Tyranid size chart...uh oh....

From a Spanish site (I got it from Reddit). Click to enlarge:

Well, so much for the Chapterhouse conversion...it's a little undersized. LOL.

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!

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!

Mishap

I had a small accident yesterday. Remember the hormagaunts from two posts back? Well, I'm at the wash stage of all 16 of them. So they're lined up in a row, and i realize that I'm REALLY late to pick up the kids from school, so I grab my jacket and run out of my office.

What i didn't realize was that the jacket pulled 5 of the 'gaunts onto the ground. When I returned to the office that evening, I rolled my chair straight over them in a tidy line.

Luckily, I managed to make really clean breaks where the hoof meets the base slot. a little superglue fixed up just fine. Will they stand the test of time? Who knows.

Venomthrope: 50%  finished
Trygon: 80% finished.
Hormagaunts: 75% finished.

Next up: Ymargl Genestealers, Termagants, and....NOISE MARINES!

After that, I'm going to tackle magnetizing with my first vehicles...a set of Rhino/Predators.

Lots of progress

A lot going on in my little hivefleet in the past 10 days. I've dabbled back into music, which I said i wouldn't do until I finished this, but it was unavoidable. Therefore, my time to paint has been slightly reduced.

16 hormagaunts on the assembly line. I actually nodded off a couple times while trying to basecoat these and ended up painting my jeans, my hand, and a bit of my glasses.

Trygon prime is nearly basecoated. I was skeptical about Foundation paints, but they do make a difference. I didn't check if they have a Bleached Bone equivalent in Foundation, but it would be worth checking...this is taking forever!

Speaking of paint, I wanted to show you something. I did  a little test on this gruesome Noise Marine. I tried one of those craft store pink paints in hopes that it would be acceptable, since I don't foresee using pink again after this squad. But after 4 watered-down coats on the legs, it's a no. I've used the crafty black and white with success, but there just isn't enough pigment in the pink. On the other hand, the GW purple I used on the chest as a test went on in two coast. TMMV.

Although I'm not close to starting on my CSMs, I messed around with this Khorne lord and Chaos Termie Lord. Just practicing various techniques. I will soon strip them and start over. Notice the Imperial Fist helmet impaled on his shoulder.  :)

Warriors done, and...It Lives!

I finished the warriors, but I have a major dipping flaw on one of them, so that may have to be redone. It's on the underside of the model, though, so I may just say "whatever"/

I thought I had gotten all of the excess MinWax off of the model before I set it down, but it ended up pooling a bit under the tail...just enough to look unrealistically goopy. Like I said, it's only really noticeable if you specifically look for it, so it's definitely low priority.

On a side note, I also took the opportunity to finish my last two metal gargoyles. I did a REALLY bad job on them, but I don't even care. I only have 4 of them anyway, and I'd only use them with the plastic brood.
'
And building has commenced on the Trygon Prime, which I don't see as that much better than a regular Trygon. I was going to magnetize it, but there's only one head...hmmm...maybe I'd magnetize it anyway and search for extra heads.

It lives!

I'm also dipping a toe into my huge number of CSMs...I'm currently about 50% through a Khorne Lord and a Chaos Terminator Lord. I'm trying not to think about them too much, or I'll feel guilty for not getting the rest of the gaunts and this trygon out first.