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Hi all, just starting this blog thing- I'll be updating it every so often, but as I'm currently using someone else's camera until I get a new one, updates may be few and far between for now.

Anyway, I'm currently building up Apoc-sized Tyranid and Blood Angels armies- I decided to pick up 'Nids again once the new Codex was announced, but I'd already been collecting BA for a while before theirs was.

To get things started, look what I just got from FW (Apologies for the bad pictures, first time using a digital camera )


Here it is next to the plastic GW Trygon:


Length-wise it measures about 1-2 inches longer than a SM Land Raider. If anyone wants any other comparison shots, let me know and I'll try to get on it.

The thing was a pain in the backside to assemble- the moulds were very good (very little flash, and the gates were easily removed), but for some reason the parts just wouldn't line up properly. On the base there's footmarks where you attach the feet, and a small indent where a small, half talon goes (as if the talon is digging in the ground). On my model, I could only get the feet in the correct places with the talon embedded if the Hierodule's body was leaning forward a ridiculous amount so that its tail was almost vertical. Obviously this has massive LOS implications for a model that's already huge so I took it apart and played around with the pose. While the talon isn't in the exact right place now, I plan to cover it up by using a corpse so it looks as if the Hierodule has impaled someone on that talon. Lots of pinning in the assembly too- 1 in each arm, 1 in the left foot for extra stability, 1 joining the head to the body, and 1 in each leg where the upper leg connects to the lower at the knee.

It also took me almost a month to assemble- the original body part that FW sent was damaged coming out of the mould, AND suffered damage in transit. However, I sent the body back and got a replacement via UPS within 2 weeks. Honestly, loads of people have trouble with FW, but all I've had is great service.

I plan to paint the Hierodule within the next few weeks, but I have a mountain of 'Nids to paint as well, leftover from Christmas.

For anyone interested, the armies so far consist of:
Nids
- 1 Hive Tyrant
- 2 Tyrant Guard
- 2 Lictors
- 2 Zoanthropes
- 9 Warriors
- 8 Genestealers
- 20 Termagants
- 8 Hormagaunts (damn the old Gaunts boxed set for not giving me enough gaunts for the new 'Dex...)
- 6 Ripper Swarms
- 1 Carnifex
- Old One Eye
- 1 Trygon Prime
- Scythed Hierodule (which I can 'counts-as' Tyrannofex in non-Apoc games if the opponent lets me).

Blood Angels
- Dante w/ 5 Honour Guard
- Captain w/ 5 Honour Guard
- Chaplain (slightly converted, counts-as Lemartes)
- Mephiston
- 5 Death Company with Jump Packs
- 5 Terminators
- 5 Scouts
- Vindicare Assassin (for Apoc)
- Death Company Furioso Dreadnought (made from an Ironclad kit using Chainfist + DCCW- Chainfist will 'count as' a DCCW if the Codex changes their Wargear options).
- 20 Tactical Marines
- 1 Rhino
- 5 Assault Marines
- 1 Attack Bike
- 1 Land Speeder Tornado
- 2 Predator Annihilator (Need one more for Predator Assassin Squadron datasheet in Apoc)
- 1 Vindicator
- 1 Land Raider (FW MK2B Pre-Heresy kit!)

I do have 5k points of CSM too, but I never use them (Codex, etc).

Anyway, I'll try and update this semi-regularly, probably when I get the painting bug again and make some progress on the 'Nids.

Now that sir/lady is nice and pritty, it looks very menacing. Whats the price of some thing like that.

By the way whats your colour scheme.

The cadian 45th

the cadian 45th wrote:Now that sir/lady is nice and pritty, it looks very menacing. Whats the price of some thing like that.

By the way whats your colour scheme.

The cadian 45th

The Hierodule is around £85 GBP (though it works out closer to £100 after postage costs)- I mainly bought it as a nice centerpiece for the army, once it's painted. It's a really nice, detailed model but when I put it next to the GW plastic Trygon, it's not immediately obvious why resin models from FW cost so much. Still, I've had a bit more disposable income than normal lately, so I figured I'd treat myself

As for the colour scheme, I run a very dark one (the fluff for my Nids, which are called Hive Fleet Wraith is that they are bio-engineered to be adept at night fighting. Because of this, their carapace is extremely dark to help them blend into the night). For colours, I do the following:
- Prime black
- Cover all the exoskeleton (arms, legs, body, head etc) in Regal Blue.
- Cover all the carapace plates in Liche Purple.
- Wash entire model in either Badab Black or Devlan Mud (it honestly doesn't matter which).
- Highlight the edges of carapace plates with Codex Grey- I don't highlight much though as I want the models to look dark on purpose.
- Cover all talons/weapons in Mechrite Red.
- Wash talons/weapon recesses in Devlan Mud.
- Drybrush 50/50 Mechrite Red/Blood Red on the end 2/3rds of each talon/weapon.
- Final drybrush of pure Blood Red on the end third of the talon, so it looks like the talons blend from dark to light. I'm not great at this yet, but practicing.
- Drybrush talon edges with Blood Red.
- Teeth are Dheneb Stone (honestly, I use this instead of Bleached Bone now), tongues and mouths are different depending on the model.
- All of the 'exposed' parts of the exoskeleton are painted Goblin Green, followed by a Devlan Mud wash. Thraka Green didn't show up enough.

