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Thanks gretar and ph34r: The new nid codex actually offers up alot of opportunites for albino mutants: Tyranid Primes, Trygon Alphas, Swarm Lord, Ymargls, Parasite, ect. So there will be more albinos in the future.

OK, so a bit of a discussion and how to guide for easily pinning Hive Guard (for those of us with metal Hive Guard still unassembled ).

Basically, the traditional method of pinning which revolves around drilling holes in each of metal parts separately, glueing a pin, and then trying to allign the two parts doesn't work to well with the complex beast that is the Hive Guard - Largely due to the poor fit of the joins coupled with the multiple attachment points. Fortunately, there is not alot of detail (as in none) on the shoulder areas, which lends itself well to another simpler method.


Step 1: Get your tools. a) Super Glue b) bent needle nose pliers c) clippers d) router and drill bit for which I used a 3/64" drill bit e) pinning material for which I used 18 gauge aluminum wire you can readily pick up at a True value Store (in the US) f) pin vise and a 1/16" drill bit f) File.

Step 2: Assemble your model with superglue. Don't worry about pinning at this point, just make sure that the parts are lined up as best as you can.

Step 3: Start by using the pin vise to put a small hole (1/64" deep or so) on the shoulder to be pinned to mark the point of entry. Next get the router and drill a hole about 1/2" deep. You will be penetrating through the arm and into the body. Trying to drill a 1/2" hole through metal with a normal pin vise sucks. I find it usefull when using a router to work the drill bit in and out of the hole to avoid lockups/jams as well as to both widen the hole and remove the metal filings. I should warn readers, that after pinning 4 Hive Guard Models, the 3/64" drill bit was toast.

Step 4: Cut a length of wire about 3/4". One end should be cut at an angle to facilitate entry into the hole you made with the router.

Step 5: Place a drop of glue (non-gel if possible) into the hole. Place the pin into the hole and allow the glue to set The pin should stick out of the hole a 1/4" or so.

Step 6: Snip the protruding pin material while still allowing 1/64" to stick out.

Step 7: File the pin down. Due to the softness of aluminum, the extra metal will fill in the edges of the hole, filling in the seams perfectly so that no further work will be needed.





2 of my 6 Hive Guard. In thier case, I was cutting the pins too short and thus had to fill the holes with green stuff, which after curing, I sanded down to a smooth surface. This can be avoided as long as you keep the hole only slightly larger than the pin and allow a bit of the pin to stick out of the hole after clipping.

The mottling... Just... Wow! Truly stunning work. The paint scheme, while muted, really makes the models stand out from the usual mess of colours people like to slather onto their models. I can only hope my painting can come to half of that once I start painting my conversion heavy swarm.

And then to top all off you end up sharing a very cool pinning trick that eliminates one of the biggest pains of pinning — alignment.

As I'd been considering mottling in my paint scheme, I'm just curious as to how much time it takes per model, on average, to get the effect just right.

By mottling, I assume you are refering to the leopard spots that are on the body. They are only one color: Shadow Grey for the albinos and Black for the normal figs. It has been a year or so, but I think it took roughly 10 minutes per model which included some time needed for touchups around the spots to get the interlocking pattern just right. :arger models might have taken up to 30 minutes. I use a 000 sized brush when painting the leopard spots.

The pinning trick posted above is very usefull when you have a non-detailed surface to drill into. Do note, that after pinning 4 Hive Guard Models, the 3/64" drill bit was toast.

Uploaded pics of my assembled Tyranid Prime which comes equiped with dual bone-swords and a deathspitter as well as magnitized options for toxic sacs and adrenal glands.



Also pictures of my second fully magnitized and assembled Carnifex. This one is currently loaded out with Devourers.

Great use of bitz on the Prime. Also love the fact that this is the first slithering Prime I ever see. The Paulson Swords really suit that model well. Did you magntise them or do you solely plan on running him with dual swords rather than sword/lash?

Thanks for the inspiration on the Dakkafexes. Your upright stance gives them much more presence and is exactly what I needed to realise to push my design forward. I'd originally built mine in the standard hunched pose and was never quite sold on them. They just seemed so short and low to the ground. Plus it was the first time I built up a carnifex kit without any conversion work and it just felt lazy to rush them. Ripped the two of them apart on Friday for a total rebuild.

In regards to pinning, I prefer to use 16gauge steel wire on the bigger models for exactly what you said about the drill bits being burnt out after a few uses. A 1/16 HSS drill bit last a lot longer and the larger diameter wire makes a better anchor. The chief downside though it that it can't be smoothed out as per your technique, which I'll definitely have to try one of these days.

