# Troy’s Nids Army for the 2011 Army Painting Challenge.



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So this year I will be using the Army Painting Challenge to finish up my Nid army. I have about 1000 points completed now, and would like to complete another 1000 points before moving on to a new army. 
So far I have completed:
3 x Warriors 6 Ymgarl Genestealers 15 Termagants 8 Termagants with Devourers 8 Hormagaunts 8 Genestealers 9 spore mines 8 Gargoyles 1 Carnifex 1 Biovore 
Here are a few action shots from my 1st battle report.( http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=76339 )









Fex









Genestealers









Warriors









Group Shot


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)




----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

For the first month of the challenge I will be working on a Tyrant Guard and a Hive Tyrant. I will also be magnetizing the weapons on the Tyrant as well, and this will be my fist time trying this. 
So far I have these models cleaned with steel-wool and mold lines removed. 
I have to say I’m not impressed with the fit of the Tyrant model, there are some bad gaps on the tail join section and even worse ones on the upper body assembly- I will have to use some green stuff to fill these in.


----------



## rawrgh (May 28, 2010)

Hey there, really interested to see how you magnetise the Tyrant as I want to do the same to mine. 

I also noticed the extremely poor fit of the tyrant model too.

How do you clean models with wire wool? jsut scrub allover with it? does it not damage the detail?


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I use a modeling knife and a small file to remove mold lines. I use the steel-wool to clean and smoothen out the model. It’s a tip I seen somewhere once. It basically just smoothes the surface of the model to let the paint lye flatter. Next time I do a steel model I will take some before and after shots.

I have all the magnets in now and I will post some pics of how I did it soon. I had to use 4 extra small magnets and 6 small magnets. I drilled small holes in the armpits of the upper body to rest the magnets into - then glued them in place. I then cut the shoulders straight and proceed to drill small holes in them to fit the small magnets into (I did this for the gun arm and the ammo arm). I then drilled small holes in the gun and ammo arm join section thingy lol and fitted the extra small magnets into that. Now I just have to maybe clean it up a bit of green stuff and snap a few pics.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Small update with this month’s challenge, I have the gaps on the hive tyrant filled in and his weapons magnetized as i explained in the above post. Will begin painting it tomorrow.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking good so far! I like the green color scheme.


----------



## xenobiotic (Jun 7, 2008)

I'm assembling, magnetizing, Green stuffing, converting and painting a Hive Tyrant for a friend of mine so I feel your pain about that kit. After doing pretty much everything in plastic (with my marines) it was real pain in the arse just to put it together (and don't get me started on the Zoanthropes!). Let's just say my dremel is now my best friend 

By the looks of it you've done great work on it already! Will be nice to see how it develops!


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I agree with Xeno! That model is a pain in the ass to assemble... That being said it is one of my favorites.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> Looking good so far! I like the green color scheme.


Thanks man, I did it to match my table and terrain, sort of like they adapted to it.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

xenobiotic said:


> I'm assembling, magnetizing, Green stuffing, converting and painting a Hive Tyrant for a friend of mine so I feel your pain about that kit. After doing pretty much everything in plastic (with my marines) it was real pain in the arse just to put it together (and don't get me started on the Zoanthropes!). Let's just say my dremel is now my best friend
> 
> By the looks of it you've done great work on it already! Will be nice to see how it develops!


Yeah, I’m not a fan of metal models, but I expected more from this kit seeing as it cot $59 CND . I thought about magnetizing the lashwhip/bonesword and talons, but there was no point because I will never run talons. I’m looking forward to getting this one done – I need the synapses. I’m going to pretend I never heard that about the zoanthropes – I have two sitting on my desk for another months challenge. lol


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Zoans are the worst. I still have them unpainted and unassembled except for the tail attached to the base. You are going to need to seriously weight the base to keep them from falling over.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

pics added above


----------



## Creidim (Jan 6, 2011)

damn ur talent


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Creidim said:


> damn ur talent


Thanks, much appreciated.


----------



## Cordell015 (Dec 7, 2010)

awesome job blending the pieces with the green stuff


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Cordell015 said:


> awesome job blending the pieces with the green stuff


\

Thanks! I think it’s a lot better than having those big gaps there anyway.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Here they are got them finished in time. This is the first time that I used magnets, greenstuffs and water effects. I’m very pleased with how it came out, but a little pissed at my purity seal because it made my tyrant guard look frosted so I didn’t use it on the tyrant.
Here is a bunch of pics from a few angles. 






























































































Here you can see how the magnits go together lol











And this is the first mini that my girlfriend ever painted and it came out awesome – I wish my first minis came out half this good.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Love the greens! Nice looking tyrant!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks man, wish I had a better camera though, can’t seem to get the blending on the carapace to show up with this one.


----------



## rawrgh (May 28, 2010)

Awesome job, love the base on the tyrant. 
What have you used for the water/slime? actually what stuff have you used in general. Starting to get a bit more adventurous with my basing and I like the effect. Need some more materials though as atm I've got sand, stones and static grass.

Also what magnets did you use for the tyrant and how do you ding they hold. I'm worried that the bonesword especially is very heavy and will end up constantly "dropping" out of position.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks man much appreciated. The water on the base is Citadel Water Effects. It works well, but takes 24 complete hours to dry and not 1 less. It also shrinks as it dries, I had to use 3 coats and since these pics, I added another coat to make it a little deeper – it’s a bit annoying, but I love how it turned out. The rocks on the bases are made from craved up pink foam, just painted gray and washed in black with some flock on top. Also I use a mixture of light and dark grass flock (not static grass). When the water effects went on top of it, some flock floated around and gave it that swamp look, that wasn’t intentional but I like it. The grass and the bushes are from a modeling terrain kit I got at a hobby store, it came with a bunch of grasses, moss, straw, bushes etc… for like $20, can’t remember what it was called now. Sometimes you will see small rocks on my bases which are just painted fish aquarium rocks lol.

I used rare earth magnets, but I didn’t magnetize the bone sword and the lash whip, because I don’t think I would not run them in a game. However, these things are strong and would defiantly hold that sword up, you would just have to be careful and make sure you got the angel of the magnets right so they would contact on their full surface area.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Stay tuned for this month’s challenge - 2 Zoans.


----------



## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

Love the tyrant, i think the green to bone balance is just right on him so he stands out really well.

Looking forward to seeing the zoans, i'll keep an eye on this :victory:

p.s your GF's model is ridiculously good.....what's she painting next?


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

That's the first time I've ever seen a green scheme on nids, and they look excellent. Also, your GFs marine is pretty damn good for a first model. Very neat and even, and the red looks really good.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Varakir said:


> Love the tyrant, i think the green to bone balance is just right on him so he stands out really well.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing the zoans, i'll keep an eye on this :victory:
> 
> p.s your GF's model is ridiculously good.....what's she painting next?


Thanks a lot man appreciate it. The base coat is rotting flesh it has a nice green shade to it that matches the carapace well. My GF said thanks for the comment on her marine too!! She is either painting another marine or a sergeant next.



Khorne's Fist said:


> That's the first time I've ever seen a green scheme on nids, and they look excellent. Also, your GFs marine is pretty damn good for a first model. Very neat and even, and the red looks really good.


Thanks - I haven't seen any green ones either for some reason?? Also my GF said thank you and that they're pink lol.


----------



## Marneus Calgar (Dec 5, 2007)

These are really cool! 

I love how the green goes along with the bone, looks awesome!

