping the bases as they are, the beach look suits the general outlook of the army great.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/16 13:45:03


Post by: catbarf


Argive wrote:is the spore mines heads contrast ?


Nah, but similar idea- two coats of Army Painter Dark Tone (a direct equivalent to the old Badab Black) over white.

Sherrypie wrote:Damn this is a beautiful sight. Also adding to the choir of keeping the bases as they are, the beach look suits the general outlook of the army great.


Thanks; I'm pretty well convinced at this point. It can be a bit time-consuming to build but I quite like the effect.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/23 22:04:20


Post by: catbarf


Another of my rare WIPs, born out of sheer cumulative frustration.



I have painted and stripped this Vulture twice now. It was actually after the second time that I put it aside and painted the Biovores as a diversion.

The first time, I did my usual sponge weathering, only to discover that sponge weathering on an aircraft looks wrong. I also overdid it, making something more akin to my Renegade tanks than to a serviceable aircraft.

The second time, I had it looking just how I liked it, then I did my all-over acrylic wash to tie it all together. Well, it pooled on the flat wing panels and looked like crap.

The third (current) time, I painted the top of one wing, then tried pin washing with acrylics. It worked okay, but there was some spillover that I couldn't easily clean up.

So I re-sprayed the whole thing, ordered some oil paints, and this last try represents a couple of firsts:
-First time trying to paint a canopy effect.
-First time using oil paints.
-First time using panel modulation through my airbrush.

Overall I'm generally happy, but the oils are messy and somewhat difficult to work with- I chose charcoal grey as I figured it would be lighter than pure black, but if it is, it's not by much, so even the slightest bit of excess has a very stark effect.

Anyways, there's a little bit of cleanup I still need to do on the oils, but for the most part it is now done pending some final details, burn effects on the engine, and basing.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/24 10:20:35


Post by: Ezki


That looks good! Especially with that many firsts.

How did you do the canopy effect?


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/24 19:31:37


Post by: catbarf


 Ezki wrote:
That looks good! Especially with that many firsts.

How did you do the canopy effect?


I painted in the canopy in black, applied a coat of gloss varnish, and then washed each panel with a 1:1:1 mix of water, VMC Transparent Yellow, and VMC Transparent Green, keeping the model upright. The transparent wash collected in the lower edges and corners to build up a hint of color.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of texture on the 'glass' due to superglue fumes, so some of the wash settled on the surface and produced a 'fogged' effect. Hopefully should be a bit cleaner next time.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/27 05:10:39


Post by: catbarf


Vulture is done. Lots of learning experiences here.





Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/28 02:55:06


Post by: catbarf


And on another note, I finished a test Genestealer Cult Neophyte.



Having finished this, I don't think I'm going to actually pursue a GSC army- this took too long to paint for a 5pt model. But I did record the process so I can put together a tutorial video.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/06/29 14:50:56


Post by: Boss Salvage


 catbarf wrote:
Having finished this, I don't think I'm going to actually pursue a GSC army- this took too long to paint for a 5pt model.
Man, I recognize that points per hour spent painting math He looks super good all the same. Great level of realism amongst the sci-fi.

Final Vulture is a tour de force, well done Dig the color palette quite a lot, as well as the decal work.


Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/07/04 02:56:26


Post by: catbarf


Thanks Boss. It's tough for me to find forces that are either easy to speed-paint, or worth enough points to be worth the time-consuming method. The Stormtroopers are about as low a ratio as I'm willing to go, and even then only because the list is padded out with aircraft.

Anyways, I got my first three Zoanthropes and a Neurothrope done. Another three Zoanthropes are on the way, then some Raveners.



Catbarf's Projects (Hive Fleet Karkinos, Airborne Stormtroopers, Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum) @ 2020/07/06 12:15:24


Post by: IGtR=


Genestealer cultist looks great, but it is one of the depressing things about a horde army that the points/time/painting effort ratio is often not in favour of such units. A shame, as it would have been good to see your work on the minis in advance of me embarking on mine!!