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Really fun to see your scheme applied to such a classic Nid, plus great composition on that first photo

AND yea, that FW update! Hierodules going to heavy was massive in itself! Though I'm most interested in the changes to the dima.

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 catbarf wrote:
Hah hah just kidding the Forge World updates motivated me to get back to my Tyranids.

I got The Red Terror more for collecting than gaming reasons; it stood out to me when I first got the 3rd Ed codex back in 2001. I started painting it back in July and got about halfway through when I realized that having the arms attached was going to make patterning impossible. I threw it in a tub of isopropyl alcohol and forgot about it.

Well, painting with the arms separate made it considerably easier, so I got it knocked out in about four hours over three days.

now that is a nice little bug

Btw, let's say you'd want to make radioactive nids, with a black carapace, would you use white or bone for the non fleshy bits?

Not Online!!! wrote:
Btw, let's say you'd want to make radioactive nids, with a black carapace, would you use white or bone for the non fleshy bits?

Hmm... I think either would work, but if it were me personally, I'd go with white, and then have the 'radioactive' element represented as that stereotypical green radioluminescent glow on the vents. Using white + black for the main colors would give that green glow more pop and help it to stand out- something like the top image here. In my mind bone is more suitable for a naturalistic look, which is at odds from the deliberately artificial/alien glow effect. If you meant something else by 'radioactive' then this might all be useless advice

Anyways, I think I'll see about finishing my brood of six Raveners next, but I have another Carnifex in the mail, so magnetizing it might be my next video per popular request.

 catbarf wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
Btw, let's say you'd want to make radioactive nids, with a black carapace, would you use white or bone for the non fleshy bits?

Hmm... I think either would work, but if it were me personally, I'd go with white, and then have the 'radioactive' element represented as that stereotypical green radioluminescent glow on the vents. Using white + black for the main colors would give that green glow more pop and help it to stand out- something like the top image here. In my mind bone is more suitable for a naturalistic look, which is at odds from the deliberately artificial/alien glow effect. If you meant something else by 'radioactive' then this might all be useless advice

Anyways, I think I'll see about finishing my brood of six Raveners next, but I have another Carnifex in the mail, so magnetizing it might be my next video per popular request.

i think the whitegrey should indeed work out nicely, and yeah i allredy have a plan for the Stereotypical radioactive stuff


thanks for the tip.

Got some Raveners done to accompany the Red Terror.

Can I just say that I dislike the jaw design on the Raveners and Warriors, where the jaw is separate from the rest of the head and includes the eyes? If I don't catch myself and use just the tiniest bit of plastic glue, it dissolves the top of the eye, and then I have to freehand the eyeball. The way the molds are set up also merges the front two teeth into a single giant tooth, which is a bit goofy. I think the designs of a lot of the older Tyranid kits have held up well, but the way they're molded leaves something to be desired.

Anyways, I've got these guys magnetized so I can swap between Rending Claws and Scything Talons, but I ultimately just glued in the Spinefist torsos rather than trying to magnetize that too. I figured the Spinefist ones are the best compromise, visually, to play as any of the three torso weapons.

Next up is probably another Carnifex, since magnetizing them has been frequently requested for a tutorial video.

I have to agree with you on the Tyranid Warriors, I absolutely love the look of the Warriors (I have quite a few of them) but how they cut them up for adding to the sprue was really odd.

I was informed about a week ago that I actually had not missed the deadline for Armies on Parade.

I hadn't initially planned to enter, but figured I might as well throw together a quick board, put all my Tyranids on it, and send in some pics.

That is epic.
I would say the only thing missing is beach shack selling coconut drinks...

Wow! They really are impressive en masse like that. Good luck in AoP

Immense army shots! Look forward to seeing you on AOP

Well, after another bit of work I've got my last major addition- a third Carnifex, this time converted with a more upright pose to serve as my new Old One Eye. I also gave it the Stone-Crusher's scythed tail, because why not. OOE's already got Tervigon claws, might as well go oversized on all its weapons.






And with the other two, one dressed up as a Screamer-Killer and the other as my favorite configuration in 8th/9th:



With this all done, I'm currently planning to put the Tyranids aside until their new codex arrives. I have a few odds and ends in my backlog for them (the biggest of which is another 8 Genestealers), so I might come back to them if I get bored of my other projects.

