Status Update

My ever-dynamic employment situation is nearing stabilization, for better or worse, so I've decided to post a quick progress report on my Nids. Since this is more for my own sanity, I decided to forgo the light box and just use the built in flash...better pictures will come after I'm done basing and applying Dullcote.

Hormagaunts

The hormagaunts are lookin' pretty saucy. I've always thought it would make more sense for these babies to come out of a tervigon, but what do I know. This is probably my favorite GW troop model...they look very dynamic. If it didn't  make such poor strategic sense, I would do a hormagaunt-exclusive army, maybe with some deepstriking carifexes and a swarmlord. I'm just not wild about shooty nids. I know that the fluff supports it, but it still seems sort of a copout that the symbiotes look like guns.

Carnifex & Trygon

The trygon needs basing and a shot of the old Dullcote, but I'm pretty pleased at how it has come out. The 'fex is my altime favorite painted model I've been putting off basing it, but the time is coming...I'd like to have one more carnifex with the scything talons and crushing claws. I'd also like a Malwoc, just because I love the rules and I think it looks great.

Termagants

So these are the termagants from the 8 dollar box, so they are quite "samey". I'm going to mix them with other vanilla termagants from the combo troop box...more on those later.

Various nasties...they are not as red as in this pic.

-Sigh- So the venomthrope and lictor are finished except for Dullcote, as is the tyrant guard (2 more guard are in the pipeline) The swarmlord is awaiting the 4 boneswords from the post below.

Warriors...come out to play...

My 6 warriors, 1 that needs dipping, and all need basecoating and Dullcote.

Spinegaunts and Rippers

Spinegaunts and a single one with a devourer, along with some ripper swarms. I have 5 more ripper swarms primed, and 8 or 9 more gaunts with devourers.

Genestealers

Two units of genestealers with my least favorite model of all time (aesthetically), the broodlord. It doesn't help that I painted him to look like he's wearing a red bikini.

Gargle with Ymargl

My small group of Ymargl Genestealers, a few of which I accidently dropped completely in the dip (it was late)...they will eventually have to be fixed.

Zoanthrope Conclave

And finally, my lovely zooeys, ready for Dullcote.

On the painting bench: another 20 gaunts, one zoanthrope, 2 tyrant guard, 5 ripper swarms, and a unit of gargoyles (you can see them above in the hormagaunt pic). On the modeling side, I have a nearly finished Doom of Malan'tai, and I'd like to model two tervigons, a tyrannofex, and a half dozen mycetic spores. I also need to buy a carnifex and a hive tyrant. But the end is near!

Finishing up the Hive Fleet

I've been distracted a bit by the immediacy of Warmachine: painted up 5 figs and I'm ready to play.

But I've been staring at my 'nids, and they are crying out for completion. So I figure if I formalize it for everyone to see, I can be motivated to finish it posthaste.


Gargoyles
You know what I hate about gaunts and gargoyles? Painting fleshborers. Their fingers are so intertwined in the gun symbiote that it becomes almost impossible to paint with contrasting colors. Had I thought about it before starting, I would have just painted them the body color...either Red Gore or Bleached Bone. But no, I had to make them black. So my 10 gargoyles are ready except for those guns and a dip...but it's going to be a total paint.

Hormagunts
I have about 24 of them unassembled.

Genestealers
One of the first units I painted was a group of genestealers. Not knowing anything about anything, I did 11 of them with normal heads and rending claws, and one with feeder tendrils and scything talons. I have another dozen in the box, and I've procured a few more tendril heads, so I'll do 11 with feeders/scythes and 1 to match the original guys. The Cthulu looking stealers can double as Ymargls.

Hive Tyrant / Swarmlord
I got a great deal on one of these via Ebay, and I was considering magnetizing the arms, but I seriously think it will actually be cheaper for me in time, materials and effort to buy another tyrant. The boneswords for the swarmlord will be purchased HERE at Paulson Games.

Tyrant Guard
Two are assembled, primed, and ready to paint.

Zoanthropes
I have 4 on the bench, primed and pinned, but the little back fins are a colossal pain to attach. If anyone knows of a way other than greenstuff, I'm all ears.

Termagants
I have about 36 of these to paint, with 10 of them almost completed except for the gun symbiote. See the gargoyle text above to see what the hold up is.

Doom of Malantai
I was going to convert a Zooey for this, but I think I'm just going to buy the Alien Brain @ Troll Forged.

Warriors
Three left, unassembled. One may become an alpha.

Wow, I never realized how much is left...but it IS a finite amount. I still have Tervigons to model and paint, but I'm not worrying about that right now.

So after this, I have a full 2000+ points of CSMs and the AoBR set. If anyone wants to suggest a marine and chaos marine chapter, I'd love to see comments. I'm going to do the orks fairly traditionally, so I'm going to have to research them.

In other news, there's still time to enter the giveaway. I don't know if I should be pushing this more aggressively, but you have a huge opportunity here since there are so few entrants. And international folks should not hesitate to enter...I'm a big boy, and I can afford the shipping.  :) Good luck!

