Tyrannocyte transformer

Ok, its not actually as good as a Transformer but I finally figured out how to make the carapace open and close without using a bajillion magnets.  And it does transform into a Sporocyst. However, I forgot to take a picture so you'll just have to trust me when I say that I didn't glue its bottom on.

Q: When is a Broodlord not a Broodlord?

The evolution of Corporaptor. The evolution from 5th edition anyway.

The care and feeding of Tyrannocytes

Tyrannocytes are an amazing new Tyranid genus and make great pets.  Following these simple steps will lead to a long and happy life for both you and your transport spore.

Grimdark Lego

Holy Throne, I'm going to have to buy several of these.  

Air brakes deployed

Lizardman with a Lute

Never let it be said that I shirk a challenge. When tasked by a young gentleman in our local GW store to convert one of his Lizardmen into a musician, I accepted readily. The fact that he voted for me in Armies on Parade has nothing to do with it. I am of course open to bribery of any kind, especially if it involves free bits of styrene. Just sayin'.

C'tan conversion

This is probably a bad time to start getting into Necrons, what with all the anticipated Tyranid releases.  The Toxicrene/Maleceptor is out this weekend and I should be clearing the decks and breaking out the magnets. I even bought White Dwarf for the first time in nearly a year and I actually didn't regret it.

Believe the hype

I'll probably still get one...

Maybe two.

Losing your Mojo

Hobby motivation is a funny old thing.  One minute you're skipping along happily with a ton of painting and modelling on the go. Next minute, you're Austin Powers.  

Fun with magnets : Tervigon/Tyrannofex

I now own two different versions of Imperial Armour 4 thanks to Chris who gifted me his 1st edition copy, knowing that I'd enjoy the old rules and artwork for the terrain (that Anphelion base is insane).  I thought I'd better hurry up and finish magnetising his Tervigon by way of recompense.

Painting Mr. Burns

As requested, a painting tutorial on how to paint Hive Fleet Nidrot.

Malanthrope Conversion

In between games at Call To Arms last week, Blaise St-Laurent walked up to me and said, "I've got something which I think you'll like".  He held up what looked like a small, perspex box.

Tyranid Infestation - Stage ..whatever.. complete

Sometimes you've got to stop over-thinking things and just get on with it.  I'm a terrible procrastinator. So, on Thursday evening I found myself with a ton of half built terrain, having promised to deliver a full Tyranid board to the CTA tournament venue by Friday night.  Another one of those 'Oh Shit' moments followed by another one of those 'Painting Till 3am' sessions.

Call To Arms 2014

Call To Arms in Wellington was a bit of a rollercoaster ride this year.  Day 1 is probably best forgotten entirely.  

Let the Chaos Gods decide

Tyranid Infestation - Stage 2 Complete

Spore Capillary Chimney Towers are complete.  I am now officially panicking since all this terrain has to be ready for Friday and Call To Arms, my annual foray into the world of baby seal clubbing (in which I play the seal mostly).   

Pigs might fly

I always wondered what those little 'seahorse' things on the Termagant sprue were for.  Also, the extra 40mm base you get in the box, whilst nice, doesn't appear to have any function.  Apparently you make Ripper bases with them.

Tyranid Infestation - Stage 2

Stage two commences with the emergence of Spore Chimneys.  I wasn't even sure what Spore Chimneys were when I started making them to be honest (kept getting them mixed up with Capillary Towers).  

Vermis Giganticus

Just read a post on The Tyranid Hive which asks the question Haven't we all invented a Nid unit at some point?  I was absolutely mortified to answer: "No, well not really.  I've converted lots of stuff with rules and no models but never actually had the imagination to do something completely different".

Tyranid Infestation - Stage 1 Complete

The ruins are fully infested at long last.  I thought it would be really cool to put stained glass windows in the Basilica Administratum terrain.  

It was meant to be a nice afterthought. Six frickin' windows took about six hours.

The Green Weed

I started to paint my red weed infestation and then changed my mind.

Devil in the details

I managed to paint 11 Devilgaunts before losing the will to live.  So that will have to do for now.  This means that I have painted a total of 83 gaunts with only 9 remaining.  You'd think it would be easy to make the big push and finish the last few wouldn't you?  Its not.  Its boring.

I may need to undergo a partial lobotomy in order to get the last few done.

Tyranid Infestation

Following on from my previous post about the interesting effects of Chaos Black Primer, I've finally found the motivation to start making Tyranid terrain.  Its a slow process but a welcome change from painting models.  

"On the fourteenth day I went into the kitchen, and I was surprised to find that the fronds of the red weed had grown right across the hole in the wall, turning the half-light of the place into a crimson-coloured obscurity."

Money Pit

Styrene mutation continues with my latest Crone.  All you need to create this beast is packet of green stuff and more money than sense.  Eye of Mawloc and thorax of 'Fex.  Wing of Terrorgheist and tail of Trygon.  Throw in some Tyrant arms and a pinch of devourers and already you're hoping to God that your wife doesn't find the receipts.

Mutable Genus

The Hive Mind was displeased with the performance of the Swarmlord.  His subversion of the prey worlds had proven merely adequate of late.  As with many Tyranid strains, the Lord of the Swarm was a mutable genus and capable of being bio-engineered into an entirely different species.  He had undergone many evolutions in the course of his existence.   The transformation was far from painless.

Testiclids

When you have more Termagant devourers than you know what to do with, you have to start being creative.  I already pulled the arms off 20 Fleshborer gants and turned them into Devilgaunts.  I used 12 more to create the twin linked brainleech variant for my Carnifexes and a Flyrant.  I destroyed about 10 of them during experimentation with fire and various household chemicals.  I'm glad I do all my modelling and painting in the garage.  My wife would never allow it in the house.

