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After having left the hobby for several years (in 1996-1998, out til 2001, back in 2001-2005) I have begun work on a Tyranids army. I'm a little intimidated by the size necessary for a good bug force. Previously I have only done Marines/Chaos marines, so I am used to only have to paint a couple dozen figures at the most (I also liked elite armies, which kept the numbers low) I really love the Nid designs though, and my favorite thing to do is conversions, and the Nids are great for conversions.

With that in mind, this blog will chart my progress in developing a swarm with a bunch of conversions, mainly in the big bugs, but even on some smaller guys too.

The following will be my main force, based on what I already own, and what I think I can do with it:

-HQ-
*Tyrant (still on the drawing board)
*Tyranid Prime (WIP)
*Tervigon (drawing board)

-ELITES-
*Warrior unit (probably not much conversion here)
*Ymgarl Genestealers (WIP Update 06-25-10, see pics below)
*Lictor brood (all plastic conv.; one finished, two more to come, see pics below)

-TROOPS-
*Genestealers (mostly from new Space Hulk box set)
*Spore drop pod for 'Stealers (special secret conversion plan for this - stay stuned!)
*Termagaunts (of course, I'll need a bunch for the Tervigon to spawn)
*Hormagaunts (Mainly because I love the model, and I have a few picked up in trade)

-FAST ATTACK-
(none yet)

-HEAVY SUPPORT-
*Tyrannofex (WIP, mostly finished)
*3 Zoanthropes (drawing board)

-CHARACTERS- (in order of priority)
*Doom of Malan'Tai (unpainted, Update 06-25-10, see pics below)
*Swarmlord (drawing board)
*Parasite (have bits, haven't started)
*Deathleaper (ditto)

-GENESTEALER CULT-
*MAGUS! (converted new SH Broodlord, riding on scratch-built spider-throne! pics below)
*Veterans (WIP; see early test fig below)
*Rank and file guys (drawing board)

As the title suggests, I am also going to be working on a little Genestealer Cult force, based off of Cadian plastics mainly, as a side project (to have something different to paint once in a while so I don't get bored!) I am working on a couple of test models for this. They will be mostly Cadians, with some Nid bits mixed in (carapace plates on the shoulderpads of veterans, etc.) I am working on custom shoulderpads and other simple, inexpensive ways to make them stand out. In fact, saving on costs is a big part of this project. I have little to now money to put into what I already have, so many conversions are done also with the thought of saving money (i.e. an all-plastic Lictor based off a warrior body with extra parts added costs around $10 rather than the $20 a GW metal Lictor costs per blister). I think I am a better converter than a painter, so advice in the painting dept. will be particularly appreciated.

To get this thing kicked off, here is my all-plastic Lictor conversion. (Some of you may have already seen this, but I didn't want to start the new Blog thread with no pics. Unfortunately this is all I have on my work computer...) This was the first figure I finished for the army, though I still need to paint him. I've also added some basing sand and rocks to the base. I plan to base the whole army like this, so it looks like they are fighting on a dead, barren landscape, littered with bones and bodies.



-Genestealer tentacle-mouth head, but with back of warrior head cut away to be more Lictor-like (and to fit under the hood/carapace)



-custom-made scything talons - I thought that the monstrous ones were way to big, but the warrior ones too small, so I made my own. Som have said in earlier threads that they seemed too big, but I don't think they're any bigger than the scytals on a GW metal Lictor.



-the pelvis has been rotated a little to give him a lower, sneakier profile. I also turned the tail over to give him a more sinuous, sneaky line.



I hope that you will offer feedback and advice. More pictures to come, probably the Doom of Malan'Tai and a Genestealer Cult Vet.
Thanks for taking a look at my stuff!

-C6

I really like that! If you feel up to it, go ahead and throw a few more together and send em my way! Seriously though, that is a great figure and I am incredibly jealous.

Ive seen this before.