I do wonder though, why the one to the right is not a crab aswell

Jokes aside, these are awesome.

A rather gorgeous group, catbarf. The scheme works just as well on mass level as it does on individual models.

Thanks guys! I'm really happy with how the 'Fex turned out.

I was working on another Ogre alongside the Carnifex, but unfortunately had to use the very last of my matte varnish on the Carnifex. So this model won't be fully done for a little while, but it's close enough to show off.

As with the last test, this is very much a learning experience on the various color recipes, having tweaked them a bit since my last model (particularly the skin). Going forward I'll definitely be doing a bit of soft blending on the skin highlights, and highlighting the metal before applying rust rather than after, as the highlights on the gutplate are a bit stark for my liking.







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...And of course it's, like, the third time I look at the photos that I suddenly realize I totally forgot to paint the stitches on the pants. Oops.

I gotta say that with your Tyranids the base it what really makes this army. They are painted gorgeous, but the dedication to the bases is amazing. Love the splintering wood on the latest addition and the little crab (scorpion?) scuttling along.

That Tyranid table is amazing. That would really be something to play against.

Some updates. Taking lessons from the last Ogre, I iterated further on the recipes. I came to the conclusion that I liked the skin style (more zenithal, less edge highlighting) on the initial test Ogre better, so I went back more to that method and did the remaining four Bulls/Gluttons for my 1K list in one batch.

I made a slight mistake, though- in layering up the highlights, I kept the paint thin and built it up to where I was happy with the gradation. Then I applied by final wash/glaze step and oops, there goes the contrast. So in the future I just need to remind myself to build fully opaque highlights and let it be a little more stark than I ultimately want it to be, as the wash will tone it back.

I was also really annoyed that I streaked a bunch of thin layers of paint to build up a bone effect on the horns on both banners, giving that nice lightening effect towards the tips... and then the wash of Soft Tone just obliterated it. Well, that's straightforward enough to fix; thin it out and apply two layers next time.

More positively, I also iterated on the metallics, rust, and snow, and am pleased with how those came out.

These models technically aren't actually done as I've yet to varnish, but I'm fresh out of Ultra Matte so waiting on more to arrive. That should kill the odd shine in some areas, and help tie the layers together.

Oh, and I'm also working on a Carnifex magnetization tutorial. I recorded footage in 4K/60FPS, which is super cool except that it's murdering playback on my PC and making it far more annoying to edit than it needs to be. Oh well.

Anyways, pics:

The ogres look great! It's always interesting to see your process on painting schemes, even if they don't necessarily go to plan.

Looking forward to the video too, I'm sure it'll be worth the time for the quality!

Seconded. Fascinating to see how good painters work on paint schemes and 'dial it in' before settling on a final army scheme. Something us mere mortals ignore and too often simply wade in!

Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to the vid

Those look amazing!

I totally forgot to post the magnetization tutorial- here it is:

A long-overdue update; it's taken me a lot longer than anticipated to paint a unit of Ironguts.

I improved the skin significantly by tweaking the recipe, but it also became apparent that this sequence really needs a bit of blending to smooth out the layers. So some areas where I did a bit of quick glazing look better than areas where I just layered. I also did some more experimentation with brass, adding in some darker washes for the more heavily corroded areas, and I think it's looking a little more realistic.

Ogors really are great models to perfect skin on, and your skin is looking great!

Lovely Ogres, I'm impressed by the line work on those studded bats, you must have very steady hands.
Glad you are still posting, your Tyranids are my favourite

Really solid work on the Ogres, very smooth and great skin. Dig the tone you've achieved thanks to those different cool cloth colors.

Exalted the army shot catbarf.

Cheers,

CB

Great looking ogres, have to say, the skin looks great, very clean!

For a palate cleanser, I returned to my Tyranids, and assembled and painted the limited edition Lictor I got off eBay a while back. This sculpt was the bonus with the 4th Ed Tyranid army box, and the only thing special about it was that it came with folded-up talons. Well, I saw the talons and thought this was a perfect opportunity to convert a Lictor to look like it's being sneaky.

And then with the model done I couldn't resist getting out some of my terrain to make a small scene. In retrospect it's overexposed and not the best showcase of my painting, but oh well.

Gorgeous! Love that version of the Lictor!

Wonderful work! Huge fan