'nids part 130 - PROJECT Y Scratchbuilt Tyranid Skyshield Landing Pad pt9.

I'm struggling a little bit to juggle the projects I have with how to blog them, mainly because I'm trying to multi-task. I appreciate as a man that's impossible but we should all have aspirational goals, wot! So this is the small but significant progress on the walls to the Skyshield. Significant in that the construction of the core was a mental [as well as physical] stumbling block preventing progress. For some reason building this was a massive mental milestone to get past so I could continue the project. So I managed with a concerted evenings effort, then would go on to add the clear plastic walls.

To finally get them in place, although I think it may have warped the plastic a little bit because they seem to sit even less flush with the landing pad than before, hopefully I can disguise it a little bit with the sculpting on top.

As you can see I made some spikes  for the centres, trying to match the spikes on the Capillary Towers but really making something more akin to baby sweetcorn. 

These were made with Milliput and I forgot smoothing them with water would just smear it over the clear plastic. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing, as time goes on I'm thinking I just need to cover the clear plastic completely. It's the easiest solution, especially to get my head around and time is running out so I may just have to suck it up and do it.

One last thing of note is I became quite weary of the Milliput. Spending 5 minutes mixing the stuff, having it fall apart as you roll out tubes and struggling to shape it, as it's not quite as maleable as DAS clay, it really became a bind. So I may just take a gamble and go with DAS on the walls. The fact is it probably won't stick at all, the plastic is too shiny and despite my plan to cover it I probably won't scuff it beforehand either. However, I may just be able to get it to work and if it goes wrong I'm thinking it won't be too difficult to break off and start again with Milliput. But if it does work the benefits would outweigh the gamble - it'd speed up the process and be less frustrating, which would keep me motivated.

   

Onwards and upwards, the race continues

'nids part 129 - 'The Great Maw' £24 Tervigon pt 2

The 'Great Maw' continues apace, well the head at least. I'm still stuck in limbo for the rest of the body. I decided on the Mawloc pincer tail, I may live to regret it but we'll see how seamlessly I can join the pincer onto the tail. 

The Tervigon's head was painted mostly during periods of frustration/weariness with the extra Termagants. I need to add some extra turquoise highlights, do the mouth highlights and some extra bonewhite bits. I'm unsure about adding some spots on the axe-head blade, it seems more menacing without but it could do with just a little something to break up the expanse. If I add some dots I'll be quite frugal with them. 

This side of the jaw is slightly more obvious where the Mawloc mandibles join. I'm sure some green stuff in some form could have smoothed the transition, hopefully I can disguise it a bit with some paint, although at the moment it's the paint that's revealing it's addition.

I'm not sure what to do down his gullet, I want it to be dark but that doesn't really reflect the Toxic spit that's going to come out of it. I also need to disguise the joins on some of the plastic too. I may add the mottled poisonous effect I accidentally achieved on my other Tervigon's tongue, fingers crossed I can achieve it again.

The race continues apace, can I complete this Tervigon and my Skyshield by March 21st? And I have to fit it in with all the other things I have to do, you know real life stuff! We'll have to see.

Flufftastic - Hive Fleet Gorgon - Ferron Splinter Fleet - Scourge of Oktavia

The Scourge of Oktavia is a Xenos abomination that has only recently begun to terrorize the good citizens of Ferron Proxima. The Scourge is a bioform of the Hive Tyrant [Tyranicus Praefactor] genus but it has evolved with the ability of flight due to its leathery wings.

Alongside the winged biomorph it has also adapted two oversized Devourer weapons. These horrific mutations allow the beast to lay down heavy fire that can decimate small vehicles as well as the brave people of Ferron Proxima.