+Rep


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Small update – I’ve got the Zoans assemble and primed. I had to fill in some gaps with green stuff again much like I did with the Tyrant. I also prepped and primed a few marines for my girlfriend to paint! Slowly I will convert her into the hobby.


















Only got less than two weeks to get this done ahh before my vacation, and I don’t know how I am going to do it cause I just park this new whip in my drive way!!! (sorry about bragging but I can help it I’m in love)


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Finished up my Zoanthropes and snap a few pics. Heading off for a vacation in a few days won’t be starting my next project until next month I think I’m going to do a Trygon.


----------



## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

ooooh they are pretty. Good work with the toning between the dark green on the carapace and the glowing parts.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking really good Troy!Nice job on the brain parts.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Varakir said:


> ooooh they are pretty. Good work with the toning between the dark green on the carapace and the glowing parts.


Thanks, Washing really helps with the blending.


Midge913 said:


> Looking really good Troy!Nice job on the brain parts.


Thanks for the rep, I used some yellow glaze on the brains and that what set it off I think.


----------



## mixykym (Jun 27, 2009)

Troy.

most excellent models,the colour scheme is very original and works so well.

loving the blending and smooth finishes.

now if only i could get my wife into painting n playing,:laugh: at the moments its all"not more models ! you have enough,your never gonna get time to play with them all !!!

she just doesnt get it


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

mixykym said:


> Troy.
> 
> most excellent models,the colour scheme is very original and works so well.
> 
> ...


Thanks man. My GF don’t really get it either lol, but I have so many hobbies that she just accepts it at this point. I’ve only managed to get her to play 2 twice; she says there are too many rules. But if I can get her to finishes up 2 troop choices and an HQ then I know she would enjoy the game better playing with something she took so long to finish. (So far she hads 2 marines done and a sergeant started, she is doing such a nice job with them I wish I had some nicer minis to give here all I got are the marines form the BFM box set. (I do have a sweet command squad NIB that I have stashed away, maybe I will give it to here after all. I think I want to do Tau next anyway.)


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So Jenna(my GF) has just finished her next 2 marines, only 3 minis in and she is really starting to get good and fast. She is particularly proud of the Sergeant and the blood on his sword. I wish I had some better quality marines to give her. All I have is some old marines from the BFM boxset that I have to strip the paint off first. I think that after she finishes another 2 marines to make up a combat squad I will find something cool for her to paint in the blood angel’s line.


----------



## mixykym (Jun 27, 2009)

I'm booking a plane ticket for my mrs to come see your g/f !
great looking marines  well done jenna.:victory:


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

lol jenna says thanks. She seems to be enjoying painting - doing it at her own pace. I think thats the key for anyone painting, is to do it at an even pace and not let a huge pile of minis get over your head.


----------



## HorusReborn (Nov 19, 2008)

she has a natural talent that is amazing!!! Tell her to stick with it, she may be golden daemon worthy before you know it!


----------



## WeeDawgNYC (Sep 6, 2010)

I agree with Horus. Great color choice for your Nidz, one of the best schemes Ive seen yet.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

HorusReborn said:


> she has a natural talent that is amazing!!! Tell her to stick with it, she may be golden daemon worthy before you know it!


I know, she has a good eye and hand for it - just have to get her into the game now lol.



WeeDawgNYC said:


> I agree with Horus. Great color choice for your Nidz, one of the best schemes Ive seen yet.


Thanks I'll pass it on to her. I like how my nids are progressing i think I've got the colors down now.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Just back from my vacation and ready for this month’s challenge after, a long break from painting. Going to be assembling and painting this Mawloc. This is by far the biggest model I have every attempted hoping it all works out. 
Jenna is going to be completing two more standard marines (one with a flamer though), this will complete a full combat squad for her, but it might be into next month before she gets them finished.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I’ve been working on the Mawloc here and there for the last few days, this model is going to take me a very long time to assemble, base and paint. I hope that I can get this thing finished before the end of the month, but I can tell already that it is going to be close this time. After considering the advice that Zero Effect gave me, I think I will assemble this thing, but leave the head, talons and sensors off of it until painted. 

Also I am going to have to put some work into the base of this model, to make it look like its somewhat smashing up the ground - anyone have any ideas or pics of something like this?


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

troybuckle said:


> After considering the advice that Zero Effect gave me, I think I will assemble this thing, but leave the head, talons and sensors off of it until painted.


That is a good idea. I pretty much do that with all of my nid models. I have found that the arms just get in the way during painting and are easy enough to glue on after the torso is finished. 

Looking forward to seeing this guy completed. I have a couple of Trygon kits laying around that need some attention as well....


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks. I am going to try and get this guy finished this month and if not it will be almost done anyway, so if I fail this month it won’t be due to lack of trying.

I have been googleing a few pics of the Mawloc smashing out of the ground and the coolest ones have him converted so he is not standing at full height, but instead half underground. (See pic below). I want him to stand at full height though, so I will have to make it a bit subtler – if I ever get another kit like this though I will convert it heavily because it’s very cool standing like the pic below. Think I will use plaster to give the base some depth any kind it particular I should use right now I have some drywall plaster and some Polyfull stuff?


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

troybuckle said:


> After considering the advice that Zero Effect gave me, I think I will assemble this thing, but leave the head, talons and sensors off of it until painted.


My pleasure Troy, I do not like Tyranid painters suffering in the pain of trying to get around the whole I cannot reach that part with the paint brush or having to re-start a colour as you have to do a re-coat.

ZE


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Zero Effect said:


> My pleasure Troy, I do not like Tyranid painters suffering in the pain of trying to get around the whole I cannot reach that part with the paint brush or having to re-start a colour as you have to do a re-coat.
> 
> ZE


I completely agree ZE. After the first model I did completely assembled I learned that lesson.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Yeah guys that’s so true, I am fan of leaving most my models unassembled to paint as I find it easier, but I was intending on putting this whole thing together at first. I hope to get some work done with the mounting of the tail and base tonight; if I do I will post it in here to get some feedback.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Cool! My trygon is next up on my painting table for my nids. Hopefully this will give me some motivation


----------



## Phenious (Jun 10, 2009)

You could do like some others where he is at his full height. They just have him coiled about the rubble of the hole. If your doing the city thing then have it look like he came through the street or the floor of a building. Just these big craggy looking concrete pieces sticking up where he burst through but his tail sliding around just under them.


----------



## HorusReborn (Nov 19, 2008)

should be cool to see! I myself like the idea of half of it comming out of the ground, but man, it seems like wasting alot of the model, doesn't it?


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

HorusReborn said:


> should be cool to see! I myself like the idea of half of it comming out of the ground, but man, it seems like wasting alot of the model, doesn't it?


I tend to agree with you Horus in both thoughts.

The effect will look amazing on the battlefield, however the loss of some of the kit :russianroulette:

On the plus side though, more bits means better conversions :yahoo:

Still looking forward to your work Troy.
ZE


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Phenious said:


> You could do like some others where he is at his full height. They just have him coiled about the rubble of the hole. If your doing the city thing then have it look like he came through the street or the floor of a building. Just these big craggy looking concrete pieces sticking up where he burst through but his tail sliding around just under them.


This is what I am going for, like he is smashing up out of the ground under him.



HorusReborn said:


> should be cool to see! I myself like the idea of half of it comming out of the ground, but man, it seems like wasting alot of the model, doesn't it?


Me to. If I had 2 kits i would do one that way for sure. I did try to make the center of the base deeper like it was a hole though.



