Hive Tyrant... with magnetized wings!

Hive Tyrants are without a question my favorite commander units in Warhammer 40.000. Yes, that's right, not just Tyranids, but the whole 40K. Why? They are imposing, psychic yet still excelling in combat, and they have so many different weapon options, something that is becoming a rare sight in post-Primaris Warhammer. This is why decided to at least partially magnetize my own Hivefleet Leviathan Tyrant.

I actually went only with magnetizing the upper arms, so that I can provide my Tyrant with a variety of melee weapons (and wings). The venom cannon is fixed as I consider it both visually appealing and satisfying on the battlefield. With a Tyrant, shooting is only a bonus, anyway.

Magnetizing the arms is actually very easy, you simply drill a hole where the joint connections would be and place magnets inside. Only problems is with the wings, which are simply too heavy for most magnets (see more on that below).

I went with my usual Leviathan paint scheme - with Ceramite White (White Scar) basecoat, Screaming Skull undercoat, Carroburg Crimson wash and Ceramite White drybrush. The bioweapons are painted with Mephiston Red basecoat, Carroburg wash and Evil Sunz Scarlet drybrush/highlights.Carapace is basecoated black and then highlighted with multiple strokes of Xereus Purple and Genestealer Purple.

One of my favourite looks is with the Scything Talons for upper arms. Unfortunately this combination seems illegal in the 10th edition. Don't get me started on that.

 

The most impressive way to build the model is with the wings. I love the way the miniature looks with feet stamping on the ground and the wings spreading! The wings are painted with a Kislev Flesh equivalent and, of course, they are too heavy to hold on just the magnets. I've fixed them in position using short pins protruding from the wings and fitting into rather inconspicuous drilled holes above the magnets. 

For best results, I recommend starting by drilling inside the wings just behind the magnets and fixing the pins with super glue and/or green stuff. After that, then try the wings on the model and watch where the pin scratches the model. Then drill a hole there. Be careful while drilling that a proper direction is mantained.

Take a look at the pictures below to see how the pinning sytem works:

 Anyway, hope this post is helpful! Let me know if you want help or could use more pictures.

Leviathan Raveners

Ah, Raveners, the relentless burrowers of Tyranid hivefleets. When I was looking for ways of expanding my Hivefleet Leviathan, they were among the first on the list - not because they have great rules or new models, but because of their lovely classic feel.

These guys really do look like Hydralisks from Starcraft - except with four more claws and thorax-mounted weapons! I was tempted to model these guys with hand-held devourers or spinefists, but instead went the thorax route and armed them (no pun intended) with rending claws. I really like the look of Tyranid Warriors, and these guys look like Warriors on steroids - love them!

There are some problems with the kit too, though. It's an old one, and it shows - there were quite many mould lines present, there are no real cosmetic extras included (except an extra tail), and positioning these guys can be a little bit tricky. None of the problems is too serious though, and the kit can be easily bashed with the newer Warrior kit.

Anyway, happy Hivemind Day, and thanks for reading!

Leviathan Zoanthrope

zoanthropy zo·an·thro·py (zō-ān'thrə-pē)
"A delusion that one is an animal."

Lately I've fallen in love with the Great Devourer - and one unit I particularly enjoy is the Zoanthrope. The model I own is the old finecast one; when the new ones came out, I didn't really like the changes made to them (I'm talking about both the size creep and overall spikey-ness), so I bought the finecast model when it was still available. Now I regret I haven't bought three of them, as the amount of detail on these models is incredible.

I had some trouble with the modelling part at first, though. The tail part was bent which caused the whole model to lean on one side. Luckily enough, just two hot baths were enough to make the model straight again.

 

I absolutely love the design of this beast. A giant brain floating above the animalistic hordes of gaunts works as a great representation of the Hivemind and it's psychic power. The whole thing looks like an embryo, or perhaps a sperm, which gives it a creepy, Giger-inspired look - and that's what works best for the Alien-inspired Tyranids.

The details on the head part of the miniature are truly mind-blowing, and I've tried to accent them as much as possible. In my colorscheme, I use red mostly for biomorphs and orange for less specific wet-looking details, so the brain was obviously going to be orange. The tubes connecting the mouth with the brain are usually painted white, so I've tried to do something different and gave them a red paintjob. It's such a shame the new plastic Zoanthropes are missing lovely details like this! I've given the brain and the tubes a gloss varnish layer (as I do with all biomorphs), which has increased the creepiness factor of the miniature to over 110%.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I'm terribly sorry it took me so long to make a new post. Life was wild lately - I got a new job, new home and I lost my camera, so these pictures were made with a cell phone - hopefully they look good enough. See you soon!