Just wondering... did you go as far as to give your army a "name"?
Ex. Hive Fleet Exterminate... etc.

@meatman33: well after 5th edition I kiddingly started calling it Hive Fleet Mascocist...because 5th edition put the screws to the old codex. But I never have found a good desert themed legendary monster to name them. Most of the fleets are named after monsters of legend and my nids are suppose to be desert themed.


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Dark_Gear wrote:Great use of bitz on the Prime. Also love the fact that this is the first slithering Prime I ever see. The Paulson Swords really suit that model well. Did you magntise them or do you solely plan on running him with dual swords rather than sword/lash?

Thanks for the kind comments, I wanted something to help differentiate him without resorting to massive ammounts of plasticard (Aduro I am looking at you ). It's no where near the mind-blowing conversions that some other posters (still looking at you Aduro) have come up with, but I think it gets the job done. While I did magnitize the toxic and adrenal glands, I did not magnitize the weapon options. I was thinking about it...but I was short on time, having a league game that next morning.

Thanks for the inspiration on the Dakkafexes. Your upright stance gives them much more presence and is exactly what I needed to realise to push my design forward. I'd originally built mine in the standard hunched pose and was never quite sold on them. They just seemed so short and low to the ground. Plus it was the first time I built up a carnifex kit without any conversion work and it just felt lazy to rush them. Ripped the two of them apart on Friday for a total rebuild.

Great minds think alike . My first carnifexes were also built hunched over and the poses were much less dynamic as everything was pretty much assembled along a single axis. Very boring. While I did magnitize those carnifexes as well (though in the later cases it was just the head and weapon options), the magnets were weaker and as a result suffered from droopy arm syndrome. Like you, I ended up throwing these models in a bath of simple green, breaking them down into thier separate components. I then reassembled them into the models you see above.

In regards to pinning, I prefer to use 16gauge steel wire on the bigger models for exactly what you said about the drill bits being burnt out after a few uses. A 1/16 HSS drill bit last a lot longer and the larger diameter wire makes a better anchor. The chief downside though it that it can't be smoothed out as per your technique, which I'll definitely have to try one of these days.

What...is this...HSS drill bits...you speak of? [/shatnerese]

HSS = High Speed Steel = standard steel drill bits that you buy at any hardware store. It's not so much that they last longer because of the material they're made out of it's more that due to their larger size the bits don't get dull as fast (if at all) when you're just drilling soft metal.

Speaking of Carnifexes, finished the rebuilds today. Poses are now more upright and the first pair of arms has been tweaked a bit by making them longer. Used a pair of large ScyTal arms chopped at the wrist. The weapons were cut off from the "stubby arms" close to the wrist as well, filed neatly and then blended into the ScyTal arms with copious amounts of extra thin cement. I should have the pics up sometime tomorrow in the Spawning Vats(tm).

Regarding naming your fleet, Masochist is a great choice as I can definitely relate to your feelings about the 5th ed dex.

At first it looked really good on paper yet my army kept on getting beaten...badly. Lately though, the tides have been turning. Once I realised that "quantity is a quality all it's own" I also realised that Nids have the ability to apply this truism not just to "boots on the ground" but also to armour saves through shooting. Not many can claim this but as it stands my nids currently outshoot Tau. Very seldom do I actually have to get into combat with my gribblies as most armies are just killed before I even get there. Thank you Biovores.

By saying the above I'm not at all trying to gloat at my recent successes, on the contrary, what I'm saying is that, yes, the latest Nid Dex is for masochistic players. You really have to love to learn the hard way, through trial and error, because figuring out the synergistic combos of this army takes a while. Until you figure out how to coordinate: army selection, terrain selection at the start of the game, objective placement, deployment, coordinated movement of multiple units, synapse, synchronisation of multiple psychic powers, assault, feints, outflanking, running through cover and target priority; your games will always be masochistic ordeals for you. Once you do figure out how to work all of these components with the Nids, it might be time to change your name to Hive Fleet Sadist because very few armies will really mess you up and you'll be the one bringing the pain. I'm not a WAAC player by any stretch of the imagination but I just love a good challenge and as far as fun challenges that help me relax on weekends, very few equal the satisfaction of mastering this Dex.

