'nids part 343 - Parasite of Mortrex - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my #Tyranid Parasite of Mortrex and it's TO DONE! I've combined the red and white pics in one post and will do the same for the completed Zoanthrope next week.

I've said before, I'm not a fan of the way they took the Tyranid aesthetic here, and I think they've moved further on from this in the new models.

However, I do like the end result.

I've seen other Parasites recently that managed to achieve so much more with the model and although I wish I could have achieved what they did I do really like what I ended up with.

And I think being comfortable with your own ability, limitations and expectations is key to being a happy hobbyist.

You can continue to strive to improve but there is nothing wrong with 'good enough'.

Whether this figure survives it's precarious stone plinth is debatable, hopefully it's rules are rubbish so I never have to field it! 😂 

No doubt I'll hook onto its claws with my jumper leaning over the table and it'll be flung across the room to shatter.

Nevermind, I have the pictures.

White background pics for those that prefer them

Although the wings did not come out quite as I'd hoped they are pretty effective.

I aimed to add more texture under the highlights, with the blue veins and a mottled effect.

But really, I just ended up with enhancing the highlights on the all the stretched areas and highlights.

The toxic green on the talons worked really well, as did blending in some red where the wings attached to the bone area. This has worked so well since I applied it to my Tyrannofex 3 years ago. 

Imagine if I'd converted it into a Dimachaeron as planned...? I wouldn't have expanded my skills, my hive fleet's colours and with the Dima going out of print from Forgeworld we may never get rules for it again...

Anyway, close-up of the wings so you can see all the obvious flaws.

And the simplicity of it, and yet it works from tabletop distance.

Now I don't pretend these are tabletop standard, a bit more than that. But they're not Golden Demon either. I mean I could enter it next time, but I have no illusions it would make the finalist cut, which is all I aspire to

And so, I will instead receive my own reward - a GREAT Big RUSTY Stamp of Approval .

'nids part 342 - Parasite of Mortrex and Zoanthrope - chitin highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my #Tyranid Parasite of Mortrex. Blogging is taking somewhat of a back seat at the moment, which is frustrating, but I'm progressing so much with the hobby I guess something has to be sacrificed to fit it all in.

The reality is that this model is well finished now, these pics were from April 23rd! Not only is it finished but I've finished other models and moved other things on significantly too.

But my son is due back from Uni in a few weeks so I need to 'make hay while the sun shines' as I will have less hobby time when he gets back. Don't get me wrong I look forward to our time together, I love it, but it often feels like I have less time to paint.

I'll organise things better this time as he may be studying from home/Liverpool next year so better to get things structured so we know when we're going to do stuff. Anyway, I painted the chitin highlights on the Parasite... 😂

And I did the highlights on the upgraded Zoanthrope.

I'm still uncertain about the glow on the brain bits. As all three Zoie's are now boxed away I don't 100% remember what I decided, I'll have to wait till I look at the TO DONE! pics in the next post.

This is such an awful model in metal, the Finecast one I have isn't too bad but they're so top-heavy in metal.

Anyway, one set of highlights to do, the claws and then the glow and he's TO DONE!

Hopefully I'll get some more posts cranked out, I don't think I've even finished all the WarhammerFest pics yet! I'll do my best, but rest assured I'm as frustrated as you that I'm not keeping up with this -having a record of my progress and achievements is the primary goal of this blog. The fact people even bother to check it out still is just an added bonus. But if I'm not recording my progress I begin to feel real antsy, and the failure to document my bottle reports is equally distressing, moreso in a way. Must try harder! 

'nids part 341 - Parasite of Mortrex and Zoanthrope - Basecoats and washes

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my #Tyranid Parasite of Mortrex. Previously it had just had its first bone areas painted.

But you can see I've also added in the Bahama Blue chitin and then done the sepia wash and black claws - pretty standard really.

Darker wash on the chitin, then first and second highlights on the bone areas.

I also added some red wash on the stone outcrop to bring some depth back into it.

Striations to do next but I need to think over how I approach the wings. 

And also I need to do some acid green on the talons and tail poison sack. I'm also a little disappointed there isn't a Ripper on the base somewhere. I think it deserves one at least, but it's a little late now.

While I was doing the Parasite I thought I'd bring my first Zoanthrope up to today's standard.

Of course that meant painting over the existing striations on the chitin - a bold move with no going back after the Bahama Blue hit.

All the washes and bone highlights, a bit more red on the fleshy bits too.

Now it's time for the striations and decide on the colour glow for the brain. I think it'll be blue this time, each one has a different colour so far.

One is green, the other is yellow/orange and this could be blue.

'nids part 340 - Parasite of Mortrex - BIG BUILD TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on a Parasite of Mortrex that was gifted to me by my mate Pete. Apparently he'd been scouring the blog for something I didn't have and what a gift!

He comes with a small chitinous piece for his base and the peg on his tails slots into it but I thought it was somewhat underwhelming. I've had this square cut piece of slate for over a decade, waiting for the right model to use it on and boy did this work out great. There's also a second piece added to the right facing to make it more rounded, it's perfectly flat otherwise.

Whether the pin holds or not is up for debate, he's definitely more fragile - that think drops the weight of the slate will send serious shock through the model causing all sorts of damage. And, for a creature you probably want to hide I've made it much harder - modelling for disadvantage! But it looks awesome and rule of cool wins out.

Here's the Great Big Big Build RUSTY Stamp of Approval for the build.

As I'm updating my oldest Zoanthrope it made sense to give this a progress boost - get the Red Planet BASE! done and basecoats.

Then I can batch the two of them for the chitin, washes and bone. The wings will be somewhat of a challenge but also something to look forward to.

And with the [mostly] painted base - Great Big Big Build BASE RUSTY Stamp of Approval.