Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Welcome back! Azrael looks rad. Plenty of good stuff on the go! Imperial servants all over the place. The bugs should be nervous.

Good to see you still at it. Get that paint down, one layer at a time!

 youwashock wrote:
Welcome back! Azrael looks rad. Plenty of good stuff on the go! Imperial servants all over the place. The bugs should be nervous.

Bugs refer to that as a buffet. Tons of delicious options. Nomnomnom…

Zerg it looks like you are doing well and making good minis again!

@YWS: Thanks! I certainly have lots of stuff going together, but the bugs have gotten some reinforcements too.

@Nev: Thanks for the encouragement!

@shaso: Welcome back, long time no see! Thanks for stopping by as always.

No real paint updates, but I did get a couple more bugs for my swarm. First, one of the new Biovores:

This model is such a vast improvement over the old one. I love the design, and the fact that the same kit also builds a Pyrovore (although I'm not sure it would be easy to magnetize between the two, and I didn't even try).

And thanks to making my 3D printer go BRRR! once again, I now have a Swarmlord to lead my bugs into battle:

I found the files for this guy for free, and I'm very happy with how it looks. It's not super obvious in this pic, but the carapace is pitted and scarred, and one of the boneswords is actually broken (the file is made that way, nothing happened during printing or the cleanup), making it look like this bug has been in a few battles and lived to tell about it, furthering the tactical prowess of the swarm. The model is a bit lanky compared to the official one, but I like it better.

I have additional files for a regular walking Hive Tyrant that I'm planning to print at least one of (from a different maker), as well as some Tyrant Guard, so I might be bringing more bugs out of the resin spawning pool soonish. I've already got a full 2k points of Tyranids now so I can start playing proper games with them any time. I do need to get some paint down on the last of the Indomitus models so I can get started on painting the bugs. More to come soon, I hope!

Welcome back. It can be hard to keep up with PMBlogging, can't it? It looks like you've bee productive. I've been painting ogres this month, so I'm looking forward to seeing how you approach yours.

Good to see you back blogging! Some nice updates, I'm a big fan of the new biovores as well so looking forward to seeing yours all painted up!

@Josh: Yes it can, my lack of motivation isn't just holding my painting back, but also my desire to talk about painting and modelling. As for the ogres, I haven't actually started. Believe it or not, I'm stuck on how I should paint their skin of all things. I want a darker fleshtone but not something as dark as African people or something, but I'm not sure which paints will look good and really work as skintones. I'll eventually find a video tutorial or something that will have a method that I'll like.

@Olthannon: Welcome back! I'm looking forward to working on some Tyranids myself, but if I don't get these last few Indomitus Marines done I won't get there, and motivation has been pretty low of late.

Holy hell, has it really been nearly a month since I last posted in here? This lack of motivation has really got to go away, but lately I've been finding more fulfillment in video games than in hobbying. I've been playing games of Warhammer, but haven't been wanting to paint much. However, I do have the Eradicators from Indomitus nearly done. Quick WIP shot:

As you can see, they are basically done other than a few small details and highlights, the shoulder pad decals (gloss coat is already down so I just need to add the decals and seal them in with matte varnish), and shading and highlighting on the bases. Once these guys are done, I only need to finish the Captain and I can finally get that group shot and call the Indomitus project closed, over 3 years after it began.

On the assembly side of things, work continues as I acquire a few new things. First, though, a unit that I actually assembled a little while back and primed at the same time as I primed my Leviathan models. I went through a big lot of bits that I had been given by a friend years ago, and discovered that I had enough robed DA veteran bodies as well as some old Sternguard bits to make myself a unit of Sternguard, albeit somewhat smaller than the current ones:

With these being made from actual GW parts and on the correct bases, I don't think anyone could stop me from running these models as Sternguard Veterans. The sarge has a power maul from the Ravenwing Command Squad kit (that box is a gold mine for cool DA parts), as well as a bolter (basically a smaller bolt rifle, so it should count), and as you can see I've got three other guys with rifles plus a Heavy Bolter guy, so a nice little 5-man unit. I ended up priming these guys, as well as the Leviathan Sternguard unit, in green. Technically they would probably be part of the Deathwing, but I decided to deviate from the "official" canon and make them basically the equivalent of the old Company Veterans units.