On the Bench, 5/24/2010

OK, let's see what's left to do on the Hive Fleet. I got many more boxes of 'Nids this weekend, so I'm going to have to update the spreadsheet.

My Ebay Hive Tyrant arrived! Only 30 bucks including shipping! I didn't care that it was missing the bonesword and lash because I plan to get those from Paulson Games anyway. The idea is to magnetize the arms to it can play as a Tyrant or Swarmlord, although with my low skill level with the pin vise, I may just buy a second Tyrant...considering opportunity cost, it may actually be cheaper. I also assembled the first Tyrant Guard using gray stuff instead of pinning. I may end up regretting this, but I'm sick of breaking bits.

Four Zooeys are primed and pinned...I'm just dreading getting those fins on, though. The gargoyles and Termagants need their guns painted, which is a real trick considering their little wraparound fingers...should've chosen Necrons.  :)

Finally got going again

Last night, I completed the Venomthrope except for the basing. This was a huge step forward as it had been sitting at my desk for quite a while. It's certainly not my best work, but I truly feel like I'm nearing the finish line with the 'Nids. I don't want to sound like it was torture...I definitely had a clear idea of the scope once I hit my first roadblock months ago. So right now, on the bench are:

- 4 Zoanthropes, primed white
- 1 Obliterator, primed white
- 1 Obliterator, completely unassembled
- 1 AoBR set unopened
- 9 Gargoyles awaiting black detailing, basing and dipping
- 10 Termagants (the cheap ones, 5 for $8.25) awaiting basing, detailing and dipping

I am itching to get started on my CSMs, but I'm also full of anxiety. I basically want a Black Legion equivalent but in my own scheme and mixing oblits, berzerkers, and noise marines. I know that it's OK to do that anyway, but I feel like a cut my teeth on the Tyranids, and it's time to strive for the step above tabletop quality for the renegades.

Any suggestions? I am so sick of painting red, but I may go for tie dye marines. lots of wet blending and chromatic colors. I will start with the Noise Marines, since they should look like that anyway.

The Trygon, she is done, Senor...

I haven't posted in a few weeks, but it's because I've been painting! I've got 10 Termagants and 9 Gargoyles on the table and I'm assembly-lining 5(!) Zoanthropes. This is just a massive push to finish my 'nids.

And I just dipped the Trygon. My lightbox is disassembled right now, so just one bad picture:

The light is so darn green around the hermit crab tank...I think it may be the effect from the heat lamp in the tank. Better pictures later.

Post-Adepticon

Well, Adepticon has come and gone. I took about 300 pictures and took a few painting classes that were quite informative. And thanks to the great people I met there.

I also took advantage of the complete nonexistence of sales tax and bought just about everything I needed to finish my Nids, and I got a complete set of waches plus some other neat stuff.

Click for a bigger pic. This is my workspace as of 5 minutes prior to this post.The funny thin is that my actual "work" desk is directly to the left of this desk.

On it, you can see the assembly line, and it works well for the most part. Those 4 little objective markers in front of the Trygon are from Ramshackle Games, and they are little carnivorous plants.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! No, I mean it this time!

The assembly line cranks on

Finally painted and sealed the remaining 8 spinegaunts. My nids are starting to look fairly substantial.

Tyranids left to paint::
32 gaunts
16 termagants
8 genestealers
3 ripper swarms
3 warriors
2 gargoyles

It seems like a lot, but i hav a system going.

I am going to Games Plus in Mt. Prospect  tomorrow to pick up at least a Trygon or two and possibly a box of 10 plastic gargoyles. Oh yeah, and the Tyranid codex, which came out today.

A bit of progress

I'm falling into that trap where a million things get started and nothing gets completed. (click on any for larger views)

OMG was this a difficult model to build. The delineations between carapace and "soft bits" are a bit off, making it impossible to create regions of color...think Escher. I got distracted while painting this and ended up with a non-logical color scheme. But it's "internally" consistent, and after the nightmare of pinning this thing, I was glad to call it a day. Hopefully, the new codex will nerf this thing.

The second gargoyle is finished. I have read rumors that there are plastic gargoyles coming, which will be a welcome relief. The pinning of these is yet another frustrating adventure.

Work in Progress Lictor. No crazy pinning quite yet (except for one that goes through the cork on the bass. She's surprisingly stable, mostly due to the sheer weight of the model.

Gargoyle Test

Click to enlarge.

The wings aren't really that dark (my light box is boxed up). After all my complaining and reluctance, it turned out OK. I still need to Dullcote all of the Tyranids, but that will wait until I finish the rest.

I ended up pinning the wings, and it was definitely not the cleanest job ever. I just home they don't nerf these models in the new Codex, because they are a PAIN to put together.

Pinning and Terrible Miniatures

Next up are my gargoyles.

These models really lack in the ease of use department. The wings are too heavy to attach with super glue, and they are really difficult to pin.

I did find an ebay auction for the missing arms on my 4th one. Woo hoo!

They are primed with Gesso...it's been really cold and humid here, so spray is out of the question.