To give you an idea of my line of thought regarding the Nid's "strenght by torrent of fire" ask yourself: If 3 Dakkafexes cost the same as 1 tervigon and 40 devourer gaunts, Why spend points on 18 t6 wounds with 36 shots when you could have 40 wounds and 120 shots (and many other benefits)? Yes you lose some anti-transport shots but this dex has other ways of dealing with tin cans but few ways to deal with disembarked infantry that are as cheap as devilgaunts.

Pardon the rambling but i figured you'd enjoy the thoughts since, just like me, you're converting dakkafexes even though cheaper options exist in the Dex.

Dark_Gear wrote:Regarding naming your fleet, Masochist is a great choice as I can definitely relate to your feelings about the 5th ed dex.

I think you misunderstood . I was refering to the 5th edition main rulebook putting the screws to the 4th edition nid codex.

Pardon the rambling but i figured you'd enjoy the thoughts since, just like me, you're converting dakkafexes even though cheaper options exist in the Dex.

Actually, 2 of the three carnifexes are standins for Tervigons as GW hasn't released those models yet. My current list was largely inspired by tactic and BR reviews writtin by Jankinth, Hulk Smash, and Shep and currently consists of:

Tyranid Prime w/ Dual BS, DS, Toxic Sacs

Hive Tyrant w/ BS & LW, Set of TL Devours, Paroysm and Leech Essense, Adrenal Glands, and either Hive Commander or Ancient Advisary depending on the mission

2x 14 man genestealers

2x Tervigons with Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Adrenal Glands, and Toxic Sacs

2x 10 man Guants with Spinefists (Meh...they are painted from 4th )

2x 2 man Hive Guard

Carnifex with 2x TL Devourers

7 man ymargls

So next up is my Samurai Hive Tyrant, Heihachi, displaying his supreme wood chopping skills!



As you can guess Heihachi is magnitized with the following options so far:

Lash Whip: 1/8" x 1/8" magnet

Bone Sword: 1/8" x 1/8" magnet

Body (Arm Sockets): 1/8" x 1/8" magnet

Body (Chest/Adrenal Gland): 1/16" x 1/16" magnet

Adrenal Gland: 1/16" x 1/8" magnet

Toxic Sacs: 1/16" x 1/32" magnet

Devourers (Toxic Sacs): 1/16" x 1/32" magnet

Devourers (Arm Sockets): 1/8" x 1/8" magnet

The compiled picture above shows where I placed the magnets in the devourer arms to hold the toxic sacs in place. It also displays some of the conversions. I orginally bought the metal Hive Tyrant on Ebay. The body's carapace was already extended, increasing the length of the abdnomen. This part was not done by me. I then hired a Dakka member to magnitize the tyrant model...but that fell through and all he did was drill some holes in the Tyrant's body. So the rest of the drilling and magnitizing was done hesitantly by yours truely...But I got it done and have grown quite adapt at magnitizing because of these latest efforts. The holes by the way were drilled using a 1/8" drill bit via a router . Moving the bit in and out of the hole widened it enough to fit the magnet in snuggly. Finally, the lash whip and bone sword looked too spindly for the 3rd edition body, so I added carapace plates to the shoulders and sculpted the transitionary flesh out of green stuff for a pretty nice result if I say so myself. Unfortunately, the weight of the metal arms was too much for the magnets alone so I needed pins to help hold them up (as shown above). The pins are blended, using green stuff, into the flesh of the shoulder carapace with the protusion fitting into small holes drilled into the body adjacent to the arm sockets (where the magnets are located). Lastly, the lash whip was missing a barb at the end. Fortunately, a small arm talon off of junk hormaguant happened to be perfect tip with only a little green stuff to help blend it in!

Oh, and lastly, a compiled picture of my three magnitized carnifexes. It was around the time of basing my last carnifex that my back went out and a week later I found that I had two bulging disks :(. I guess several weeks of all nighters spent hunched over modeling took its toll.



Oh and a few tips on magnetizing to share:

Magnitizing isn't so bad if you have a dremel to drill out the holes. I usually make the hole a wee bit wider (by jiggling the drill bit around) and deeper so as to green stuff over the hole (creating a softer surface for the two bits to rub against as metal on metal tends to quickly scrape paint).

Making sure the magnets are all facing the right way when glued into the model can be made real easy by stacking all the magnets together and painting the end of the stack that will remian exposed a differnet color than the magnets. When inserting the magnets into the model you place some glue (gel works well) on the unpainted end and stick the stack into the hole. Using your thumbnail, you separate the glued magnet from the rest of the stack and with your other hand pull away at an angle, using your thumbnail to keep the magnet in the hole.

