Tyranids Go To Battle

I was at the FLGS today and took my Tyranids out for a spin against my buddy Mike's Eldar. Danny Microwave took some nice phots of the pre-battle line-ups. He was later engaged with customers, so he did not get any shots of the actual battle. Fun was had by both players, and the Tyranids managed a convincing victory.



Above you can see one of my objective markers in the lower left corner of the photo.




In the center of the above photo is my scratch-built Zoanthrope. My very first psychic test with was box-cars, and he took a wound! After the in-auspicious beginning he recovered to blow up the Eldar's Wave Serpent hover tank.



In the lower center of this pic is my HQ, A Tyranid Prime with twin boneswords. Today I realized giving him those Rending Claws was a bit of a waste, so off they came tonight, replaced with a pair of Spinefists. They're not the best ranged weapon, but I like their cool look.



Here's a slightly closer look at the back-side of the Zoanthrope. I'll do a separate post on him this week.



It occurs to me I'll need to get some shots of the force from the front.



Here's a shot of some of Mike's well-painted Eldar. It was a good-looking game on my jungle-terrain bases.

I am now working on a second Carnifex. And looking for Mycetic Spore proxies!

I'll share more when I have more pics!

--Scott

Tyranids: Carnifex!

Even counting the newest plastics for the line, the Carnifex is still my favorite model for the Tyranids. I just love the look and the options you get. Anyway, here's my version:















I am told I put the crushing claws in the wrong spot--they should have been in the higher sockets on the body. Oh well! I kind of like them better in this slot. But I do intend to add a second 'Fex, so perhaps I'll build him the "right" way for variety!

--Scott

Heavy Gear: Desert Viper

A few years ago one of the main designer's at DP9 started his own sub-company to produce lesser known Gear miniatures in resin. I snagged a few favorites when they became available, and one of these was the Desert Viper, a Southern League Gear that now sees most of its action among the various militias of the Badlands.












Being a sucker for drum-fed guns, this has always been one of my favorite Heavy Gear designs. I've got a few others painted up in this same scheme, so I'll have to photograph them as well when I get the chance.

--Scott

Welcome to the Jungle!

I've been thinking of making some 28mm jungle terrain shapes for some time now. My buddy Aaron had cut some hard-board shapes for me a while back, and my friend Bill had given me a nice bag of cake decorating palm trees, so I had what I needed.

After some sanding, and drilling, and the addition of some smaller plants cut from aquarium plants, all I had to do was paint them. Pardon the not so sharp pics--they really do look nifty in person!
























I need to make at least 6 more so I can fill a 6' x 4' table with them.

All of the trees shrubs are removable for easy storage and transport (except for the shrubs in the above pics, which I green-stuffed on before perfecting my method!).

--Scott

Heavy Gear: Peace River

Since I stopped playing BattleTech in the late 1990's, I've had an on-again, off-again interest in Heavy Gear. I love the world. I love the Gear designs, and the mix of hard sci-fi and Anime influences really hits a sweet spot for me.

A while back I painted some Peace River Defense Force Gears using a simple method of a black undercoat, Vallejo military color base coats, and the famous Dip method. I'm quite taken with the results of this very simple method, and I intend to re-visit the PRDF and do some more in this scheme.











For those not in the know, the scale of these minis is about 12mm, or 1/144th. All figures are top notch quality castings, and though they're a tad pricey, DP9's customer service cannot be beaten. Well worth a look!

--Scott

The Unpainted Minis Bin(s)

We've all got them. Here are mine!













This unit sits just to the right of my paint area, within easy reach! Now I am a pretty prolific painter, but it seems that my miniatures consumption has outstripped my ability to paint it all!

I wonder if others have such problems?

--Scott

Tyranid Project

My friend Rico and I have decided to each build at least 1,000 pts. of Tyranids for a series of games at our FLGS. I finally settled on a paint scheme that is executable over a large number of models and looks pretty good. I found the scheme quite by accident while searching Google for "Tyranid Paint Schemes".

Anyway, this is an example of my version of the scheme utilizing Devlan Mud in place of the old Flesh Wash. BTW, the new plastic Ravener kit is awesome!

















Not counting assembly time, the three of these were done in around 2 hours. Not bad, huh?

--Scott

My Hobby Area

There is a neat little thread on RPG.net about posting pics of your work station. It got me thinking that I should do a blog post about my hobby area in the basement of my house. I spend a good deal of time there, and I have made the space uniquely my own. Anyway, here are some pics of the area.



This is my main work area, an old desk left by the previous owner of my home. Those shelves attached to it were already there. A perfect storage space!




That paint rack holds most of my Foundry paints, along with some Vallejo and other odds and ends.



On the shelves I have 3 Rubbermade bins with drawers for loose metal figures and bits. All are labeled by period or genre, and the bits are roughly divided into weapons and non-weapons.



Another shot of the loose mini and bits bins.



I always keep medical tape close by for those nasty cuts that can occur when working with Xacto blades. The two shelves above my paint desk function as display for some of my Mini-Mates. Above are the Marvel Mini-Mates.



My collection of primers sits on the right of my paint desk, and is guarded by my awesome Dragon Skull ash tray. Not being a smoker, I picked up the ash tray on eBay 10 years ago to use for terrain, but I never followed through.



Along the right side of my shelves on my paint desk is a little section where I keep my safety goggles, jeweler's saw, and a hanging bin of washers used for miniature bases.



Further to the right is an area I use for photographing minis and displaying finished pieces.



To the left of the paint desk sits another desk. On this I have my D&D minis collection, my stereo box, and various other bits of stuff I've been working on or using. You'll see my CD rack a little further to the left and set back. It's filled with ambient electronic music. The fewer lyrics the better!

That concludes this brief tour of my painting and modeling area; it's not pretty but it gets the job done!

--Scott