Zero Effect said:


> I tend to agree with you Horus in both thoughts.
> 
> The effect will look amazing on the battlefield, however the loss of some of the kit :russianroulette:
> 
> ...


thanks man.

So this is what I have done so far. I have the base molded from plaster and foam. I was trying to make it look like he was smashing out of the ground and I think that I might be on the right path here. Obviously right now it just looks like he is smashing through some pink foam, but after some paint and flocking I think I might get the effect I want. Please C&C welcome.


----------



## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

Wow, nice 'nids you got there.

Bane of Kings Out.


----------



## sphere830 (Aug 4, 2009)

troybuckle said:


> Here they are got them finished in time. This is the first time that I used magnets, greenstuffs and water effects. I’m very pleased with how it came out, but a little pissed at my purity seal because it made my tyrant guard look frosted so I didn’t use it on the tyrant.
> 
> So I have found that Krylon makes a matte finish art sealer that works wonders for me. I get it at my local hardware store too. Cheaper, more available and works fantastic. I refuse to pay fifteen bucks for sealer.
> 
> Great thread, by the way, check out some of my painting logs below.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I think the base is looking spot on for what you are wanting. My only qualm about it so far is that random SM arm just laying there. It seems really out of place. Maybe use some green stuff or more foam to cover it up a bit more, but the overall effect is really good. Looking forward to watching this progress.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> I think the base is looking spot on for what you are wanting. My only qualm about it so far is that random SM arm just laying there. It seems really out of place. Maybe use some green stuff or more foam to cover it up a bit more, but the overall effect is really good. Looking forward to watching this progress.


Lol yeah it's random. I was going through my bits to see what I had for casualties on the base and all I had was 1 SM 1 backpack 1 arm and 1 head lol. So I stuck it all on there. I might get rid of it.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

troybuckle said:


> Lol yeah it's random. I was going through my bits to see what I had for casualties on the base and all I had was 1 SM 1 backpack 1 arm and 1 head lol. So I stuck it all on there. I might get rid of it.


I think that it will look fine if you bury it more, but if you aren"t happy with it taking it off works as well.


----------



## Phenious (Jun 10, 2009)

Looks like at least two guys failed their cover saves. Looking good! Will have to try out some of this with my own tyrgon model. I usually build my base after the model, though I have seen, my best conversions work with the base instead of sitting on top of them. Need to do that more, but for the first I will just focus on the model rather then the whole. You keep going, can't wait to see this bug put together and painted!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Phenious said:


> Looks like at least two guys failed their cover saves. Looking good! Will have to try out some of this with my own tyrgon model. I usually build my base after the model, though I have seen, my best conversions work with the base instead of sitting on top of them. Need to do that more, but for the first I will just focus on the model rather then the whole. You keep going, can't wait to see this bug put together and painted!


 
Lol Yeah they did. Thanks for the comments and following along.



Got a bit more work done. I managed to green-stuff in all the gaps on the model and also make some guts for the dead marine on the base. Then I went ahead and primed some of the model, but it went on very rough in some places - so I will have to thicken up the paint to try to get it smooth. Hopefully it won’t affect the end product to much.


----------



## TheMissus (Dec 1, 2010)

Those are some nice painted nids!! Love your colour scheme!!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Much appreciated. Thank you for looking.

AS for an update – well I didn’t get much done yesterday I had a Hockey game that I totaly forgot about and we got trashed 5-2 ahhhh. I did get some base coating done last night though, and with another session I will have the flesh basecoat complexly finished.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So this thing took me forever to get finished, it’s huge! I am very happy with how it came out and I think that I accomplished what I set out to do with the base. I washed the inside of the hole with a lot of Devlan Mud then Badab Black to make it appear darker and deeper then the rest of the mud on the base. C&C welcome!


----------



## Phenious (Jun 10, 2009)

Just curious but caused you to paint the base edge brown instead of black? Just want to know your reasons it all cause it's different.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I paint all my bases brown for this army, because it looks like mud and it blends in with my terrain. Also, I find that unless the bases are city themed it looks unfinished.


----------



## komanko (May 16, 2010)

Saw the first pics and the Trygon? (Not good with Tyranids) The big snake creature in other words. 

It was awesome and looks great!


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

Mr Troy, what can I say! 

tut, tut, tut! Only joking. Well done and great achievement. It is always a good feeling getting a monstrous creature done especially with making the base even more attractive with the additional space granted with these things.

My only question is, Why have you continued to do a ripped and smashed up space marine green as well?

Again, well done pal!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Good question. I knew when I was doing it that I was painting a lot of green, but my main opponent is Dark Angels. 2/3 of the games I play are against him. So, this was a little jab at his army! lol. I was going to paint it like an ultra-smurf fist, but couldn’t resist. He was thrilled about it and told me the colors and process to his DA paint scheme! You can check out a battle report against him here: 

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=76339


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

Yeah read it a while ago Troy and is a very good report for your first effort!

Keep the painting going. I am currently taking a break from the Hive Fleet Leviathan and painting my second army Grey Knights. RL is also taking a huge role in my life too so kinda struggling to do this as well!

ZE


----------



## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

Great job on the mawloc mate, lovely model done justice :victory:


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Fantastic looking Mawloc Troy! I absolutely love your scheme and always have. The base is also very impressive. Nicely detailed, good composition, and very well executed. Believe me I know how good it feels to get one of those huge beasts done. Keep up the good work man!


----------



## aquatic_foible (Mar 17, 2010)

Agreed. The Mawloc is excellent, sir. I have to say, this is one of the best Tyranid colour schemes I've ever seen - the green and bone look awesome together [never would have thought of that for 'nids]! 

Keep it up, sir! :grin:


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Zero Effect said:


> Yeah read it a while ago Troy and is a very good report for your first effort!
> 
> Keep the painting going. I am currently taking a break from the Hive Fleet Leviathan and painting my second army Grey Knights. RL is also taking a huge role in my life too so kinda struggling to do this as well!
> 
> ZE


Yeah, sometimes it can be hard to find the time to paint. Good luck with the GK, they have some sweet new models. I will be checking in on your plog, keep plugging away at your nids I’m sure you will get them done. 



Varakir said:


> Great job on the mawloc mate, lovely model done justice :victory:


Thanks man. I’m very happy with it as well! 



Midge913 said:


> Fantastic looking Mawloc Troy! I absolutely love your scheme and always have. The base is also very impressive. Nicely detailed, good composition, and very well executed. Believe me I know how good it feels to get one of those huge beasts done. Keep up the good work man!


Thanks again. It wasn’t long before I realized how long this MC would take, but it does feel good that it came out so well. The base worked out to, which is great because I was a little worried about it. Going to take a bit of a break from painting now, then I’ll do a small unit for this month, probably get started next week. 



aquatic_foible said:


> Agreed. The Mawloc is excellent, sir. I have to say, this is one of the best Tyranid colour schemes I've ever seen - the green and bone look awesome together [never would have thought of that for 'nids]!
> 
> Keep it up, sir! :grin:


Thanks for the compliment! I sort of half picked these colors at random and half because I only had a grass matt for terrain at the time and I wanted them to match!


----------



## Cordell015 (Dec 7, 2010)

nice mawloc! Good work.


----------



## Siskin (Mar 23, 2010)

This is one big "snake"! Great color scheme and execution!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

This month, I will be completing 2 Hive Guard! I am waiting for some Army Painter Primer to come in the mail before I start these. I hope that with the army painter primer, I can cut down on the amount of time it takes to paint by getting rid of the prime of skull white, then undercoat of rotten flesh. Instead, I will just spray rotten flesh! Seeing as I plan on doing a whole lot of troops after this month it might help!