The Scourge has taken to roosting in the abandoned Edvard Henri Memorial Cathedral Tower in the coastal hive city of Oktavia Profundis. Despite sharp shooters from the local militia and planetary defence force they have been unable to remove it from it's nesting area and the Winged Tyrant continues to plague the populace killing with abandon. This has led to widespread evacuation of the city, which has had a detrimental impact on the production capacity of the ports. Indeed this reduction has even been noted by the missed quotas to Imperial Tithe

Because of this a call for support has been despatched. Ferron Proxima is a recruitment world for the Dark Angels and their Successor chapters and it is to the First Legion that the people of Ferron Proxima look for salvation. The Tyrant may have the skies for the moment but in time it will have to face the might of the Adeptus Astartes as they return to ruthlessly defend one of their 'homeworlds'.

Whilst we await their arrival further reports suggest the Scourge may not be the only winged behemoth haunting the sulphorous skies of Ferron Proxima. Time will tell if this abomination has an as yet unidentified twin, the situation is already dire, the Emperor only knows what the result would be should the two beasts join forces...

'nids part 128 - Spawning yet more Termagants

More fun at the Gaunt fayre - 10 more Termagants are on the go. The good thing was I started them while I was completing the first set of 10. This meant they were all base coated and ready to go alongside the six Spore Mines after I did the Red Planet Basing.

 

 I find the positioning of the Adrenal Glands quite amusing. It's like a cat that's got something stuck on it's tail - they don't know what it is and can't see it but they know something is behind them and it just sends them running hell for leather in the opposite direction. I've also positioned the glands so that five are pointing forwards and five are pointing backwards. It's a small distinction but it might be sufficient to keep track of the units should I spawn small numbers.

As much as I like the Red Planet Basing, the finishing touch - the Bonewhite chips are always a little frustrating. Finding the right bit of sand to paint can be annoying, especially if I've screwed up the sand mix and there really aren't enough medium sized stones to pick out individually. It's quiet a laborious task that on the face of it doesn't result in a lot of painting which in turn feels like a waste but the end result can often take a poorly executed Red Planet Base and make it decent. It has to be done, I just don't relish doing it.

The six spore mines include two metal ones, thankfully they're a bit more upright than the Macragge versions so add a little more variety to the cluster. I'm starting to really love them, not in a gaming sense [although they seem effective in some cases] just the pictures of them in the Codex. I quite like the idea of scratchbuilding some Meiotic Spores too. The rules are bit dated but I'm there's some scope with the way the new Spore Mines work for them to be effective.

And aside from the varnishes I managed to finish these guys up. I'd estimated 8-10 nights work, given how I operate but  I think I halved that with a concerted effort.

The previous 10 had Mechrite Red edges but the finish wasn't quite right, one of my legacy pots has a bit of a satin finish so I went back to my Army Painter Heavy Red.

Army painter Heavy red isn't quite as opaque as the old Citadel Foundation and requires two coats but it does give the required finish and colour. However, the Army Painter Anti-Shine may be the dodgy culprit so I'll be a little more wary when I seal these, starting with the Spore Mines.

You may also notice in the back of that shot my Dark Vengeance Deathwing. I've got those based and base coated too. As and when I do a specific colour on the Termagants and I felt I had the time and wherewithal I added that colour to the Deathwing so a little bit more was done. It means I get a head start on them for when I commit in earnest and it also breaks up the monotony of the Gaunts. Additionally out of shot is the 'Great Maw' head for the currently untouched £24 Tervigon. With the Gaunts finished I will be focusing on this and the Skyshield Walls next.

Meanwhile I prepped a new travel box. Once again a £1.59 craft box is covered in laminate flooring underlay. I can get 18 gaunts in here, shame it's not an even 20 but aside from the hour or so to make, it seems like a bargain. I'd been looking at getting a KR Multicase or Tyrant Army Figure Case, there didn't seem much in it but when I looked at Battlefoam noticed they do trays in a cardboard box.

So I actually went in search of archive storage boxes that would fit the other foam trays which are considerably cheaper than Battlefoam. I actually found two options that would have been ideally sized for the cheaper Tyant foam trays but as you can see from this link I'd have to spend £24 [not including postage] and I'd end up with 10 boxes! The other option was around £13 and a ba better fit but postage for orders under £100 was £7.99 so just as uneconomical! Sadly this is a non-standard box size  so there were few other option and I only need 1 or 2 at the most.

