Hive Fleet Solerön

[The Pounder]

The Fed, looks great!

 

Whether to glue the head or not is up to you, personally I glue everything in place after painting.

 

But it’s up to you, I’m a lazy modeller so magnetising isn’t something I usually do, some swear by it.

 

Nice to see you progressing into some of the bigger stuff.

[WarriorFish]

I'm starting to think I'll glue it, the different heads would be nice for variety rather than representation. I've been making more progress so I'm confident of completion this weekend I've also discovered that I have some magnets that might work for the Tyrant arms - 3x1mm should be enough as the arms aren't massive. I'll do a test soon, might aim to start painting another fex up as I magnetise the Tyrant to try and keep progress up.

 

I've ordered some replacement whites so work can continue, they should arrive before I need them Only a temporary hiccup, I have my work cut out for me for the planned 1000pts list I have in a month or so!

[WarriorFish]

In a fortunate turn I overestimated how much was left, or rather the work involved. Larger models have larger bits to paint :P The fex is complete:

I think I might experiment with making there be a bit more white on the stripes for larger carapaces, not majorly so but just to see how it works. Probably on the next fex, as the pillar bits happen to sit where the orange goes which gives it a bit more presence than normal. I tried some melted snow too which came out nice:

As this works I can do more here and there, I'll see about how I can get a stage where it's not full melted yet too. I also opted for black eyes which looks good, but you can't really see them here - I'll be sure to repaint the others once I am closer to my goal.

Since this was a new benchmark for my nids I got a scale shot also for the scheme:

It'll only be complete once I get a Ripper base done and get one of the newer larger models but all things in good time :P

[The Pounder]

Turned out reallly well!

 

I like the size comparison pic, you can really see how effective your swarm will look on the battlefield!

 

Good job!

[Arkaniss]

Lovely! I knew the scheme would look even better on a bigger model and the 'fex looks absolutely magnificent :tu: The red washed fleshy bits look great and are really noticeable on the larger 'fex. I can't wait for an even bigger model now! Good to hear you've sorted out your white paint supply issues, which white did you get in the end? If you're working on another 'fex what loadout are you thinking for this one?

[WarriorFish]

I went for the Vallejo Foundation White as this should be the same The next two fexes are the old metal ones which I plan to build as Screamer-Killers so they can fit better as a "different" look, I'm not sure how I'll do their arms yet. I may use both sets of the same era monstrous talons so they fit better and help look a bit different - I'll see how it goes.

 

The fex was good fun, but I do see how it can be a bit limited with posing. When I get another plastic one I might see about some minor adjustments to give more room and see what I can do for variety on the pose. Perhaps it could be made a bit more upright without much effort by adjusting the leg sockets? I'll see when I get there, for now the priority is trying to get my planned list complete - after that it's time for some Genestealers

[thewarriorhunter]

Just went through this thread and it's great seeing you adapt your scheme to different models. I think it looks great on the smaller ones all the way up to the larger models. I've heard some people magnetize their warriors, have you considered doing that or are you just going mono-build for each one?

[WarriorFish]

Thanks! I've recently started so you'll be doing the same soon enough :) I did think about magnetising the Warriors but I have lots so it felt unnecessary. I'm thinking of magnetising special models though, so the Warrior Prime and Hive Tyrant for example where it's more worthwhile as I'd want to change load outs. I am considering magnetising the next plastic fex in case I want to swap the gun out but I can decide that when I get it :tu:

[Evil Eye]

I love this scheme, and as a fellow 'nid fancier I'm always happy to see more Tyranid armies! The overall scheme reminds me a little of CatgutPainting's coconut crab scheme, which is cool. I will say the carapace stripes are a liiiiiiiittle bit uniform for my taste, but not egregiously so. Can't wait to see more from this!

[WarriorFish]

Thanks Squigs, I'm still getting the hang of the stripes on larger models. I've been painting the grey stripe "sideways" for a different edge to it but now I'm wondering if it has been wasted effort as it doesn't seem to make much difference? Or rather perhaps I need to do it on the orange stripe also as I had intended that to be different with more of a wave but it doesn't come out so well by comparison.

The good thing is that as natural creatures there is plenty of scope for variation so I can experiment with future models without anything looking off (of which I have plenty) I think larger ones are where to make this count more and conveniently these are next on my list. The metal fexes are to come as I work on the Tyrant but I'm making progress:

The torso magnets are in on the left side as well, the arms haven't been done yet. This means I will get to do the lashwhip and sword at some point, though as metals they may be too heavy for the magnets? I will get a plastic Tyrant eventually for a winged version so I can always wait for that to add this option

If things go well and my paints aren't late I might be able to start painting this week? That said there's a fair bit of cleaning to be done and there's a lot of metal to sort and I want to fill gaps too. Maybe with three large metal models this painting deadline is closer than I thought

[WarriorFish]

I did a little exploring and as seems normal come out with a different list of models to what I thought I had... I only have one metal fex, he appears to be missing one of his mandibles sadly. The other one is none other than Old One Eye himself. Also found the Hive Tyrant of the same era. I'm not sure what to do with them now as I had thought I worked it all out

 

I am pretty sure I have three Raveners, though one looks a bit different and I've found a couple of the long Lictor style mantis type arms? It doesn't help that a lot is all bundled in together, I will need to have a proper sort one day and try and figure out what goes where.

 

More positive in that I found that plastic spore mine (was missing from the sprue), and the new Foundation/Cold White paint has arrived which will replace Ceramite White so I can continue painting

[Evil Eye]

Ooh, is that the old 3rd edition "Grinfex"? I always liked that thing, much-maligned as it was. Maybe I'm biased as my introduction to 40K was a 3rd edition Tyranid Codex (in 5th!) but I dunno, I like how crab-like it looks.

