Hive Fleet Dreadmyre (Updated 4 Nov 2013)

[ranmafan]

Greetings! After 9 months of painting, I'm finally ready to show my Hive Fleet (which is about 80% completed).

Dreadmyre is a modest fleet that focuses largely on piratical raids. Led by the Hive Tyrants known only as the Derelict and the Dragon, first contact was discovered aboard several drifting ghost ships in the wake of the Battle of Macraggae around several isolated outer systems.

Without further ado, some pics! (some half a year old...)

The Hive Fleet makes itself known...


The Derelict



Hive Tyrant 'The Derelict' detailed base




The GK casualty is my Tyrant's trophy for surviving and wiping out a 10-man GK Paladin squad + HQ. Its attendant Tyrant Guard will be receiving a GK helmet for its multi-rend kill.

The Derelict's retinue:


The Derelict possessed by the Swarmlord:


The Dragon Hi-Res [4 Nov 13]








The Dragon low-res [18 Apr 13]



Included magnetization cross-sections for anyone who's interested.


The Dragon's Wings



The Doom of Malan'Tai 'The Doomsayer' (added 5 July 13)




Broodlord 'Terror' with genestealers (mismatched colour bases. xD) - 4 Feb 13


Trygon 'The Maw' (brother of Thresher) - 4 Feb 13



Trygon Bases



Biovore bros. - 11 Feb 13


Biovores - Gnasher (tusks), Smasher (forward horn), Masher (back-curve horn) - 4 Mar 2013


Biovore detailed Bases


Spore Mines


Carnifex twins Red Oni and Blue Oni





Carnifex diorama Bases



'The Ronin' - my Old One Eye





Giftifex (little side-gift for my special someone)



Hive Guard


Deathleaper/Lictor conversion (WIP)


Tervigon (The Pious & The Sinner) -



Tervigon basing (12 May 13)




Zoanthrope (part of The Trifecta) -


Venomthrope and Zoanthrope basic base:


Venomthrope -


Tervigon/Tyrannofex/Tyranid Primes (magnetized)
T.Primes - The Shogun (left), The Berzerker (right)


The Shogun (Tyranid Prime)


Trygon Prime - updated 12 May 13



Gargoyle (colour test)


Broodlord (sample) - Two are default pose, two are dynamic pose.


Harpy Conversions

(magnetized - swappable between Trygons/Harpies/Mawlocs/Trygon Primes)

Shrike (colour test)


Genestealers - I call them my Shaolin Monks...


Complete Hive Fleet (wave #1)
- I apologize for the setting - I don't have a table or play mat. It's just my apartment floor haha.




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Design notes:
1) With the exception of Warriors/Shrikes, all Synapse creatures have feelers. I used large bubble-tea straws sliced into tapering strips to create these feelers. Paint has to be applied thinly, as it otherwise has a tendency to crack and peel. Done right, they're incredibly durable.

2) All Tyranids get a 'dot' rank on their carapaces somewhere (ice blue dot inside a yellow circle) - One dot are 'expendable' low level troops (stealers, gants, gaunts, gargoyles), two dots are larger creatures (Broodlords, Warriors, Shrikes, Hive Guards, Biovores, Zoanthropes, etc.), three dots denote vital or monstrous creatures (Tyranid Primes, Trygons, Tervigons, Carnifexes), and the Hive Tyrants get four dots.

3) Almost all models are magnetized (except only 1 full broods' worth of stealers and gants) - Larger creatures have various magnetized components to facilitate ease of list building, storage and transport. (also reduces damage done when dropped, which is almost certain)

4) Quality across models varies by importance - MCs and HQs get more attention, gants and stealers are factory-floor standard.

[hungryhungryripper]

Very nice sir

[jhussey]

I think the Shrike and Harpy conversions are cool. That's a great idea to use the Raveners and Tyrgons.

[FTGTEvan]

I really like the your conversions and the feelers, along with the Samuri feel. The Trygon prime looks awesome; I'd love to see some other angles. I like the color scheme; I'm a sucker for Orange based schemes. Very cool looking army, more pics!

[ranmafan]

Thanks for the likes, everyone! I'll work on adding more photos in the future - I'm currently spending all my free time trying to finish my basic Hive Fleet paint jobs before I take more photos. I'll probably be showing piecemeal pics of models as I complete them, then take a fleet photo at the end.

VTAeries - I'll go look at the Trygons. I don't think I painted the 2nd Trygon Prime's Synapse crown yet. I'll go dig out the nice camera for them.

[tigershark]

Great painting scheme. The colors look nice together.

[whoremagaunt]

your army looks really nice! a very playable scheme and appearance. to me they look like some further evolved splinter of kraken. i like the addition of the feelers (really brings out the bug theme) and the colors bring to mind a wildfire look, i can imagine that when deployed as a +1500pts army it looks like a the table is set alight! my one minor critique would be to consider an intermediate layer to your highlights.

[Evan Quinn]

Nicely done! I like your striking feel and amount of work you have put into your models But it's almost distracting at how your bases don't pull there weight compared to the nids!

Keep up the good work! I look forward to seeing your next painting project!

Evan~

[ranmafan]

whoremagaunt - Thanks! What highlights are we talking about here? The yellow trim?

Evan - I'm actually going to do the bases after I finish the models. I wanted to make the models fieldable as soon as possible. I'll probably go for very simple bases for the smaller models, and a little greenstuffing for the larger ones. Maybe a little cork for rocks on the HQ models. I've got some IG catachans and Grey Knights waiting to decorate those bases as trophy kills... ;P

[Evan Quinn]

Sweeet!!

Evan~

[ranmafan]

Hey Evan Quinn - I updated with a few new pics (also in the main post)

Trygon:


Broodlord/Stealers:


WIP - Flyrant 'The Dragon'

[FTGTEvan]

The flyrant looks pretty awesome; can't wait to see it painted up!

[ranmafan]

Biovore WIP, Spore Mines! xD

[edjammies]

I really like your dual brainleech devourers! Can you take a few close up pictures of it? I definitely would like to try that out for my flyrant.

[ranmafan]

edjammies - here ya go!


It's basically four termagant devourers with the holding arm clipped off and recycled as 'connecting arms' to connect with the Strangelthorn Cannon. The tip is magnetized so I can swap out the barrel for either the quad-devourer gatling gun or the original Stranglethorn barrel.

The 'bayonet' in the middle is just a toothpick. Figure I may as well make it extra spiky.

A second WIP pic of 'The Dragon' - added additional shoulder plates to bulk him up and change his silhouette and repositioned the gun arms so they don't run parallel to the tongue, since after modifying his head his proportions and profile looked seriously wrong. The new silhouette brings some balance back to his proportions.


Also finished 1/3 Biovores. Here we go!