Barbed Hierodule Completed!

Here he is! Look at all his majesty.





The arms are magnetic for storage purposes. This didn't take as long as I thought it would. The Citadel Medium Drybrush is amazing. Thanks to it, I discovered how to get my carapace effect much faster.

Painting a large model has its own set of rules! I tried using my normal claw highlighting techniques but they didn't work so I had to develop some new tricks. I also should have put the magnets in before painting...but I didn't think of it until I was almost finished.

The Ultimate Painting Challenge

Well, sort of. Monday we're playing a big Apoc game since for some reason I have Columbus Day off. I really want to play Tyranids and use my Barbed Hierodule, but it is currently in pieces. In order to assemble it, it needs to be painted. So, I have one weekend to finish. I want it to be the same standard as my Malanthrope. After all, with Forgeworld models why settle for a tabletop quality paint job? I figure if I pay that much I might as well make it awesome.

On another note, I think the Hierodule is a bit overpriced. He's really just a souped up Carnifex. Of course, most Forgeworld things are overpriced, but this one I think is overpriced on the order of about 200 pts. Especially when a 20 man ork squad with a power klaw can take him out quite easily.

Tyranid Malanthrope Completed

I think I did the best on the carapace. I learned a lot about Tyranid carapace highlighting with this one. I also used 'ardcoat to make the feeding sacs glossy, especially in the recesses. This is my first finished Forgeworld model ever, and certainly not the last! My next FW model is a Barbed Heirodule, but that project is probably going to wait until Thanksgiving break.

For next time, I think I'll do the black a bit differently. The main fix would be doing the highlight similar to the carapace. Also, I made it a warm gray highlight, but I'm going to see how a cool gray highlight would go, seeing as the rest of the model is cool. It would be a subtle difference, but worth a try. Any criticism is welcome, I'm pretty proud of this one but I know I have plenty of room for improvement.

Forgeworld Update

So I have all my Forgeworld models cleaned and assembled (except for the Nightspinner, for which I will need a Falcon chassis). For the Cobra, I have not glued on the engines, the cannon, the cannon housing or the pilots. I intend to paint those separately as painting them together would make certain spots inaccessible. Also for the Cobra, I had to shave off the little bump where the gun meets the chassis as it was crooked.

For the Hierodule, I glued his body all together except the arms and the lower jaw (it would be very difficult to get the teeth with the jaw in place). I also did not glue the legs to the base. I set up pins in all the arm joints for painting purposes and to help glue them later on.

The Malanthrope is entirely glued together (with the exception of the base). None of the pieces will really interfere with painting. I probably need to magnetize it to the base so it's easier for transportation.

I am currently finishing up painting a Dire Avenger squad, when they're done I am going to either finish up another Wave Serpent or start on the Cobra. I'll at least get the basecoat done and will decide later what to do.

Forgeworld Goodies!

Technically, this post is a bit late seeing as this actually arrived last week (I've been working on putting them together, that's why I didn't post this sooner). Thought I'd post what came in the mail.



I agonized for weeks on what to get and finally settled on it. I considered getting a Nightwing or Trygon, but did not because rumors have been floating around about those models coming out in plastic. Also, I could easily convert a Trygon out of a Carnifex. I considered getting a Tyranid Assault Brood with my funds but seeing as the pound was at a record low, I figured this would be the best chance to get some Forgeworld models at a great price.

I debated most heavily on the Malanthrope. While it's little more than a glorified Hive Tyrant, I love the look of the model. It's the most Lovecraftian Tyranid beast and as a fan of Lovecraft, looks won over rules.

There's a Whirlwind in there which a friend ordered and tacked it along my order. Oddly enough, it was cheaper from Forgeworld than a regular one would be at the GW store.

I also got the Night Spinner conversion kit. My original plan was to get a Firestorm+Night Spinner and magnetize the turret, but they don't give you enough parts to do that. I don't actually have a Falcon chassis for it right now, but I'm getting a Cloudstrike squadron once I get a bit caught up on my painting backlog. I am instead going to do a Firestorm conversion. Yet another project on the back burner...

Then there's the Cobra. It's a massive model, and they kindly didn't include any parts list so I hope I got everything. It's probably not the most effective unit for its cost, and it only has one gun, but said gun's power level is over 9,000. I can't wait to have one turn of ultimate destruction, followed by nothing but weapon shaken results. But, that one turn will be worth it.