Next up, I did go ahead and pick up the Company Heroes box since I like the sculpts. I'm especially a sucker for banners so I just had to have it. Here they are assembled in all their gray plastic glory:

I went with the Neo-volkite pistol and power weapon on the Captain, as I've already got one with a fist and plasma pistol. One thing I'm frustrated about is that I ended up with a gap in the Ancient's cloak. It must have separated after I stuck it together, and now it really bugs me. Maybe I can greenstuff fill it or something, I don't know. Either way, I really do love these models even if they mostly end up doing shelf duty.

Back over to the Tyranids, I've got a couple more additions to my growing swarm. First, I bought and assembled Deathleaper, despite not being a fan of the sculpt:

In all honesty the thing that bothers me about this model is the fleshy cloak. I wish there was a way to build the model without it, but alas, no. And I couldn't find a suitable 3D print file for Deathleaper, either.

However, I did 3D print this big beautiful bug:

Now I have the Swarmlord and a regular walking Hive Tyrant (with Monstrous Bonesword, Lash Whip and Heavy Venom Cannon). One of the vents on this new guy's back actually partially failed, but it came out good enough that I'll just say it's battle damaged, like he got that vent blown off and it grew back a little bit stunted or something (you can't really see it in the picture since the sword is in the way).

And now for something completely different, a real blast from the past. There was a toy and collectible show at my local mall a couple of weeks ago, and while I browsed I happened upon this beat-up boxed game:

Yep, it's a copy of Battle Masters from 1992. The box is in really rough shape and there were a few pieces missing (a couple of goblins, a Chaos archer, and one of the bases) but thanks to eBay I was able to source replacement parts for all of that. Now other than the box the only real damage is a couple of the figures' weapons, but I'm not too terribly worried about that. I had heard of this game before so I was thrilled to actually find a copy, and I hope to find some time to actually paint up some of the really old-school figures from it. Quality-wise, the figures seem to be a step in between normal board game pieces and actual wargaming miniatures, but they have plenty of detail and should look good once painted. I've found plenty of inspiration online as far as paint jobs for this game go too, so I look forward to working on it. Maybe it'll be my side project over the winter or something.

Anyways, hopefully it won't be another month before I post again in here. I need to pump out some numbers before the end of the year somehow, so maybe I'd better get to work, huh?

Nice selection of stuff. Keep plugging away at the pile of shame at whatever pace is good for you. It’s not a race.

Although you have one week to get something painted for the October competition. No pressure. ;P

The new Swarmlord is pretty dang sweet, as are the new Marines. But, the copy of Battlemasters is downright treasure. Make sure you get the ogre painted quick! He's a great mini.

@Nev: Thanks, but as you have no doubt noticed, I had no ideas for October, at least nothing I had any interest in actually painting.

@YWS: Agreed on the Swarmlord; once I saw that model I knew I had to print it. I, too, like the look of the Ogre Champion from Battle Masters, and look forward to getting him and the rest of the set painted.

I finally finished the Eradicators from Indomitus, or rather I finished them a few days ago and finally got around to dragging out the lightbox and getting decent pics. Here they are:


Nothing super impressive here, paintwise, but they'll look okay on the tabletop, which is the goal of most of my painting. These models may see a fair amount of use as they are pretty good in 10th edition 40k. With these done, just one model remains and I can FINALLY bring Indomitus to a close.

And speaking of that final model, here's the latest WIP of it:

This is such a busy model, it takes a while to pick out all the little decorations all over it. If I really get stuck in, I might be able to finish it this week. I've got some time off work, so no excuses really.

The 3D printer continues to go BRRR and crank out more stuff for my armies. I printed out these Jump Pack Intercessors a little while ago, but two of the jump packs failed and I only recently printed a couple of replacements. Here is the now completed unit, awaiting primer:

The models actually have robes and bling to look like Dark Angels (bit of a miss that the shoulder pads are blank though), so I was happy to find the files and print them. They'll look great once I paint them, I'm sure, and will sure save me money compared to buying 5 of the official ones from GW for $60!

