Not sure if I can see all the detail present. It looks as if there is something vaguely skeletal about them, maybe lupine. Hard to tell, maybe it's just my monitor?

I checked them out on the WF site, but I still can't see them clearly enough!

I'm sure once you get some paint on them it'll make a world of difference Wolfs!

modelglue

Click on the top image and zoom in! That's why I love the Dakka gallery.

The helmets have a very alien look to them. I want these Scouts to look more removed from the other Scouts. The Pig Iron helmets are the Scouts from the first Company (my Chapter has a very loose interpretation of the Codex) and they are more designed for Assault; their visored helmets giving them greater spacial awareness. These newer Scouts of the 3rd Company are all about Stealth. They prefer to sneak up on their enemies and hit them from a distance.

With that said, I guess I should add some optics, huh?

Optics! Optics! Optics! (read: enthusiastic chant)

I have not used that option at Dakka before now, thanks for pointing it out. I post/travel almost exclusively here on ATT, so other popular boards are foreign to me!

I'm seeing what you are intending, and I like the idea. So, I suppose this means camo cloaks, scenic bases featuring lots of foliage and flash suppressors on your bolters?

I like the pig iron helmets, they seem closest to what I had in my mind.

modelglue

Hello all, still slowly working on my models.

I had a question about how to paint my bases. If you haven't seen, my Nids are based on Secret Weapon Miniatures' Alien Invasion bases.

Now, you guys have seen the basic color scheme of my Nids:


So I was trying to think of how best to paint these bases. Should I paint the fleshy parts of the bases the same color as the skin of my Nids? Or should I paint them more of a pink/purple color? I'm not too sure what would look best.

Thanks guys!

Hm, since the Base is from the same "family" as the Gauntii, it would speak for giving it the same color ... but it could look odd, like the models are grown into the base in some cases, which would speak for a different scheme.

Well, as I practically said nothing in the above sentence, I think a different color as your models might look better, giving the eye different things to see, making it easier for the brain to distinguish the base from the model.

Maybe the fleshy parts could be green, because only one bit of the gaunt is green. Or maybe you could paint it in the same colours as the gaunt only slightly darker or lighter, like you did with that knarloc rider once.

Che:
Haha, I know what you mean.

Zhege:
That's a great idea! I will give it a try and show my results. It would definitely make it look super creepy if it was green. Thanks!

Zhege might be on the right track, that idea sounds really good.

It has been too long my dears! Well I intend to fix that. No story updates today, just some simple models!

First off, I’ve had two metal models that I have never made good use of. I had a Lictor, which I posed in a weird, crouching, defecating position and a metal Broodlord which I have sorely neglected because I hate his, “Give me a HUG!” pose. Also, he has a stupid face. So I decided that since the swarm is getting a face lift, these guys need to be treated properly. Now, I would love to have the Death Leaper model. But since I don’t and the standard Lictor is all I have, why not make him look nice!




So I pinned his arms and legs to look like he is just about to sweep his arm forward. I’d like to imagine that he has a cape in the last picture and is doing a Dracula bit. But I would love to make him a little more….Death Leapery. So what can I add? I really wish I had the Death Leaper head. It has these cool segmented eyes! Hmm, maybe I can try green stuffing that…

Next up is the Broodlord with his stupid, stupid face. In fact, it was so stupid that I cut it off. I also posed him to look less bear hug, and more intimidating.



So a dremmel to the face and some pinning later and we have the new Broodlord! I prefer this pose immensely and feel it gives off a nice, menacing vibe. I also am fond of the Carnifex head plates, which I have tons of.


The head is the Genestealer tentacle head, that has been bulked up with some green stuff. I had to create a little neck there for him as well, which I hope will look better after some paint. Also, the scything talon arms that came with the Broodlord are these weird looking things. So I decided to take the smallest claws off the Ravenor kit and use them. The left claw needed to be cut and repositioned, but this allowed them to have the curve, insect look.


I also added a few more Genestealers to the mix and have something special cooking up soon! Space Hulk Genestealers have such funny poses.

On the painting front, I took Zhege’s advice and used the green to paint the fleshy growths on the bases. Here’s a peek at my almost complete Genestealers:


I think it stands out nice!

Okay, that’s all for now. But I do have one idea that I’d like to kick around. My swarm needs a gimmick. They need some kind of conversion which will unite them all together. The basics of the swarm are that they are extremely old, one of the original Tyranid fleets that entered our galaxy, thousands of years ago. So it seems likely that they will have some crazy divergences from their kin.