Now admittedly that makes the boxes £2.40 each and I could fit 7-8 trays in it at £4.50 each. I did think I could perhaps sell the remaining boxes on ebay for other gamers to do the same. I even thought about making a quick spray mask and 40k addict 'branding' them. Then I realised I couldn't be bothered so I may as well continue on with the craft boxes ;) They're a little bulkier but considerably more durable and can't be beaten on the price.

But hopefully I've given some extra ideas to folk,should they find themselves in a position where a group of mates can bulk purchase the boxes for the trays, which I'm not in a position to do, feel free borrow the idea.

Ebay sales you won't regret* - a Frakkin 40k Warlord Titan!!! Holy Omnissiah!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40K-Warlord-Titan-Scratch-built-3ft-tall-/251453520684?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item3a8bcc3b2c

* When I say you won't regret buying my mate Liam's scratchbuilt Warlord Titan, you may do when you're otherwise mild mannered hobby widow see's it turn - up there is no hiding this 3 foot tall behemoth, as evidenced in the pictures from our Apocalypse WOW battle: Prelude | Turn 1 | Turn 2 | Turn 3 | Turns 4, 5 and 6 |

There have been quite a few legendary scratchbuilds of the Warlord Titan but I think this is one of the most Epic I've ever seen. In some respects it's actually bigger than a Warlord should be, scale wise, and approaches Imperator scale! Anyone who's ever wanted one and has the finances needs to check it out right now. Starting price is £300 but that is less than a Warhound Titan including it's arms and considerably less than a Reaver Titan [body only] and this thing is HUGE, check it out next to Liam's son! Not to mention his scratchbuilt Warhound, which is I believe actually a little bit bigger than the Forgeworld version!

Seriously this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get an amazing model and with the way GW is going we'll be seeing a 40k scale version of Adeptus Titanicus any week now, rules in White Dwarf ;) If you want to see more pictures and the Work in Progress shots head over to Liam's Blog at Blue Warp Studios for more. Even if you're not interested in the Titan yourself, and have a blog please share it or re-blog it on your own blog or forums that you frequent, there are only 9 days left in the auction. This is an amazing piece, deserves a good home and we want to see Liam get a decent price for all the effort, blood, sweat and tears so please let as many folk know as you can. Whatever he gets will be invested back into the hobby so whatever final price it is rest assured there will be all kinds of crazy cool awesomness coming out of Blue Warp Studios thanks to the lucky winners contribution to Liam's hobby fund. Incidentally I believe he'll be getting rid of his Fortress or Redemption too, so keep your eyes peeled to his ebay listing should the Warlord be too rich for your blood.

Mycetic Spores - In Memorium

As we bask in the afterglow of our wonderful new Codex I thought we should hold a minutes vigil for arguably the greatest casualty to the Tyranid arsenal - the Mycetic Spore. I'm not sure we can accurately know why we no longer have access to this little beauty. I think it's probably a financial one ahead of any other mooted reasons. The cost of making the molds and the potential market given how folk made their own or found alternatives is probably the real reason. There's no point GW investing money in something that won't sell, which makes sense but I can't help feel the true hobbyist is being penalised for their creativity. Well, I would say that given that's what I did with my 'Pong Pong Pot Pourri Pod'.

And then again with my two [oft-maligned] Plasma Hatcher conversions. I never quite understood the dislike these created, sure they're not perfect in their standard version but they were pretty much the right size, very nid-like and on occasion extremely cheap [until folk realised they could sell for lots to those that wanted to make Spore Pods]. Luckily my conversion continues to make them viable as an alien Vengeance Weapon Battery, which I may well have some fun with in the future.

But I'm not the only one to suffer, Otty had this beast of a Spore Pod. I'm not sure if it'll work as another form of Fortification. It's Bastion sized but extremely difficult to use as something with Battlements

And what makes it worse is he'd just finished another pod of more sensible proportions before the 'extinction event' happened. He'd built this out of a toy heart or other internal organ. He may be able to get a Weapon Battery out of it but it's still a disappointment no doubt. There'll be more pictures at the end of this post.