Loving the angle on that Tyrant. Great. Now you make me want to convert my 3rd ed. fellow into a similar sort of dynamic.

(I have 2 but one is clearly going to be a Doom.)

gakky about your back. I hope you have a better chair now so you can keep up the great work hehehe

wyomingfox wrote:I think you misunderstood . I was refering to the 5th edition main rulebook putting the screws to the 4th edition nid codex.

Yup I totally missed that you were talking about the 4th ed Nid Dex. I actually thought the 4th ed. dex was fine at the start of 5th ed, what with the fact we had flesh hooks, grenades and cheap Carnies back then. With time I've grown to prefer 5th ed nids by far.

wyomingfox wrote:Actually, 2 of the three carnifexes are standins for Tervigons as GW hasn't released those models yet. My current list was largely inspired by tactic and BR reviews writtin by Jankinth, Hulk Smash, and Shep and currently consists of:

Tyranid Prime w/ Dual BS, DS, Toxic Sacs

Hive Tyrant w/ BS & LW, Set of TL Devours, Paroysm and Leech Essense, Adrenal Glands, and either Hive Commander or Ancient Advisary depending on the mission

2x 14 man genestealers

2x Tervigons with Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Adrenal Glands, and Toxic Sacs

2x 10 man Guants with Spinefists (Meh...they are painted from 4th )

2x 2 man Hive Guard

Carnifex with 2x TL Devourers

7 man ymargls

Interesting list. I'll have to try it sometime just to throw my opponents a curve ball. It's play style seems so utterly alien to me as I run a very "shootie" list.

Hive Tyrant w/ BS & LW, Set of TL Devours, Paroysm and Leech Essense, Adrenal Glands, and either Hive Commander and Ancient Advisary

2 x 3 Hive Guard

2 x Venomthropes

6 x Warriors Whip Sword, Deathspitter, Barbed Strangler, Adrenals (outflanking)

1 x Tervigon Adrenal, Sacs, Catalyst

6 x Biovores

2 x Carnifex with 2x TL Devourers, Adrenal (for initiative 4 on the charge)

Great use of bits on the prime, even more so using a router for drilling. One thing I really appreciate with your pics is that you showed the underside of the old Tyrant's head plates and I'd always wondered what it looked like. I'll put that to good use on the tervigon I'm working on, once I get to sculpting the head.

@Darkstarsabre: I look forward to seeing your "Doom"rant. Oh, and I have 4 3rd Ed Tyrants and a Forge World Flyrant.

@Dark_Gear: I understand what you mean by an alien play style. I ran shooty nids throughout 3rd and 4th edition. In fact, I remember getting all these dirty looks back in the days of third edition from my fellow gamers at Alantic Comics because my lists were unfluffy...they prefered nid players to emphasize CC and run head long into thier gunlines and rhino rushes. I prefered to smack thier armies at range with my only CC units being hormies whose only role was to tie thier deathstars up in CC till the end of the game .

wyomingfox wrote:@Darkstarsabre: I look forward to seeing your "Doom"rant. Oh, and I have 4 3rd Ed Tyrants and a Forge World Flyrant.

Indeed. Soon as he's stripped and ready - and probably once I've bought more green stuff for it.

My own collection? 2 FW Flyrants, 2 3rd Ed. Hive Tyrants (1 normal, 1 Doom), 2 4th ed Hive Tyrants (1 normal, 1 Swarmlord). And 4 2nd ed. Hive Tyrants (2 Tyrant Guard, 2 Hive Guard!)

Curious question. What's the base on the head plates?

OK...you win . As for the colors, the Tyrant has Shadow Grey and the Carnies have a 1:1 mix of bestial brown and dead flesh (Vallejo Colors)

Ah. So actual paint bases. I thought it was something odd.

And so not a competition.

Also - curse you Dakka! CURSE YOU! You now have me wanting to paint 'bids again....

*Whimper*

I already have Dark Elves and Exinction Angels to paint...and the Sisters of Battle I've been doing for a friend for the past few years....and my Imperial Paladins...and my Lizards....and my Death Guard...and finishing Typhus off and starting Harry the Hammer for Golden Demon....

Oh, wait...are you talking about the Oval and 60mm Bases the models are mounted on?...I thought you were refering to the head carapace.

The bases were painted with the same base colors as the models via spray paint.