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

Troy, 

My tip on the HG, do not assemble with the cannon on the model. More difficult!

ZE


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Update time, I’ve finished the 2 hive guard I set out to do this month. My army painter primer did get here, so I made do without it. I painted these then assembled them took longer than I thought - mostly because of the cannons.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking really nice Troy! My only complaint is that the carapace looks a little dull in comparison to your other pieces. Like with your Mawloc you have that nice vibrant green feathering on the carapce, but it appears to be absent from the new hive guard.


----------



## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

The weapons on those hive guard are excellent. Keep up the good work!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> Looking really nice Troy! My only complaint is that the carapace looks a little dull in comparison to your other pieces. Like with your Mawloc you have that nice vibrant green feathering on the carapce, but it appears to be absent from the new hive guard.


Hey thanks Midge. The pics are a little dark, the blending between the greens and the black are more defined in real life. I didn’t do the extra scorpion green feathering on these, because I try to save it for units that are more important such as the mawloc and hive tyrant. Although, I have played around with the idea of giving them to everyone. I like a little diversity, but I like the highlights too lol. 
That being said, I have to go back and repaint a lot of the stuff I done a few years ago. I plan on redoing the warriors and carnifex first and they will be getting the strips!



imm0rtal reaper said:


> The weapons on those hive guard are excellent. Keep up the good work!



Thank you Reaper. Sadly they took about 2 hours each WTF. :wacko:


----------



## Tinkerbell (Feb 19, 2008)

Excellent plog looking great.

Keep those broods coming :grin:

+rep

Tinks


----------



## vulkan1793 (Apr 21, 2011)

dude very nice color scheme on the nids it gets me wanting to finish up mine very nice paint job


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So another month and another unit to do! This time I will be completing 12 gaunts, you might notice that 2 of them are assembled as devilgaunts, this is because I need them to legalize the squad of 8 I currently have. Sorry for the bad pics, I was too lazy to whip out my Nikon last night. These things took nearly a half hour each to assemble, crazy amount of mould lines. I’ve Been working on them for the last 3 days.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I’m moving right along with these gaunts, I have the skin finished and I’ve started base coating the carapaces. Once that’s finished its just the detailing and bases.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Kudos to you man for plugging through those Gants. I can't seem to motivate myself to work on mine..... 

They are looking great! Keep at it.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So I figured I would show a few quick pics of my table that I snapped last night. 
Here you can see how the legs fold up flush with the table edge:








Once the legs are folded down and its place flat on the floor it can easily slide under a bed:








Legs extended with no terrain it look like this. (Very sturdy):








Here you can see the hills in place along with the bridge pipeline and fuel storage building. 








Different layout of hill:








Buildings placed on the city section (5 in total): 








Close up of fuel storage building which the pipeline connects to (Custom made):








This is the building we call the Red Hall (Custom made):








Inside of the Red Hall:








Here is a close up of the factory:








Close up of the gray building on the left side of the board:








Interior shot of the gray building:








Close up of the exterior of the church:








Pipeline running down the right side of the board:








Generator station and the bride on the river:








Crashed ship:








Completely set up:


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Nice looking game board Troy! Quite frankly I am jealous. I have a nice table but my terrain skills are definitely lacking and yours puts mine to shame.


----------



## Phenious (Jun 10, 2009)

Very nice, simple but effective.


----------



## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

I love the case fan generator 

Table looks great, but it'd look even nicer with a full army of your nids on it :wink:

Keep it up mate, can't wait to see your next APC entry.


----------



## vulkan1793 (Apr 21, 2011)

very nice game board


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Fist apply a prime of Army Painted Necrotic Flesh (Or prime skull white then undercoat rotting flesh)









Then Mix a wash of 1:10 Catachan Green and water and wash all flesh on mini









Wash all flesh on mini with Gryphonne Sepia, the dry/over brush all flesh with Rotting Flesh to bring the color back up. 









Base coat all carapace plates with Catachan Green.









Highlight edges of carapace with a 1:1 mix of Catachan Green.and Rotting Flesh









Wash Carapace with Thraka Green.









Wash Carapace with Badab Black.









Wash slots in flesh with Thraka Green and joints with Devlan Mud. Base coat gun in Chaos Black drybrush with a 1:1 mix of Chaos Black and Shadow Gray then highlight with shadow gray. Base coat slots in gun with Rotting Flesh then wash with Thraka Green. Base coat the gun’s eye and the gaunt’s eye, with Skull White the add a Jade Green pupil and wash with yellow glaze. Base coat mouth and teeth in Chaos Black then base coat teeth in Bleached Bone, the wash with Gryphonne Sepia and highlight tips with Skull White. Paint tongue Dark Angels Green. 









Complete touch ups, and base. I used Catachan Green on the top of the base, with a mix of Snakebite Leather and Chaos Black on the rim. Then added some green grass flock.









This months entry completed, accidently left one little guy out of the group shot but he is done as well. Assembly lining these guys 12 at a time was irritating.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Nice looking group there Troy! I still haven't managed to get the motivation to assembly line my own Gants, but seeing yours all grouped up there together looks fantastic and menacing. Good work mate!


----------



## Hammer49 (Feb 12, 2011)

Nice Tutorial. Certainly end ups with great results. Look forward to seeing more.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> Nice looking group there Troy! I still haven't managed to get the motivation to assembly line my own Gants, but seeing yours all grouped up there together looks fantastic and menacing. Good work mate!


thanks midge I appreciate you following along!



Hammer49 said:


> Nice Tutorial. Certainly end ups with great results. Look forward to seeing more.


I've been wanting to post one up for a while now!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

For this month I will b working on these guys:










I might redo another 8 that I done last year as well seeing as they aren’t that great.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Anyone who plays Nids, know that these guys take dives like soccer players. So in an effort to keep them upright I went ahead and stuffed all their bases with air dry modeling clay.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So, I’m working on a 1250 tournament list, this is based off of the models I have completed, and the ones I think I can get done by the end of the month (June 28, 2011). This will hopefully be my first tournament and I would like to show up with a painted force up to my current standards. 
This is the List:
HQ
Hive Tyrant with Devourers Brainleach Worms 185 Points (Devourers need to be converted/magnetized/painted) 
Hive Guard 60 Points

Troops
20 Hormagaunts 120 Points (8 need repainting and 12 need to be painted) 
16 Termagants 80 Points (6 need repainting) 
8 Genestealers with Broodlord 172 Points (Broodlord needs to be painted and 8 stealers need touch-ups)
3 Warriors with 2 deathspiters and heavy venom cannon 115 Points (3 needs repainting) 

Elites 
2 Hive Guard 100 Points
2 Zoans 120 Points
6 Ymgarl Genestealers 128 Points (6 need repainting)

Heavy Support
Mawloc 170 Points
Total = 1250

What do you guys think of this list, I think it should do ok, it’s not super competitive, but I feel it should be ok? (I have a bit of painting to do lol) 
I will be able to swarm a pile of gaunts forward, and use the Ymgarl to shock attack and the Broodloard and Stealers to outflank and hit the strongest unit. The mawloc can pop–up a few times to surprise attack and draw attention. Warriors to sit on objective and provide synapse, hive guard as anti-tank, zones as anti-tank/synapse, Hive tyrant to draw attention/synapse and kick ass.
Also with the stealers and broodloard does that unit consist of 8 Stealers, as in if I add the Broodloard does it cost 60 points, for a total of 9 models?


