Something stirs in the darkness...

[ZeroWolf]

Terrific work! 

[The Pounder]

Old one eye is looking suitably dangerous!

[Brother Nathan]

Beautiful paintwork. Not quite how id envision flesh under armour mind but excellent work none the less. Whats next?

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks guys! 

 

@Brother nathanhonestly I was just going with what I thought looked cool and suited the paint scheme, I have no idea of Tyranid anatomy but it's all imaginary anyway so I think I can get away with it! 

 

As for what's next...

 

I was given a Malanthrope by a friend, but it's probably my least favourite tyranid model! However with a pair of hive tyrant legs and a bit of effort, he becomes a weird big lictor thing!  The lower arms are still place holders, I need to make something longer and I may also add the one elongated finger some of the new Nids have (deathleaper and neurotyrant for example). 

 

And if you're wondering why he's so hunched over... 

 

He'll be stood up on top of this scene. I figure he's some sort of scout beast who goes ahead of the hive fleet to gather genetic material to find enemy weaknesses (hence the sacks on his back!). He's lurking around an imperial city at night when this small child hears something strange and steps out to investigate... 

 

Still a ton of work to do but I'm having fun with this one! 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by frankendoodle65

[Brother Nathan]

now this is amazeballs. from what youve sofar done its making me think of the victoria lamb lictor that was once in golden demon back around when i was early in the hobby.... 

 

amaze... whats the steps made from?

[frankendoodle65]

@Brother nathanyes that lictor was incredible, I think it was featured in either the 3rd or 4th edition codex?

Steps are made from XPS foam, it's my first time using the stuff but it's really nice to work with, easy to cut and carve. 

 

Made a bit more progress on the base this afternoon, so here's a quick mockup with the models in place; 

 

 

[ZeroWolf]

That is looking incredible already! 

[The Pounder]

Can’t wait to see all this painted!!

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks guys!

Sorry it's been a while, real life stuff has just been exhausting recently so I've not had a lot of hobby time, and I've definitely bit off more than I could chew with this diorama. 

However I've painted both of the models and made a start on painting the base/scenery so I couldn't resist taking a few dramatic photos. 

You can't see it in these photos but there's a street lamp on the wall at the top of the stairs, so I've painted everything with a sort of OSL effect - brighter and warmer where it's facing the light, darker and cooler on the shadow side. It's been an interesting challenge. 

 

 

I've still got a lot of work to do on the scene - I want to dirty everything down, add some posters to the wall and add some trees behind the wall, overhanging.

 

I figure this city is as peaceful as can be expected in the 40k universe, even relatively pleasant with some sort of park or garden behind the brick wall. 

 

This lictor thing is a vanguard organism, scouting ahead of the hive fleet to harvest genetic material and find the enemy's weaknesses. Obviously the inhabitants' relatively peaceful existence is about to be disturbed.

[Brother Nathan]

im absolutely loving it. only thing id maby suggest considering possibly for future conversions as i dont know if its even worth looking at is the face tentacles... the seem very straight at an angle... but its tentacles... they are muscular... they are likely sensing her out so its probably a moot thought (and i loves my tentacles faces muchly) may just be the angle of the second pic. creature and everything looks fab regardless.

[Xenith]

In-credible - is this a display piece only, or is the lictor removable?

[The Pounder]

Woah!! You really don’t mess around do you!?!
 

It’s just spectacular!
 

Really haunting and effective with the little girl not knowing what is hunting her.

 

Looking forward to what you’re working on next.

[ZeroWolf]

Outstanding work, I absolutely love it.

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! 

 

@Brother nathanoriginally I had planned to repose/resculpt each tentacle in a more dynamic pose, sort of feeling out and sensing. Not going to lie I got lazy in the end and left them as they are, so I totally agree with you! I think we're all guilty of being lazy sometimes though 

 

@XenithI don't play the game so everything I make is technically a display piece! Currently the big lictor thing is just attached with two pins through his feet and it feels a pretty solid attachment - I don't think I'll bother gluing him so if I ever get into gaming I could make a separate base for him. 

 

@Jud Cottrellthanks! You can just about see at the bottom of the stairs is a bunker door, I figure she's the daughter of someone important. She heard a noise at night and no-one was around, so she wondered out to see what's there... 

 

As for what's next, I might have just bought two forgeworld hierodules so I'll be doing something fun with them at some point.

[Bouargh]

I knew I saw this girl somewhere before... These lictors should be very cautious... She might bite.

 

 

Amazing work. As the wole production of yours.

[frankendoodle65]

Sorry it's been a little while, feel like hobby time has been tighter than usual lately! Still been chipping away at it though, here's what I'm working on now; 

 

 

Sawing a forgeworld Barbed Hierodule in half was a challenge, that's one big hunk of resin! 

 

All modern tyranids have three main body segments, but the Hierodules date back from 3rd edition a dndon't have a waist. Easily fixed though!

 

Something felt a bit off, so I decided to add an additional rib to the main torso section and that already feels loads better. I'll probably also add a claw where the rib meets the carapace, similar to the Carnifex and some other large Nids.