I remember people asking about how you made the GS skellies.

Baah, im looking forward to more, i love that lictor

GS skeletons and general detritus seems like a very time consuming and really ot way to do bases....when you could get some skull blisters to start. I;m not sure if there are any other stockists of battlefield detritus/bones however.
I really like the lictor though, nice conversion there!!

Imp. Monkey

Imperial Monkey wrote:GS skeletons and general detritus seems like a very time consuming and really ot way to do bases....when you could get some skull blisters to start. I;m not sure if there are any other stockists of battlefield detritus/bones however.
I really like the lictor though, nice conversion there!!

Imp. Monkey

It takes a little up-front time investment to make the GS molds of skelletons, skulls, etc, but what I do is that whenever I work with GS, (which is pretty often given my extensive conversions) I almost always overestimate how much I need. I take the leftover GS that is already mixed and use it with my GS molds that are just sitting around. This way, I never waste any GS (waste not, want not!) and it doesn't take almost any additional time at all.

And I will definitely be updating this blog with progress. I already have a number of things done, so I can post that over the next few days. Stay tuned for more!

-C6

Nice lictor conversion!

Thats some very goog looking stuff there! And that base will be pretty nice too.

nice work! keep it up!

Thanks for all the encouragement folks! As promised, here is some more stuff that I've been working on as part of my Hivefleet:

DOOM OF MALAN'TAI!

I call this guy "Groucho," as in Groucho Marx. (The reason is that I plan to model tiny Groucho Marx style glasses-nouse-mustache) I originally was working on him for the Warpshadow.com contest, but they ended up going with a different theme (which was very disappointing to me; I thought this was some of my better work, and a poor man like me could have used that NIB Trygon prize! )



I put some work into his custom base too, and found an especially nice rock from my garden for it. Part of the reason for this is to offset the weight of this rather unbalanced model. His overall weight isn't much, as he is 100% plastic and GS, but he's extremely top-heavy.



Other side:



Close-up on the head-brain-carapace:



Also, here is a Ymgarl Genestealer. The armor plates are to represent the "Alter From" special rule, whereby the unit receives +1 to either toughness, strength or attacks. This one is for +1 toughness, and for +1 strength I plan to use larger rending claws (from Raveners perhaps?) and for the +1 attack, I've already modelled some tentacles. More on those guys later.







I plan to do conversions for only a handful of the unit, but I wanted to do something to reflect the special rule, and it gives me an excuse to do a little more work than just swapping in a tentacle/feeder tendril head

As always, comments, criticism, advice etc. welcome and encouraged!

-C6

Cool stuff. I especially like the lictor, rather similar too my own.

Except mine's not as good...

the doom is apropriatly scary!

azekio wrote:the doom is apropriatly scary!

Thanks! I wanted him to be appropriately intimidating, bigger, meaner-looking and more scary than a regular Zoanthrope (I plan to convert some of them too).

I just have to say that these are some of the best conversion ideas I've seen for the modeless units. They're very well executed as well! Awesome job on the ymgarl genestealers and doom!

Munch Munch! wrote:I just have to say that these are some of the best conversion ideas I've seen for the modeless units. They're very well executed as well! Awesome job on the ymgarl genestealers and doom!

Thanks Munch! This compliment is very gratifying

Wow, excellent conversions, especially the DoM... great to watch! Can't wait to see the cultists, I have an obvious interest in those guys

Yep, that doom is malevolent alright, excellent work.

Wow, your Doom is really amazing. Serious coolness coming out of your working with available materials and trying to keep costs down. A tutorial on your DoM or at least a parts list wold be much appreciated.

Savnock wrote:Wow, your Doom is really amazing. Serious coolness coming out of your working with available materials and trying to keep costs down. A tutorial on your DoM or at least a parts list wold be much appreciated.

