Family and Warhammer withdrawal....

Well it has been almost a month since I left and still have a while to go.


I have certainly missed Paula and the kids.  My mind and hands have been going through 40K withdrawal and can't wait to get back to my after dark painting routine and family fun.


Steve I have been keeping up with the orks and they are looking cool.  Thanks again and may your paint brush never dry.

Swarm Lord has arrived!!!

Well this will be my last update before Morocco.

I finished the Swarm Lord last week. 

Swarm Lord stabbed the Emperors Shadow Captain in the left side under his arm pit ripping out a lung and lots of other vital organs.  The Captain is fighting on and knows he is about to die.

They are fighting on top of a ruined marble slate.

He is on his knees beneath the power of the Swarm Lord.

 

 

I need to find a better technique for the power swords.  I am not happy with mine anymore. 

 

 

I am close to being done maybe 45 minutes then two coats of sealant and I will be finished with my first Scythed Heirodule.  

 



 

 

Hes got a scything talon punched into a Space Marines chest.  That felt good I'm sure.  

I think he's got gingivitis!  I need to figure out how to work real good with epoxy so I can make acid drool coming from his mouth.

 

 

 I just need to paint and glue on the back spines.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.  May your paint brush never dry.

Monstrous Creatures Galore

Monstrous Creatures Galore...


Well this past week has been particularly busy...after dark.  I did a lot of cleaning, building, under coating and painting. Lots of Monstrous Creatures are being added to the Hive Fleet.  Some are old models being built/converted others are new models. 

Working with resin is somewhat of a pain because it adds the extra step of cleaning/scrubbing it with soap and water to remove the mold release.  Otherwise if you leave that step out then paint will likely start chipping a lot more down the road.

I do not like the clear flying stand that is now used by GW.  It works for flying vehicles (in some cases) but for flying monstrous creatures it just looks horrendous from a modeling perspective.  I decided to use carbon fiber rod as it leaves so much more modeling/conversion opportunities for the flying base.  I plan to add a Space Marine to the base shooting at the Hive Crone and shell casings as well.

This is a modeling idea I have had for a few years and just never got around to it.  I wanted a Hive Tyrant to lead a pack of Ravenors.  I know there are no rules for it but I may come up with some house rules.

I used the upper

body of a WFB Black Dragon (ugly model by the way, never liked it) for the lower body of the Hive Tyrant, and the upper body is the old metal Hive Tyrant.  I have it equipped with a twin-linked devourer and the bone sword lashwhip.  I used the extra tyranid warrior armor upgrades for the armor plating of the Hive Tyrants serpentine body.





 



The Hive Crone is flying over at an angle ready to spit acid on its target.

Scythed Hierodule and Dimachaeron from Forge World, cleaned and drying. 

Interestingly, while many Tyranid names have Graeco-Roman origin, this is the first to be named after a Gladiator style. The Dimachaeri were known for being exceptionally skilled fighters who used twin swords to both attack and defend, they were usually more lightly armoured than their opponents and were either large men who used their strength and reach to overpower their opponent, or smaller men who used speed to win.

The Forge World Harridan cleaned and drying.  This thing is going to be a beast to paint and convert.  The flying base is way too small in my opinion and I will have to do something about that.  It will have a much stronger support and base once I get around to it.  I wanted to get as much stuff cleaned and dried as I could with making Paula go nuts with my "trinkets" lying around.

The Barbed Hierodule cleaned, trimmed, assembled and primed.

Hive Crone Primed.

Ravenor Hive Tyrant primed.  I wanted to leave the top of the model unglued so it is easier to paint.

This is the base for the Barbed Hierodule.  I could not just let it go unconverted.  The Space Marine took several wounds to the chest and is dragging himself to his bolter for one last attempt to kill the beast that is hovering over him (The Barbed Hierodule).  He will have a blood trail dragging behind him.

Space Marines head is lifted up as he reaches for his bolter.

The Space Marines back pack was ripped off by the force of the blow.  Wires are hanging out of the back pack and the joining carapace in the power armor.

The base for the Scythed Hierodule.  Space Marine has been pinned down with a scything talon through the chest.  He ran out of ammo trying to kill the beast and tried to throw a melta bomb.  He was just not quick enough.

 The beast in all its raging glory.  Probably has really bad breath.

This is what is currently on my painting tray.  The 8 tentaclid missles for the 2 hive crones, 3 termagaunts, and 3 Zoanthropes.

 I tired a purple paint scheme for the armor of the tentaclids so they would stand out more in the sea of yellow underneath the hive crone wings.  I don't like it right now.  I need to let it sit for a couple days and chew on it.  I may just end up going with the yellow still but it does not pop as much against the yellow wings.

