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Hive Tyrants - Timothy Leary & Ketchup

I got both of my current Hive Tyrants from Tyranid Army boxes. They’re nice figures, very detailed and menacing. I always thought they were a little expensive, but what Games Workshop product isn’t?

These second edition Tyrants came with the options of venom canon or barbed strangler and a head spewing flesh hooks or one without. I don’t like the flesh hooks on any peice, not even Lictors. Flesh hooks fire like bullets, catching that moment in a figure is just too dramatatic for my taste.

My first Hive Tyrant, the orange one, I call "Timothy Leary" because of his psychedelic colorings. I built him straight out of the box. (Actually, I had to have his torso replaced by Games Workshop because it was so poorly cast it wasn’t salvagable. This happens a lot with Tyranids.) I wanted him to glow as much as possible, be a beacon for bullets and inspiration on the battlefield. I knew he was going to suck down fire like a burning vacuum so why not play with it? To get the day glow effect on the orange, I first painted it white, then stained it yellow with ink. I then did a very careful yellow/orange ink wash and then painted in highlights with yellow. The blue was done similarly with a light blue base, I think it was "ice blue" and a thinned blue wash.

When I was building my Tyranid army, I kept thinking that I had no way of taking out vehicles (I hadn’t played with a Carnifex before) so I went with another venom canon over the possible barbed strangler for my next one. My second Hive Tyrant, whom I’ve come to call "Ketchup" was also to have a cannon. So I was going to have two identical HQ units. Not acceptable at all. I went about converting Ketchup and did it anyway.

First I stood him more upright. I had to tinker around his ribs and bent the tail a bit. I sawed off his sword arm and repositioned it more vertically. They’re large things, might as well look large. His right side was real fun. I freed his lower arm from the venom cannon with my handy jeweler’s saw. I sculpted a handle on the gun out of epoxy putty and turned the weapon skyward For the lower arm, I drilled out were the handle was and cut it at the elbow. I wanted it to be more straight. I thought I’d lose much of the effect if the arm was in the exact position to hold the gun, just not doing so. I dug into my bits box and found an old marine banner pole. I worked it into his hand as if he’d just grabbed it and bent it in his palm. His grin means the marine, who had it before, wouldn't be needing it anymore.

I mixed the red color for Ketchup. I didn’t know he was going to look like a condiment, but the color just works I think. The purple carapace is purple ink stained over a white base to get the glow. Again, I wanted him to stand out. To keep consistency the skin colors and weapons are uniform with the rest of the army.

Now that 3rd Edition Hive Tyrants are available, I may look to picking one up if only for the new options and the challenge of making a piece to compliment Timothy Leary and Ketchup.

Check out the Tinothy Leary & Ketchup Gallery for more pictures of these Hive Tyrants.

Hive Tyrant - Matt Dillon

My problem was caused by my not playing Warhammer, but only painting. I created two identically armed Hive Tyrants for the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Swarm. Once I started playing I realized how effective these units can be and though Timothy Learey and Ketchup seldom let me down, I longed for different versions of the beast with different weapons and more WYSIWYG for 3rd Edition.

I picked up a last 2nd Ed. Tyrant for just such a project. I think Tyranid Monsters should tower over their underlings, so the first thing I did was cut the legs and make him stand up straight and tall. Then I converted a barbed strangler so that it could be held by the lower set of arms freeing the upper set for scything claws. I chiseled down and bend the handle of a lash whip to attach to the Strangler. For the upper arms, I used some 2nd Edition Carnifex claws I had cast for just such a conversion. The final shape was impressive and immediately made me think of an tall gunslinger, Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke. The name stuck.

I held off painting Dillon for about 4 months unable to find a color scheme I liked for him. I don’t have a single color scheme for the army and pride myself in trying to make certain models unique. I wanted him to tie in with his brothers and so had the fleshy green skin figured out. As for the rest, I went through no fewer than 5 different schemes repainting colors so much I was worried about losing detail. I fell on the Laguna Green and just like it. Quickly Matt Dillon became a yuppie and I mourned the loss of identity but was so sick of trying different colors I kept it.

I was saved when I found a color called AD&D Dragon Scale - a red/brown.Using a black border it complimented the green enough. That really brought the figure to life and muted the pastel. It brought Matt Dillon back with western chaps and holsters.