----------



## CLT40k (Jun 18, 2010)

Nice tutorial +rep


----------



## farseer22 (May 23, 2011)

Nice 'Nids! Looking forward to the rest.


----------



## vulkan1793 (Apr 21, 2011)

Nice army it gives me ideas keep up all the great work


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Here they are all finished, 12 were painted from scratch and 8 were repainted at the same time. I thought assembly lining 12 was tough well 20 was worse. I won’t be going anymore troops for a while. 










Instead I decided to jump on the Fine Cast bandwagon and I picked up this Broodloard. I am actually looking forward to painting this “single” model for a change. Also, I used some of the part in the citadel base kit to make him jump out even more.


----------



## Legiomortis (Jun 11, 2011)

Nice work, good contrasting yet earthy colours and the highlighting just edges it out nicely k:

+rep


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Nice work on the hormas Troy! I too jumped on the finecast bandwagon tonight and I must say I am impressed so far with the quality. Look forward to seeing the Broodlord painted up and the base looks great!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Legiomortis said:


> Nice work, good contrasting yet earthy colours and the highlighting just edges it out nicely k:
> 
> +rep


Thank you, thats what I was going for!!



Midge913 said:


> Nice work on the hormas Troy! I too jumped on the finecast bandwagon tonight and I must say I am impressed so far with the quality. Look forward to seeing the Broodlord painted up and the base looks great!


Cool, what did you pick up in fine cast! I'm about to start on the broodlord today i think.

Update:

This is the quick conversion and I have done for the Brainleach Worm Devourers for the Hive Tyrant. I also have them magnetized. I figuest that seeing as they have 6 shots instead of 3 they should be bigger then the normal devourers.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

troybuckle said:


> Cool, what did you pick up in fine cast! I'm about to start on the broodlord today i think.


I picked up Astorath the Grim for my BA Successors and I ordered Thorek and the Anvil of Doom for my Dwarfs. I was pretty pleased overall with the Astorath model. Great detail, the resin is easy to work with, and I was fortunate not to have any miscasts or air bubbles. 

I am looking forward to the Broodlord and I must say that I really like your conversion for the larger Devourers!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

** Long Post lol

So I had my head down trying to get a bunch of stuff repainted, for the tournament on June 28, since I finished my gaunts, I managed paint a Broodlord and repaint 3 warriors, 1 biovore, 7 guants, convert and paint the brainleach devourers for the tyrant and touch up 8 genestealers, the only thing I didn’t get done was the 6 old stealers I have. I’m glad I repainted this stuff because it looked terrible sitting next to the new stuff I have painted; just have 6 stealers 16 gaunts and a carnifex to repaint now lol. Anyway here is the stuff I have been working on:



























































































This was the list I took:

Hive Tyrant with twinlinked brainleach worm devourers, armored shell, lashwhip/bonesword, leach essence and physic scream ---- 225 points

18 Hormagaunts with toxin sacs ---- 144

15 termaguants ---- 75

7 Genestealers with Broodloard ---- 158

7 Genestealers ---- 98

3 Warriors with deathspitters and venom cannon ---- 115

2 Hive Guard ---- 100

2 Zoanthrope ---- 120

1 Biovore ---- 45

1 Mawloc ---- 170

After the tournament I posted my results in the army list section so I figured I might as well throw it in here to:

I just came back from my first tournament there were 6 players and I had 3 games, I made it to the final round, but I came in 5th. However, the games were very, very close. A breakdown of the games went like this:

Game 1 Vs Tau

3 Hammerheads with rail guns and missile pods 

9 Firewarriors

9 Firewarriors

1 Battle suite with drones

1 Battle suite with drones

I went first and deployed everything except the 2 units of genestealers. He deployed everything on the board with two tanks on the right and one on the left. Firewarriors and suits in the middle. I burrowed the mawloc the ran everything forward except the warriors who stayed on the objective and fired the venom cannon into one squad of firewarriors and killed a few. I fired the bivore and missed to deploy a mine. 

He then killed the Biovore and shot the mine, then killed a bunch of gaunts. Moved the firewarrios and suites ahead. 

My turn the gaunts all ran forward the mawloc came up and killed a few fire warriors the Tyrant then took out the rest. Genesteales came on and destroyed the tank on the left.

His turn he took out a bunch more gaunts and killed the Mawloc with concentrated fire with everything. Next turn more stealers came on and eventually through a few more turns he killed the termaguants and I eventually tabled him. 

So I won this game.




Game 2 vs Nids

Tyranid Prime with 2 Zoans 

2 Trygon Primes

Broodloard with 11 Stealers

BroodLoard with 11 Stealers

He went first and moved everything forward and put some wounds on my tyranid warriors. I ran everything forward and burrowed the mawloc and put some wounds on this zoans.

My turn I ran a bunch of stuff forward and my stealers didn't come on. I put a few more wounds on his Zoans.

His turn he assaulted one trygon into my hormaguants but he ended up dead. The genestealers then killed the hive guard.

My turn one unit of stealers came on and attacked his unit of genestealers and he eventually killed all mine and i took out 4 of his with 1 wound on the broodloard. My Mawloc came on and killed a pile of his genestealers and my hormagaunts went on to combat the zoans and primes. The biovore killed a few more stealers.

His turn he multi assaulted into to the biovore and warriors, not sure if you can do that but. Eventually killed them all, with just his broodloard left at the end. 

My turn my tyrant and Mawloc assaulted his remaining Trygon Prime and I killed it with my tyrant. The gaunts then killed the zones and prime then died as well. 

The game then ended after two more turns 5 total, I think. He had 1 broodloard left and the other unit of stealers had 7 with a broodloard. I had the mawloc and a unit of genestealers left that was 1/2” away from the objective he had for the win. 

If i had rolled anything but a 1 to run which i did for the stealers on the last turn i would have tied the game. Although, I feel like i tied this anyway cause i thought you had to be 6” from the objective and if I knew I had to be 3” I would have arranged my stealers better to get it.



Game 3 vs Thousand Suns 

9 Thousands Sons in a Rhino 

9 Thousands Suns in a Landraided decked out

2 Terminators

1 terminator 

Daemon Prince 

I went first same deployment. He put everything on the back of the board. I ran everything forward and took some shots but did nothing and burrowed the mawloc. 

His turn he took out the zoans and his prince didn't come in. 
My turn the mawloc stayed burrowed and nothing came on or happened really. 

His turn he put some wounds on the hive guard and tyrant.

My stealers came on the wrong side and did nothing all game. I popped the rhino and the mawloc and the hive tyrant killed the 9 guys inside. 

He killed my hive tyrant and some gaunts and his prince came on.

The prince killed my guard and the terminators assaulted the gaunts and took 1 wound then made them run away. 

The game ended on turn 5 and he one objective because he killed 500 more points of my army giving him 1 point. The objective i held was contested. (Kill-points it was a tie) 

However, If it went one more turn i would have had him. My mawloc was behind his landraided about to assault. My stealers with broodloard was in assaulting range of the prince with 3 wounds left and his 9 thousand suns where disembarked and in range of my warriors and termaguants. So all he had killed belonging to me was 2 zoans, 2 hive guard, hive tyrant, 5 gaunts, 10 hormaguants. 1 Biovore - which lift me with a pile of stuff left on the board and 5 troop choices. So I feel like I had this game if it went 1 more turn. 

