'nids part 378 - Leviathan Tyranids - Basecoats

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the remains of my Leviathan box set Tyranids. That is 20 Termagants, something I am convinced will break me. I'm certain I recall just how hard this many can be to paint.

And yet I somehow believe adding 11 Neurogaunts into the mix will make it somehow more achievable... I mean it is not. But I guarantee I will feel a damn sight worse if I finished the Termagants and then throw in another 11 gribblies.

So if I'm all in with 31 models then I might as well the extra 3 Von Ryan's Leapers from Combat Patrol.

AND, 5 Barbgaunts too. You may recall these almost broke me as well.

But I have timings for these and I'll soon have timings for the Termagants and Neurogaunts which should provide me with a timescale. Once I have that it makes the whole process that much more manageable. 

Initially getting these basecoats done felt like such a retrograde step - like it was so far from completion. Yet each step, bone, blue and red has been achievable with some concerted effort and focus. The Soft Tone and Strong Tone wash will be relatively straightforward and then it's the highlights that will be the true test. A test of patience and repetition that hopefully I can overcome.

And just as I acknowledge the value in painting all of these concurrently, however overwhelming such large batches to paint present we get this:

Kill Team Typhon from Warhammer Community

Granted we knew it was coming. But I thought it was a few pieces of terrain and 5 Raveners. But there are multiple copies of each and the big tower. Not to mention 10 Hormagaunts and a base of Rippers! So it would appear I now have to get this and paint them all for AoP too! If I'm focused it just might be possible, so much for 'What's on my palette?'

'nids part 348 - Tyranid Leviathan - BIG BUILD BASE TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my #New40k Leviathan box set. As usual, just getting the Red Planet BASE! 🔴 TO DONE!

First up the Psychophage.

NeuroTyrant and Neuroloids.

Screamer Killer

and Screamer Killer 2.0. Everything else hadn't been based so hadn't been primed and if I'm honest I rushed these and the red primer was a bit chalky in places, as you can just make out.

Despite this, I get the Great Big RUSTY Big Build Base Stamp of Approval for the basing!

And with a bit of concerted effort during a week's leave off work - I went on to base the Termagants

All 20 of them.

The Neurogaunts too.

And the Barbgaunts,

Von Ryan's Leapers, and

The Winged Tyranid Prime...

Oh, and an old Lictor I'd reposed years ago, thought I might as well throw it in the mix.

Great Big Big Build RUSTY Stamp of Approval for the build.

'nids 299 - Devgaunts - TO DONE! #NidVember #NomVember

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer, I know it's a little late now but the Devgaunts got finished and I'm only just getting round to blogging about them.

It was quite the little challenge in the end.

It doesn't seem it but getting my head round painting some of the elements required a force of will just to get me over the finish line.

I was then hit with the crappy matt varnish, that started to peel off like a thin veneer of rubber on the base edges.

That setback, so close to the end and alongside the Tyrannofex just made it so hard to pick up a brush and re-varnish them with Army Painter Anti-shine.

Also, I randomly decided not to gloss the Adrenal Glands... I dunno. Despite all other Termagant glands being glossed I just didn't do it.

There's no rush, I can always gloss them some other time.

I think the addition of that black around the edge of the Devourer really helps set it off.

The highlight is helpful also in defining the weapon.

On my original Devgaunts I just covered them with Tamiya Clear Red X-27 so it was nice to have a little more definition in their weaponry.

Obviously the 3 Hormagaunt bodies are nice in adding a little variety to the profile of this brood.

Obviously they're known for tipping over [even more so with the big Devourer gun] so hopefully the slate ont he base and the more upright poses will help them balance.

They look good from above.

And make a really nice little brood.

And so I gets me my Great Big Granite Stamp of Approval - TO DONE!'

'nids part 290 - Tyranid Termagants

Afternoon #warmongers and just prior to #DreadTober I had been #paintingwarhammer on some 5 Devgaunts. I'd totally given up on forcing myself to get the Land Raider done and just went back to what I knew - Tyranids.

Now this may have been a mistake, my #DreadTober pledge was the Tyrannofex and it might have been easy to get bored of painting my 'nid scheme having done these.

Luckily I did not 'focus' on these and was doing them alongside some other bits and it felt very easy to get from the washes and first teal highlight through to the second turquoise and first bone highlight.

I also managed to do all the black claws, hooves and talons. This was all a by-product of the Rippers. As there are only 5 of them it wasn't too hard to just paint them together. Obviously the bone is a little more substantial so that's why it's not quite complete but it won't take much for the 2nd coat.

I also highlighted all the Adrenal Glands, again these are only for unit markings. I went a little more extreme shading/highlights on the Devourers for when the Tamiya Clear Red X-27 goes on.

It won't make a difference to my previous painted Devgaunts but I did want these to be the blueprint for future gaunts, not that I have any intention of getting anymore.

'nids part 275 - Tyranid Warrior Termagants, Rippers - MOAR basecoats and shades

Afternoon #warmongers and I've been #paintingwarhammer on those Tyranid models. I was getting all the chitin plates basecoated. The 5 Devgaunts, some made from Hormagaunt 'chassis'.

The Rippers

The lone Warrior

The Hive Guard

And I got the wash done as well. With the motivational challenge of my Deathwing Knights it is always handy to have something simple but with significant impact to a model up your sleeve. 

Washing all these 'nids, alongside all the metallic edging for my Adeptus Titanicus titans gave me a huge hit of progress on a lot of models. It also put me in a position where these can be moved onto the next stage as and when I feel overwhelmed by the Deathwing.

It was however not without issue. I had been using my Valejo sepia wash, mixing in some Instar Water+ to thin it down as I'd got the same crusty deposit in past applications as I did with Seraphim Sepia.

It didn't quite solve the problem, as you can see on the head crest it's still there, but not as bad as Seraphim Sepia. You would expect me to be livid at this point but as I'm running a Strong Tone wash over the top of it I don't think this will be a problem in the end.

Hive Guard conversions got the same treatment.

And there were deposits int he crevices also. I think it's the heavily recessed areas where the wash pools.

Some have suggested it's the separation of the matting agent, who knows?

I quickly remembered to wash these two in Soft Tone as well.

You can see that there was not the same problem with the Army Painter washes.

The Valejo wash does describe itself as a dipping wash so perhaps applying it with a brush is not the best application. Maybe you treat it the same way as an Army Painter Quickshade, although I believe they're much thicker. Doesn't really matter though, I'll just keep on painting.