I'm still experimenting with the colour scheme, especially as last time I painted 'Nids was 2000.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry if double-posting is against the rules.

I managed to get hold of the camera again, and photo some of the stuff I've had lying around.

First of all, I managed to come to a solution regarding the badly fitting Hierodule 'half-talon':

I'll paint the unfortunate Marine up as a Blood Angel (of course). I think this does a decent job of hiding the massive gap there was between the end of the talon and the intended slot in the base. I did need to refit the arm to do this though.

Another size comparison shot:


I dug out some of my Blood Angels to show- most of these are 'tabletop ready', but I may add finishing touches on some of them. I realise my painting isn't great, so apologies in advance.

Captain Erius of the 5th Company


Lord Dante



FW Pre-Heresy Land Raider (looks a lot worse in the photos, lol)




Predator Annihilator


Death Company Furioso Dreadnought (Moriar when we get a new Codex...) - Sorry for the bad image.

Sorry for the wait between updates, it's not often I can get hold of a camera.

Anyway, I've decided to barely work on my Blood Angels (don't see much point when I might have to re-equip a lot of stuff come April's new 'Dex...), so for now, I'm focusing on my Tyranids. However, that doesn't mean I've abandoned the BA altogether, I started work on a Standard Bearer earlier but I'm only painting models that I'm confident won't change much in the new Codex. Regardless, here's an Assault Squad I've almost finished.


...and a Tactical Squad/Rhino


So, for now, onto the more gribbly stuff.

Firstly, I finally decided on a Hive Fleet name. Hypnalis isn't one I've seen used already, and it's a medieval snake monster that was meant to kill its victims with venom while they slept. It sounded like an ideal name for the fluff of my Hive Fleet (which attacks mostly under night, and specialises in sneak attacks/terror tactics to break enemy morale before sending in waves of broods to mop up the area).

With that decided (name WAS Hive Fleet Scylla, but if you look in the new 'Dex, GW now say it's a real fleet so I knew a lot of people would pick the name) I've started to get stuff assembled, and start on the painting.

I'm currently finishing up a Hive Tyrant (Bonesword/Lashwhip/Heavy Venom Cannon), but I'm waiting on a large order of bases from Dark Arts Miniatures before I can show it. I'm sick to death of bland-looking bases, so I've decided that the more important creatures (almost everything on a 40mm+ base) will be on these resin bases. The only exception are plastic models that are already based- it's difficult to take plastic models off the base once they've dried without damaging them. The metal models will be easy (the Hive Tyrant even when pinned will be easy to remove ) and the Hierodule's base is already a scenic one from FW anyway.

What I've been working on (sorry for the pictures, I need to learn to to take better pictures with this camera)

First Warrior, almost completed. I just need to run some highlights on the carapace and it'll be done.


An old Carnifex I had from the last Codex. Again, just needs some highlighting- this guy doesn't even get used much now with Trygons taking Heavy choices.


Lictor. Great pinning practice after being out of the hobby for a while Lictors are probably my favourite 'Nids, so even with a substandard ruleset I try and work them into my lists. Thankfully, they've improved with the new Codex a little.



Another reason I need to get these highlighted is obvious- the colours of my Hive Fleet are very dark, and it's very hard to get a good photo of the colourscheme. For anyone curious, the highlighting for these is Liche Purple mixed with Codex Grey (3:2). It's enough of a difference to stand out against the Badab Black washed Liche Purple carapace,but it doesn't pop out too much.

Oh and finally, there's been no progress on the Hierodule yet, aside from sticking the Marine casualty on the base. I don't want to spoil the model, so I'm working upto it, and getting my regular 'Nids done in the process.

Finally got a little more time to paint. Got the basecoating of Regal Blue down on a load of Termagants and Genestealers, and started working on my older Lictor (the one with the huge grin and triangular eyes ). I've got a really old Lictor and 2 'Alien Queen' Hive Tyrants coming in the mail too, so I should have fun with those.

After baseocoating so many small models, I needed a break, so I worked on my current-gen Hive Tyrant. I'm happy with this so far, and I think I could class it as tabletop-ready now, aside from the base (need my order from Dark Arts to arrive before I can transfer it to a resin scenic base).




You can't see it too well in the images, but I tried my first attempt at highlighting on the purple carapace. I'm using a 3:2 mix of Liche Purple and Codex Grey to make the highlight colour. In decent natural light, it makes the purple carapace pop a lot more, which is what I was after. I'm not sure whether I should run any highlights on the blue skin yet- I like the dark appearance and don't want highlights to make it too bright.

Also, the green at the end of the Heavy Venom Cannon isn't that bright normally, not sure why it's come out so bright on the camera shot. Oh and yes, my Tyrant really does 'fit' that badly on the base. The legs are mounted exactly right, but one hoof is at a ridiculous angle. The kit really needs to be plastic, it weighs an absolute ton and was a pain to get together (even pinning the torso to the lower body it took HOURS to fix together. Horrible kit, but I like how it looks.

