Hive Fleet Tchernoborg

[BattleMetalChris]

Hi everyone

I've recently got back into 40K after around a 15 year hiatus (3E was when I last played), and started collecting nids.

After a few trial runs I've settled on a colour scheme and these are the first few model WIPs. I hope to post more as my swarm grows

[vespa]

Absolutely love your scheme, it looks fantastic.

I'd just be worried about how long it would take to paint an army that way? I hope you don't care about this, because I really want to see more painted this way!

[Deleted]

I love the vibrant use of color. Reminds me of tropical frogs or certain reptile genotypes.

[monkeychuka]

kaleidoscopic! I can't believe you put that much detail on rippers. Suitably impressed and humbled.

[BattleMetalChris]

Thanks guys

Yeah, I took tree frogs and insects as my inspiration. It does take a while to paint but I think it's worth it and my local club is pretty relaxed towards fielding unpainted models, so I can still play.

I use a base colour with a watered down black wash, then everything else is wet-blended up from there to the highlight colour.

One thing I discovered looks awesome (which you can see on the ripper and second gant) is painting the upper jaw and face pink like the gums. I'm really please with how that came out and am going to continue it over the whole swarm.

[seethe]

Damn man love that scheme. Great job.

[Nard]

Great work

[boppl]

OMG. so nice

[jawsgid]

Really very nice! Looks awesome!

[BattleMetalChris]

A bit more work on the Warrior:

[hivefleetcurinus]

oh my word excellent work! can we have a tutorial or just a guide?!

[BattleMetalChris]

It's mostly just lots and lots and lots of feathering (as explained in this thread: thetyranidhive.proboards.com/thread/35940/paint-guide-techniques )

I first paint a slightly watered down coat of black & red into the recesses of the carapace as a 'darkest colour' base. Apart from the undercoat (so I'm not painting directly onto plastic) I don't put a base colour on the rest as I'll be adding so many layers any base would be completely hidden anyway. Then I work, shading from dark to light in stripes which work outwards, going:

Carapace Centre: almost-black - dark-red - red
Carapace Centre-Mid: almost-black - brown - orange
Carapace Outer-Mid: almost-black - yellow-brown - yellow
Carapace Edge: almost-black - grey-brown - bone - white

For small carapaces (on, say, a gant or gaunt) I use only three guide-stripes.

I don't use specific store-bought shades, I just mix whatever I feel I need at the time from red, blue, yellow, black and white.

Once I've got these stripes in place as a guide, I do more feathering to blend each stripe into each other.



A wet-palette is an absolute MUST, as it stops your paint drying on the palette as you mix it to blend with. I use a tupperware box with an airtight lid, with a layer of tissue-paper in the bottom and a sheet of cut-to-size baking parchment laid on top. You then wet the tissue underneath and use the parchment to mix on; the parchment allows just enough water through from below to stop the paint drying on the palette, but not enough so it thins them down excessively. You can put the lid on between sessions and it'll keep your mixed shades.

[BattleMetalChris]

New Biovore!








I also have a new Flyrant, but he's just standard plastic and not very interesting yet.

I plan on using the Fleshborer Hive arms from the Tyrannofex to represent the Flyrant's twin-linked Devourers.

[aleeuwenburgh]

wow, wish my paint skill was even half as good

[powerbouncytommy]

Nice perspective shot there, the Biovore looks like it dwarfs the Warrior.

Great colour scheme too!