Hive Fleet Ubbo-Sathla

[8bitmummies]

Hello...er, skkrrrkkk'kkkk'sthhhh'kkkk'rrrrkk.

I'm starting a project log where I can barf up the half-digested contents of my painting table. Hopefully I can inspire myself, and maybe someone else while I'm at it.
 
First and foremost, I'm participating in an event in August that requires 1850 points of fully painted goodness. My Tyranids are itching to acquire biomass or die tryin'. I play Orks, too, but the ol' saurian-insect-mega organism is/are my one true love. So to kick this off, I'm going to focus on finishing all of the horrid, membranous bits that aren't, well, finished.

I'm a slow painter- no attention span to speak of, and I'm terrible at batch painting. I tend to work on very specific chunks at a time, so one beastie will have a very detailed face and the rest of its brood only a sloppy basecoat. But I'm getting there, and I'd be happy to receive feedback. 

Here's a full (if poorly taken) shot of my swarm thus far:



That reminds me, I've gotta get some primer for those Gargoyles.

I'll add some more specific stuffs in the nearish future.

I'm pumped to get these finished!

Thanks for looking.

[jimmyp]

Looks great so far, is that a fw hive tyrant top right?? The haruspex mouth looks brilliant painting

[8bitmummies]

Jun 16, 2015 11:20:15 GMT jimmyp said:

Looks great so far, is that a fw hive tyrant top right?? The haruspex mouth looks brilliant painting

Thanks!
Yeah, it is a FW Tyrant- such a cool model! I got it secondhand a ways back and it was in pretty bad condition, but I've managed to fix up most of the broken bits and repaint it. The head carapace/crest has a good amount of battle damage, haha.
I'm glad the Haruspex mouth is coming along well- I feel like I glossed it up too early, and maybe I should have added a few more highlights first. Here's a better picture of it:



I'd like to add "drool strings" (official term, I'm sure) using melted plastic and/or superglue. I need to look up a tutorial. 

[jimmyp]

Jun 16, 2015 18:24:52 GMT 8bitmummies said:

Jun 16, 2015 11:20:15 GMT jimmyp said:

Looks great so far, is that a fw hive tyrant top right?? The haruspex mouth looks brilliant painting

Thanks!
Yeah, it is a FW Tyrant- such a cool model! I got it secondhand a ways back and it was in pretty bad condition, but I've managed to fix up most of the broken bits and repaint it. The head carapace/crest has a good amount of battle damage, haha.
I'm glad the Haruspex mouth is coming along well- I feel like I glossed it up too early, and maybe I should have added a few more highlights first. Here's a better picture of it:



I'd like to add "drool strings" (official term, I'm sure) using melted plastic and/or superglue. I need to look up a tutorial. 

Looks brilliant love the red, it looks wet too. What paints did you use??

[8bitmummies]

JimmyP: Thanks! I used a mix of Warlock Purple (I can't believe the shelf life on the older Citadel paints), Red Gore, Blood Red, Tamiya Clear Orange and Red, and some Vallejo Smoke ink. The Smoke is probably my favorite tool in my paint box, you can do so much with it. I think I brought it down with Baal Red and Fuegan Orange washes. The orange wash looks great over bright reds and pinks!

Anyway, I mixed those up on a wet palette (not all at once, mind you) and just sorta went at it. Plus copious amounts of gloss varnish to finish it up.

[8bitmummies]

Did a small bit of painting on my Hive Tyrant/Tyranid Prime this afternoon. I'm still getting the feel of the carapace stripe pattern that many of you make look so easy. 

I love this model, even if it's a clunky Miasma Cannon conversion and there's some broken bits here and there. It looks a little dated (those feet!) but it has a stalking sort of presence that the newer Tyrant, as great as that model is, doesn't have.

I need to touch it up in a few places, and varnish the beast. The wash I used on the carapace has a sheen to it, while the paint over it does not. I'll have to fix that.





Aside from finishing the Tyrant off, my next step is to work on a lightbox for some better photos- I apologize!

[drewski]

The Tyrant`s gun looks amazing. I love the contrast colors.

[8bitmummies]

Jun 18, 2015 12:39:08 GMT drewski said:

The Tyrant`s gun looks amazing. I love the contrast colors.

Thanks!

[8bitmummies]

I painted up a Warrior before work today. I'm pretty stoked on it. I find that the feathering on the carapace looks pretty solid from a distance, even when it's sloppy. Great!








I have five more of these dooders basecoated and ready to finish up. Adrenal Glands, three Deathspitters, a Strangler, and two with Rending Claws. Before you cringe, I should say that I play both 2nd edition and 7th edition- in the former, they are a serious threat! Still fun to play in the current edition, though. I just dig the way they look on the battlefield.

[8bitmummies]

Had a week out of town, but I'm back on the paint wagon again. Spent some time finishing up a small unit of Genestealers today. Broodlord is in there, too, on the 40mm base- standing in until I get hold of one of the Spawn of Cryptus models.
They aren't exceptional, but I like the way they turned out. I tried to get a natural looking scheme that appears to shift a bit; I imagine their carapace to have a sort of blowfly sheen to it that slightly changes color as they move through their environment.

[tylertt]

Really nice looking fleet. Looking forward to seeing more.

And that FW Tyrant is outstanding, I am extremely jealous of everyone that owns one of those bad boys. I will one day find myself one of them.

[rpricew]

Good job! Keep up the work... Posting at least one picture every once in a while is very helpful to keep the momentum going.

[8bitmummies]

@ Price: Thanks! I've had a busy spell, but I should be back on track soon.  

tylertt: Thanks! Yeah, it's a rad model. I was hesitant to paint it because the model is so nice. I've still gotta patch up some details and things!

It has been a while since I posted last- work, visitors, etc- but I'm looking to get back to the grind in the next couple of weeks. The event I'm painting toward is creeping up at the end of August, and I've still a ways to go. That said, I haven't been entirely idle; I started my Malanthrope, finished some carapace details on my Hormagaunt swarms, and got my Warriors and my Carnifexen just out of basecoat range. Here's some cruddy pics that looked waaaay better on my phone:





I was particularly pleased with how bony these bony plates are turning out. Too bad I've only finished the right side of the beast, haha.



This picture isn't great, but this is my Bio-Plasma Carnifex conversion. I tried sculpting more carapace and some venom sacs on the sides of its head. The arms are kinda goofy, but I like the idea of a creature that exists purely as a barfing battering ram; I figured a continuous carapace would help drive that image home. 



The carapace is started! I like it thus far. It just needs scratches and a final round of highlights and varnishes.

...and the newest beast ejected messily from the sphincter-chute:



I put it off for a long while, but a great deal popped up so I jumped on it. I'm still unsure what I'm going to equip it with (I know the drill, TLDw/BL yadda yadda...) Still I can't help but feel that a Tyrant needs a Lash Whip and a Bonesword. It just feels right, somehow. Plus I have twenty Gargoyles lying around...

[gigasnail]

these are all really nice.

[mattblowers]

Love the bony plates on your fex.