Nom Nomms Relay

What are Imperial Comms Relays made of?  Sugar and spice and all things nice, thats what little Comms Relays are made of.

Warriors, come out to plaaay

Ok, I'm glad I didn't convert all of my Warriors into Biovores.  These were the only painted ones left:

before

FireStorm In doubt

Having just finished painting my HiveStorm Redoubt, I'll probably drop it from my list.  I've won most of my games whilst using the fortification which, given my skill level, probably means its overpowered and broken.  Or possibly I've just been lucky.  

Dakkafex

The plural of Carnifex is 'Carnifexes'.  The contents page of the Tyranid codex plainly states this, so I don't know why I was wondering whether it was 'Carnifexen' or 'Carnifices'.  It just goes to show what an overactive imagination gets you.  In any event, I am now running a couple of them in my list and actively enjoying them.  (I have played all of 3 games with them so far, so this makes me an expert).

The Eightfold Path

I decided to start listening to audio books whilst painting.  Specifically, Horus Heresy dramas from Black Library.  This seemed like a good idea at the time; its like double dipping the hobby.

Booooring!

Hive Biatch

I read a really interesting article on BOLS which discussed the origin of Tyranid names.  Crone, Termagant, Harridan, Harpy, Dominatrix are all disparaging names for women apparently.  I can fully relate to this because my Crone was such a bitch to paint.  

Another Biovore Conversion

Suffering from a chest infection and can't summon the will to paint.  I had already finished another Biovore conversion from my spare Carnifex kit parts and decided to post how I did it.  These are the bits I used:

A Brace of Carnifex

I sold some of my Grey Knights last week.  They were a failed experiment in playing an Imperial army and had not seen the tabletop for over a year.  Rather than leaving them to rot I sent them to a good home and cleared some storage space. I made a bit of cash, received mutterings of approval from the wife and felt good about myself.

I immediately spent the money on more models.

dems Dakkafex dem is

Hannibal Lictor

Ok I've got that one out my system.  Time to actually do some painting of my army.  I don't even use Lictors in my list but I guess I could pass this one off as Deathleaper and try it out.  I've just checked and he is the 2nd cheapest HQ choice after the Tyranid Prime (5 points more expensive) and looks to be massively more fun.

Geneseed extraction commencing...

More ADHD

Painting the Hivestorm Redoubt is now a distant memory.  I had a sudden, overwhelming urge to own 'Deathleaper', one of the new HQ models for Nids (well, he's not actually new, but that's by the by).  The local shop didn't have any in stock but my 'impulse buy' button was flashing violently so a Lictor had to suffice.  I've pretty much been working on it ever since and I'm not even sure where all the other, unfinished models are.  Probably under a table somewhere.

"Looks like you've got a loose filling back here, Mr Warburton."

ADHD

With a ton of painting on the go and a Hivestorm Redoubt to finish, I spent most of the evening creating an archaeological dig site on one of my flight stands.  It turned out to be far more enjoyable than basecoating and looks quite cool.

Smells like victory

Ah, Venomthropes. I love the smell of Poison 2+ in the morning.  Actually you never, ever want it to be in close combat (and it will be dead long before then anyway) so Poison 2+ is a bit of a waste.  The Venomthrope, like the mysterious author of the Tyranid Codex, should remain anonymous and out of sight.  Producing a nasty surprise and leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

Silent But Deadly

Random post

The lost Tyranids

Hivestorm Redoubt

I have discovered that I am very good at sculpting anuses.  This is a slightly worrying revelation given that I wasn't particularly happy with any other feature of my Hivestorm Redoubt.

Access and egress by means of sphincters

Little Shop of Horrors

The best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  I had this really neat idea for my Hivestorm Redoubt involving Acid Sprayers and those toy snakes which are jointed and can be moved around in a slinky sort of way.  I employed all the hobby tools at my disposal: insulation foam, green stuff, plasticard, brass and plastic rods with lashings of hot glue. I was going for a living, organic look with the two bastions of the Redoubt modelled as giant, wormlike maws growing out of the ground and Quad Icarus lascannons reminiscent of scorpion tails.

Feed me Seymour!

Doldrums

Flicking through my new Tyranid codex and trying to build a good list I decided that the best addition to my army would be a non-Tyranid fortification.  What an utterly depressing conclusion to reach.  

This is all I've managed to come up with so far.  Not a very auspicious beginning.

Magnetising your Haruspex/Exocrine

Many people, myself included, tend to think of the new Haruspex as a pile of shite.  Thats not to say they don't like the model.  They would love to build and paint the kit as a Haruspex but prefer the rules for the Exocrine.  Fortunately, GW built the model so that it is very easy to swap the heads and arms and get the best of both worlds.  You can now enjoy painting your Haruspex and scaring the cat with it, but use it as an Exocrine when you fancy a game of 40k.  I was able to magnetise both variants using 9 magnets in total.

Misfiring Synapses

I was prepared to be butt hurt on receiving my new Nid codex. The pre-release leaks caused a furore on the forums.  There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth but I secretly thought that it couldn't be that bad could it?  Could it?

Ok, I built another Exocrine.  Or did I?

More MCs needed

When I posted the picture of Tubbs the Tervigon next to my Exocrine conversion I felt a sudden rush of guilt.  Having already converted two Tervigons, she was the ugly sister as far as I was concerned.  I much preferred Gertie who was lovingly and painstakingly converted and farts termagants out of her arse rather than giving birth by caesarean section (which seems a bit extreme, somehow) .  

Its just a jump to the left...

Exocrine fin

I made my pre-orders for the Harpy/Crone and Haruspex/Exocrine today.  I also bought the codex which means that my family will be eating beans on toast for the next 3 months.  At least I got my fix eh?  

Look at the size of his...  oh, never mind