Of course the major impact is the loss of our ability to get nids all over the battlefield. Situations like this 2nd turn 'beta-strike' will never happen now. The funny thing is given the FAQ that gave us a 6" disembarkation showed renewed love for the Pod it feels like a double kick in the plums that it was removed completely. Obviously that made the Doom even more effective. Deviations meant very little when you could still get out and move to leech as many units as possible. Even though I was a little weary of my nids at the end of the old Codex it was the ability to switch things around, deep striking or foot slogging it was the extra Spore Pods that gave me the versatility to keep playing them interesting. It also allowed me to be competitive in different ways, learning how to get that 'beta-strike' in place but even then you were reliant on the dice, it certainly wasn't over-powered.

Here we have probably the last great thing my Spore Pods did, Smashing a Triarch Stalker to pieces in assault!

Getting the Doom exactly where it needed to be, the number 1 reason to take a Mycetic Spore. Even if he died he was usually a turn of people shooting at it instead of the rest of the gribblies.

Here's a Spore Pod Tervigon Sandwich.

And I had some fun with the rumours before the Codex hit.

And then the actual reality of what the rumours turned out to be.

But we can still not forget then iniquity whereby Tyranid Primes were not allowed in a pod with their Warrior brethren unlike practically every other Independent Character specifically being able to join a unit in their transports. Presumably this was more to do with Primes joining Carnifex in a Pod to make them more durable but that was an easy fix but they went for the hard one instead.

Anyway, here are more pics of Otty's insane last hurrah for the Spore Pod. See if you can identify all the bits ;) Let us hope one day they return to the Tyranid arsenal. I don't hold out much hope for these Data Slates, they promise much but deliver so little but they still feature Spore Pods in the artwork so maybe one day... we can but hope.

'nids part 127 - 'The Great Maw' £24 Tervigon pt 1

This is my replacement head for my 'hot off ebay' £24 Tervigon. I wanted the Tyrannofex head for something different and then added the spare Mawloc jaw. Some extra effort joining the stretched skin to the upper jaw may have helped but I'm hoping I can disguise it a bit more when it's painted.

Here's how I cut the T-fex head, should you wish to repeat the process, it's pretty straightforward, the Mawloc jaw fits really easily from these cuts/ The only real  issue is in the roof of the mouth and I kept trimming that so eventually the bits slotted together.

Still not 100% sure on the bamboo spikes, they look cool but will probably get in the way of it's front arms. It is looking super cool all round though, glad I did this now. Originally I was sceptical doing it, didn't want to screw up the T-fex head and waste the Mawloc parts but given how easy the kit bash was and how good the final result is I'm definitely glad I've got something quite unique now.

And the front view gives the potential for the Miasma Cannon, so no tongue going here. However you are supposed to remove it's Scything Talons to add the upgrade, but given the Scy Tals offer no benefit anyway I'll still keep them and shoot from the mouth.

I've blu-tacked it in place so you can see how it looks.Clearly those Bamboo bits add an nice protective frames to the newly spawned gaunts, I like it I just don't know how the arms will intereact. I've since added a piece of sprue on the back of the head so I can paint it with ease, unfortunately the 4" of plastic makes it a bit harder to visualise how it will affect the arms, now that I've also magnetised them. At this stage I hadn't done that so it's a bit of guess work.

But I'm not sure you can really argue with that visage. Still to come I have to base the tervigon but need to do so in such a way as I can paint it without being based and then attach to the base afterwards. A tricky job and a bit of a stumbling block. It's questionable if I can finish the 10 remaining Termagants, the Skyshield walls AND the Tervigon by Throne of Skulls. Some may think so as we're talking about 5 weeks but the gaunts should take about a week to two and the walls probably the same which gives me one week on the Tervigon, not enough in my book.

But we'll see how things progress. If I can speed the Termagants up and make AND paint the walls in 1 week [the walls should paint in 2-3 nights] then I might have enough time for the Tervigon, it's a race now, so lets see where I finish!