Hrm... that's not a half-bad idea, Savnock. For the meantime, if you couldn't tell exactly from the pictures, all the parts come from the new Raverner, Carnifex and Trygon models, with pretty extensive GS sculpting (though not too much freehand actually) There is literally nothing that doesn't come out of those three box sets. If you can spare a Ravener body, then the rest of the parts are just spares from the Fex, Ravener and Trygon sets.

Perhaps I will make another update which specifies which parts in particular were used where (some are quite cut up and/or merged with GS, so it might not be entirely clear), and some close up shots. I am happy to share the details! Stealing someone else's ideas is the sincerest form of flattery, or something like that...

-C6

Haha, glad you feel like that, as I'd love to copy your idea and not be ashamed to post it here

But please don't let that distract you from creating further awesomeness.

awesome doom!

Wow, that Doom blew mine right out of the water!

Here is the first test fig for my Genestealer Cult IG-based force. I decided to do a Vet because he gets to have a carapace bit on his shoulderpad to indicate his veteran status. The rank-and-file guys will have much more limited conversion work, maybe just the Imperial "aquilla" (eagle) carefully cut/filed off of their uniforms and equipment. You can see that I've done this to this guy already.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for checking this out!


(It appears that I neglected to cur the eagle design off his lasgun. I'll go back and do that asap )





-C6

ps-Next post will probably be of the test Gaunts and Stealers in my basic color scheme!

I want some hybrids!

poipo32 wrote:I want some hybrids!

Join the club! I am hoping to track down some hybrid models (which I will undoubtedly convert at least a little) and will likely also be doing some custom hybrids. But the Cult army is secondary to the Hivefleet army, so I'm not sure when I will have a chance to get to that...

Of course, if there's anyone out there with any Hybrids, or any other Genestealer Cult-related models, if you're interested in passing some along to me in sell or trade, just shoot me a PM

Nice hybrid. I do have one suggestion. Have you thought about using bare catachan arms? It would look more realistic, because you'd have the carapace plate on the skin, as if it look liked it was fuse to the skin as opposed to having it just rest on his shoulder guard.

Munch Munch! wrote:Nice hybrid. I do have one suggestion. Have you thought about using bare catachan arms? It would look more realistic, because you'd have the carapace plate on the skin, as if it look liked it was fuse to the skin as opposed to having it just rest on his shoulder guard.

Maybe I wasn't totally clear: this guy isn't a hybrid himself, just a Vet of an IG force that was seduced by a clever Genestealer Cult. So it''s kind of like playing renegade IG, only here they're siding with the Nids instead of the CSM. He has a carapace piece attached to his armor as a mark of his esteem in the force as a loyal veteran. Otherwise, he is a normal human.

I want to get/make some Hybrids as well, but I haven't gotten there yet. When I do, you'll see it here though!

-C6

I wouldn't hold my breath on the old hybrid models, they are TINY compared to current figs, I have them in my hybdrid forces but I am calling them 'juveniles'. For my 'real' full grown hybrids I had to convert every last one of them. That being said, a couple of ghouls, a few purestrains and some IG is all you need to put together some pretty fine models.

The rest of your army deserves the best!

MajorTom11 wrote:I wouldn't hold my breath on the old hybrid models, they are TINY compared to current figs, I have them in my hybdrid forces but I am calling them 'juveniles'. For my 'real' full grown hybrids I had to convert every last one of them. That being said, a couple of ghouls, a few purestrains and some IG is all you need to put together some pretty fine models.

The rest of your army deserves the best!

Thanks for the advice Major Tom. I do like to do conversions, so maybe I will go with your suggestion. Currently I am planning ordinary human "Traitor Genestealer Cultists" as well as some preacher/missionary based guys who are there to whip up the troops into a religious fervor. But the Hybrids will definitely come in at some point.

catharsix wrote:

Munch Munch! wrote:Nice hybrid. I do have one suggestion. Have you thought about using bare catachan arms? It would look more realistic, because you'd have the carapace plate on the skin, as if it look liked it was fuse to the skin as opposed to having it just rest on his shoulder guard.