Here's another model I printed mostly to save me money compared to buying the official model from GW:

This is a Techmarine, whose files I got from the Ghamak Patreon. The aesthetic is different to GW's Space Marine range, but I think I can make it work well enough; there are some small differences in Techmarine armor compared to other SM armor that I figure it's just the Mechanicus choosing to give different gear to those who are more closely associated with them. I may actually print another one of these so that I can think about running the Ironstorm Spearhead detachment from the SM codex.

In addition to those whole models, I also printed out some winged fairings and tail fins for some of my unpainted Outriders:

Now they look like proper Ravenwing, or they will once they are painted. I won't be able to get the side wings onto the Indomitus ones as I already had added some saddlebags to those that the wings won't fit over. I might eventually add tail fins to them, but not right away.

In non-40k news, I actually did start painting a few Battle Masters models, specifically some of the Men-at-arms:

Not much to see yet, but I primed the models by hand using Monument Hobbies gray primer and added some Leadbelcher to the metal armor. I plan to paint this particular group in traditional colors of the Altdorf Militia (blue and red), as that is where they are supposed to be from (other Men-at-arms will get other appropriate colors), and the shields will be painted to match the stickers that go with the unit. That'll be a test of my freehand skills for sure. It does feel good to be giving these 31-year-old models some painting love at last.

And for my final pic in this particular post, here are some primed examples of models from an upcoming game called Ravaged Star:

The models are (from left to right) a Veil-touched Valkyr, a Gorkog Fleshseeker, and an Immari Soldier. The files are being distributed for free to people for a painting contest, which I will probably go ahead and enter. I just have to have one or more of these painted by the end of the year. I don't know much about Ravaged Star or the factions thereof, but the models are interesting and will each provide a different challenge for painting.

That's all for now. For the November painting challenge, the theme is Wrecking Ball, so I may just enter the back half of my Deathwing Knights squad. Those big maces they carry certainly wreck stuff! Stay tuned for any further developments.

How’s the progress going? Finish the Indominus box stuff yet? I just put the first layer down on the gravis captain from the DV box. Really need to do better about clearing old stuff from the queue myself.

Great variety of stuff. Love the 3d prints to DA up the bikes.

Little bit of month left to get at least one of the Deathwing Knights done.

Slow but steady, all progress is good progress.

Lovely work with the Eradicators. At some point I need to finish the rest of my Indomitus box and paint more of Leviathan!

Veil-touched Valkyr, eh? Sounds intriguing. The 3D prints look great. Hope to see your name amongst the wrecking ball entries.

@Nev: Indomitus is done, as this post will show, but the Deathwing Knights are way behind and will likely not be fully finished. Hopefully I can have them done enough to enter (like just the bases may not be done). And yes, it'll be nice to have some Outriders that look like proper Ravenwing with the winged fairings and all.

@Olthannon: Thanks, and yes you should!

@YWS: Like I said in my previous post, I don't know much about the fluff of Ravaged Star, but I think the Veil-touched are kind of like Chaos Marines or something. The model certainly has all the trim like a CSM. We'll see if I can get something entered for Wrecking Ball.

Finally, 3 and a half years after their release, the Space Marines from the Indomitus box set are complete. It's definitely been a longer road than it should have been, especially when I did all of the Dark Imperium Marines in like 3-4 months. Of course I've been trying to get fancier with my painting since then, but I've also let things like video games distract me, and I'm still struggling with hobby burnout. But, onwards and upwards as they say! Here are the nice lightbox photos of the Captain with Relic Shield:


Perhaps not my best work (I say that a lot, I know), but far better than anything I did for the aforementioned Dark Imperium set, so I'm definitely making progress as a painter. It's a very cool sculpt, if a little bit too busy. Now that it's painted, I only wish this loadout for a Captain would become a meta choice so I have more excuse to actually use the model instead of letting it collect dust on my shelf.

Now for the thing everyone expects when one completes a project like this, the group shots. Sadly I don't have a lot of places to take group photos like this (trying not to show my messy apartment in the background), so these will have to do:


It is a huge relief to finally be done with this project and ready to move on to better things. I still remember how stoked I was for these models, especially for actual Primaris Deathwing and Ravenwing stuff. Many of these models have seen service on the tabletop in both casual and tournament games, both before and after painting. Here's hoping I'll be able to say the same about the Leviathan models. That will be my next big box set project, and since I kept both sides it'll be a lot more plastic to paint. Let's just hope I can get it done in less than three years!