All in all, i am happy with the way i played and my list. I was a bit surprised at how big a target the biovore was and if I got a bit more lucky with the outflank on the genestealers in the 2 games that 1 unit of them didn’t do anything. So though i lost 2 and won 1 I feel I played better then my result.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Currently, I have been working on a Tyranid Prime Conversion mainly out of a warrior and a pile of bits and green stuff. So far this has been the biggest conversion I have ever attempted and the most green-stuff I have ever used. I hope to get it finished and painted this month.

I started by elongating the legs, the one on the right has been modified; I want him to stand a little higher and straighter then a warrior. 










I also cut off the tail then curved it by drilling holes and inserting a curved paper clip. Then started to build green stuff around it, still needs work. I added a spike to the tail as well. I put some green-stuff on the top of the tail section where it joins to the torso to help give it a bit more height 

On the chest I cut up a bit from something (Trygon or Fex tail maybe) and added to his chest and I also added some spikes on the shoulders and then elongated the neck so the head doesn’t sit so low.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I did some more work on the tail to thicken it up and finish it off. I also added a hump on the back of the carapace out of green stuff to try and mimic the hive tyrant. 

















I didn’t do a lot with the head, just added a spike on the forehead and shorten the length a little as you can see in the comparison pic. 

















Next up will be the bone-swords and some tubes for the back of the carapace and I will add some spikes to the legs I think.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Progressing along nicely Troy!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> Progressing along nicely Troy!


Thanks man.

Here is some more progress on my Prime. I have the boneswords finished, basically I cut some talons off at the wrist and flipped them upside-down, I also cut off the spike at the bottom and flipped it upside-down as well. I straighten one of the arms using green stuff because it was a little to curved to hold the bonesword naturally. 









I also added spikes to the legs and assembled them. I had to add an extra armor plate on the back of the lower body, where it joins the upper body, because when I elongated the lower body the gap between it and the upper body was a bit to big. 


















Finally I molded and added the tubs to the back of the carapace.


















I'm happy with it thus far, now I just have to magnetize it so I can swap out weapons.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Finally my Tyranid Prime Conversion is finished, it took a lvery ong time. Seeing as this is my first major conversion im very pleased. Magnetizing it was a real pain though. I will be painting this mini for this months challenge.


----------



## elmir (Apr 14, 2011)

Nice... Really good GS work, impressively smooth. What bits did you magnetise exactly? It's hard to tell from the picture (wich means it's a good job!  )


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

elmir said:


> Nice... Really good GS work, impressively smooth. What bits did you magnetise exactly? It's hard to tell from the picture (wich means it's a good job!  )


Thanks, I used a fine grit sand paper on the green-stuff once it dried. I have all the arms magnetized so I can swap out different weapon combo in the future.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Here he is all finished:


















































Size comparison with normal warrior:


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

I like the effects you did on the bone sword, as well as the carapace. The bases look like they have a nice swamp/fungul look which suits your paint job and your Nids very nicely. Great job man!


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Carapace looks great man! I think the boneswords could use a few more transition layers between the colors though. But really the carapace stands out really well, the conversion is really nice, especially the vents. Definitely nice work man!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

This month I will be repainting some old models. I don’t like these minis much, they are the starter models from the box set a few years ago. So they are getting a quick paint job just to blend in with my other stealers. They won’t win any competitions that’s for sure. I hit them with army painter primer right over there original paint scheme lol. Hoping to get them done for an upcoming tournament.


----------



## Valryke (Jul 30, 2011)

Amazing job on the conversion! 
I envy your GS skills :biggrin:


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Valryke said:


> Amazing job on the conversion!
> I envy your GS skills :biggrin:


Wow thanks, it was my first try with it doing besides for filling gaps!!

Here they are repainted in record time. There are not worth whipping out the Nikon for so they get the cell phone camera lol. They will blend in so im happy with them.











I’m not going to have anymore time to work on much this month, I will be heading out of town for a while so it might be a while for any new updates come up. 

**Anyone out there know when the Nids 2nd wave is suppose to come out, and what new minis will be in it??


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

As I said in the Challenge thread nice job on the Stealers!! As far as the second wave Nids I don't think that there is anything definite on the rumor mill. I am hoping that some of the earlier rumors pan out, but only time will tell.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> As I said in the Challenge thread nice job on the Stealers!! As far as the second wave Nids I don't think that there is anything definite on the rumor mill. I am hoping that some of the earlier rumors pan out, but only time will tell.


Thanks man. Do you have any idea when the new minis will come out? End of Augest or sometime in Sept maybe??



>>>>>

For all of you following my P-Log I have just started one for me new Eldar army here:

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=95659

Don’t worry I still have a lot of nids left to do lol.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

troybuckle said:


> Thanks man. Do you have any idea when the new minis will come out? End of Augest or sometime in Sept maybe??


Last I heard September/October was the projected release date for the next wave. Hopefully there will be some clues in August's WD.

>>>>>



troybuckle said:


> For all of you following my P-Log I have just started one for me new Eldar army here:
> 
> http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=95659
> 
> Don’t worry I still have a lot of nids left to do lol.


Sweet! I will definitely check them out.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

This month I will be trying to paint these 10 gargoyles as fast as I can, because im not looking forward to them lol.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Well, it’s not that I don’t like the models it’s just that I don’t want to paint another assembly line of ten again. I’m doing them because there the only nids I have left. I rather being doing a death leaper of fex, so I have to finish these first. 

Small update, their primed.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Baby steps buddy, baby steps:grin:


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So this was a project a friend and I completed last weekend, took about 6 hours in total.

First we primed the rocks in white (I would recommend black for this) 








Then we painted the rocks dark gray and dry-brushed with light gray:








Cover then entire board with brow paint and dry-brushed in lights brown.








Finally we covered the board in glues and flocked all over. (The skulls were dry-brushed bone and washed in sepia.)


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Cool looking board Troy!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So I finally got these guys clued up. Think I’m going to be concentrating on my Elder from here on, for a while.








This might be the last Nids I complete for this challenge, however I do have a death leaper that I got with my winnings from a tournament I placed 1st in last Tuesday (had to stick that in, my first win and all!). Anyway, I do have some major plans for that guy so maybe I put him up next moth.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Nice Gargs mate and congrats on the win!!!! Love the Deathleaper sculpt so I look forward to seeing what you do with that.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Good job on the Board troy. I like how your Nids are coming along and would like to see more of them. Who do you enjoy more Nids or D-Eldar? I ask because I have a friend thats very interested in 40k and would like to give him some feedback on the two since I have nethere army. Thanks dude and keep up the good work.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> Nice Gargs mate and congrats on the win!!!! Love the Deathleaper sculpt so I look forward to seeing what you do with that.


Thanks Midge, there were only 6 people in the tornament lol, and thanks again for following along, I always look forward to your input. I may just end up doing that death leaper because I still need some practice with my airbrush, before I attempt the war walkers I want to do. 



Disciple_of_Ezekiel said:


> Good job on the Board troy. I like how your Nids are coming along and would like to see more of them. Who do you enjoy more Nids or D-Eldar? I ask because I have a friend thats very interested in 40k and would like to give him some feedback on the two since I have nethere army. Thanks dude and keep up the good work.



