Inquisitor Dracos: Shadows in the Warp

[Dracos]

++Transmission to: Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus ++ I am Inquisitor Dracos of the Ordos Astartes. For the past half century I have monitored, travelled with, and fought with the Warhawks, an Indomitus Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. The Warhawks have battled numerous times with Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Imperial Renegade forces in their Shadow Wars with the Alpha Legion. More recently they have encountered Orks and the Necrons on a newly awakened Tomb World, but they have yet to face the greatest threat to the Imperium of Mankind. In the depths of the emptiness beyond the Eastern Fringe is a Shadow. Travelling in the wake of the Hive Fleet Dagon is an enemy the Warhawks have never encountered or been prepared for . . .

. . . From the Darkness a new Shadow is coming.

. . . and my pile of grey Tyranid shame begins. I am all but certain ^this^, a Start Collecting Box (if I can get one) and at least two, maybe four Ripper Swarms from Forge World, possibly a Lictor or two will be the beginning of my DIY Hive Fleet. While I am obviously "into" Genestealers, I would like to add a bit more of a Shadows flavor to this Fleet, be it through Psychic or Infiltration. They will become the primary enemy of the Warhawks.

++Transmission complete++

I'll be deleting this part of the post at some point but I was interested in getting input from those who are better hobbyist than myself. Due to medical history I don't have the steady hands or endurance I use to and have to find a balance between a paint scheme I'm happy with and is simple enough I can do, especially if there are large numbers of models. I'm a big fan of Army Painter's rattle cans. I do them in batches of 10 at most. I'm not sure what I'm looking for yet but this looks like its on the right track (I'm also a fan of Leviathan, just not the Fleet rules so much).

Edited December 25, 2020 by Dracos

[WarriorFish]

This is a good start indeed, welcome to the swarm I think that scheme is a good one, though a bit more contrast between the two shades would be better I think but it's a good starting point for you. What's the part you like best about it? Could be a good way to decide your version Nids are good for not just being different to most other models to paint but also offering a lot in how you paint them.

 

For example there are some great schemes done with Contrast paints so you could easily get an army that shines on the table top without lots of effort :tu: The bodies are perfect for wash approaches like Contrast, but so are the carapaces if you don't want to put extra work in there :D Keep us updated on your progress!

[Ryltar Thamior]

I can relate in some ways. The nerves in my hands don't work properly, so I .. functionally can't really write [without great effort]; which makes painting - well, you can imagine. 

Practice and patience are excellent virtues, however, and I'm a helluvalot better now than I was; even though I don't actually do much painting nor for very long when I do [i'm turning out like ... at most a few miniatures a month atm] [usually it's just two or three applications of colour to a miniature in between work here and there]

One approach that's probably going to be of use to you is drybrushing. I'm an incredibly lazy painter in various ways - and with drybrushing, you're literally letting the brush and minimum modicum of paint do most of the work for you just by rapidly moving your hand back and forward without even requiring much precision. Much easier than in-depth tiny sliver-thin highlighting buildups. Much less investiture of energy and time required, as well. 

With a bit of practice, many of those light-blue highlights on the carapace, scything talons and other chitin-y bits would be doable in just such a manner [and for that matter the lighter magenta on the more fleshy bits' raised surfaces]. And you can always touch up things later as necessary. 

Inks are the other thing a lot of people swear by - although i've found somewhat better rsults with small and intricate details and recesses [like around the edges of eyes, where bone comes out from flesh, etc.] with blackwashes [or whatever] done with heavily watered down citadel paints . But yeah, they call it "instant make-look-good in a bottle" for a reason. 

 

[Xenith]

Welcome to the fleet!

 

That looks like a great scheme, probably not too hard to do with contrasts.

 

Do some test models with the army painter sprays. They have great coverage for flat surfaces, but I'm not happy with them on detailed infantry, and prefer GW or Halfords primers.