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Keep at it Nevelon, there still is time.

Cheers,

CB

Progress is progress. I'm happy you are keeping at it. This community is great for keeping us all motivated.

Weekend was not very productive.

With work done at lunch today the sarge has his ink, needs details, touch ups, and edges. Plus decals and base. Rest of the squad still needs their cleanup blue pass before moving forward. Did work on the gun arms a bit.

Fex body is done. Needs to start the arms. I cleaned a new head for him which is now in the to-prime pile (fingers crossed for good weather this week). I built him as a dakkafex, so used the hightened senses head. Which I think is on the lame side. If I don’t need to use ugly WYSWYG options, I’m not going to.

Went to the FLGS to pick up my dread that I had entered into a contest (shock, didn’t make the podium) As they had a copy on the shelf, I grabbed a Triumph of Saint Katherine Sylteena. I’m not going to rush it to finish by the start of October, but wanted to add it to the SoB I inherited from my fallen friend. I’d like to at least get the base and sarcophagus done in time for the 1 year anniversary of his passing (Oct 4th). We’ll see what the build looks like. Going to have to paint it in parts anyway.

Doing a lot of adulting lately. Still have more to do. Just lost an hour on trying to get my internet sorted/upgraded, but only so long I’m devoting to that on one night. After the hold got too long to try to talk to the 4th person I just noped out of that. Know where I need to go now, so next time should be faster.

Sarge is almost done. Needs some silver work, and the purple heat stress on the flamer. Because I decided to do that. Put the beige on it over lunch. Plus the eyes.

Looking promising.

Flock and decals to go. While the Fex still needs his arms and head, body is done so baseing him at the same time.

OK guys are done. Will take formal pictures tonight before the deadline.

So watched most of the revel last night.

30k stuff looks nice, but that’s probably my least favorite mark of armor, and the dread looks like a transformer who changes into a crappy boat. I’ve berely scratched my age of darkness box. Pass.

TDA Chaplain: I want a new TDA chaplain, but he’s not doing it for me. Not a fan of the chest; just looks blank.

TDA Captain: Glad we are getting a multikit with options. Not wowing me over the Indominus one, or my old one. I might end up converting the Indominus one into a chaplain

TDA Squad: Well executed, pretty much what it says on the tin. Nice glow up of classic models without screwing with them for no damn reason.

Jump Assault: are maybe a little too dynamic. Lots of leaping and leaning forward off tactical rocks. Sounds like they get 1/5 plasma pistols and sarge options. Would have liked to have flamer options to replicate the old assault squad, but I’ll take it.

Jump Captain: Glad he’s out. He does not need to be on that high rock. The pose should be able to hit the ground running with minimal work.

Command squad: Love it. Great looking cluster of minis. Which I have plenty of. Will need to kitbash 2 vets to fill out my roster. Captain looks nice with them, but I’m good for foot captains.

Sternguard look good. Primaris take on an old unit, well executed.

Scouts doing scouty things. Again, modern resculpts, well executed but not sexy. Which is the theme of the release

A lot will depend on what the rules look like. I see a lot of options on the character kits, which is a welcome relief. A lot of classic squads crossing the rubicon, which is good. And keeping a lot of their options, without getting stupid new ones. Little worried about the scouts and snipers. Is it one per squad now in the same place as the ML/HB?

I’m probably in for a box of sternguard and terminators, jump troops and captain. Company is going to want 10 JP boys eventually, but I’ll start with 5 if that’s how they are boxed. The TDA and SG might wait a bit though, I’ve got the pushfits for now. But I do like 10 man squads...

I’d not mind new scouts, but they are a low priority. I suspect they will show up in a KT box. I would love to get the command squad, but it’s 100% redundant for me. If I got one as a gift I’d build and paint it, but when allocating the hobby budget, there is a lot of things ahead of it in line.

The TDA chaplain is the only solid “miss” for me. Which is odd, as they are classically some of the best looking minis across the range over time. It might just be the paint job, but I cant get over how plain the torso it.

Light ‘em up!

Now just to finish the other 4.

And halftime:


Nice mix of stuff. Volume could be better, but there are some big guys in there. And a lot of stuff out of my comfortable rut.

Nice work, Nev. That flamer looks awesome. Nice and grimy and discolored.

Nice, I'm about to start my flamer's as 3rd company too. I have a bunch of left over nid bits to use on their bases and I'm thinking of making the nid bits on fire.

youwashock wrote:Nice work, Nev. That flamer looks awesome. Nice and grimy and discolored.

Not as fancy/detailed as I’ve done in the past. Feathered drybrush of beige, followed by purple contrast. Little silver edgework on top.

Tommygun1918 wrote:Nice, I'm about to start my flamer's as 3rd company too. I have a bunch of left over nid bits to use on their bases and I'm thinking of making the nid bits on fire.

3rd co is the best co. I like what you’ve done to customize them. If/when I get the back half of the squad done, I might try some knifework so they are not all same-y

Nice work, all around, Nev. Looking forward to seeing more.