Maybe I wasn't totally clear: this guy isn't a hybrid himself, just a Vet of an IG force that was seduced by a clever Genestealer Cult. So it''s kind of like playing renegade IG, only here they're siding with the Nids instead of the CSM. He has a carapace piece attached to his armor as a mark of his esteem in the force as a loyal veteran. Otherwise, he is a normal human.

I want to get/make some Hybrids as well, but I haven't gotten there yet. When I do, you'll see it here though!

-C6

Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

Over at www.Warpshadow.com they have periodic contests, and the most recent one is for "Non-Combat Units." The idea is to come up with your own original non-fighting unit (a trransport bug, a tunnelling work, a digesting creature, etc.) model it, and come up with some fluff to go with it. Since I've been working on the Genestealer Cult Traitor Guard side project, I took the opportunity of this contest to model a piece befitting the bloated, corpulent leader of such a force, the Patriarch.

Behold! The CATHEDRACHNUS



...the living, walking, throne/battle carriage of the Genestealer Patriarch. Below are the pics and my accompanying fluff. Hope y'all enjoy!

**************************************************************

The sessile nature of the Patriarch, devoted as it is to the exclusive development of staggering psychic power, leads to a bloated form and atrophied muscles, hardly ready to march into the heat of battle. To ensure that the Patriarch' potent cerebral might can be properly leveraged to crush the weak-minded and fleshy, the Hivemind has created an armored, comfortable, and highly mobile creature to transport the Patriarch. Known as the Cathedrachnus, this highly specialized xenomorph serves to to propel the formidable Patriarch forward, to lead the Genestealers and their cult through his indomitable psychic will, and crush those in the path of the Swarm's onslaught.


(The Patriarch will be modeled from a new Space Hulk Broodlord model, who will get fattened up and otherwise converted to look like a Patriarch. Parts shown here for scale and to give you a basic idea of the Cathedrachnus' use.)

The Cathedrachnus also serves as a living throne from which the Patriarch can lord over his brood. Few cult adherents and leaders are permitted to enter the august but closely shrouded cloister of the horrible, quasi-messiah of those damned hordes, but those who are lucky (or unlucky) enough to gaze upon his bloated form will witness him on this large, living throne. These heretical priests lead covert Genestealer cults, sub-rosa sects unwittingly doomed to smooth the way for their own destruction at the hands (or rather, claws and teeth), of The Great Devourer.



There are several noteworthy evolutions of this distinct creature. The large carapace ensconces the Patriarch in a protective shell, helping shield him from weapons fire.



The fleshy area on the creature's back gives the Patriarch a place to comfortably perch, whether at rest or in the frenzy of combat.



The Cathedrachnus' six legs give it the ability to move about freely in most terrains. It is believed that the creature is linked to the Patriarch in a more direct and immediate way than the rest of his brood, enabling the Patriarch to move the Cathedrachnus about as effortlessly as if he were any other ambulatory Tyranid.





Finally, a curious external xenomorph, in the form of a worm-like creature with a chitin fore-shell in a semi-circular shape seems to exist to hold cylindrical objects, of the sort that might contain critical bio-nutrients in liquid form. (Drink-holder! But no spill guard... Credit to my neighbor's son Max, who plays Tau, for the suggestion.)


cup holder!!

**************************************************************

I was originally very disappointed that the Doom of Malan'tai was not chosen, but I have to admit I had a lot of fun making this model! In addition, I learned a few new techniques, particularly with using greenstuff. It's tough to see in the pics, but i even used my new dremel sanding/polishing bits (the reason it looks "dusty," but it's actually very smooth.)

Hope everyone likes it. I really wanted to paint it, but was sculpting right up to the deadline. When I paint him up though, my Patriarch will be carried into battle on this pimped-out ride!

-C6