[WarriorFish]

Yep, my plan was to use the two as Screamer-Killers as that worked out nicely but now I don't know what my plan is I will see how I can rework my planned 1000pts list and go from there. Maybe I can top up on more Troops?

[WarriorFish]

I've reworked my planned list a bit, I think it'll work for now. I've replaced the two Screamer-Killers with a 10 strong squad of stealers and I've upped a Hormagaunt squad to 20 (and given them the adaption to ignore AP-1 and AP-2), and the fex gets spore cysts. This might be for the best deadline wise too, as another two large metal models would be time consuming - 10 stealers and another 8 gaunts should be more manageable :)

 

I was planning to get to some stealers after this list goal anyway I will start on the Battle for Macragge ones (and get that last spore mine done), does anyone care about the talons option? I don't think it looks as good/classic, and these models don't have them and as a free upgrade would anyone care? May as well assume they all have them.

[WarriorFish]

I haven't been only working on lists, I've finally got the Hive Tyrant to the gap filling stage:

Bit of a slog to get here, large metal models can be a real pain - the gap in the tail made for extra fun There's a fair bit of work to be done filling joins but at least in the tail's cause it will give a stronger fit. Not all bad though as the right foot has a pin bit on which can help ensure a strong bind to the base, I used a Dread base for a bit of variety and also to help him stand that little bit taller

[thewarriorhunter]

If you're not married to a particular product I've been using Perfect Plastic Putty for gap filling. It can be thinned with water and 'painted' into the gaps or applied thick like Green Stuff. It's can be sanded as well and clean up is easy with a damp q-tip before it's fully dried. I tend to glob it on and let it sit for a few minutes, then run a bunch of damp q-tips over the seam/area to remove excess.

[WarriorFish]

Thanks, that sounds similar to Milliput which I was thinking of using for this rather than GS. I'm relatively new to Milliput so I keep defaulting to GS but it should work better I think as you can do the thinning and post-curing work easier :)

 

I have been a bit unwell so might need to slow down this weekend, but I hope to get at least some gap work done - the deadline doesn't get further away after all :P

[WarriorFish]

Been slow going on the hobby front lately but I've finally got some in, the Hive Tyrant has been patched up and is ready for priming. I wasn't sure how the tail was going as it wasn't a great fit but now I've cleaned up the milliput a bit I think it should be fine

I wasn't thinking and in autopilot mode cut off far more miliput than I'd need, but as I planned to use the spare to spice the base up a little anyway I made good use of it I've also got the two Termagaunts coming along so they're almost done:

Fingers crossed I can get these finished over the weekend so I can start the last leg of my 1000pts list (8 Hormagaunts and 10 Genestealers). Then I need only base the 8 gaunts and 5 Warriors and paint the eyes for pretty much everything and I'll be ready, but these bits won't be too bad and I can pick them up as and when

[WarriorFish]

Not getting to make as much progress as I had hoped, but I got some time in:

The main colours are done so on the downward slope now should be ok to finish the remaining off this week I'm being extra careful as it's chunks of metal but overall this will save time compared to repainting any chips :P

[Arkaniss]

Hive Tyrant is looking good! I like the additional pattern you added to the front stacks I think that will really help the overall effect :tu:

[WarriorFish]

Thanks, I wondered what I should do with them as it was carapace on carapace but I thought may as well stick to the plan Not quite sure on the extra white with the stacks yet, I may keep it on special models like the Hive Tyrant to help him stand out a bit more. I should be getting a resupply of paints and importantly for my nids glue today so with the main work done here I can pick up when I can so I can be sure of completion this week

 

If I can build the next models fairly promptly I should be well set to not have a rush to complete the list in time While it's nice to paint something special after the fex I'll be happy to be back on some smaller nids, with the stealers for something new

 

I have plans for some random single model projects after I reach this goal, as a sort of enforced pause and relaxation on the hobby fires but this may well include a nid model Will see when I get there...

[The Pounder]

I’m liking what I see on your Tyrant.

 

I was going to ask if you will be adding more after you hit your target. Hopefully there’ll be some Nids!

[WarriorFish]

Don't worry there will definitely be more nids afterwards, as I have the bug* Earlier in lockdown/etc I realised that I had kind of burnt out a bit doing CSM as while there was good productivity without the pay off of getting new models on the table it started to bog me down so I've resolved to swap projects before I reach that stage.

 

With some games planned in finally hopefully such a thing can be in the past generally but better to be safe than sorry. It may not be the most exciting thing but I plan to soldier on with gaunts and the like so I have enough for all my needs, then I will have the luxury of adding whatever I want. Aside from a Warrior Prime I'd like to get the Zoanthrope done (though he'll be my Neurothrope I reckon so he stands out) :)

 

I need to figure out what I'm doing with the metals at some point. It seems a waste not have OOE as I have the model but I was rather set on two Screamer-Killers. Maybe I only really need one, as perhaps with limited AT shooting I should be taking it where I can?

 

* I regret nothing!

[The Pounder]

Good to hear you’ll be adding to the Swarm.

 

I know what you mean about needing another project.

Personally I’m going to mix it up with Ultramarines and Death Korps of Krieg.

 

Neurophropes are great. I also think OOE is usable without setting the world on fire.

 

Kudos for using the old metal models (those of us at a certain age remember what swines they were to model!)

[WarriorFish]

Indeed, I've had enough fun with the newer metal Hive Tyrant... at least the gap filling worked out I am on course to complete the model soon so next update will be completion pictures I'm already thinking of the stealers