As for ongoing painting projects, I've gotten some colors blocked in on the Deathwing Knights, using Army Painter Speedpaints. Here's where they are at:

It may not look like it, but a lot of the hard work is done. I'll paint the armor all over using Skeleton Horde contrast (or the Army Painter equivalent), then brighten it up with Ushabti Bone leaving the darker color in the recesses. Then I'll need to do the silver metallics, which won't be too bad. I definitely need to get stuck in though, as I've only got two days (maybe three if we get an extension) to get them done. The bases are probably going to have to wait.

In the meantime, I picked up and assembled a Terminator Chaplain:

This is a cool model, and he might be pretty useful in-game too, so I went ahead and grabbed him. Not sure how soon he'll get paint.

As for upcoming stuff, I'm super stoked that we're getting new Deathwing Knights and a new model for Asmodai. I just hope Asmodai gets good rules to go with his cool model, as he's been garbage the entire time I've been playing 40k (since 6th edition). And regarding the 40k Christmas boxes, I was going to get the Votann one as it would have pretty much gotten me to 2k points of them, but thanks to some kind of major snafu my FLGS ended up not getting any. I could order one on eBay or something, but I was doing it through my FLGS because I've got some store credit from selling old models and I don't want to go into credit card debt for plastic crack. That way lies chaos. So I'll just have to live without. My store credit is still good, so maybe I'll get myself a Gladiator or two for my Dark Angels, or save it and put it towards the new DA stuff when it drops, or maybe grab some more Tyranid reinforcements. Decisions, decisions.

3 years to finish the starter box minis matches the release cycle. Right on time! Nice looking batch of marines. One of these days I get around to painting my copy of that captain, He’s very busy, but I like that on 1st company vets (and their captain)

If you need an extension, feel free to ask in the challenge thread. An extra day, especially a Friday, is not a problem. The default is we end on the end of the month, but if someone asks, I’ll always tack on an extra day. But someone does need to ask.

Nice wok, ZergSmasher! Always love a group shot, especially on a comfy blanket. Good luck getting something into the challenge.

Being able to say that a project is finished is such a great feeling. I'm looking forward to what comes next.

Lovely jubbly! Captain looks excellent. Congratulations on getting the box finished.

@Nev: Yeah, the point is to be ahead of the release cycle, not matching it! And I would love to see you paint the Indomitus Captain in Ultramarines colors. I think you could make him look pretty special.

@YWS: Thanks!

@Josh: Yes, it's a great feeling indeed.

@Olthannon: Thank you very much!

I managed to squeak a few last minis in before the end of the year, although the new year has just begun as I compose this post. First up, here's a Ravenwing Storm Speeder:


I started on this model a while back, and got it mostly done back in March of this year for a tournament, and it's been sitting in mostly-painted limbo ever since. I'm glad I was able to get it off the decks and into the completed pile before the end of the year. And I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, too, which is always a plus.

The other things I managed to finish were both of my Desolation Squads. I only bothered with lightbox photos of one of the units, as the two are nearly identical (and technically one is not finished to my usual standards, but I got tired of working on them). Here are the pics:


I'm pretty happy with this squad. I for one like these models, although they get a fair amount of hate from the wider 40k community (their guns are goofy, but so what?). As with the Storm Speeder, these guys have been mostly painted for a good chunk of this year, so it was nice to finally get them to a point that I'm satisfied with them.

My next post will be my customary end-of-year review, so stay tuned for that.