For the carnies it was Rustoleums Camouflage Dark Brown (this is not a primer!). Also make sure you shake this well and test on some models you really don't like as the first spray caused a rough finish on one of my carnies, forcing me to throw it into the Simple Green Vat .

The Tyrant was painted with Krylon's Rust Tough Grey Primer.

For the past several months, I have been assembling a 2000 point army for our area's local league. Because they only require a base three colors (and since I am a slow painter) I have stuck to priming the models, washing the flesh with Babad Black, and painting the head carapace a different color.

Oh no - definately the paint, not the bases

And that explains - I take it you will be going back and torturing yourself with that beautiful detail. Clever plan too as it lets you play while you paint.

Of course...but until then I shall refer to them as Hive Fleet Dennis Rodman.

wyomingfox wrote: In fact, I remember getting all these dirty looks back in the days of third edition from my fellow gamers at Alantic Comics because my lists were unfluffy...they prefered nid players to emphasize CC and run head long into thier gunlines and rhino rushes. I prefered to smack thier armies at range with my only CC units being hormies whose only role was to tie thier deathstars up in CC till the end of the game .

Funny thing you should mention that. Last weekend after eeking out a tie against a fully meched up IG player (12 or 13 tanks in a 2k point game) I had 3 players trying to convince that my list was unfluffy because it had so much shooting and very little CC. I just shook my head and laughed. I guess a lot of players have swallowed the internet misconception that Nids are a lower tier list that can't deal with Mech at all in 5th ed. Either that or they can't stand having to think in a skirmish. <shrug>. I usually redress their concerns about not being swarmy enough by showing up with a 38 winged model Deathstar. <cue: evil grin>

So how's the Doom coming along?

Doom? I think DarkStarSabre is working on that for his bug list. I have no plans on building a Doom as I can't see putting him in any of my lists.

Yep. I think we've confused folks with this talk of Dooms (and I'm largely making him due to the sheer size of my swarm - it'd be an insult not to have things like him for Apoc games).

And Hive Fleet Dennis Rodman?

As long as it doesn't try to consume itself....

Not confused one bit, I just figured that since you've got some conversion skills, why don't we all just have a "Doom Build-Off" (TM)?

Yeah, seriously, we have enough 'Nid artists here for such an event don't you think?

Oh man that make me cry, they are beautiful

Thanks for the praise Kevlar'o


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Dark_Gear wrote:I just figured that since you've got some conversion skills, why don't we all just have a "Doom Build-Off" (TM)?

Yeah, seriously, we have enough 'Nid artists here for such an event don't you think?

My conversion skills are pretty limmited. You my friend have conversion skills . Mad skills. What I do have is painting skills (and budding magnitizing skills) but it is aganizingly slow. Though I have to agree, Dakka does have its fair share of very talented nid artists and a "Doom Build-Off" (TM) would be very entertaining...especially if each participant posted his work in progress as tutorials on a compiled thread .

It has been a few months since I painted (beyond simple base colors). Think next week, I will start back on my space wolves and get those bikes and longfangs finally finished - wow, I have been working on them for over 6 months .

Officially my favorite 'nid scheme.

Thanks Raccoon and welcome to the thread

I'll def readup on the previous pages.

So...after seeing the upcoming releases for August and noticing yet more DE models on thier way, I decided to email GW customer service with a formal complaint, requesting they expedite the rollout of the plastic Tervigon.

This was thier response:

GW Public Relations wrote:Dear Tyranid Force Owner,

On Behalf of the company we would like to apologize for the vagrant neglect and open hostility that you been exposed to over the past several years. Be rest assured, that those responsible for these actions have been identified and punished for their heinous deeds. For instance, the design staff responsible for 5th edition has been shipped off to Ethiopia, where upon arrival they will be summarily fed to a litter of starving kittens. Phil Kelly, the originator of JOWW and Codex: DE has been locked in the basement closet where he is currently being co-molested by the Teletubies. Matt Ward, for his efforts in designing Codex: GK has had all his orifices stuffed with pineapples. Lastly, Robin Cruddace, the writer of Codex: IG, Codex: Tyranids, and, yes, the related FAQ, has been relocated to…Kansas. We offer up our heartfelt condolence for your past suffering. As compensation, please accept this Lollipop as well as a personal message from Jervis Johnson: He would like you to know that he had it shoved up his butt for the past three days; he humbly requests that you…

SUCK IT!

Sincerely,

GW Public Relations

Well not a WIP progress post but a little comedic relief. Anyways, this evening, I should have posted pics of my WIP on the genestealers and ymargls up.