A Few ‘Nids (Pic Heavy)

Judging from the number of completed model posts I have up on here, you would assume that I have only finished about 6 models in my ‘Nid army since I started playing 40K again back in August 2010… The truth is, I have now got over 3000pts of painted ‘Nids and around another 1000pts still to go (this could drastically increase if the rumours of a ‘Nid 2^nd wave in March are true). The problem is that I am just crap at getting round to taking photos.

I primarily put this down to Blog Wars and the fact that I’ve had to paint up nearly 1000pts of models in 3 weeks before both tournaments and have been burned out after and ended up packing the models away for a month or two (and subsequently forget to take any pics).

So I thought I would post a few pics of some of the bigger pieces in my army:

First up the Trygon. I painted this about 9 months ago so my painting has improved a bit in the time. I need another one or two of these and although the model is nice, I don’t want three identical versions, so expect to see some conversions soon.

Next up we have my 2^nd Tervigon, which I converted about 6 months ago. I really think my converting and painting has started to develop since I made my first one.

And finally we have the Swarmlord that you may have seen unpainted in previous posts about 3 months ago. I really like this guy; loads of work went into the conversion and it has resulted in a pretty unique model. The Rippers on the base are magnetised to act as wound counters.

‘Nids Blog Wars 2 list

So this weekend I’ll be heading back to the homeland to enter Blog Wars 2 and I thought I would share the list I am taking.

Comparing it to the list I took to Blog Wars 1 (which you can see here), you’ll notice it’s much more functional and hopefully, competitive.

HQ

Swarmlord

3 x Tyrant Guard

Troops

Tervigon (Catalyst/Adrenal Glands/Toxin Sacks/Cluster Spines/Scything Talons)

Tervigon (Catalyst/Adrenal Glands/Toxin Sacks/Cluster Spines/Scything Talons)

10 x Termagaunts (Fleshborers)

10 x Termagaunts (Fleshborers)

Elites

3 x Hive Guard

3 x Hive Guard

Heavy

Tyrannofex (Rupture Cannon/Desicattor Larvae)

Trygon (Adrenal Glands)

So that’s 5 MCs, arguably the best CC unit in the game, a bit of anti-tank and the ability to (*hopefully*) spawn a shed-load more troops (60+ in my last game).

I’ve played a few games with the list and they have gone very well – with target prioritisation being a key factor for my opponents (what are you going to try and take down first and can you afford to let the rest of the army live while you are doing it?).

Despite taking a meaner list this time, I am still going with the intention of having fun and am really looking forward to meeting other 40K bloggers…I just also aim to be less of a walk over this year :)

Somehow, despite deciding on the list some 2 months ago and already having almost all of models, I still have 3 x Hive Guard, the Swarmlord, a Tyrant Guard and 19 Gaunts to finish painting and only 4 nights to do it in….how does this always happen???

Swarmlord WIP – Part 2

I’ve had a busy weekend of pinning, greenstuffing and gluing – but the Swarmlord is built and ready to be painted.

The legs were already built, but I also had to tackle the mandibles and the split tail.

Starting with the mandibles; after digging through my bits box looking for some suitable spikes/horns, I finally settled on the spikes that were included in the Tyrant Lash Whip sprue (typical that it’s the last place I look). These are pretty much the perfect size to have a pair mounted on each side of the mouth – without looking stupidly large. At this stage I also noticed that the hooves have mini talons, so I found some more spikes (clipped from the gaunt armoured shell biomorph bit – ‘Nid players will know what I am on about) and added them.

Next up was the split tail… In my bitz box I managed to find a rounded-tube shaped sprue branch that was the same diameter as the existing tail. I then clipped the end of the tail off of a spare Carnifex tail and pinned that on. Some more spikes and a bit of basic greensuffing and the second tail was done. It was then just a matter of attaching it to the existing tail and using greenstuff to blend the join.

I’m not great with greenstuff – I can pretty much fill gaps and add a little detail, but I a pretty happy with the work here.

I am loving the pose – it looks really nimble and graceful; especially with no other models to give it scale. Put a marine in front of it…Draigo for instance (I bloody hate Draigo) and it looks like it could kill anything!

Everything managed to fit together and despite standing on a single leg – the centre of gravity is bang in the middle, so there is no problem with the models balance.

Next up – basing and painting.

Thought I would give a quick shout out – whilst I am modifying a standard Tyrant to be my Swarmlord; Warfrog is building an absolute beast of a Swarmlord from a range of ‘Nid parts and it is shaping up brilliantly (he's a lot more sklilled than me). Check it out on his blog.

New Project - Swarmlord.

My current WIP (as well as painting up the never ending supply of gaunts and making some rather spiffy Mycetic Spores) is creating a Swarmlord. Like anything useful in the ‘Nid codex – there is no model, so I’ll be converting my own.

The Swarmlord is essentially an uber-Tyrant with four bonesabres – so it is obviously going to be based on the Tyrant model and I have already sourced the four boneswords required.

Rather than going for a static pose similar to the Tyrant, I have decided to go for a much more dynamic/fluid pose that befits its WS9 stats. Imagine Achilles from Troy – or Leonidas from 300; powerful but precise. And 20 feet tall with four arms...

I think this is where Finecast really comes into its own; I have been modifying almost all of the Tyrant limbs by cutting, reshaping and pinning and now the model will stand on a single hyper-extended leg (as if in mid leap). With the old metal models – I would have never been able to do this.

Over the last few nights I have been prepping limbs and getting them into the correct positions to match the pose I have in my mind:

The next job is to customise the limbs and greenstuff the gaps. Pics of the finished limbs and a dry-fit pose to come soon!