And now, as is tradition, it is time to see how I did as far as progress in the year that just ended. 2023 was a lackluster year to say the least, with a mere 40 miniatures completed, although given how many I left partially completed there might be some low-hanging fruit to boost my numbers for 2024. As per usual, I took a photo of everything I painted, so here it is:

Looking at it, it doesn't look like I did too terribly in terms of quality, but quantity is sadly lacking. 58 was the count last year, and I'm down from that, which is impressive in the wrong direction! Anyways, here's the list of models I finished:
WARHAMMER 40,000:
5 Battle Sisters
5 Assault Intercessors
10 Desolation Marines
3 Eradicators
3 Bladeguard Veterans
5 Deathwing Terminators
Lion El'Jonson
Master Lazarus
Grand Master Azrael
Captain with Relic Shield
Lieutenant with Neo-Volkite Pistol and Storm Shield
Primaris Chaplain
Old-school Chaplain
Bladeguard Ancient
Storm Speeder

Everything I did in 2023 was for 40k, and with the exception of 5 random Battle Sisters it was all Dark Angels. Not much variety there at all, which is frankly awful since several of my goals were variety-related. Speaking of which, here were my goals for 2023:

1: Paint at least 100 models. This really needs to happen every year for a while if I want to make the pile of shame smaller. It's only 8.3 models per month, so it's not that backbreaking of a pace.
2: FINISH. PAINTING. INDOMITUS. There's really no excuses now; with a new edition most likely on the horizon for 40k it would be good to have last edition's starter models painted!
3: Build and paint a full Leagues of Votann army. I'm actually excited to do this one; the models for Votann are awesome and that will help me stay motivated!
4: Paint up a proper Middle-Earth army, complete with heroes and stuff. It'll most likely be Easterlings or Lothlorien that gets this treatment, as those are my main armies.
5: Paint some non-GW stuff. Ankh is probably what I'm gonna aim for, but the Primal kickstarter should be fulfilled so that might jump the queue, as I'm really excited to get my hands on those models.
6: Play more games that aren't Warhammer 40k. I own stuff for several, but haven't really done much. Interest in Middle-Earth has waned a bit in my group, but we're hoping to get a Necromunda campaign going sometime this year so that will give me a chance to pull this off.
7: Finish working on some partially-completed models. I've got lots of stuff that I just lost interest in halfway through; I really should go ahead and polish that stuff off.
8: Paint more than I buy. Painting lots of models will help with this, but I'm already looking at this being tough to do with a new edition of 40k looming and a Votann army to acquire. We'll see how it goes...
Bonus: Paint a bunch of 3D printed models. I've printed a lot of stuff, and have plans to print a bunch more, but I need to actually paint it. Otherwise I'm actually manufacturing my own additions to the pile of shame instead of just buying them at the store!

And here's how I did on those goals:
1: EPIC FAIL! It's like I'm regressing, given that my numbers this year are even lower than last year's disappointing totals. I gotta quit playing so many video games and focus on my painting if I ever want to shrink my pile of shame.
2: This one's a solid win. It took me long enough, but I was able to finally put Indomitus to bed.
3: Fail, I didn't even touch a Votann model. I don't even have my full army of them yet either. This was probably not a great choice of a goal, as it's too specific and my whims are far too mercurial to commit to a single army at the beginning of the year and count on finishing it.
4: Also a fail, didn't even paint so much as a single Middle-Earth model. And those Easterlings that have been sitting in various places around my work area are still giving me dirty looks...
5: I'm seeing a pattern here, this one's a fail too. I didn't even strongly consider doing any non-GW stuff.
6: I'll take at least partial credit here, as I participated in a Kill Team narrative league over the summer. I didn't finish painting my Kill Team (I played Ork Kommandos), but I enjoyed the games for the most part.
7: Again, I'll accept partial credit, as I had started on the Chaplains before this year. There's plenty more partially-finished stuff that needs tidying up though.
8: Hahahahaha, yeah no. Between multiple box sets and other purchases I probably bought five times as many models as I painted, or close to it.
Bonus: Nope, didn't touch any of my 3D printed stuff unfortunately. I also didn't print very much, oddly enough, despite getting a nice new printer.