What I was thinking was using something like having 4-6 beedy little segmented eyes on each Nid (Genestealers excluded). What do you guys think? What would make this ancient swarm unique? The only model this would likely pose a problem with is the Zoanthrope, who will probably be fine as is. Anyways, ideas are welcome!

Wolf, might I ask wear that head you use for your broodlord is from?

It looks so Cthulhu-ish I love it!

Like I mentioned, it's the tentacled head that comes from the regular Genestealer kit. Genestealers used to have a lot of option for different biomorphs, but that's gone now in the new codex. So these things are just for looks. Glad you like it!

The Carnifex head plates? Do they come like that or have you performed surgery on the head, detaching the skull from the armour plates?

Yes, it involved some major head surgery. I acquired a large pile of Carnifex heads back in the day and have been using many of the head plates for years. They are the perfect size!

Oh and I should have some cool updates soon. At least, I hope they will be cool.

I have similar collections of parts, rare and often OOP. I covet them closely and have to debate internally sometimes, pondering if a conversion I am doing is indeed worthy of one of the "Golden Bitz"

Great conversion work so far, curious to see the fleets trademark gribbliness you come up with.

- Tael.

Thanks Tael! These plates have been around for awhile and have served me well in the past. Now to put them to good use on my new Nids!

---

Okay, update time!

Ymgarl Genestealers have always interested me. They are supposedly the most ancient of the Nids and have infested places all over the galaxy. So with Hive Fleet Reclaimer being ancient, we need to include some of these beasties as well!



I know what you’re thinking, “What the heck are those silver blobs on their heads?” Well you can see a look at the painted version here. I think they will look much cooler once painted up. Here’s a better look at a few:






The pincher claws are Daemonette claws and have been used to represent the cooky morphing power the Ymargl have. I have one extra head that is awaiting a body and will be ordering up another 6 when I get some spare cash (any willing to send me spare cash are more than welcome too). Oh and as for the guy climbing on the wall, I am filling in the part of the metal that is littered with skulls. I hate skull decorations! Anyway, thought? I quite like where they are going! Yes, they do need some green stuff, but baby steps.

I’ve also been thinking about my Death Leaper and how to make him look scarier. Well first off, here is my plan for the eyes:


So I put some green stuff around the eye areas and then poked holes into it with a retracted pen and gave him these eyes. An astute young Saal named Jeron took notice of my request for a theme, and suggested that I take a look at creatures from the Cambrian period. The resulting Google image search reveals creatures that were simultaneously adorable and horrifying. Many of them had the segmented armor similar to the Nids, but also had large, round, black eyes. So I figured that multiple round, black eyes would be the running theme of the swarm. Genestealers are excluded, simply because they can be as diverse and crazy as they want!

Anyway, back to the Death Leaper. I also added some nasty scything talons to the top of his mantis arms.

The blobs of greenstuff have since been shaved down and blended in. But these are the claws from the Broodlord kit. I think they give him that stabby stabby look I wanted. While I’m on that topic, I was curious about what to do with the Leaper’s hands. The GW model has these long scything talon-like hands, but I figured I could use something a little more….dramatic.

How about these:

They too are from the Daemonette kit, but with a little gap filling I could probably make them replacement hands to what my Leaper has right now. What do you guys think? Any other ideas?

Now I love me some creepy crawlies, so I decided to finish my Parasite conversion.


I gave this boy a little makeover since last time. Namely, I’ve added the Trygon Primes mandibles to be the Rending Claw front arms. I imagine him grabbing a victim with his tentacles and either implanting one of its eggs, or shredding them with its powerful forearms.


As you can see, I’ve taken the Barbed Strangler arms and attached the Venom Cannon feeder tube to the front. These whip arms act as both manipulating appendages and can be used to deposit eggs into victims if they are wounded.

What do you guys think if I put some large carapace plates on the shoulders? I think it helps to armor him up (obviously), but I don’t want him to look cluttered. Here’s a shot with them:


Keep ‘em?

Now onto some Shadow Guardians! It’s been awhile! I was recently looking at the Storm Shields and felt that they needed a good paint, but I wasn’t sure how to paint them. I feel like shields should have some kind of glowing energy, so here is my first shot:


Ignore the blueish center circle and just look at the inside of the rim. Hmm, kind of uncompelling when I look at it now, but this concept is what I’m going for. With that said, I’m not sure how to paint the rest of it. Any suggestions for color on the shield? Remember, the colors you see now can be changed.


Oh and the CC Termies will have some white faces. I thought it broke up the black armor nicely. You’ll be seeing more of these guys soon.

Now while we are on the topic of painting, I have a problem. The color scheme for my Tyranid’s carapace requires that the plates be washed with Devlan Mud. That works great on small surfaces, but it turns out like this on larger ones:


Yuck. The question I have then is this: How can I wash large areas of a model without the wash getting all splotchy?

