Hey all- with the Tau on the back-burner for a bit, I have been occupying my time with the enemies of our fair empire. I've been building a bunch of these over the last couple years, and figured it was time to finally get some pictures taken. As such, this thread will document each army briefly, with some featured pictures of specific models.
To start off, the first army I ever picked-up was Tyranids, and after a few years of lurking in the shadows, I have brought them back for a full revamp. The results of my efforts include two different armies- the first of which is featured below as the Urban/Cityfight themed infiltrating forces of the Tyranids.

Hive Fleet Tiamat- Urban Infiltrators


It includes mostly genestealers, but also a custom Tyranid Prime to lead a smal brood of warriors, and a lictor (whom is soon to be joined by two more of its brood). Two Broodlords leads the genestealer broods, while a mighty carnifex acts as a battering ram. Nearly all the genestealers are from the Space Hulk game- they are so much more dynamic than the standard stealers, and fit in well with the urban theme.

Tyranid Prime:


Warriors:


Lictor:


Genestealers:


Carnifex:




If you'd like to see more: Hive Fleet Tiamat: Urban Infiltator Swarm

Thanks for taking a look, more armies to follow!

-PGR

Hey PidGinRat,

Great looking force or Tyranids. For such an organic army, they look especially neat and clean. This is tough to pull off with all the chitinous looking surfaces, so good job!

I really like the Lictor, partially because it's my favorite Tyranid model, but also due to the way you have finished it. The Tyranid Prime is pretty slick as well, I really enjoy the way the "vents" on the exo-skeletal arms and legs look.

Looking forward to seeing more of what you have in store.

modelglue

Looking very nice! I like the way you painted the bright yellowish/orange markings. How did you achieve it so symmetrically; simple brush control?

The yellow on the lictor and carnifex looks so cool; I'm just not sure it fits. I mean it's EXCEPTIONALLY well done but it might pop too much? What were your thoughts behind adding it? Maybe this is just an artifact of solo model images and not a rear shot of the army together.

I'm actually jealous of the colour you achieved.

I'm in awe about how cool these Tyranid look. That yellow on the Carapace really brings out some interesting contrast with your already well contrasted paint scheme. I'm gonna make sure I keep this thread as a reference when I start painting my Tyranids, and hopefully I can get some very inspiring ideas from your work. Well done mate. Also just out of curiousity...since I intend on painting my Nids similar to the Leviathan fleet, did you prime white or black?

Wow, that "stealth" effect on the Lictor is awesome, well actually all models are painted in high standard.

I think the yellow adds a lot of bug feeling to them.

I liking the Nids so far. The chitin areas in particular are very well done, especially the orange parts and the camo of the Lictor. The only thing I think could use improvement I can think of right now is that the orange could perhaps be used for all the chitinous areas (maybe even just for the larger creatures like the lictor and carnifex to show natural dominance etc), since shell like structures don't really change colour like an octopuse's (or kroot's for that matter) skin. This would break up the primary colour a bit. Apart from that, the army's coming on great. Keep it up!

They may not change colors, but their are certainly different colored shells on bugs...For instance, look at the lady bug, or this little guy. Personally I love the yellow on the Carapace, it's vibrant, which makes them stand out much better.

Thanks for all the responses! The Hive fleet will be expanded upon below, but I'll respond to some questions here. Also, I realized I neglected to post a link above initially, which has since been rectified.

Wolfs16:
I did do some initial sketches of each unit to determine what kind of shape their carapace marking would have. I based it on wasps and bees and other terrestrial insects for the patterns of the carapace. Once I had a sketch in front of me, I tried to paint it as true to the concept as possible. Fortunately, organics have a much larger margin of error because of their natural random seed, which allowed me to do freehand without being tied to additional guides or some-such.

TheAmbit:
It was to distinguish the Lictor, but also to tie in to the greater swarm as a whole, which should (hopefully) become evident when I post the bulk of Hive Fleet Tiamat.

Commander Blueshock:
Thanks for all the praise! I did prime black- mostly because the intention was darker brooding colors, even in the fleshy parts. I've experimented with a medium gray primer as well, but 'Nids in particular seem to lend themselves to a darker base coat.

Commander Purefire:
Thanks for the feedback! I have tried to include the 'characteristic' orange/yellow on most beasties in the hive swarm, however it should, hopefully, become more apparent in the main fleet itself. The Genestealers have had the yellow omitted- as I imagine them to be a semi-independent faction of the hive fleet as a whole with each brood being a slightly unique variant on the theme.

I also have to ask....when you painted these models, did you paint them fully assembled or did you assemble after painting?

Gorgeous work and great photos to boot. I've moved the thread to the Gallery section.

I have always been a fan of more visceral schemes rather than over the top colours I sometimes see in Tyranid paint work. The carapace flares are a nice touch.

Also, having a predominantly dry paint work, allows those icky parts to stand out more in their glossy grossness.

- Tael.

Hey there Commander Blueshock, I did paint them fully assembled... for better or worse. I'm sure they'd be easier to paint in components- but I've always fully assembled models before painting, with the exception of painting vehicle interiors and whatnot. I'm just stuck in my ways I suppose.

