Hive Fleet as yet unnamed

[rhus]

Howdy all! It's been years since I've done anything in 40k, since the Marines/D.Eldar starter box. I did minimal stuff then, and am getting back into things with my local group and some Kill Team.
I did more research before buying this time around, and fell in love with the 'Nids.
The model designs, the smarmy swarmy omnom nature.

So here are my first pieces, an old rookie looking for some veteran critiques/advice.
My idea is a natural insectoid base for everything: black/blue limbs and inner carapace/bone, visceral reds and purples for inner organs/musculature, and colorful outer carapace.

Individual pieces will have unique outers: 

[rhus]

Another warrior (with inspiration)

[rhus]

And the third from the box:





My main questions are: am I biting off way more than I can chew?/Am I going way too far off trope to have chaotic individual patters?

And three: group masses (like my box o'hormagaunts) are going to be more uniform within their group. Which of the following looks like the more interesting base?

(Pics to follow) 

[rhus]

Hormagaunt ideas:



With these beetles, I can still have a riotous style between each figure while keeping the same color pattern.

Or

 with darker body carapace and brighter head pieces.

[ephilippa]

Wow very cool bug colors.
Love the variaty however maby stick with one color scheme per type. So all warriors same colorsscheme and all gaunts same color scheme etc. I think this gives a very cool army.

[jaigo]

I did the green shiny one. Still really love it. But I would choose one type and stick with it. I love the 1st scheme

[rhus]

Thanks for the comments!
I think I’m going to take at least some of the advice and keep other units or types single-themed. My hormies for instance are all getting a cricket-ish tan and brown carapace to make them properly swarmlike in numbers.

If I ever expand onto full fledged armies (up from kill team) I may homogenize things more, but that may be a long time coming.

If it isn’t already used, I like ‘Hive Fleet Cacophany’ as a working name.

[naviedzony]

Awesome!

[rhus]

First group shot with a pack of hormies

Attachments:

[naviedzony]

Hm... The carapace ideas still looks cool, but I don't really like weapons and red elements on the maws. Theese really need more work.

[rhus]

That’s fair, and honestly the one part that I couldn’t quite figure what I wanted to do. The interior bits (space between ‘ribs’ and the patches on the limbs) are red with purple wash, the limb carapace is black with dark blue dry brushing.
The weapons and blades are like a hybrid of the two: dark blue ‘bone’ with red outer layers.
But I’ll agree I don’t like it as much as I do the insectile carapace layers.

Any suggestions?

[naviedzony]

Have you considered bone colours?

[rhus]

Yes and no?
In my head it might make a nice contrast to the heavier colors of the other parts, but thematically I have a hard time putting Terran ‘bone’ in the biology of a Xenos creature.

Then again, I am putting Terran insect designs there. Hm...

[rhus]

And the latest: Tyrannofex with Acid Spray
I had a different idea for the carapace, adding thicker and deeper layers of a dark red, but I loved the copper contrast so much I left it as is.

 

[naviedzony]

I get the idea. You just need to add some more shading to this carapace. Cool base and skin, by the way.