So I didn't do well on the goals either. No surprise considering how little I got done, but also I think some of my goals were a bit specific. That's probably not a great idea, as meta shifts in games can make me less willing to work on an army, as at least some of my painting is done as tournament prep. Anyway, here are my new goals for 2024:
1: As is tradition for me, my first goal is to paint 100 models, of any game system or combination thereof. 40 models in a year just isn't going to cut it. I really do need to keep knocking stuff out if I want to complete projects.
2: Get another army tournament-ready. This would mean having 2k points of either a 40k, AoS, or Kings of War army, or 500+ points of Middle-Earth, or a 300-point force of Infinity, etc. Ones I've already got to that level obviously don't count.
3: Gonna go ahead and repeat my goal of painting at least something that is not GW. I've got plenty of candidates these days. That kickstarter that has now been delayed for like 2 years past its original planned release is finally going to be delivered this year, unless something very odd happens, so maybe I'll get started on that.
4: Play a decent variety of games. Obviously I'll play more 40k as it's my main game, but I'm hoping to restart Middle-Earth locally as well (had a little bit of interest), and I hope to finally actually play some Age of Sigmar. Might even squeeze in some Kill Team as well.
5: Knock out more big models. Last year I only did one vehicle, and maybe you'd count a Primarch as a big model, but otherwise it was all infantry. I've got a decent motor pool for several of my 40k armies, as well as some decently big AoS things (like Stormdrakes), and even a few monsters for Middle-Earth (Mordor Trolls, Spider Queen).
6: Knock out a few things that are currently (as of this post) partially painted. Models shouldn't have to sit in painting purgatory forever, and I need to actually finish stuff.
7: Get back to working on clipping all my leftover bits and putting them into the bits boxes. This will help with my apartment clutter situation, as I've got boxes sitting around all over the place with mostly-empty sprues. One issue with this is that newer 40k kits have bits that are much more specific and can't just go with any old models, so it's harder to actually use leftover bits. We'll have to see.
8: As is tradition, I'll go with my old standby "paint more than I buy" goal. We all know this probably won't happen, as I tend to get new shiny syndrome pretty badly, but the attempt should be made.
Bonus: Paint a bunch of stuff for a boxed game. I've got several canditates, including Ankh, Aliens: AGDITC, and the upcoming Primal: The Awakening, and I might also count Guildball or Godtear for this. Might not get a whole game done, but as long as I get a good amount I'll be happy.

Hopefully these goals aren't too lofty. As long as I do better than last year, I'll be satisfied.

And finally, as usual, I'll list my top 5 models or units for the year, in my own opinion of course:

5: Indomitus Captain

This is a really cool sculpt; the whole thing of having a guy's skeleton attached to a shield is peak 40k. I had fun picking out all the detail on the model, as well as adding some Dark Angels stuff to it during assembly.

4: Storm Speeder

I love this revamp of the classic Land Speeder, and I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out. I still need to go back and do the parts for the other variants (the Hammerstrike and Hailstrike).

3: Master Azrael

This model is a great revamp of the old tiny metal Azrael, and I had a lot of fun working on it.

2: Master Lazarus

This is probably one of my better Infantry characters I've ever done; I'm very proud of my work here.

1: Lion El'Jonson

Was there any doubt that this would be my pick for #1? I've been waiting for The Lion to lead my Dark Angels ever since they started bringing Primarchs back, and I knew I had to get him right once I finally did get the model. I'm super proud of this guy, and he gets compliments whenever I get a chance to show him off, so I guess I did alright on him?

That about does it for my year end review. Here's hoping for a much more productive 2024! I do hope to keep up with this blog a little better, maybe that'll help with engagement some, both for me staying motivated and for my viewers following along.

Nice collection of stuff done for a year.

You’ve got some aggressive goals. Good luck in 2024!

Look at all those cool DA. Great lineup there in your favorites. I agree that The Lion takes the top spot. He really came out great.

@Nev: Thanks! I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew with those goals!

@YWS: Thanks very much!

Down to business for the year. For the monthly painting challenge, the theme for January is From The Shadows, and some Xenomorphs from Aliens: Another Glorious Day In The Corps fit the bill perfectly. I've only assembled four of them, and earlier this week I started working on painting them (hand priming because the weather sucks this time of year). Here's where I've gotten to on them:

Basically I just primed them black, did a couple of gray drybrushes (focusing on the head and upper body with the lighter one), and then added a coat of Army Painter Speedpaint Beowulf Blue, as I think the Aliens look bluish in many shots of the movie (due to the lighting). I could almost leave them here and be happy with them, but I intend to at least pick out the teeth in a lighter color (possibly silver so they'll be shiny) and give them an all-over gloss coat for their signature sheen. I'm debating doing a light drybrush of Thunderhawk Blue first to really sell the blue color, but I'm not sure I need to. I'll then need to paint the bases to look like dirty, dingy metal, which won't be hard to do.

