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@Dr H: Thank you kind sir.

@Mad..: There's been a resurgence of 40k interest by both my boys. Nice to see. I agree, the action shots are the most fun.

Next up. FW Malanthrope... which we're probably going to use as a venomthrope as they are more useful. Looks like it's going to be a fun model to paint.

Next up... a Forge World Malanthrope. I did this in one evening... which is a new record for me. Nice figure... really enjoyed painting it. We'll probably use it as a venomthrope as the rules are better.

I love the highlighting on the carapace.

Suitably slimy looking. Good Job!

I'm glad you like it Anpu, it's still a "quick and dirty" paint-job, but I'm actually refining my technique a bit as I go. This is a definite improvement over previous incarnations of my Nid painting. I added the layer of Aard Coat to the carapace on this one to make it stand out from the rest of the body. The aard coat is still wet here, which is why you can see some cloudiness in the green.

Good job again, Gits'.

and in one evening. I'm doing well to finish one colour in an evening...

Nice looking Malathrope, I really like the green carapace, very eye catching. Yellow tubes are awesome too.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Next up... a Forge World Malanthrope. I did this in one evening... which is a new record for me. Nice figure... really enjoyed painting it. We'll probably use it as a venomthrope as the rules are better.

....Bwah?

No no no. The Malanthrope is by far better point for point than two Venomthropes. More wounds, a respectable armour save, better toughness and Synapse to boot! But your choice.

Reminds me, I have to get back to painting my own....

@DSS: Well, we don't have the second edition of the Nid IA book yet, so we're limited to using it as something we have the rules for. We will definitely keep that in mind for the future though.

@Dr H: I couldn't believe it either. I did the base color and wash early in the morning, then everything else in the evening. It all worked out very nicely. It helps that I'm not trying to do a very fancy job... I have a clear set of parameters and color schemes, so I just get to it. Not dithering or fiddling involved.

 DarkStarSabre wrote:

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Next up... a Forge World Malanthrope. I did this in one evening... which is a new record for me. Nice figure... really enjoyed painting it. We'll probably use it as a venomthrope as the rules are better.

....Bwah?

No no no. The Malanthrope is by far better point for point than two Venomthropes. More wounds, a respectable armour save, better toughness and Synapse to boot! But your choice.

Reminds me, I have to get back to painting my own....

Agree that the Malanthrope is better. I missed the bit where you were going to use this as a Venomthrope. Although if your not allowed to use one (FW) then venomthropes are still pretty sweet

Good thing you're getting the young'uns into miniature wargaming. The nids look perfectly fine. Pretty amazing how you painted that FW Venothing in just an evening. Looks creepy and crawly.

You know Sigur... it was easier than it looks. Or perhaps I'm just enjoying it more because I don't have to paint two dozen of them at once.

@Mad..: We can use FW around here, just don't have the book yet.

And so it begins... Luckily all I have to do is build and base it. Unluckily... I have no instructions.

This is going to be an exciting project then, who's your painter?

Local friend. Does commission painting but I don't think he's got a web page or anything. He'll give it some extra attention so it can be a show-piece for the army. Right now, the challenge is figuring out how to build it and in what order. I also have to figure out how to pin everything. I've got a rather novel idea for pinning the legs and basing it. We'll see how it works. Right now I'm just filing my brains out.

Am I being blind or is there only 5 legs in the picture?

Gits', check out Blackadder's tyranid blog. He went though how he built one of these, with pinning etc.
Link: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/564134.page#6600380

Gir', I believe the fifth leg there is the tail. It walks on 4 legs and has two guns.

It comes with two gun arms and a ton of bits. Basic construction seems pretty straight-forward but the legs (which is what I'm most concerned about) don't set tightly into place, the sockets are rounded which means it would be easy to get things just katty-whumpus enough that it wouldn't sit just right. My basing plan should take nearly all the weight off of the legs without requiring extensive modification. That's the plan anyway.

I'll certainly check out Blackadder's bog. Thanks for the tip Dr H.

 Dr H wrote:


Gir', I believe the fifth leg there is the tail. It walks on 4 legs and has two guns.

It might not be the tail if its male.....

Back vents are on and pinned. Not the best castings as far as fit goes. Just need to wait until green stuff cures and will begin work on the head tomorrow (and more filing).

I think it's just an older model, mine had similar fit issues. Hit me up if you have any assembly questions or want to compare notes.

Thing 2.. Happy birthday you Nid!

Aye, happy birthday to the young (ripper? gaunt? Or has he progressed to a genestealer?). Tell Gits to get that centerpiece model finished

Regarding the old Malanthrope discussion above, I have that book and can let you know the rules of it if you like Gits - it really is incredibly more amazing than a Venomthrope and since you've gone and gotten the actual model it'd be great to use it as such

Happy Spawning day . Hope your hive blesses you with a great deal of biomass (cake and ice cream preferably) and the collective mind puts you in charge of new critters. (New gifts to expand the hive)

All the best people have their birthdays in September.

Now I know of 2 at least!

What happened to the bio titan?

This is thing two, thanks for the messages. My dad just sent my titan (off to be painted - GS) so I'm waiting on that and I'm also working on my new malanthrope. I'm thinking to put a lighter green tint to my Nids, what do you think? I will put a picture up pretty soon. I would say I'm a genestealer but who knows from thing two.



**** This is the actual Gitsplitta... he's asking how everyone like the lighter shading/streaking of green on his malanthrope (as compared to the older models which have considerably darker plates). He got a second malanthrope for his birthday and he'll be painting it himself with a bit of help from me.****

I like the lighter better. It breaks up the carapace bettter.

Yeah, lighter streaks are usually a nice way to add some "texture" to the carapace.

That looks sweet , I like it more than just the darker shade so keep at it.