And thanks Tael- glad you like them!

Continuing on with the bulk of my Tyranid force:

Hive Fleet Tiamat- Primary Swarm
This force is a little bit of everything- collecting and building fairly quickly to have a taste of most of the different models available in the Tyranid range. They do pretty tidily come to around 2000pts however, so along with the urban infiltrators above they reach into the 3500 range for the entire invasion force! These beasts represent a slightly later infestation, as the Tyranids ravage the planet- turning it into a vast sulfur desert (which also handily matches some desert terrain in my collection). Forgive the length of this post- as it contains quite a pile of pictures.



Led by both a Winged Hive Tyrant, and a terrestrial Tyrant with accompanying Tyrant Guard- I tried to keep a mix of large terrible monsters, and the swarming smaller critters. I've even named some of the more distinct creatures, or at least imagined what the Imperials might call them, it does lend them a bit of history. It's much more rewarding when, "Thornback the Scourge crushes a rhino 'neath its mighty hoof," when compared to "The Tyrant has destroyed that rhino."

-Thornback the Scourge-
Often mis-identified as a massive barbed cactus in desert regions, the creature (or creatures) called Thornback emerges from hiding at the head of first strike Tyranid waves, often accompanied by a tenacious protector called the 'Black Dog.'



-Razor Wing-
Shrieking into battle and notorious for shearing troopers off at the torso with scythe-like wings, this flying Tyrant only descends into regions of the thickest fighting.


-Gargoyles-


-Broodmother Lilith-
Lilith is a Mesopotamian storm demon associated with wind and was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death. This massive Tyranid is no different, bearing dozens of smaller organisms directly into battle in an unending tide of teeth and claws.


-Termigants-



-Thunder Maw-
The ominous rumbling that precedes the arrival of this massive beast led it to be named after the sound of distant thunder. It is all the warning defenders usually receive before tons of dirt and rock erupt, and this fearsome creature assails all in its path.


-Raveners-


-Hormagaunts-



-Zoanthropes-



-Hive Guard-


And finally, as an objective marker- it's Newt.
Always a bit horrifying to see the 'Nids swarming around her as the objective, which makes it all the more compelling for imperial players to rescue her.


That about wraps it up, there's a bit more on the Flickr set: Hive Fleet Tiamat- Primary Swarm

Thanks for browsing! Hopefully this helps to explain the yellow of the Urban Forces- which ties them into the main army a bit. This does wrap-up my Tyranids for the time being- an entirely different army arrives next time in this space.

-PGR

Wow dude, your army is so awesome...I love it even more than I did with the first few shots. Thanks for posting this up, that yellow has me hooked.

Congrats, you've made me want to try nids.

I don't usually do this but " wow!"

Very well done, I really like the idea of Newt as the objective marker with her little teddybear and great work on the bases.

A very stunning group of nids, now where did I leave mine?

Very well done. I love the sickening grayish skin tone which is really set off by the yellow accent colors.

Nice work on the jumping Hormagaunts!

I love every single one of your Tyranids, most especially the level of detail that has gone into painting each and every sinewy bit.

And major kudos for the inclusion of Newt, although I know that there's a Lt. Ellen Ripley out there manning some IG squad hellbent on rescuing her!!

Thanks for all the kind words! As I mentioned above, that pretty much concludes the documentation of the Tyranids. However- there is at least one Imperial Army in my collection...

I fell into the trap of the Space Marines not too long ago- after realizing going through my model boxes that I had pretty much a whole army accumulated from trades, starter sets, and other acquisitions. So, despite my long-standing resistance to the Imperial creed, I put them together as a cohesive force. Despite being the most dreadfully ubiquitous army, it does at least give me an excuse to get involved in all the space-marine related nonsense constantly hurled about by GW.

After exploring color options, and chapter choices- I wanted to go with a fairly straight-forward Codex chapter. I landed finally on Imperial Fists of the Fifth Company- and included plenty of Power-Fists to drive the point home. A few decal sheets and a brass etched fists set from Forge World to tie all the disparate elements together is the extent of the conversions.



Tactical Marines:



Scout Marines:



Bike Marines:



Space Marine Captain and Tech-Marine:


Venerable Dreadnought:



Landspeeders:



Razorback:



Vindicator:



That does it for the Imperial Fists. So far, I break them out to join forces with my buddy's Grey Knights when we're grossly outnumbering him with Xenos and Chaos forces- if only to maintain a coherent storyline. They do tend to transport much easier than the massive Tyranid force, or even my Tau.

That also wraps-up my currently completed 40K Armies... however, I may also post my Fantasy force at some point in the future. But, in the mean-time, thanks for viewing!

-PGR

All of that came from trades? And starter kits of course...

Wow, that's a force in of itself. Fantastic work with the IF, you definitely have a knack for getting bring colors to maintain that luster. I'm a huge fan of this army. I've got to ask though, do you use an airbrush? The yellow is just too perfect to think you spent hours upon hours layering these guys, let alone one razorback.

Again I'm impressed...You done the Emperor and Rogal proud!