In other news, I have officially gotten started painting my Tyranids, and I think I've gotten my scheme for them the way I want it. The test model is a Tyranid Warrior, and here's what it looks like:

I'm using Kroxigor Scales for the carapace, drybrushed with Temple Guard Blue to really pick out the edges more. The white bodies are just Speedpaints Holy White, and the weapon casings, claws, and hooves are Volupus Pink Contrast, with a layer of diluted Speedpaints Grim Black over the claws and hooves to make them darker. I picked out the eyes in yellow and used a couple of different flesh Speedpaints for the fleshy sac and tube on the weapon. Simple but effective color scheme that should be easy to execute on a lot of models quickly. I'll have to figure out how I want to pick out things like exposed brains on certain models (Zoanthropes, Neurotyrant, etc.), but I'll cross those bridges when I come to them. Hive Fleet Kukulkan, coming soon to a biomass-rich world near you!

Towards the end of last year, I decided to try and see just how cheaply I could acquire a whole army. The army in question was Kruleboyz for Age of Sigmar, and I mainly did it because my FLGS had their Christmas box from 2022 still and I had a bunch of store credit. So I picked that up, plus a Dominion half, as well as the Big Grikk's Kruleshots set (which gave me 6 more Boltboyz and a Killbow) as well as a 3d-printed Swampcalla Shaman and some extra partially-painted Hobgrots from a friend of mine who sold them to me very cheap. Here they are on my shelf:

Probably an extremely bone-headed idea to pick up yet another army at this point, but it is the cheapest whole army I've ever purchased, so there's that. Here's a list of the Kruleboyz units I now have:
Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork
Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast
Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof
Killaboss with Stab-grot
Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot x2
Murknob with Belcha-banna
10 Gutrippaz with Instrument and Banner x2
10 Hobgrot Slittaz with Scrap Totem and Instrument x3
6 Man-Skewer Boltboyz x2
Beast-Skewer Killbow
This is just over 2k points; the actual list I want to run leaves out the Murknob and the third Hobgrot unit. I do like the idea of Kruleboyz, being more subtle and sneaky than other Orks (sorry, Orruks, this is AoS after all), and I've already got a few friends wanting to play against them. The only other models I really want for the army would be a Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth and possibly a second Sludgeraker, but neither has to happen right away by any means.

Hopefully I have more to show soon, stay tuned!

Be sure to get good pictures of the aliens. Getting the bases done will help, but at tabletop distances all the subtle work you’ve gone to get the right flavor of black is hard to see.

Nice to see a nid in color. Sounds like a pretty easy scheme to do en mass. Which is good, if you plan on having swarms of little gribbles. If you are already using pink, that might be a good choice for brains. You can use the flesh speedpaints for wing membranes. I think the only other thing that might come up is poisons/toxins/smoke. Painting nids should go a long way to getting you to 100 models for the year.

The kruelboys are another army that should take well to contrast/speed paints. Lots of organic bits and swampy grime. Should be able to get them to a good tabletop level and get some games in with them.

@Nev: I tried my best to get good pics, as I did want to show my subtle work. Alas, my camera and lightbox are only so good, and it was hard to find good angles where there weren't reflections from the gloss. The models turned out pretty good in person though! As for the Nids, you're right about it being easy. My scheme is quick and dirty and yet pleasing to my eye at least. I think I can knock out a good number of bugs fairly quickly. And I'm definitely planning to do contrast for the Kruleboyz. Thanks as always for the suggestions and encouragement!

I finished the Xenomorphs over a week ago, but didn't feel like dragging out my lightbox and camera until last night. Here are the final pics of said Xenomorphs:



I'm pretty happy with them. I wanted to keep them pretty dark and shadowy, as that's how they usually look in the Aliens movies, and I'm very happy with the glossy look I managed. I still have 12 more of these critters to assemble and paint, plus the four variants from the In The Pipe, Five By Five expansion, and of course the Alien Queen. And that's just the bad guys, I also need to get back to the Colonial Marines that have been in partially painted hell for the last three years or so. Still, with these done I'm officially on the board for 2024.

