'nids part 360 - #DreadTober Screamer Killers - TO DONE!!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 3st of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Tyranid Screamer Killers. Did we manage to meet the deadline? Of course we did!

 As #DreadTober comes to an end I'm less guilty about my headstart as without it it would never have been completed in time. It looks like I judged the effort needed to perfection and rather than feel bad about that I'm going to embrace it from now on. 

I felt bad when I missed the deadline with the Tyrannofex so at least this time it was all worthwhile. Not to mention I managed 2 Dread sized creatures and a Knight sized one too.

Of course I could have just focused on one thing throughout the month but I'm not sure if that was the most effective and efficient use of my time.

Bottom line I have to balance the community event with my own mojo and muse and September I had the urge to start these early and it was the right decision.

So, no more apologies and I really like how these both turned out, enough that I will not mention the legs again!

In fact I'm going to say how much I like the plasma effect.

The blue is my least favourite glow that I add to things but it's worked out OK here. Just enough to add some variety.

The second Screamer Killer feels like more of a spider, with its downturned talons.

I put this next to a normal Carnifex and I can't believe how tiny the old model looks in comparison. 

Almost like the old one is it's little brother.

The debate now is do I buy one more to make a proper Old One Eye conversion?

I think it's inevitable, but right now I want a bit of a break. Although I feel satisfied with my efforts in the hobby season so far, I think at some point I need to finish those Deathwing Terminators to be truly satisfied.

Possibly with the remaining bits of my Death Guard too, the Blight Haulers and lone marine.

But these are great and alongside the High Rule Dude it's been the best #DreadTober ever.

I've ended up with 3 amazing models that despite the minor setbacks I think have come out amazingly.

Can't wait for DreadTober 2024

And to top it all I get another Bloody Great Big Bloody Stamp of Bloody Approval!

'nids part 358 - #DreadTober High Rule Dude and Screamer Killers Flesh and Talons

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 24th of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Tyranid High Rule Dude and I've been so busy I didn't have time to post this update last week.

My focus has been on highlighting all the red fleshy bits.

Then all the black talons, claws and spikes.

I got all the adrenal glands highlighted too as well as the eyes and teeth.

The rotting strawberry of doom.

The teeth have made such a huge difference and this is literally just VGC Stonewall Grey and then white. No shades, washes or wet blends! And yet I'm convinced it's somehow tied everything together.

All the chunky brushstrokes look like some comic-book style colouring.

The spikes too, it's all coming together now and I can't wait to put some gloss varnish on all those spikes.

I did the legs, but foolishly did not consult my Tyrannofex blogpost beforehand to give me the exact recipe of how to create the angry red effect. 

It's hardly different but it would have made a bit of sense given I actually noted how I did it. And also it was DreadTober2020 which has a nice continuity to it!

And the massive talons, I've done much lighter highlights on the red than usual. 

I'm not sure if I'll live to regret that or not, but it all matches on the model, even if it's not as consistent with some of my other big bugs.

The talons too are a bit clunky with the highlights but I just wanted to get it done at this point. I'm not sure about the veins on the shoulders, if I need to do anything to blend them in a bit...?

Regardless, there's still some shading to add in places, but I'll do that when the model is fully mounted and I can decide on how I'm going to shade it.

Now the guns mostly match the Hierophant, at least I consulted the blog for this.

That said, I'm not sure what I was thinking that the underslung pipe/strut should be green like it's delivering bio-plasma to the gun, when it fact it ends in a bayonet talon! Still I'll do it green.

And to the Screamer Killers - both got their highlights.

And I now fully understand why the legs don't work. Firstly, there are 6 armoured plates on the thigh and 4 on the shin, when usually it's 5 and 3.

Those additional plates fill up the space more, rather than show bits of the fleshy joints or weaker armour. It creates a solid armoured leg.

Which I suppose for the function of the creature makes evolutionary sense but it's diverging from the Tyranid design language in a way that looks plain odd.

From the side it's not too bad, as you can see the other colours from the scheme.

But from the front, and particularly how the angle of the knee bends back in such a way as to make the armoured plates look continuous from a tabletop perspective, well they just look like trousers.

While the new Norn Emissary, as a bigger creature still holds to the 5 and 3 rule. Has a slight taper to the plates too, so you can see the weaker armour at the sides and the knee bend is in such a way as you can see the top part of the shin. 

When I get the Norn done you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, this has all worked out pretty well. Green and blue plasma to do next and then some shading.

The heads have worked really well and once again the teeth just make it so comic-book.

As much as I'd love to do something more grimdark and downright scary I love how this is straight out of Ben 10 or some other kids cartoon.

It's still cool, even if it's toy-like. As I come to terms with what I'm capable of painting nowadays I'm just grateful it has come together despite it.

I mean even all the dark blue, thanks to the washes, has somehow worked out OK when pre-chitin highlights it looked really dodgy.

Nearly done, just the glow FX, shading, some details on the bases, varnish and TO DONE!

Can't wait to see them finished.

'nids part 357 - #DreadTober High Rule Dude and Screamer Killers chitin highlights 2

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 16th of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Tyranid High Rule Dude and the second set of chitin highlights are complete.

Much brighter but still I think I covered up far more of the previous Teal highlight than I would have liked.

Here's some close-ups to see the quality of the line work.

Some good ones but also some scruffy ones.

I also decided to fill the dots with brush work, rather than pins, tooth picks or paper-clip dots. It's less uniform and in some places goes wrong too but it was just easier to do in one sitting.

Those vents are disappointing. I will be doing green glow from them like the Hierophant and on the sides. Hopefully the additional colour will break things up and be more interesting to look at than the dodgy striations. 

The guns

which look like weird little star fields now.

Talons

The look OK, ther'll be lots to do with the black highlights when I get round to them.

Not just the massive talons themselves, but the hand claws.

The elbow and the three little spikes underneath the forearm. This may break me next week.

Both Screamer Killers are now highlighted.

It's bizarre who the legs offend me again. I get why they're stocky, but the Norn Emissary is bigger and his legs and chitin plates are more tapered.

But it's not just the shape, its the numbers. The Emissary has five plates on the thigh and the three on the shin.

This has six plates on the thigh and four on the shin.

I'm convinced if they'd stuck to that the proportions would have made more sense.

But again, this thing needs more armour so they through on more plates. Lore-wise, bio-morph wise it makes sense. I just think visually it falls down.

Although I do love the back, these vents will need a green glow too.

And the other SK, I just think it looks like it's wearing tartan pants.

I put some tertiary highlights on the High Rule Dude, but haven't done so here, which I might have to rectify now I've spotted it.

There are just a few places where both of them would benefit from just a little extra definition,

Reds next and there's a fair bit to do on all these models for that.

So, that's the vast bulk of the model done just reds, blacks, greens, blue [for the SC plasma] and teeth and eyes.

Back to the spreadsheet to track my progress, unfortunately I keep adding to it, to help identify different elements, as I tick things off 124 elements now. However, I've only 25% left to do, so at least progress is outperforming the setbacks. Although I'm not sure having 50% of my time left is actually sufficient to do that 25%! So many details left...