Your paintscheme is awesome! And the purple on the carapace pops out a lot.

Looks great

Thanks. A load more 'Nids arrived today, and skyrocketed the points upto 3,600

The new additions:
- 2 more Hive Tyrants (one with loads of Devourers, and one which I'll be converting to be Swarmlord at some point)
- An ancient Lictor model (now I have a Lictor Brood with one of each type).
- 23 Genestealers (thanks to SilverMK2 on here)
- 4 more Rending Claw Warriors (again, SilverMK2)
- 11 more Termagants (see above)

I've assembled the Dakka Tyrant, who will act as a stand-in until I decide to get a FW Winged one. (I play Apoc anyway, Force Organisation Charts are almost meaningless to me ). I had to cut off the ball joint of 2 Devourers and mount it to the other side so that they fit the left-hand side arm sockets. Amusingly, I had to use Gaunt Devourers, the larger ones are WAY too big for the Alien Queen Tyrant's arm sockets... Aside from that, the kit was much easier than I remember (pinning for great justice!)

...There's Tyranids everywhere in my room. I'll try and get more pics of WIPs later.

Well, I decided to go ahead and take photos of the Dakka Tyrant:


Pretty standard stuff, now he joins the list of stuff to paint

Also, I made a start on the Swarmlord conversion... I was originally going to wait for the Maxmini swords to release, but I felt brave and decided to hack up some Scything Talons and have a go for myself first. I need to add some minor details (probably additions to the tail and so on), but it's getting there. As always, the base is temporary until the Dark Arts ones arrive.



I think it turned out pretty well, but I need to trim the ends of 2 talons a little. Hopefully it'll give a little individuality to my army, as most Swarmlords will be the current model HT.

The bonesabres are just Scything Talons cut down and reversed. There's a piece of the HT 'Extended Carapace' between the hand and the blade, to look like a sort-of biological handguard. Hopefully they look somewhat like swords

The top two Talons I've decided don't look too good, so I'm going to get another two of the lower Talons to make all 4 swords identical.

Nice one, I really like the bone sword idea. Can't wait to see 'em painted

Cheers. I don't really like the older talons as swords so I'll be replacing those with more of the lower set (the new Carnifex ones).

I also want to make that Tyrant look a bit different to be more recognisable as a Swarmlord- anyone got any suggestions? I've not really used GS before, so that's probably out of the question.

Battle-damage? Trophies?(that would definatley be unique. Not alot of tyranids carry an sm hemet.) A very creative base?A more individualistic paint scheme? A biological crown?(to signify it's an important synaspe creature)Hope these ideas will inspire and help you. Also, well done!

I went nuts on mine here, http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2010/2/11/82348_sm-Swarmlord%2C%20Tyranids%2C%20Warhammer%2040%2C000.JPG but I would recommend making it bigger and more agressive looking. It is supposed to dwarf a regular tyrant, mine is excessive, so maybe some threat marking on the plates.

@Captain Jack: That Swarmlord's insane I really want to stick with the 'Alien Queen' Tyrant model as a base, but I'm wondering if I could use a Trygon tail as part of a Harpy conversion now

@Munch Munch!: It'll be getting a special resin base from Dark Arts, that's for sure. As for trophies, I think that's more an idea that other armies would use- I just can't see a Hive Tyrant with a trophy rack As for the paint scheme, I guess I could change it slightly for Swarmlord, threat markings sounds like a possible idea. The biological crown isn't a bad idea, but it'd probably be quite difficult to make (and I don't know how well it'd suit the Tyrant model).

Thanks for the suggestions!

I was planning to get down to my local GW to do some painting and hang out with some of the regulars but I just remembered its the half-term holidays for school kids so the place will be packed more than usual. Blargh.

Well, how about adding a horn to the nose of the swarmlord. Also consider using the extra leaf shaped plates that you get on the monstrous nid sprue at the top of the arms as protective plates a bit like I've used on my broodlords head. http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2010/2/13/82739_sm-Broodlord%2C%20Tyranids%2C%20Warhammer%2040%2C000.JPG . Another way you could make him stand out is to reverse the colour scheme, or to use 'threat' patterns colours on the head plates maybe a bright red.

I know, it's been a while since updates. Sorry about that, I've been focusing on other things lately.

Anyway, I got a couple of pictures of the Hierodule with the base colours down. There's still a ton of work to do (highlights, washes and so on), but I made SOME progress at least XD I've only had the model since January




And a shot of my Hive Fleet so far. I have a ton of stuff to paint, and this is only my 'Nids. The Genestealers are orange and the Warriors are red/orange simply because I got them in a trade and haven't got around to stripping them yet.

(I realise the shot is pretty blurry, sorry).

I'll be working on the Hierodule more tomorrow, maybe get around to the detail work. Oh, and the mouth area won't be that colour when it's finished, it was just a base colour.

Cheers, and sorry for the long wait between updates!