OK, some progress. Not much, but here we are.



Finished the scything talons for the Fex. Started 2 shooty arms and the new head. Did I mention I got the rattle can out yesterday? Too much to do in one sitting, but finally got back to the cursed city villeins I’d put together. Still need to do the heroes. But it did let me start in on the new better head for the fex. I could technically move him to the done shelf, but I’ll wait until I do these bits. I have a spare set of crushing claws and a OOE head, so I could actually put a pair of fexes on the table if I wanted to right now.

Put the blacks on the jetseer Slow going, but going.

No progress on the marine side, but the HB scout is down for this month’s “Sun’s Out, Guns Out” I think I’m only going to do one mini for the comp this month, as I’ve got a lot of other things that need to be worked on for my yearly goals.

Building the Triumph. Wow there are some really fiddly bits here. Like the little heart mediation on her chest. Did a walkabout on the carpet. It’s like 2mm across and about 1mm deep, and needs to be set just so. Massive PITA. Right now the body is just resting on the platform, which is just sticky tacked to the base. Going to be a lot of painting in parts. We’ll see how much I can get done by October.

"Not much progress."

Posts WiP for 4 different forces.

Maybe not much progress, but you have a ton on the go. Can't wait to see the Triumph come together.

 youwashock wrote:
"Not much progress."

Posts WiP for 4 different forces.

Maybe not much progress, but you have a ton on the go. Can't wait to see the Triumph come together.

Lot of irons in the fire, but none on the anvil. Hoping for some good progress today, but that will have to wait until I’m a little better caffeinated. Progress is slowed a bit because I finally got around to picking up the extra content for the Battletech computer game, so am playing through that again. Also played a few games of 40k MtG with The Boy over the weekend. Sealed commander decks, nids vs necrons. So rusty, so many new keywords. Fun time though.

So, state of the swarm. With the new book about to drop, I thought it would be a good time for a status update.


Here is the last plan


My end of 9th point count for the painted stuff was a little under 4,000 points. Added a bunch of stuff with 10th, but also points drastically changed. I’ll grab a new total with the new codex eventually. Overall pretty good sized hive fleet with a wide assortment of stuff, but not particularly deep (with a few exceptions) One thing with the new book (from reviews) is themed detachments. Which I absolutely love as a concept and look forward to how they do it to other armies. But now, the question is how my collection fits.

Invasion Fleet: Your all-rounder Index option.
Crusher Stampede: Big bug bonanza.
Unending Swarm: Hordes of Gaunts.
Assimilation Swarm: Regeneration built around a new HARVESTER keyword.
Vanguard Onslaught: Sneaky and speedy bugs galore.
Synaptic Nexus: Build around your brainiest bugs and reap the rewards.
(From Goonhammer

Invasion fleet is the index option, and I’m fine for that as a jack-of-all trades.

Do I have enough big bugs? Probably not for this. I might be able to get something together for a low point list, but lack some of the big hitters (tyranofex, big brain, etc) I’m not thematically a huge fan of Nidzilla, so not a big loss. I’m a classic kind of guy. Carpet of gribbles with a few nodes and big bugs scattered around for support

Unending swarm:

That’s reasonably unending. If I really wanted to lean into it I’d probably want another 10-20 hormagants and gargoyles. Not pictured are the pre-painted ones I got with the supply drop which would include another ~30 bodies (and a spare ‘fex for the Crusher Stampede) Of note (and what will get the acetone out) is that there are 2 spike rifles and 2 stranglewebs in the old collection. So not barb launcher (as they are completely new) but some old/new toys for the little guys. Unfortunately with the silly way GW is doing upgrades/points these days, running bare-bones squads is leaving free power on the table. I suspect a full box of the new gaunts is in the cards, just so I have at least one of each of the new options. But it makes the ones from the leviathan box feel real lackluster.

Assimilation Swarm:

Not that there are a lot of minis for this phase of the invasion, but I’ve got 3/4ths of them RIppers, psycophage, haurspex. Missing the pyrovore. But only one of each. Thematically, I’d like to boost this side of my army. I enjoy the concept of being able to swam at all levels. Vanguard, main battle, and assimilation.

Vanguard Onslaught:

This also includes winged bugs, so that adds a bit more. But even just my sneaky bois I’ve got a decent selection of. And if I feel like it I can dig up a LOT more stealers from the depths of the PoS and get them to the table. Might need to pick up Deathleaper or a few of the new lictors (who I like) if I want to lean hard into this. Or another squad of VRLs.

Synaptic Nexus
The Leviathan box helped this branch of the swarm. Added a med/big sized brain bug and the little extension cords for tangling up the table. Of course with the dropping of the HQ zoenthrope and the changes to unit size, the lone guy there is pretty useless. Getting a box of floating death brains is still on my list. Of course, this detachment is focused not just on pure brain bugs, but all synapse. So I have the rest of the table to pull from.