I finished 6 spore mines they now just need a coat of sealant and put away into foam trays.  These took longer than I originally estimated to paint.  The layering always takes a while no matter how small the model is.  I plan to start painting the army of spore mines that are assembled in my many boxes of Tyranid bitz.

Thanks for looking and may your hobby tools never rest.



The Hive Fleet is approaching.....

       The Hive Fleet is approaching.....


                       It has been a very long week...but a lot has been accomplished after dark.  I finished painting and basing the three Hive Guard.  I built and based three mucolid spores, three spore mines, three zoanthropes, one hive crone, one mycentic spore, one tyrant guard, and one Exocrine/Hausperex.

 Finished hive guard.  I used the same flesh scheme on the guns that I used for the tervigon gaunt sacs.

  Three mucolid spores.  The front one is finished but the other two still have a little work to finish up.

I have continued on with gluing washers onto the bottom of all my bases.  It adds weight to keep them from tipping over, especially for the light weight miniatures like the spore mines.

Hausperex/Exocrine built and magnetized.  This took a while to figure out and line up the magnets because the heads line up completely different.  I love the look of the Hausperex and the concept of the model is awesome but the rules are just horrible.  I will still build them because they are gorgeous models and brutal looking.  I plan to go all out on the conversion opportunities for the next one. 

Exocrine has the better set of rules but the model doesn't have the same brutality.

Hive Crone built and it is awesome.  Still trying to decide if I want to magnetize the tentaclids on the wings.  I'm not sure if its worth the pain as the plastic is so thin.  I also decided I don't like the flying stand for monstrous creatures.  I will use carbon fiber rod just like I used to do before these stands came out.  Look for a much more elaborate conversion for the bases on the next two hive crones.

Zoanthropes and the hive guard nothing special but they will continue to grow the hive fleet.

By the time I finished typing this I finished painting all three mucolid spores but I was too lazy to upload another picture.  maybe next time.

Thanks for looking and may you paint brush always be wet.

Scratch Made Trygon

Scratch Made Trygon

Well It has been almost a month since my last update I have been an international traveler and no hobby time for me until this past week.

I built this Trygon back in 2006 I think before the Forge World Trygon hit the table top.  It was originally just a snake like carnifex.  Then last year I got into my diorama phase and I cut up an old rhino a viola.

Now I got around to painting it and its finished.  I will use it as a Trygon on the Table top. 

 

Both Space Marines have unloaded their bolters on the Trygon splashing the acid blood everywhere.

 

One Space Marine is reloading a Magazine and the other is mid toss of a melta bomb.  That's going to hurt.

Shell casings are just a brass rod cut up with the dremel.

I also got in 5 Genestealers and 2 termagaunts for good measure.

She grows ever larger....

Hive fleet Ninevah continues to grow.  Thanks Shane for keeping me going. This past week I finally finished my first Tervigon.   Let me tell you this has been one of my favorite tyranid models to build and paint.  I love this model.  Many more Tervigons to come. 

Termagaunts spilling forth.  Gotta love giving birth in the midst of battle huh!

Tervigon has a jersey barrier on the base that it is climbing over.

Rusted re-bar and metal on the base.

 

 

 

I also finished 9 Genestealers.  I finally put the last yellow highlight on so now we can start sealing models and putting them away...once I get back home.  Again thanks for looking and remember as you turn out the lights tonight that Genestealers are not real...at least you hope not as you look under your bed.

Cultist progress. (Finally)

I've gotten some time to move through nearly 30 of my 70 cultists. I plan to make a champion for each. Let's take a look at Little Koshmar. My son Max was taking a look at him last week and busted off the whip. He said he would look better with an axe (he was right). Check him out.

 

What I'm trying to achieve with the skin tone is a pale and dirty one. The Iron Warriors in the various Black Library novels are used for the dirty work of trench building. Therefore I have given them pale skin that shows how much they get to enjoy the underground life.

These first 10 cultists were finshed using my scheme of browns and rhinox hide (GW paint). I dont have a set pattern for each man to keep it well, chaotic. The consistency is nice for the whole army yet different for each individual.

 The next 10 cultists were finished a while back but needed a basing update for the new method.I have a few shots of their champion and the squad during the build out.



Flamer with a crew of 4 cultists

Banner with 4 more of the squad
 

The Champion in the center is my favorite conversion and model out of my cultists so far. The future holds the opportunity to make even better cultists.



Finally the Champion

I must say I have enjoyed building these guys. Its now time to put some paint on them.
Here are those guys with the first coat of black on there previous brown base.

 

 The view of the crew so far with more rapid updates in the future.

32 cultists shown together

Koshmar with some other Champions

 

Early wok on Koshmar's squad

 

 

 

 

 That's it for me tonight folks. I hope you have enjoyed my army so far.