Print

[Nezalhualixtlan]

So, I'm pretty new to WH40k.  I got hooked watching a few friends play, tried it out, and well I couldn't resist.  So I started up a Tyranid Army, bought the Codex, the Macragge set, and the Battleforce.  The modeling went pretty well, and I started to get the hang of some modest conversions by the time I was done assembling everything.

This is the Carnifex, current pride of my Hive Fleet, pre-paint & a pre-bit of extra Thornback conversion on his back Carapace...
http://forums.tauonline.org/index.php?topic=57433.0

So, I read a bunch on how to paint up the models, techniques and things of that nature.  And I finally decided on a color scheme to try out.  My inspiration came from real life, I decided to make my Hive Fleet very "insect-like".  Many of the insects I've seen have metallic aspects to their chitin when you observe their different carapace, something you don't often see when looking at people's color schemes for Tyranids.  So I shied away from the earthier tones that often can be used to great effect to look disgusting and vile, and opted for a cleaner, yet still distinctly insect-like colors.  Here are two pictures that do justice to many of the insects I've seen in real life I was attempting to use as inspiration...




So with that, I got to work getting the paints to design my exotically beautiful yet deadly Tyranid Hive Fleet.  If you'd like to know the paint colors themselves, I used Citadel Paints:

Purple Fleshy Areas:
Mithril Silver
Purple Ink

Bulbous Fleshy Areas:
Warlock Purple
Liche Purple

Orange Ribbed Areas:
Fiery Orange
Scab Red
Burnished Gold

Black Carapace Plates:
Chaos Black
Desert Yellow
Burnished Gold

Bone Talons / Teeth / Spikes / Hooves:
Bleached Bone
Desert Yellow


I primed everything with a black primer.  After that I base coated everything that was meant to be purple (fleshy bits) with Mithril Silver.  This gave the areas the metallic gleam I was looking for without having to resort to mixing ink with the paint and hoping I didn't run out before I got everything done.  After that I coated the silver areas with my Purple Ink.  It took about 3 coats of Ink to darken the purple to the color I desired, it builds up like a glaze as you go.  The nice part of this is it the ink pools and naturally shadows the recessed areas on the model, and the light reflecting off silver underneath naturally highlights the protrusions so there isn't any need to wash or drybrush these areas after.  The effect is much like the Damselfly picture above.

The orange ribbed areas I base coated in fiery orange.  After that I diluted the Scab Red with a bit of water to make a wash, and washed it into the recessed areas of the ribs.  Finally, I drybrushed the ribbed areas with the Burnished Gold.  I loved the effect, it almost exactly replicated a magnificent Dragonfly I saw a few years ago.

The carapace was painted with Chaos Black, edged in the Desert Yellow, and very finely edged in the Burnished Gold.  This is where my hornet colors come in, as the carapace brings out hints in the model that are distinctly bee & hornet-like.

All the bony parts are painted in Bleached Bone.  The were edged around the base with a little of the Desert Yellow to show dirt / discoloration.   The Desert Yellow here ends up looking more brownish because its compared to the off-white of the Bleached Bone, while the Desert Yellow on the carapace pieces looks much more yellow sandwiched between the black and gold.

Without further ado, here are a few pics of my Carnifex and a finshed Hormagaunt to show off the new Hive Fleet Hekatonkheires color scheme...

http://forums.tauonline.org/index.php?topic=57434.0

[Nightwing]

They look great!  I really hope you get to make something look like the hornet too!

[Timjim]

cool, i'm not too keen on the gold though.. i'd of used yellow personally but it still looks good