The Devilgaunts of Scarabus

[Xantige]

Hullo Hive, I'm back again with some pictures of my latest batch o' gaunts. This month's flavour is Devilgaunts. I put a bit more time into this lot than I did my Termagants, but I don't know if they look any more impressive or not (probably not).

I went back and repainted the cysts on all my Termagant bases to a blue and then added gloss to them. I also added more lichen and I did all this to the Devilgaunt bases too.

These guys probably took me about 60 or more hours to complete. I used 2 colours and a wash for the teal, 1 colour and 2 coats of wash on the black, and 3 colours on the gold. Online people tell me they look flat, but for some reason, people in real life praise my layering skills, so I don't know if that means that the pictures are off, or if people in real life are easily pleased... Probably the latter.

Anyways, here they are:











Here's a last minute comparison of a Devilgaunt to a Termagant:



And here's a last minute shot of all my painted models, it's hardly anything but maybe one day that'll change:



For some reason these little guys got a heck of a lot of praise when I took them out at my local GW, the manager put down what he was doing to come see them, and the newest employee had to pick his jaw up off the floor. The new guy said they were the best painted Tyranids he'd ever seen in the store, and he asked me a load of questions as if I was some master painter. It was really heart warming to finally be noticed and praised like that, but I don't know if I really deserve it.

[swarm492]

Holy !#$% if someone told me to use gold on my nids I would say they were crazy but you created a really beautiful scheme. Generaly I dont like nids painted with light colors but that scheme is top notch and really well painted, congrats on some really nice work.

[hiveelysium]

Absolutely gorgeouse, cant wait to see what kind of detail you put on your big bugs!

[Helonion]

Atlantis is screwed XD

[jinx]

amazing,wish i could paint that good

[swarm492]

Have you completed any big bugs?

[Covalent]

Great! But I'd pay attention to not put too much gold on them. Your termagants have less gold on them and I find them more 'balanced' compared to the devilgaunts. They're beautiful too but just pay attention to not use too much gold

[Xantige]

Wow guys! I can't believe I'm hearing such high praise for these gribblies! It's really made my day! I'm glad you guys like them, it makes those 60 hours worth it.

Apr 29, 2012 14:15:11 GMT swarm492 said:

Have you completed any big bugs?

Sadly no, the biggest bug I own is a Pyrovore, and I won't be painting him for a bit yet. I want to sharpen my skills a bit more on the little guys

Apr 29, 2012 16:30:12 GMT Covalent said:

Great! But I'd pay attention to not put too much gold on them. Your termagants have less gold on them and I find them more 'balanced' compared to the devilgaunts. They're beautiful too but just pay attention to not use too much gold

The reason for the more gold on the newer models is because of the new paints GW released, among them was a base layer for gold that looks like a bronze. I bought it to test it out and I was quite pleased with it. On the Termagants, you're looking at 3-5 layers of JUST shining gold, then I used some Burnished Gold on it for highlighting, it was a long and tedious process. With the new base coat, I just do 1 coat of the 3 colours and the result is what you see. The gold is still the same as on the Termagants, but the Bronze colour extends out a bit further. The new models have a gradient from black to bright gold, while the Termagants look like the black suddenly ends and starts as gold.

I have a preference for the newer models, but everyone's entitled to their own . I assure you though, the next batch WON'T have even MORE gold. I'll be keeping it consistent from this point on.

[Davor]

Great work there Xantige. You made me laugh when I saw the teeth have gold as well LMFAO. Reminded me how some famous people had to put gold in their teeth LOL.

Great job keep it up, looking forward to more.

[Xantige]

Apr 29, 2012 17:00:06 GMT Davor said:

Great work there Xantige. You made me laugh when I saw the teeth have gold as well LMFAO. Reminded me how some famous people had to put gold in their teeth LOL.

Great job keep it up, looking forward to more.

That's why they've been nicknamed the "Bling Nids"

[Jpogfreak886]

Wow. They look amazing! You definitely deserve all the high praise you are getting because these things look great ! lots of attention to the little details, and for once, a scheme where metallic colours actually look good! *drooool*

amazing work! Haha please paint something big soon

[Hive Carnithrope]

Wow. All the metallic Nids I have seen don't look great, and I think/thought that they should really be reserved for... metal...

BUT, you have really made them work. I love the carapace feathering. It's great! I am looking forward to seeing some bigger beasties. Yeah, Gaunts are boring, but they are necessary and increase skill so, why not?

Carni

[tantalvesparus]

well

um

how have you managed to get metals to work on nids


just um words are um yea kinda not enough

[albinoxeno]

wow, you can really tell how much work you've put into those critters. i love the way you've done the carapace, especially the way the gold just works so well. i would LOVE to see your pyrovore when its done. as you have only painted little guys i would advise you to paint a warrior or the pyrovore next, its so fulfilling when you finish a bigger bug.

[swarm492]

Apr 29, 2012 16:30:12 GMT Covalent said:

Great! But I'd pay attention to not put too much gold on them. Your termagants have less gold on them and I find them more 'balanced' compared to the devilgaunts. They're beautiful too but just pay attention to not use too much gold

I love the amount of gold on the devilguants, its deffanitly not something I would of had the stones to try let alone get to work. When I first saw how the gold catches the light it made me think of the colored reflective scales on some insects, I dont know if that was the inspiration but damn does it work and provide a uniqe scheme. I look forward to seeing your first big bug, keep us posted.