 

And now I've made a start on adding some more modern detailing and a bit of bulk to the legs. Still a bit to do there but it's taking shape!

I need to tidy up the carapace plate at the hip section where I sawed him in half, I've just put a rough blob of putty there to block in the shape for now. 

 

Also been working on a screamer killer for a friend, I'll post some pictures of that when there's a bit more to show! 

[frankendoodle65]

Just a bit more progress on the hierodule; 

 

With the elongated body she really felt like she needed a pair of support hands to walk on, so I cut up the scything talons and used trygon spikes for fingers. Some tidying up left to do but it's a nice start

 

Used a screamer killer forearm to get the extra length I needed.

 

Did a bit of work on the head too, just splitting up the two big armour plates. My goal is to make 5 plates to match all modern tyranids, currently on 4!

 

Then beefed up the forearm and added an extra armour plate above the hips where I cut it. 

 

 

 

Still plenty left to do but it's all heading in the right direction! 

 

Next I think I need to bulk up the shoulder carapace, lengthen the neck a bit and add some nice big back chimney things.

Edited September 10, 2023 by frankendoodle65

[Pearson73]

The Hierodule is coming on cracking! The supporting talons were a great touch, always nice to see a bit of real world consideration going into builds! I think extending the neck is wise and some of those characteristic 'Nid chimneys would be cool too.

 

Also ace to see some larger photos of that diorama. What a wonderful piece!

[ZeroWolf]

I love seeing you work on this! She looks like she's coming on a dream.

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks guys! 

 

@Pearson73yeah while most Tyranids definitely wouldn't function in reality, things like the hierodules and Carnifex seem particularly bad - I just can't ever imagine how they'd manage to walk on two legs without just ploughing their faces into the ground! 

And yeah Instagram is great for reaching a wider audience but somewhere like this really lets you stop and look closer at images, I should try and get some finished photos of that diorama on here as I only ever did a reel on insta once I finished detailing it!

 

@ZeroWolfthanks mate, yeah I'm having so much fun with the hierodule, definitely the most elaborate conversion I've ever done! 

 

Speaking of which, I have a little more to share; 

 

I finally got around to giving her a proper shoulder carapace plate, using a cut up Carnifex piece

 

i think decided it was too recognizable as a Carnifex bit, so whittled it down to a mean sharp pointy plate

 

and then came a layer of putty to smooth it out and add some detail

 

 

Time for chimneys next, these came from two psychophages and a screamer killer

 

 

And then I decided it was time to finally sculpt the neck!

I don't have a before photo, but the original had a lovely plated ridge along the throat so I tried my best to recreate that! Sadly the original had to go because my changes to the shoulders just made it far too short and skinny, but I feel I've done a decent enough job redoing it.

 

and here's where we stand now - I've tidied up the chimneys and done a little tidying up of the elbows. Still some work to do but it's finally approaching the finishing line

 

 

I need to hollow out those chimneys and sculpt the tubey detail that most forgeworld nids have, and I still need to figure out how to incorporate the fifth head plate! 

I'm about 90% sure she'll get the gun arms unaltered, they fit pretty nicely and the sculpt totally holds up.

Edited September 20, 2023 by frankendoodle65

[The Pounder]

Your sculpting skills still impress!!

[frankendoodle65]

Cheers Jud!

 

Not a lot more to show on the hierodule, things always slow down as you approach the finish line. 

I reworked the head carapace and the sternum armour plate, then it was just a case of filling in gaps and fiddly little details. 

 

 

also been working on something weird... Someone over on Instagram is hosting a competition called "warbarbie" - combine a Barbie doll with something Warhammer. So naturally I'm working on a genestealer hybrid Barbie! 

 

Started by sculpting some texture on her back and made an armature for a third arm. Sculpted in the upper arm next. 

Then I added the first bit of the exoskeleton over the soft tissue.

 

And the forearm and just a little texture on the original Barbie arm. 

 

Not sure how much of the original Barbie I'll leave visible, it's tempting to totally sculpt over every inch of her but I think it might be nice to keep some original features visible.

 

Hopefully genestealer Barbie is board appropriate! 

[ZeroWolf]

Brilliant stuff! That genestealer barbie is absolutely horrifying 

[The Pounder]

Will Genestealer Barbie be putting it to the Patriarchy?!
 

Great sculpting as always!

[frankendoodle65]

Cheers guys, if only Mattel made an official genestealer Barbie that would save me a lot of work! 

 

On 10/14/2023 at 11:55 PM, Jud Cottrell said:

Will Genestealer Barbie be putting it to the Patriarchy?!

Of course! Genestealer Ken won't stand a chance! 

 

 

Don't think I've posted this yet, I've been chipping away on a screamer killer conversion for a friend for a little while now. 

Head uses part of a Psychophage head, lower arms use the hierodule forearms I had leftover and hands are based off old 3rd edition scything talon bits. 

 

 

Also extended the tail because the original is a little silly! 

And little finger claws to jazz up the talons.

 

Managed to leave the top of the head removable to make painting easier! 

 

 

And sorry for the terrible photo but I've started slapping a bit of paint on the hierodule, very early days!