As for the Tyranids, that Warrior that I painted before has been joined by two more to form a full unit of Ranged Warriors:

The models themselves are done, but now I need to figure out how I want to base them. I added some dark color around their feet for now, as then if I'm not perfect with the texture paint it won't stand out the way a white base would. I'll probably go with a wasteland theme, with brown earth and sparse tufts and maybe the occasional rock on some of the bugs (probably not these three). Similar basing scheme to my Dark Angels and Imperial Knights, but I like simple basing as it's faster to do and won't distract the eye from the models.

In my next post, I'll have the completed Tyranid Warrior unit to show, and hopefully more as well, so stay tuned for that.

Looking good!

High gloss models can be tricky to get pictures of. I’d suggest trying a light background for the dark minis, but would guess that would make the reflection issue worse. Some minis just crave the shadows...

There is something to be said for basing all your armies the same, so you could just use what you do for your DA. Makes them look nice on the shelf together, and for when you eventually build your own table to match. Plus you already have all the supplies and system set. From a color POV, it should work. And will explain the half eaten marine parts scattered around the nids.

Those Xenomorphs are very threatening. Great job on them.

@Nev: Thanks for the advice, as always!

@Gwyn: Thanks!

The first members of Hive Fleet Kukulkan have been painted. Appropriately, they are also the first Tyranid models I acquired, as I purchased them before I picked up Leviathan. Without further ado, here are my Tyranid Warriors with Ranged Bio-weapons:



Nothing super fancy here, just a demonstration of how well Contrast-type paints work on organic-looking models like Tyranids. Honestly I like the scheme even more than I thought I would when I first came up with the idea, so I can't wait to see how it looks on all the various Tyranid bugs. I've already got quite a variety in my collection, plus I've got the Leviathan set to work on, so it should be a fun year! The other thing I'm happy about is how quick and easy it was to get results like this. Contrast paint (and other brand equivalents) really is "talent in a bottle", as you can get pretty acceptable (if unremarkable) results with very little time or effort.

Speaking of the Leviathan Tyranid models, I've started working on the first set of 10 Termagants for the monthly painting challenge. I've only blocked in the Kroxigor Scales on the carapaces, but here's how they look:

Working with these, I'm really impressed by how dynamic they look compared to the old Termagants. I never owned any of those, but I faced them on the tabletop a few times and I thought they mostly looked alike, with very little personality or flair. These look uniform enough to tell they are the same type of bug, but not so samey as to be totally boring. Maybe I wouldn't feel that way if I was painting a hundred of them for an Unending Swarm list, but...eh. Either way, I really do like the new and improved Tyranid range as a whole, and these little dudes are a good example.

Hopefully I'll have more progress to show soon. I want to get to work on some of the Leviathan Marines soon, so maybe I'll get some of the Infernus guys started alongside the bugs. I had hoped to have the Deathwing Assault box in hand by now. but my FLGS hasn't gotten it in thanks to GW shipping delays (or maybe it got dropped just like the Christmas boxes last year). I'll be upset if I don't get it, too, as Dark Angels are my primary army. Until next time, stay classy!

Good progress and nice work!

The new gaunts are monopose, but the old ones did not have a lot of wiggle room either, You could turn their heads, and angle the gun up or down a bit, but that was all. And there were only 4 bodies on the sprue, and they were very similar. The new guys might not have pose options, but at least none of them are horribly distinctive. It’s not like one of them is pulling a grenade’s pin with it’s teeth, or has it’s pistol out in a rifle squad. They should swarm up nicely. Looking forward to seeing your hive fleet grow. My new gaunts need to wait till the weather is nice enough to break out the rattle can. Then I’ll have like 30 of the little biters to paint.

Contrast paints are a godsend to nids. They are quick, and their inconsistencies mesh well with organic effects. I would not started nids without them.

Fingers crossed you get the DA stuff.

This has turned into Zergsmasher's House of Buggin'! Everything looks good, really like the Tyranid scheme, but we need to get some Marines going (colonial, DA, whatever) to clean up this infestation.