Hivefleet Leviathan Carnifex

Carnifex is certainly one of the most iconic monsters of the 40K universe. Last decade or so, the Tyranid miniature range has been expanded quite a bit, though only few of the new kits match the 4th edition Carnifex box set in its modularity, style and general coolness. Obviously, this kit is a must-have for any self-respecting bug lover!

 I've decided to go with a multi-role Carnifex so I've armed it with talons, devourers and bioplasma. Note I've built the kit before the 6th edition update; my original intention was to go with crushing claws, though these sucked in the 5th edition codex, so I went with the talons. After the 6th edition update, I've learned a lesson: with GW's randomness of updates, it's for the best to just ignore the rules and go with the look you want. Though the talons are pretty cool as well, so no regrets there.

 I've worked on this little bugger for way too long; took me several months to finish it (working on and off, ofcourse). Notice the orange details on carapace. The idea was that the vents there are glowing with the bioplasma produced inside the Carnifex, though I'm not sure whether I've succeeded in that or not - even if it doesn't look 100% energetic though, it gives a cool organic feel to the creature.

One of the kit's problems is that there's not really much options for posing - except turning the head and arms, ofcourse. The bug's legs and spine are almost fixed, though. I didn't feel like experimenting here, so I tried to make a simple "advancing" pose, with the head slightly turned to give it a menacing look.

One of the coolest things about the kit is the large selection of heads. In the end, I went with the bioplasma head, though I was tempted to go with some of the others - especially the "enhanced senses" one. I wonder how hard it would be to combine the heads together in a conversion (like, giving the enhanced senses head a bioplasma jaw). Food for thought...

I've used both gloss and matte varnish on the model. Gloss varnish was used for the weapon biomorphs (talon blades, bioplasma maw and devourers) to give them a wet, slimy look and to differentiate them from the rest of the model, making them more visible. Matte was used on the carapace mostly, to enhance the chitinous look. By the way, note the devourers are not painted in red as other biomorphs, but in a mixture of grey and green - fluffwise, these biomorphs are actually worm nests consisting of rotten flesh afterall. Makes me wonder whether it would be worth it to model few worms out of green stuff here and there to make them look even more repulsive...

  

I've assembled the model on its base so I didn't have much space to experiment there. I settled on a jungle basings for my tyranids, though I didn't want to overdo it here and take away too much attention from the model itself. The plants feel good there though since they help in making the creature look like it's lumbering through the jungle... Maybe I should have used more. I've also added one of those genestealer markers on the base, to show that the tyranid infestation has already begun.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the post and the miniature. I gotta admit - I totally love it, and can't wait to get another Tyranid monstrosity! These models are so much fun to both assemble and paint. And it seems like I already got plenty of ideas for a second 'fex...

Leviathan Genestealers

Genestealers... The ultimate Tyranid shock troopers. I have to admit that while I got annoyed by assembling (and weighting) Hormagaunts pretty quick, working on Genestealers keeps feeling good. The models are pretty large (for basic troops, anyway) and they look menacing - they stay true to the creepy idea of a Tyranid/Human hybrid, which can be seen on many of the model's features (such as head or spine). Sweet!

 

I actually painted these before my Warriors and it shows. I paint Tyranid fleshy parts with Ceramite White, Screaming Skull and Carroburg Crimson, since I want my Leviathan to have more "blood" than the Games Workshop studio army; but I still need to find the right balance between the "clean" and "dirty" look. The originally grey-painted bases were redone lately in dark green and decorated with grass and plants, consistent with the jungle look I went for with my Warriors.

I feel like I could do more for these poor bastards (sorry, hybrids), but I have way too little time and way too many unpainted models waiting! I'm looking forward to working on more Genestealers though, and comparing them to these. A Broodlord conversion might be a fun project...

Good old Tyranid Warriors... and a converted Prime!

I always liked Tyranid Warriors - there is something about these creatures that screams both "ferocious beasts" and "intelligent alien menace" at the same time. As soon as I heard the rumours of a new Tyranid Warrior kit, I went and bought the old one... Why? I expected the new kit to cost more and not include any Rippers (since Rippers are not included in most of the new Tyranid kits). Turns out I was right on both accounts (though the price rise is justified by the quality of the new kit).

