'nids part 356 - #DreadTober High Rule Dude and Screamer Killers chitin highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 13th of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Tyranid High Rule Dude and the first set of chitin highlights are complete.

I think I'd feared this more than the bone, but actually it wasn't too bad.

Once again I'm using a spreadsheet to keep track of things, on all of my DreadTober pledges, so it helps to tick each element off one at a time. This is the body, obviously, but also forms part of the 'dots' task.

Left and right legs [plus dots].

The guns, which I'm going to try and match to the Bio-titan weapons.

It's a bit more 'Duplo' than the Hierophant, but then this sculpt is - sacrificing some of the finer detail for a better overall chunky feel. The dots and finesse of the striations match up.

Scything talons, funnily enough I did the three forearm plates on both and actually thought these were done.

Then I realised there was the 'sheath' bit of the talon itself. Don't know how I overlooked it initially, and they were probably more effort than the three bigger plates!

And back to the Screamer Killers and I got so carried away I totally painted the second set of highlights on one of them before I took the pictures of the first stage. I won't go into it until all stage 2 highlights are together but it makes an interesting comparison as I think I cover almost 80% of the 1st stage. Once again I'm going to blame my clumsiness and laziness.

I'm returning to my issue of this beast having much too chunky legs and the armour plates almost give the impression it's wearing tartan pants.

It's coming together from the saide.

And I do like the top/back carapace armour.

Not a lot of dots, but they make a significant difference to help break up the space inbetween the striations and the inconsistencies with the wash on the plates.

Once again the close up and this time pay attention to the teal. I'll repeat this after the 2nd highlights so we can see how much is covered.

Right, 2nd highlights still to do. I've estimated there are 118 elements on all three models, so far I've done 66, with only 52 left. Great progress and although I will have gotten through the bulk of the model very soon the remaining small bits may end up taking just as long. All the red and black highlights, green glow FX, any fleshy pink bits and perhaps even blue plasma [urgh] on the Screamer Killers...

We'll just have to see.

'nids part 355 - #DreadTober High Rule Dude and Screamer Killers 2nd bone highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 9th of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Tyranid High Rule Dude

Second set of bone highlights, much more fun than the first.

Lots of detail added to the ribcage to give it more texture.

It has removed some of the volumetric shading though, so when I have glued it together I will add some sepia washes in places to make it less uniformly lit.

The legs too, although they look better after all the highlights they just need more definition to their shape.

But it'll be easier to do it as one piece.

The guns next. This was a lot less onerous a task, as I suspected. 

However, I am beginning to notice that my brush control/line consistency is not quite the standard I've achieved in the past.

Now I'm not going to blame the tools, I've decent brushes, I just don't think I'm using them properly - overloading them with paint as I don't want to do the same stroke more than once.

It's not just laziness, it's that I can't. I don't quite have hand tremors nowadays but holding things steady for long periods of time just isn't sustainable. 

Not a great attribute when you paint miniatures for a hobby, but this realisation is having an impact on not just the painting but my outlook on how I paint and how it comes out.

The fact my experience is no longer creating improvements and my physical condition is perhaps reversing things means I have to be more accepting of the outcome.

The Screamer Killers were both brought up to scratch.

Reminds me of Krusty the Clown.

Luckily the dark brown, to sepia, to bone makes these a little more interesting.

But I still think some additional shading down the line will help define the model more. 

Once again I split the painting to legs, tail and torso. 

Then did the four arms separately, which I still found little joy in doing.

Saying that, I do have an urge to get another Screamer Killer.

So that I can convert it into an Old One Eye, I have the magnetised claws already...

We'll just have to see if I can be bothered.

Here's a close up of the highlights - so you can see just how rough and imprecise my strokes are.

I mean I love seeing brushstrokes on models. So in that sense I like the blobbiness. But I can also see where the paint has bled where I don't want it to be and those read as mistakes to me.

The rib cage looks pretty great though.

But it's undeniable here that I cannot hold a consistent straight line, and I know that was my intention.

But we make do with what we have and here's a little sneak peek of the next update - chitin striations next.

'nids part 354 - #DreadTober High Rule Dude and Screamer Killers bone highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity it's the 6th of #DreadTober and I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my High Rule Dude with the first set of bone highlights.

The body has been a bit of fun as with the defined rib cage it's easy to then split each element into stripes. Luckily this was the last part of highlighting so although I was losing steam from the limbs the simplicity and enjoyment countered any dwindling momentum.

Lets just say the legs had been no fun whatsoever - large and with less defined bigger areas which I then have to make decisions on how I apply strokes to give the impression it's a fibrous material. Even if it's fibres embedded in a resin, not necessarily flexible.

The arms were a little easier as there was less area to cover and more defined areas. But, more defined areas also means decisions, but I wasn't quite worn down.

But with them ready for the second highlights a chunk of progress has been achieved. Second bone highlights, 2 chitin highlights, red and then any glow FX and they're done.

Familiarity with a recipe and the ability to paint without any need for decision making is the optimum for efficient progress.

But these first highlights [and the first teal chitin striations] - deciding where the brush strokes go are the hard part and the second highlights are a bit easier as you;ve created a guide.

I actually got carried away here and ended up doing the first set of highlights on the monstrous talons.

You can see the differentiation more clearly here. As great as it is I'll be adding a small amount of sepia wash in places down the line - just to create some shading and create a more realistic three dimensional appearance. 

And the Screamer Killers also got done.

Everything with the High Rule Dude was replicated here, including the mental effort and feeling.

However, I started with the legs and then did the body and that was enough for one painting session on each Screamer Killer.

I then did two arms at a time, once again reminding me of my original distaste for Genestealers and Tyranids - just too many limbs!

But these are even more annoying as there's a 'bicep' and a forearm but you need to do both top and underneath. Also, the forearm has an inside leading edge that requires a bit of extra effort.

I just think this is additional sculpting GW has added with the new design Tyranids and it just feels a bit fussy. 

Granted, it's fussy because I paint on extra texture and add in physical texture it becomes both busy and challenging to paint.

Additionally the tail is somewhat odd, but then I've always felt that since I started 'pinstriping' them. 

When I come to do second highlights I'll be cracking on with these first rather than go back to High Rule Dude. 

Not sure why, but even though these are the 'stretch goal' I want them further on and always go with the flow.