I did the usual detailing but couldn’t keep the Barbed Strangler color I’d used with other 2nd Ed, pieces. I originally made it a green gun and strangely, I always seem to paint the model carrying green guns green - and it always pisses me off after I’ve noticed I’ve done it. I like the swarm to be colorful. I kept the blue barrel and pink intestines but went with a leathery brown for the body.

It’s an impressive piece. I think the color works and the claws and straight legs improve his table presence. Beware, the swarm has a new leader.

Winged Hive Tyrant - Ken Kesey

After the Draconids, I knew I’d need a winged Tyrant. I’ve read other players reports of how nasty they are in battle and Rich himself said they’re wonderful. I’d always regretted making my first two tyrants identically armed and having been surprised at how well I liked the new warrior designs (with a little alteration - read "NECKS") I bought a new Tyrant and went about making him fly.

I found an old dragon model at a local hobby shop that had perfect wings for my project. I’m planning on adding a whole page with detailed descriptions of how I make castings of parts, but for now, let it suffice to say, I made molds of the heavy pewter dragon wings and cast them in resin plastic. This made them much lighter and easier to deal with as well as protected my investment in the dragon model which I hope one day to complete.

I modified the Tyrant first by fixing the legs. I wanted them longer and straighter with the hooves pointed. This minor alteration helped the model look like it was in flight. Then I sculpted a neck. It still surprises me how much better I like all the Tyranids when they have necks. Magic Sculpt over a bit of wire did the trick.

I wanted all scything talons - no guns for this guy. I had a few sets of claws left over from my Draconids. But before I could put them on I had to attach the wings. I cut the wings to fit dramatically between the carapace and the claws. I pinned them with a bit of wire and glued them on. I constructed a base from Super Sculpey and a brass rod then attached it by drilling a hole below the pelvis of the model. I didn’t want to mount him too high for fear of falling over - I had made the mistake with a couple of my Draconids. His base may be a little bigger than it should be, but he’s sturdy.

Now all was left was the painting. Choosing a color scheme is always hard for me. In my Tyranid army every breed and every elite, HQ and heavy must be individualized. Finding new and attractive color combinations can be daunting. I struggled for weeks to find a color scheme I could live with before settling on the blue and cinnamon he finally became. I painted and repainted him several times before finding this.

I used my Sotar 20/20 airbrush on the wings. I used Apple Barrel Dutch Blue acrylic paint. To make a darker hue for shading I mixed a touch of orange to the blue - mixing a compliment to a color gives you a natural darker shade (tip courtesy of David Fisher and DaVinci). I mixed a highlight shade by adding a touch of white. The airbrush really brought out the wings. I sealed it with future, gave it a dark blue oil wash to bring out more detail, then sealed it with Dullcoat and did some dry brushing and touch up work.

The carapace was based with Apple Barrel Barn Red then aggressively over- brushed with Cinnamon. That got me only so far. I made a pallet of the red, cinnamon and white and went to town on it shading and highlighting as it needed. When finished it was a bit boring. I needed something to break up the large areas. Naturally I went through four different trials before finding yellow for the carapace complement. I gloss coated the carapace but it turned out too shiny. I misted it with Dullcoat to mute it down a bit.

The claws were done with a leather base coat and then patiently dry brushed and washed them into submission. I think the claws are the best part of the model.

The base is my usual Planet of Dandelions with some rocks to break up the big base. It took a long time to paint, not so long to build surprisingly, but I think the time shows. I named him Ken Kesey in keeping with my Swarm’s theme and the big muscular yet flying nature of this creature.

Tyranid Guard Brood

When I first read the 3rd Edition Tyranid Codex, I didn’t like the Tyranid Guard Brood unit. They’re not synapse creatures, they’re expensive and I thought unnecessary. Besides I didn’t want to go buy the new models since they wouldn’t match my 2nd edition Tyranids. However, after studying the rules more carefully, and playing a couple of games, I found a reason to have them - they block bullets.

I have a bunch of old 1st edition plastic Tyranids I collected back in the olden days. I used my hobby knife, a few old plastic WH40K bits, a couple of toothpicks and some Magic-Sculpt to create the Spine-Shields. The whips were made from stiff wire.

I painted them the same scheme as my other warriors and made their shells metallic - they have a 3+ save after all. I figured they’d ingested a bit of metal during their mispent youth.

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