Painting these monsters was a lot of fun, since they are a nice compromise between the small horde models that make you feel like a copying machine, and the larger bugs that are fun but difficult and time-consuming to paint. The models look nearly the same as the new kit, though I find the lack of optional bits... disturbing. I prefer the old biocannons more though - in the new kit, the Barbed Strangler looks nearly the same as Stranglethorn Cannon. Here, it is pretty much unique.

The choice of weapons in the old kit is lacking as well, though in 6th edition environment, shooting is the way to go anyway - so I armed them with Deathspitters and a Barbed Strangler. I like the idea of ranged bioweapons, for me it's something that makes Tyranids different from other science fiction staple aliens, and that really hints at their alien intelligence. My favorite part about bioweapons are the eyes - I mean, those living rifles have real eyes on them, how cool is that?

Since I got two kits, I have also converted a Tyranid Prime - note the options for that were very limited in the old kit; the new one wins here hands down. I have given it a pair of Rending Claws, Adrenaline Glands and a very special head, which I converted using the tentacled head from the Genestealer kit. To make it stand out more, I've built it on a higher base, and added some worm-like Tyranid creatures under it - I know they don't look exactly great, since I don't work with green stuff a lot, but they still add some atmosphere!

The result looks almost Lictor-like; I guess I could even proxy it as one. I planned to play the creature with Regeneration, but since the 6th edition codex opens up so many new options, I'm not decided yet - the huge claws could work well as the Maw-Claws of Thyrax, and the head conversion could represent the Ymgarl Factor or even the infamous Norn Crown. Regarding the claws, I should have probably go for a ranged weapon - but these claws look so much cooler!

Since there is not much of difference between all the warriors (in the old kit, anyway), I tried to make them unique through basing. I've scrapped my idea of a nearly consumed death world and instead went with a contrasting, dark green jungle theme. Static grass, aquarist plants and even pieces of sponge were used, as well as my original Ripper-like worms, made of green stuff and termagant shoulderpads.

Finally, here is the back view of the pack. I've worked on these models over few months (in fact, the first Warrior was done one year ago), and the way I paint their chitin slowly changed - the barbed strangler model (right one on the picture under) and the Prime being the newest examples. I'm trying to improve, though I still see the Tyranids as a challenge to my skills.

In summary, the old models certainly lacked close combat options as well as customizible bits, though their design still looks fresh, and they had the added bonus of having Rippers included in the kit (still got to paint these little beasts). I had much fun working on these four, and building the Prime was truly a challenge. Now I'm still wondering how I should build the two Warriors left - thinking about boosting the Warrior unit with two more deathspitters, or building one with a venom cannon (to variate him with the Strangler one), or use the Prime as a standard Warrior in another pack of three Warriors (perhaps close-combat oriented). Options - there are so many of them! Guess that's the beautiful thing about Warhammer.

Hivefleet Leviathan: First models!

I always liked Tyranids, so getting the Tyranid Battleforce was a nobrainer for me, especially before those shameless yearly price hikes. I was thinking about the color scheme for some time, though in the end I have decided for the vanilla Leviathan look - after all, it makes sense for my Genesis Chapter space marines. Here is what I got finished so far:

I like my models to look "realistic" and dirty; never really liked the current Games Workshop Leviathan paint scheme, which looks too clean to be real to me. The paint scheme used is very simple:  

Torso: Ceramite White underbase, Screaming Skull base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Ceramite White drybrush, Screaming Skull highlights
Carapace: Abbadon Black base, Xereus Purple drybrush, Carroburg Crimson wash, Xereus Purple highlights, Xereus Purple/Ceramite White mix highlights
Biomorphs: Ceramite White underbase, Mephiston Red base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Mephiston Red highlights, 'Ardcoat layer, Goblin Green (only for Venom sacs)

In total, only 8-9 colors has been used. 'Ardcoat has been used only for Biomorphs and mouths to give them that slimy look. When it comes to Hormagaunts, my aim was to paint them as fast as possible while keeping them at tabletop quality. Carroburg Crimson really does wonders here, I love the way it makes the Tyranids more "fleshy" and less like, well, white plastic models.

I realize monster creatures are at the main focus when it comes to Tyranids so I spent more time with the first Tyranid Warrior. I found the model to be extremely fun to paint; so much that I decided to convert a Tyranid Prime model (hopefully I'll finish that one soon). Anyway, here is the Warrior:

One final note - I started to really like Tyranid biomorph weapons. I mean, who wouldn't love a living gun with eyes that shoots deadly larvae at its poor targets? I guess I will have some fun painting Devilgaunts afterall! Thanks for your time and see you soon (with a finished Deff Dread, I hope!).