New Tyranid Army Pics 2

These were the first-ever Tyranids I've painted- on the past posts, I had trouble getting the fiesta-red feathering idea off the ground. But with a bit of help from CMoN and Dakka, I got them finished and took the initial pics directly on my art desk. Like the past Zoanthrope, it's time to replace those ones with the "nice" pictures and photobox. Again, courtesy of the ideas and backgrounds found on Corvus Miniatures- I don't know the artist/blogger personally, but if you haven't been- GO. Inspiring style of painting and it's where I found the ideas for the MacGyver photobox.


Group shot of the Battle Force Warriors (3)- two with Deathspitters, and one with a Venom Cannon. This was before I began my experiments with magnets, so these are permanent additions. But any large, modular character(s) from here on in is done via magnet- and this will include future Warrior broods.


Side View Detail of Venom Cannon- I noticed that the Tyranids painted by GW had most of the piping and weaponry painted to match the body- I can imagine that the quality the 'Eavy Metal painters and relatively simple style saved lots of time when painting the entire Behemoth/Kraken fleets for photo shoots. However, while I bow to the skill of 'Eavy Metal, I wasn't really a fan of the simplicity of it. So I decided to color the piping with some colors to catch the eye- mainly wet fleshy looks with the alien green details I had decided on.


GET SOME!! Front View w/ Detail on Venom Cannon piping. The venom veins were done with a small line (here, unlike other cases, an unsteady hand is alright and makes it look more natural) of Dark Angels green, then some areas with DA/Scorpion Green mix, with final highs of pure Scorpion and some very light Skull White tints. I also like the pictures on the GW boxes, with the Tyrant, Warriors, etc. firing off their weapons, so I drilled holes in the VC and put a bit of Scorpion to mimic the ooze after blasting away.


One of the Deathspitter Warriors. In order to keep with the scheme, I decided to detail the "eye" found on the guns with the same green highlighting as seen above to tie it in with the rest of the army.


Another view of that same Tyranid Warrior. The bases on these guys (hell, the rest of the Battle Force too) are relatively simple- some debris and parts here and there, but only one dimension. For future models, I've been inspired to make steps or inclines to add some depth... and seeing as how the ground is urban landscape, I wouldn't be that far off making some of my 'nids step on cracked Imperial roads either...


The 2nd Tyranid Warrior w/ Deathspitter- what I SHOULD have done with the previous one. The guns look a bit plain, so I used the GW drill to cut a "honeycomb" (er, holes?) shape into the nozzle of the gun... I might just bite the bullet and do it with the other guy, then paint in the holes to hide the gray plastic.


Side-View of 2nd DS Warrior. I've gotta say- I started with the nearly 100% metal miniatures- the only plastics available at the time were boxes of 10 same-pose minis. These guys have come a long way, and I'm extremely pleased with how the Tyranids have evolved... and probably the reason why I came out of hiding after 10 years and started a bug swarm!