Overall status:
My overall collection goal is to have a small/medium/large representative from all the major branches of the nid evolution. The 10th starter helped a lot with that, giving me small artillery and brain bugs, which I needed, and reinforcing a few spots where I only have one option. It also brought back attaching characters to units. I need to take a good look at things when the full codex drops to see if I need to pickup some bodyguard units (hive guard? melee warriors?) The new stuff looks cool, but I have quite the backlog to get through at this point, so will probably not be picking anything up but the codex on release.

That is a lot of Nids.

Cheers,

CB

And another nid for the swarm. Enough fresh parts he doesn’t need to borrow from OOE and can stand on his own.

Basecoats going down on the scout. Old green died, passing the torch to the new. Not the last of my active duty RT paints, but they do grow thin. Metaphorically. Literally they are getting thicker...

'fex looks good. I like the gradation on the red-- is that just Contrast?

I hate it when a paint runs out-- miniature paints (as opposed to, say, Tamiya or Mr. Color) are really hard to find where I am, so I have to do mail order when I need to replace one. I hate having to rely on the on-screen approximation of the color to decide if it's what I want.

The gradient is probably due to a few things. While I don’t zeniethal highlight, I do spray brime, and often not a complete even coat. So sometimes the recesses have a thinner coat where the grey peeks though.

Then the base layer of Grey Seer. Just one, so again not full coverage, so the recesses might be a little darker.

(The flesh wash is next, and while not on the red spots, I’m nothing if not sloppy so some does get on the claws etc. The next 2 steps generally hide anything, but the base of the claws might be a hair darker due to this. I count it as a feature)

Blood Angels Red contrast. Now this should be pooling and getting me the gradient intentionally.

Nuln Oil shade (old formula) over all* the reds. Should reinforce the contrast and help “blend” into the skin by making the transition less abrupt.

* - Tongues get BFtBG instead for the glossy, gory finish instead of the matting that the shade gives

--

I worry a good bit about color matching. Although with age my collections tends to drift around the spectrum despite this. I picked up a promising pot of blue contrast to replace the dwindling ink I use for all my Ultras, but haven’t tried it out yet. Need a test subject and some spare time in the paint queue. What I should do is buy a few pots from one of the many companies that either claim to match or in theory still produce the old hex pot cote d’arms paints.

Cote D'Arms makes good stuff.

Big bug looks awesome!

Nice work on the 'nids.

Headed down to the FLGS to grab the new codex. And like a sucker, a new box of gaunts. I probably should have picked up a box of one of the new flavor of lictors, or the termagaunt box for the new gun. But these guys are just so cute. Like happy puppies bounding across the battlefield, looking for snacks and hugs. The 20 I have didn’t really feel swarmy enough to lead the charge. I suspect I’ll want another 10 to do 2x20 blobs, but having the option for 3x10 seems like it might be good. Need to digest the codex.



Painting progress


Slowly getting layers down. The HB on the scout is misaligned, but I don’t feel like chopping his arm off to fix it. Getting layers down on another big bug. Chugging along. I really want to get the nid combat patrol done, and he’s needed.

Need to finish those marines.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend

So no progress on actual projects, but the side bug is moving right along.


Question for the room: What color smoke? Deciding between white (with blue-grey shadows) or yellow tinted goblin green. Both of which I’ve used in the past.

The latter I think will contrast better.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
The latter I think will contrast better.

For reference, these are my smoke templates:




Although looking at that smoke grenade it’s a lot more grey then I was thinking. Probably just the white contrast paint, but maybe a very thinned blue/turquoise glaze. But nowhere near the etherial effect I use on the wraiths.

I think something more yellow than the green on the chainrasps would look good - play off toxic smog.

Quick WIP. Bug might be done, might need a little more fine tuning. Plus the base. Scout is getting there. Almost time for camo.

I like the look of the smog bug. Nice and gribbly, and the green smoke is a nice addition of color.

Psychophage looks great, the green smoke at least adds some interest, more so than plain white or gray would do. I like the way you did the inside of his mouth too, looks nice and gross. Nice to see your swarm growing too; gives me some inspiration for my own swarm (which I hope to start on soonish).

Nice set of foes, blue boys and the Nids, very nice!

Pycho/Scout (Qu'est-ce que c’est) finished. Got the final pics of the scout done and up in the challenge thread. Pychophage will get its formal shots at the end of year. Dabbled a little BftBG onto the still wet flock for the blood soaked snow effect, Hopefully it dries well. We’ll see.

The severed arm used the blue contrast over the normal blue base, replacing the ink. Looks good, I should do a full scale test. Moved the free saurus warrior I got to the spare paint handle and put a grey seer basecoat on him. Going to see what the contrast looks like straight up.

Still need to finish the marines, farseer, and all the random bits and bobs. Almost done with Q3, need to take stock of how I’m doing YTD. Feel like there are going to be a lot of misses this year. But we’re not done yet.

Debating just leaving the cherubs off the Triumph; dislike the little weirdos. But it would require carving the chains off the sarcophagus, and getting the flur de lies they are attached to cleaned up. That’s a lot of fine detail carving, which is not something I’m good at.