Okay guys, that’s all for now. Thanks for your time!

Those are some great looking nids you have there! I always wanted to have a nid army but my wallet says no . Anyways regarding advice:

For the termie shield have you considered blending? I did it recently for one of my Cryptek conversions as an experiment to see how it worked. It has the blue GW foundation paint all over to start with a layer of ultramarine blue then a gradual increase of ice blue in the mix until you get to the preferred brightness which is then washed lightly with Asurmen Blue wash. Ideally the longer the area to blend is, the better as it allows for more gradual change. (I will post a picture of the cryptek to show what I mean when I get the camera back.)

As for the carapace, is that a heavy wash you have done? If so, I would recommend using a few lighter washes since it has less opportunity to pool together on large and flat areas. Also keep an eye on the position the carapace is as the way it is held can influence where the wash flows.

I hope this helps. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Purefire! Nids are my first army, and since I never finished my original army, I thought they deserved a second chance. Your suggestion about building up smaller layers is great. I may have gone a bit over board with wash in that picture. I still find that the light wash can pool a bit, but I guess I simply have to have better control while I'm applying it.

As for the Storm Shield, let me make it clear that the center blue washed circle is not part of the color scheme, just something that happened. I was trying to show the inner ring with a little glow effect, but the effect feel flat when I took a good look at the shield afterward. Some ideas seem great at the time! I'm just trying to see how I should paint the rest of the shield.

Can't say too much about the tyranids, they're a little hard to make out unpainted, especially if you, like me, never saw the original models before ^^
However I have to say the ballpoint idea for eyes has come out really sweet and creepy, would also be suitable for some kind of fish people... hmmm... *eyes pack of milliput*

About the shield, I think the middle effect looks ok, but definitely needs something more... how about the chapter sign in the middle? Might give it a slightly magical look

The blotchy wash doesn't look too bad in my opinion... you could blend them instead of washing them, but I imagine that would be a pain

The Purge of New Mokolo



++Shadow Guardian Terminators fight to remove a large Genestealer infestation in the depths of the capital city.++

After the Shadow Guardians had revealed themselves to the Kurians, they quickly demanded that local forces assist them in purging the Tyranid located so far. While most of these nests were small and could be cleared by Marine backed PDF forces, there were still many that the Shadow Guardians felt only they were skilled enough to handle. One such infestation was detected beneath the capital city of New Mokolo.

Years ago, Mokolo was the city that the Kurian 105th PDF regiment had made their last stand against the invading Orks. Through skill, determination and terrible sacrifice, the PDF were able to hold the Orks at bay till reinforcements arrived. After the Orks were eventually driven from the world, New Mokolo was constructed on the ruins of the devastated city. This meant that the lower sewers and catacombs had been all but abandoned. These locations were the perfect place for Genestealers to inhabit. The gathered intelligence made it clear that this location harbored hundreds of Genestealers and likely had access to a tunnel that would lead them closer to the central hive.

Chosen for this mission were the Desert Born of the 1st Orta.




++Of note amongst the squad is the proliferation of symbols and armorial decoration that resembles that used by the Blood Angels. The 1st Orta is known to be skilled at salvaging armor and equipment, so it is quite possible that their armor formally belonged to the Blood Angels. Yet most Chapters would find such scavenging to be distasteful and lacking in respect for their fellow Chapter. However, it should be noted that when the 1st Orta was ordered to intervene on Kur, their fleet was headed toward a planetary system that had just been relieved by the Blood Angel's 7th Company. It is possible that the adornments to their armor were made specifically to resemble the Blood Angels, yet to what end is unknown.++


++The stealthy nature of the Genestealers is well known and advanced augur systems were required to detect their movements. Brother Chiman, born into the technologically adept Jerrah tribe, displays some of the advanced sensor equipment at the Desert Born’s disposal. Chiman was essential to the success of the operation and his monotone voice was welcomed by his squad mates as he relayed vital information to them. At his waist can be seen a device of unknown origin. Its use appears to be the collection of genetic samples. No doubt the Chapter was eager to learn more about their new foes. It is likely that a portion of the approaching Genestealer ended up inside the device.++


++ Sefik Bahadir, the Shadow Guardian representative, took part in this operation. Being of the Sanache tribe, he was familiar with the art of negotiation and effectively managed to calm the worried Kurian leaders. Here he can be seen pulling up the rusted and broken metal floor of the catacombs in order to block a route so as to prevent their being surrounded.++


