| One of my more unusual conversions are my "Gargoyles".
I loved the idea of flying melee troops, and the (original metal)
hormagaunt models seemed much more impressive looking than their stats
would indicate, so I cooked up this nightmare to solve both problems.
The Hormagaunt's "pokey stabby" arms have been replaced by a pair of wings
(taken from the old Harpy models- which, of course, were converted
into plague bearers for my chaos army since
I'm not too keen on the current plague bearer models). The end result
is pretty effective (much to the horror of my fellow players). |
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I also made some shooty Gargoyles out of the new plastic Hormagaunts.
I gave them devourers, removed their middle arms, and added metal wings
from the old Gargoyle models. I then drilled a hole in the belly
and plugged the model onto a clear flight stand. The end result is
quite effective, and surprisinly well balanced since the stand sits directly
below the metal wings. |
| The original plastic Termagant models still have a certain charm- plus,
the smaller models tend to find cover more easily. These plastic
models were a godsend when I was building my army. This guy, and
many others like him, were painted with the "wash" method ideal for vast
numbers... |
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I still had some of the original Tyranid "Hunter Slayer" models around,
but they were too small to use even as Termagants- so I based them up with
some other odd alien toy bits, forming a new type of troop- the Hunter
Slayer Swarm! I stat them with a handful of Spinefists and pretty
much treat them like Ripper swarms otherwise. |
| The new ripper swarm plastics are cool, but to pad out their numbers,
I added some other odd bits to this base, including a Kryomek worm, an
old Gargoyle tail, and an old Spinefist from the metal Warrior models! |
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Here's some oddball weaponry for my army. The spore mine is
from the old Space Fleet model line, just to add variety. The blobby
thing is a spare deathspitter from the old plastic Tyranid sprue,
mounted on a disturbing little base. I use these models as "Orguns"-
organic sentry guns that the Tyranids can plant on the battlefield as a
special biomorph! |
| I saw these giant flea looking models in another miniatures line and
knew they would make good Tyranid models. I call them Leeches- they
latch onto their victim's body and slowly drain the life out of 'em.
The model is a pretty good size, so I didn't bother mounting it on a base-
besides, it makes it easier to put them into the beloved "blood sucking"
pose over the toppled victim... |
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| With the latest release of Tyranids, Games Workshop is finally painting
their Genestealers to match the Tyranid Hive Fleet they come from.
I had previously painted my 'Stealers purple and blue, the traditional
colors, but have since repainted them green to match my 'nids. This
is a beautiful metal Magus Hybrid model- I gave his skin a green wash and
tan drybrush to update him, and darkened his robes from blue to dark purple
/ brown for a more dirty, menacing look. |
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The Plastic hybrids that came with the Genestealer Space Hulk expansion
are not as common now, but still decent models. I armed this guy
with a missile launcher from the old Chaos heavy weapons sprue, as it has
a baroque, ridged look that is perfect for Hybrids. |
| A back view of one of my plastic hybrids. Here you can really
see the dark red / purple colored clothing, done so as a tribute to the
Genestealers' original purple color scheme. The skin is green and
carapace brown like my regular Tyranids, and painted with the same wash
methods. |
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This metal Hybrid model was painted with dark red clothes, green skin
(with a tan drybrush), and yellow trim on the clothes to go with the Magus
model above (I use him as a bodyguard for the Magus). |
| The metal hybrid models are much nicer than the plastics, well posed
and nicely detailed. The most noticeable problem with the plastic
ones is that they are much larger (too large?) than the metals. This
is a stock model, painted the same way as the one above. |
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The only model Games Workshop didn't update is one of the oldest- the
venerable plastic Genestealer, first seen in Space Hulk many years ago.
While painting mine in the new color scheme, I noticed how much detail
was actually on these models! I painted 40 of these things in just
a couple nights using washes- and a few came out quite nice despite my
hastiness! |
| How did I paint 40 'stealers that quickly? With Enamel washes,
of course! Primed in white, then a light brown wash, green
skin, pink mouths, and a dark brown wash over the whole thing. I
also rubbed some areas while the final wash was wet so the white primer
would come through, forming highlights- you can really see this on
the back of the model pictured here, and also on claws and pustules to
make them stand out. |
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The only problem with the plastic Genestealers is that they aren't
easily poseable. However, this guy uses a set of arms from the few
'Stealers included in Milton Bradley's Space Crusade! Though a bit
large for the model, these arms make a great lunging pose. I also
omit the tongues from some of my 'stealers just for more variety. |
