'nids part 288 - Tyrannofex #Dreadtober week1 pt1

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Tyranid Tyrannofex for #DreadTober week 1 and I'm off to a pretty decent start. Granted I'd got the basecoats, base and washes all done beforehand but there is still a lot to do with my scheme so it's challenging nontheless.

First bone highlights on ribs and body. I really like this part. It can be messy and still look awesome. I can make decision about just how much shade and shaded bone is showing through.

All the thorax spikes will be black, the central ones and the side ones.

I added the extra adrenal glands on the legs just for variety. I doubt I'll ever use the biomorph but I love the idea of these symbiotes crawling all over the bigger beasties.

I highlighted the hive nodes too and all the wraithbone chips. I actually think there's a bit more pumpkin orange highlight to do on those rocks too.

Another head start [pun intended] was on the head. I'd managed to include this in my Carnifex heads and so it's pretty advanced at this stage.

There are some extreme turquoise highlights that need doing, the eyes, maybe some other bits but it's almost complete.

I've quickly noted down a progress diary that I'll include in a future post so you can see what is being achieved during a session. I forget how useful these can be as knowing how long a set of first highlights takes and the 2nd set isn't usually quicker means I can set goals for what gets done in subsequent sessions. Having those goals means you can better access the endorphin hit of success. It's also easier to pack in for the night when you hit those targets or add a stretch goal for greater high if you make better progress than you planned for.

'nids part 287 - Rippers - TO DONE!

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Tyranid Rippers. These are my original Rippers, almost a decade old and I was just refreshing them alongside their more recent siblings.

Actually, lets just take a moment to let that sink in, almost a decade since I originally painted them!

Came out alright in the end

At least I can do these without any hitch or crisis of confidence.

That's always a relief I can fall back on something to get me back in the groove. 

As the Free Radical Collective would say "progress is progress".

Top view so you can get a better view of the carapace chitin.

And alongside one of the more recent Rippers. The only noticeable difference being the slightly less saturated bases. 

However, if I keep these three together as a brood that might not be so apparent on the table. Here we go with all ten bases of Rippers.

Great Big GRANITE Stamp of Approval!

'nids part 286 - Carnifex heads

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer and while I have put the Land Raider on hiatus I thought I'd get these Carnifex heads ticked off. All the bone and chitin is done and I'm on to the flesh bits. 

Some red highlights next, the teeth, tusks and tongue any toxic bits and then the eyes.

It's a little project, although it's not going down as a minor project, can't be dealing with that nonsense on these. 😜

'nids part 285 - Genestealer cult - Acolyte Iconward

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Genestealer Acolyte Iconward. Another hobby 'chaser' - something I tack onto other painting as and when I do it - paint some orange - do this banner, paint some red - do the robes.

He's slowly getting there, I'm not convinced about the red wrappings on the banner pole but it'll be easily fixed with some wash.

It's been a slow burn project over many many weeks, but I'm OK with that because I'm not really focusing on it all. I'm expecting at some point to just wake up and find I've completed him! But I did all the highlights on the grey and white and picked out some more details.

You can see it alongside one of my other acolytes and once again I've managed to retain some consistency despite many months, even years between two. In fact they make a pretty nifty pair, even though the Iconward isn't even complete yet.

Still plenty of little bits and details to pick up but no rush. I do find all that ribbing on the body armour surprisingly difficult to do. You can see that despite all the ridges I cannot seem to make my highlights stay solely on the peaks. Not matter what they always seem to bleed into the creases. I can live with it but it's a constant annoyance

Looking forward to doing the Free Radical Collective freehand too, it's been a while since I'd done it but it should be fun. Hopefully next update is TO DONE! whenever that may be 😉

#Dreadtober

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer and #DreadTober begins this week. If you want to join in hop on over to dreadtober.blogspot.com and leave your 'pledge'.

I'm committed to painting my Tyrannofex. I've obviously got a head start on this, because I know what my pace is and I need it. However, I am doing all 3 weapon options so that makes up for the advanced state of progress.

And should I get through this quicker than I thought I've plenty of other dread sized things to keep me occupied

In fact I picked up a couple more Sentinels for my Genestealer Cult. I'm not sure why but two for £14 was an absolute bargain and I love them. As a stretch goal I only plan to get them based and primed but again I'm fine with that.

Dark Angels - Deathwing Land Raider Redeemer - RED!

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Dark Angel Deathwing Land Raider Redeemer. As you can see it's very much lighter than it used to be and I've been adding in the red highlights.

Now I surprised myself with these pictures, they are starting to get where I want to be with this... Except it does not stand up to close scrutiny, I'm far from happy with the result with the bone drybrushing.

 

Now I know that with a bit more shading, some extra line highlights and the eventual weathering and damage it'll all be OK. However, despite trying to slog through this I don't think I have the motivation right now to persevere with it. 

I believe in both going with the flow and perseverance when it comes to the hobby. The path of least resistance is usually the most effective but once in a while slogging through with a project, reaching that tipping point where you overcome the obstacles and it just progresses.

Unfortunately, that is not this time. I think I'm just going to have to chip away with it little by little. Hence why I did the red, which I'm at least happy with. Next up will be to tidy up some of the bone and maybe then I'll feel happier with it...

The unexpected side effect of lack of motivation is lack of energy too. I've been really tired at night but mostly I've been going to bed at an earlier time, which is good. I've also been spending time with the boy, we've a little under 2 weeks now until he's off to Oxford so hobby really isn't a priority. On top of that the new blogger interface...😱 Yeah, this is not a great experience, adding images from my photo albums is really clunky and woe-betide you add the wrong one and have to go back into the album of 250+ images and view them in batches of 40, starting with the oldest! 😓 

Anyway, I've some content to add so I may have a few weeks of posts to write up, if I can get over my blogger hang-ups.

'nids part 284 - Rippers - refreshed

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Rippers again. My original 3 bases of Rippers were one of the first Tyranids I painted. As I have recently added more those initial models are beginning to look a bit poor in comparison. The chitin is less defined and the fleshy bits were in the 'liver brown' effect I was using at the time, which has since been replaced by red.

So it was quick blast of Bahama Blue on the chitin. I was leaving the bases as is. They're subtly different in colour but I can live with that. 

Sepia and Strong Tone washes on the chitin and some of the bone bits..

Turquoise striations on the chitin.

All the fleshy bits will be ready now for adding some Khorne Red.

And that's why I'm doing it to get those striations defined and the deepest blue areas to be darker with more depth.

Highlights on the turquoise and first set of highlights on the bone.

All the eyes, claws and teeth need doing, the red and tongues.

The bone also needs its second highlights.

Comparing the originals with one of the most recent bases. You can see the slight difference in basing, less orange and vibrant but as I'll be keeping them in broods of 3 there weren't be too much side-by-side  comparison and most people won't spot the variannce.

Next stop, TO DONE! pics. Obviously I was supposed to be painting my Land Raider, and I have done some on it which I'll cover next time...