++Sadly, not all the Desert Born survived the battle. On the left, a Shadow Guardian helm can be seen in the claws of a particularly agile Genestealer. Brother Jek is seen here, equipped with the squads Heavy Flamer. His weapon was essential in destroying swathes of Tyranids and despite this images seemingly grim outlook for the veteran, Jek did indeed survive the mission and was primarily responsible for recovering the wargear of the fallen. On his right hip can be seen the pelt of two animals, native to his homeworld of Raivath. Not simply an adornment, these pelts symbolize his contract between Jek and the Shadow Guardians; a custom among the mercenary tribe of the Kalga, the symbol of which can be seen on his right knee.++

Of note as well is the nontraditional helm worn by Brother Jek. This design appears to have been developed by the 1st Ortas’ skilled Techmarines and appears to be a variation of the common Mk. VI helm. Most likely, this helm change is to afford the wearer a greater range of motion and not added protection.++


++As the Terminators made their way through the heavily infested tunnels, they began coming across dead Genestealers that bore wounds caused by the pulse weaponry of the Tau. Little did the Marines know that they were being observed intently as they made their progress.++


++Brother Hakan, a bombastic member of the religious Sadik tribe, lead his battle brothers in the operation. His tactical expertise and words of wisdom helped to focus his brothers as the fighting became more intense. The device on his power fist was used to pinpoint priority targets and mark nav points to map out the facility. It was Hakan who first identified the signs of the Tau presence and it was he that would unwittingly save the Tau’s lives when he came face to face with the nests Broodlord.++


++As the Marines progressed, they stumbled upon a small Tau cadre, right in the middle of an intense assault by Genestealers. Here the Tau appeared to be making a last stand; the powerful Broodlord directing his kin forward. It can be seen in the picture that one of the Tau is examining some type of device. Whether it was attempting to locate something or simply calling for help is unknown. Yet at some point, this Tau was observed to have been pointing and leading his squad to certain locations. Hakan decided to spare the lives of the Tau, as they provided an excellent distraction as he ordered his squad to engage the Genestealers. In the resulting battle, another of the squads Terminators was lost to the Broodlords armor piercing claws.++


++The Genestealers in the catacombs proved to be quite adept at outflanking their opponents. They would feint and probe for weak points in the squad’s defensive fire, before surging forward to break through. The Broodlord can be seen here, the remnants of a Tau pulse rifle in one hand and a Terminator helm barely visible in the other. Brother Hakan, after seeing one of his squad mates killed by the beast, unloaded his Stormbolter into it and struck out with his power fist. The crushing blow made contact with the Broodlords left shoulder, tearing away what it touched. For its part, the Broodlord appeared barely slowed by the grievous wound and fought on viciously as its minions tried desperately to come to his recuse.++


++Brother Vahit, another member of the Sadik tribe, came to his sergeants aid and kept any of the Genestealers from catching Hakan off guard. A marksmen without peer, Vahit successfully killed 87 Genestealers during the mission. And during the crucial final moments of the battle, he afforded Hakan the time needed to strike the killing blow on the Broodlord and cause disarray amongst remaining xenos. Grievously wounded from his fight, Sergeant Hakan was assisted to the extraction zone by Vahit.++

In what would prove to be an interesting end to the battle, a lone Genestealer would ambush Vahit and the incapacitated Hakan, but was shot and killed by one of the Tau Firewarriors. Vahit, knowing better than to start another fight while they were at such a disadvantage, nodded in appreciation for the assistance. The Tau Firewarrior quickly fled soon after, leaving the Shadow Guardians to wonder the xenos’ goal.

---

Okay, so that’s enough fluff. I’m quite happy to be finished with both my first Genestealer squad and the first five of my Terminators! It only took me a few months! At this rate, I should have everything done in about 2yrs.

There are a few other cool things I’m trying to get done, but let’s take a peek at two models I’m quite pleased with. First, the “Shoveler”:



I am quite pleased with how he turned out, but I have a question on his paint job. Should I leave the carapace as is, or should I try to highlight it more? I’m actually quite liking it without any additional highlights and I think it stands out pretty well on its own. General thoughts?


The base came from Chapterhouse Studios and has these neat little sand worms which will come into play in the fluff.


Also, I green stuffed the top head plate so it covered his eyes. I felt that a creature that primarily burrows would probably track by sound (ala Termors) and wouldn’t have need to eyes. I’m proud of how it turned out!

And lastly we have the Death Leaper.




After realizing his need to look more threatening, I attached some scything talons to the top of his mantis claws, added my swarms signature 4 eyed look and replaced its hands with those weird claws on the Daemonette kit. I think it looks pretty neat and make him appear more like an insect. What do you guys think?

Okay, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

I laughed at the stealthsuit picture; that's ace.