Thanks Ezekiel. The board has been great, it looks good, easy to store, modular, sturdy and portable. I am very happy that I got it! I actually have Eldar not d-Eldar, but: 

I find the nids, easier and quicker to paint, though they do have a lot more mold lines then the Eldar. They have a nice range of models from little bugs to monstrous creatures, but there are still a lot of units in the codex that there are no models for. Because the paint scheme is the same throughout all the units, it becomes tedious painting the same colors over and over. Also, because this can be a horde army, there can be a lot of little bugs to paint.
Nids can have many different army builds, from small elite forces, to ridiculously huge swarms. Zoans are awesome for popping 14 armor as well. They can be built for close combat, or ranged shooting and can be very competitive. On the table top they are a very enjoyable army to play. Synapse is a pain sometimes though. 

 Eldar have some of the best fluff in the game and excellent back story. The codex still stands up really well and almost all units have minis. Their craft-world color schemes are wide and with the edition of some aspect warriors you will never get board painting Edlar. Also, there tanks, jetbikes and walkers are the nicest vehicles in the game IMO. However, painting is much harder and much more time consuming. You will need more colors and more time to complete them vs Nids. That being said, you can have the same point size army with far fewer molders using Eldar. I feel the same about the Dark Eldar as well, and I would suggest that their dex is better then the Eldar’s is now. 
On the table top a nicely painted army is stunning. They are fast and have some awesome firepower. Also, they can be competitive as well, not as much as nids IMO, but not far off. In the end it always comes down to skill and luck. They have 3 main competitive builds, Mech, Foot, and a combo. However, they have so many different units they can be build endless ways. 

I can’t pick a favorite between the two, though Eldar are more fun to paint. I would suggest your friend get D-Eldar though. Their models and codex are new and up-to-date, and they have some awesome new models. Though they may be harder to play then nids, they are very competitive when someone gets the hang of them.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Next up im going to be painting this Death-leaper, im going to try to make him like a chameleon, but blending him into this scenic base. I hope to have him half in cameo and half in hive fleet colors, like he is stepping out of the shadows.


----------



## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

troybuckle said:


> Next up im going to be painting this Death-leaper, im going to try to make him like a chameleon, but blending him into this scenic base. I hope to have him half in cameo and half in hive fleet colors, like he is stepping out of the shadows.


That sounds amazing, how are you going to manage the half cameo half hive fleet colours?!


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Definitely will be interesting. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I’m going to use my airbrush to blend in the colors from cameo (the color of the building) and my fleet colors. I was also thinking about putting small dots (the blending colors) around the transition areas, but I will see how it turns out first.


----------



## jd579 (May 8, 2010)

Bloody hell, it the first time I have looked at this thread, where have I been, fantastic looking nids Troy exceptional work, I love the whole colour scheme, and the modelling you have done with the green stuff is epic, kudos to you for having the patience to do it all mate.


----------



## Minizke1 (Feb 7, 2010)

I genuinely can't wait to see your deathleaper.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

I finished this guy already, didn’t take that long to do really. I’m so use to doing hoards of minis now this “one” was nice to paint. I’m not sure if I effectively achieved what I intended to do (I will let you guys decided that), but I think you can see what I was trying to do with the chameleon thing anyway. C&C welcome.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I think that you executed the chameleon thing beautifully mate!! The fading on the tail from normal skin tone to the stone color is especially nice. Great work.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

HA...Thats freaking awesome Troy! Now, the question is, what caused him to come out of stealth? Hehehehe =P

Great job man!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

@ midge913 – Thank you. The tail and the foot in the bushes was the easiest to fade because it was the smoothest sections I tried to do the effect on!

@ Disciple_of_Ezekiel - Thanks. I like to think he saw a poor guardsmen with his back turned to him and he is stepping out of the ruin to kill him lol.


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Loving the chamelon effect, troy. The green and grey make a nice contrast.


----------



## apidude (Nov 10, 2010)

*Great Nid!!!*

Farntarstick, TB!
Love both the Nid and the Base.

Here is your new sig. 
I'm hoping to be right behind you with my DE. Had to use one RL token in Sep so am not there yet.


----------



## Minizke1 (Feb 7, 2010)

I love your paint job, but it pains me to say I'm not a huge fan of the Deathleaper model.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

**Bump I have a new battle report finished if anyone is interested:
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=100918


----------



## Lubacca (Sep 4, 2011)

I've just sat here and looked through this whole thread in one go. Having JUST started on Nids, I can say that I'm very inspired by the awesome work in here man!


----------



## Angelofdeath690 (Sep 21, 2011)

As a tryanid player I will say I like how you do your models and if i could give you rep i would! I wanted to do something similar to your leaper and now that you have done that it gives me an idea to use with mine. Look forward to rest of your posts!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Lubacca said:


> I've just sat here and looked through this whole thread in one go. Having JUST started on Nids, I can say that I'm very inspired by the awesome work in here man!


Thanks a lot man, im glade you liked it. Hopefully I will see you Nids on the site soon. Next up for my Nid army will be some more gargoyles then a Carnifex after Christmas, but right now im working on some of my Eldar minis.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks as well. The deathleaper was a fun model to paint, im am interested to see what you do with yours!!


----------



## Angelofdeath690 (Sep 21, 2011)

I have some pics of it without decoration or paint yet along with some of my other tyranids up on a thread here. In my signature is a link


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

So I have another update, im working on my elder and nids. I am quickly painting up another swarm of 10 gargoyles at a friend’s house in an effort to motivate both him and myself. However, I just got this bad-boy and I am going to put a rush on to clue up my remaining projects so I can get to work on him!!


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I am jealous of you and your new kit!!!! I was at my FLGS today and by the time I got there all the new kits had been sold:angry: 

Anyhow.... looking forward to seeing that bad boy painted up.


----------



## MidnightKid333 (Feb 2, 2011)

Midge913 said:


> I am jealous of you and your new kit!!!! I was at my FLGS today and by the time I got there all the new kits had been sold:angry:
> 
> Anyhow.... looking forward to seeing that bad boy painted up.


I pre-ordered two of them... Be jealous! Oh, the model is sooooo cool!!! suuuch a big gun! @[email protected] magnetizing it was tough though. The belly is complicated. also, the kit has THE best heads i have ever seen. The tervigon head is absolutely stunning.. *_*

Also, this is an old topic to be commenting on, but the eyes on the biovores of yours look kinda.. not the best. In my opinion, the pupil should be forward, in the front corner of his eye, as if he is looking at his target or something. The current eyes of theirs just do not have enough effort put into them. Maybe make the pupil black as well. Just some criticism.


----------



## PedroChidders (Mar 1, 2012)

Really great looking army, if mine is even half as good I'll be very happy


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks a lot for the comments guys.

Small Update:

So I finished these gargoyles, nothing fancy and just some crappy cell phone pics, but here they are finished. Once I start the big guy I will use my good camera. Also my wave serpents in my elder log are almost done, pics should be up tomorrow.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I like the green on the wing membranes, very eye catching.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Work has officially begun on the Tyrannofex/Tervigon, I will mostly be running this unit as the Tervigon, but seeing as this kit was $69+tax I decided to magnetize the thing. 

Magnetization Steps:

1 - I assembled all the body sections, and placed 3/16” Magnets in the front arm sections. I also Place 1/8” magnets in the neck section. Note that you can not use the flesh-hooks which are supposed to be placed in the red circle when building the Tyrannofex, because the stomach of then Tervigon will not fit. 

















2 – I assembled the heads and placed 1/8” magnets in the neck so they can attach to the body.









3 - I made a few of balls of green stuff and placed them inside the stomach to which I placed 1/8” magnets inside to hold the stomach together. The strength of these magnets is enough to hold the stomach to the body. 

































4 – I then placed 1/16” magnets in the Gaunts which are suppose to protrude through the Tervigon’s stomach and matched them up with the stomach exit and placed 1/16” magnets in it as well. The upper Gaunt I placed a magnet in the gun and the gun arm. The combination of these magnets, and the small shafts protruding from the Gaunts to line them up with the stomach, are enough to hold them in place. 

































5 – I then placed 1/8” magnets in the crushing claws, and talons. However the larger Clusterspine limbs need 3/32 magnets due to their weight, in order to hold them in place. 









6 – I then glued the two large weapons together and placed 3/16” magnets in the arms, however the Rupture Cannon needed a pin in it as shown in the pics. This pin brings-up against the upper shell on the body and keeps the gun upright, because it is too heavy for the magnets to hold up alone. 

































That’s about all there was to it, it took a while because I first put 1/8” magnets in the body’s arm joints, but they weren’t strong enough. Over all this kit has been awesome, it fits together perfectly and there are not a lot of mould lines at all. I think I might place some magnets in the feet and base so I can remove him from the stand to make assembly easier, but I will see when the time comes.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

DAMN! I thought magnetizing my stuff was a pain in the arse, good job Troy. The gargoyles are a little distant, but their skin is grabing my attention and drawing me in! Looking good man!

Looking forward to seeing the big momma painted up.

Regards,
DoE


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Kudos on the time and effort put into magnetizing man!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Primed and ready to roll, and might I say this girl is huge!! I’ll be breaking out the airbrush on this one.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Hehehehe, looks intimidating. To me it always feels like there is more to paint when you do it in stages rather than a whole model. But, doing it in stages yields the best results in my opinion. Looking forward to see your next update!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

@DOE - Yes i feel the same way, most of what i do is in pieces and not assembled 


Just a quick update here, to show that i am moving forward on this girl - I have the skin tones finished!!


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Flesh tones are looking great bud!


----------



## Arcticor (Mar 19, 2011)

I just read though all of the pages of this. I must say, it is truly amazing. Thank you for the tutorial on your color scheme, I am definitely going to steal it. I love your deathleaper model. +rep to you for that and everything else youve done so far. I definitely would not have the patience to give all my gaunts that much detail.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks for the comments and rep guys!!


Update lol.


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

Oh she is looking beautiful so far.

Zero Effect


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

The strips are back! I have a lot more work done with this girl now. Almost finished, but I am stuck on the stomach of the Tervigon, I don’t know which color green to go with, hence the pic below please give your opinion. Whatever color I go with I will be going with the same for the Trannofex weapon and well.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking fantastic Troy!!! I can't wait to get my hands on one of these kits, as well as finding the time to paint on my nids. 

I think that you should go with Camoflage Green. It is similar enough to tie in with the skin color, but different enough to differentiate it. I think the blue greens would be to jarring and the Sick Green, Dark Green, and Livery Green would be too similar to colors already represented.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

@Midge - Thanks for the input i decided to go with the camo after all. 

I painted the Tervigons stomach, first I tried to do some pre-shading before using my airbrush but it only half worked. So I base coated it in Camo Green and used different shades of camo green to highlight and shadow the model. I then hit it with a slight wash of green/mud to tone it down and bring out more of the green tones in the paint. 

I do have this Girl finished now, but I am waiting for the matt varnish to try before attaching it to the base, so I don’t have any completed shots yet, and I will be going out of town tomorrow so I might not get a chance to post some until next week. 

Over all I am happy with this model, but it was huge and a lot of work to finish and in the end I ended up cutting some corners and not putting as much into it as I have on other models. I think that I am just getting tired of painting Nids. No matter what model you have, or what size it is, in the end its painted the exact same way with the exact same techniques and its getting a little boring and tedious. Not to mention that I’m also not learning many new things either. That being said, I still plan on finishing this army off seeing as I only have another half a dozen or so units left. 

Anyway here are some WIP Pics.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I really like the way the stomach came out! Looking forward to the finished product.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Ohhh this is looking sexy! Well done thus far Troy, the stomach turned out looking great! Good call on the color choice. I bet its going to feel great to have this baby finished ahhh?


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

**Thanks for the encouragement guys, I’m super happy that it’s finished now, it’s a very big and intimidating looking model I think. I would hate to be on the other end of the table against this girl. 

Seeing as my flight don’t leave until 930 tonight I had time to take these finished shots:


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Turned out phenomenal Troy!!!! I love the sea green color on the T-fex weapon sacs. Lovely work! A piece to be proud of!


----------



## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

Wow, very nice work. This would be a great model to use as a demo for when you have to have the "birds and the bees" talk with your son.

Daddy... where do babies come from?
Well, son. They come out of mommy, take a look at this Tyranid model for example...


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

jaysen said:


> This would be a great model to use as a demo for when you have to have the "birds and the bees" talk with your son.
> 
> Daddy... where do babies come from?
> Well, son. They come out of mommy, take a look at this Tyranid model for example...


OMG...LOL, that gave me a good laugh. If only it would be that easy...well, I hope so.

Excellent work Troy, enjoy some Rep!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## Chris Guard of Mardat (Mar 6, 2011)

You've done a great job on all your Tyranids, and I really like the Mummy 'Nid (AKA. Tervigon)/Tyrannofex.
I'm inspired to start (well, repaint) my own 'Nid army now.

Have some well earned rep


----------



## Zero Effect (Feb 15, 2011)

Troy, 

Well done on a beautiful painted Nid! (didnt think i would say that about any nid, beautiful)

Zero


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks for all the comments and rep guys!! Also I can't believe that this has over 10000 views wow. 

I think that up next I will be doing a carnifex that i have in box still, but first i will be working on some Eldar first.


----------



## KjellThorngaard (Oct 4, 2010)

That is a fantastic looking model Troy. Really well painted, nice color choices and cool detailing.


----------



## Arcticor (Mar 19, 2011)

Troy. That model is AMAZING. You really have created a true masterpiece that you should be proud of. The colors you've picked work very nicely together, the different shades of green are distinct enough that you can see them as different colors/aspects of the model without clashing with your overall scheme. Good job!


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks again for the compliments guys!!

So a few friends dropped by today and we had a 3 player 2100 point (6300 total!!) battle, so I took a few shots!! We still had a pile of stuff in reserves that I never got a chance to take pic of. There was Nids, CSM and BT, ended in a 3-way objective draw with the moral victory going to the BT! Awesome fun game too.


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Well I did a little side project with my gargoyles bases today, I magnetized them because I was sick of dealing with setting up those flying bases. I painted the magnets in the chest of the gargoyles to match and it works out well.










Here is a snap of a 4 player game I had last week as well. (Nids, CSM, DA, BT)


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Well I figure I would drag this P-log out of the grave for some updates! While I have been concentrating on my Eldar for the past two years, I have managed to sneak in a few Nid models here and there. Here you can see some of the units that I finished since Christmas. I also planing on painting a few more Nids in the near future as well. I have the Flying Tyrant converted a little to fit the wings as well as the other limbs and both it and the Fex are magnetized. 

Flying Tyrant













Fex



<a href="http://s1097.photobucket.com/user/troybuckle/media/DSC_0957_zpswmouqvtd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g346/troybuckle/DSC_0957_zpswmouqvtd.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC_0957_zpswmouqvtd.jpg"/></a>





Gaunts


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Those are some tasty 'nids! :good:


----------

