Home-Made Tyranid Spore Chimney

This is an idea that's been brewing since I started building the Capillary Towers. I always loved the Tyranid Spore Chimney from Forgeworld so i had a crack at making my own to go with my 'Nid terrain.

This is the finished build! The main skeleton was a polystyrene cone quartered and based around a polystyrene ring. This was then covered in air-drying clay and shaped.This is definitely my new favourite terrain material! Dead easy to use and shape, and only 24rs to dry.  

This is the chimney itself. It was based around some random piece of pipe i had in my bits box. The inner surfaces of the towers were coated in some slightly watered down polyfilla. This made it a lot easier to apply, and gave it a less 'stony' effect (see my first attempt at a Capillary Tower)

Some extra texture was achieved by adding some medical gauze coated in watered down PVA glue. This gave it a great organic look. It also looks suitably disgusting!

I had a crazy amount of spare 'Nid bits which were useful for this piece.

I used one of GaleForce 9's Tentacle Makers to make the tentacles in the middle. I made them out of clay as well, which worked just as well as Green Stuff or Milliput.

I used the ends of Devourers to make spikes on the towers.

Some more medical gauze to add texture.

It was easy to get a smooth finish on the carapace of the towers. I also added some ridges with the back of a knife to break it up a bit.

Also some impact craters from the doomed defenders of  the planet!

The edges of the Chimney were modelled to make it look as though the Chimney had grown out of the ground. This broken earth effect will look better after its based and painted.

A scale shot with some spare Termagants. I'll be going with the same colour scheme i used for the army on the Chimney.

As an afterthought i added some spikes to the edges of the carapace. This are from some spare Trygone sprue's i had.

Finally some WIP shots. All in all this piece cost me around £10 to make!

I'm looking forward to painting this! Also look out for Capillary Towers Mk2.

The GunGrave

Tyranid Hive Crone

So I picked up this guy from my FLGS on the day of release (getting a cool 20% off!) to enhance my current list. Although I run a Flyrant, it's the only flyer in my list, so some air support was sorely needed.

The colour scheme is the same as the rest of the force, simple and striking. You can find a tutorial on the scheme here. The base for this guy is still WIP. I borrowed one off my Legion Fire Raptor for the photos.

Drool Cannon, a S6 AP4 template weapon (no Torrent though...) bit of a 'meh' weapon, but  its OK. The fleshy weapon areas were picked out in Scorpion Green, washed in Thrakka Green, then highlighted in a watered down Scorpion Green again.

Carapace markings.

Tentaclids (those are the missile things under the wings) These are the key to the Tyranids air superiority. They're only S5 and One Use but they're also Haywire and Seeking (re-roll misses) Pretty good if you ask me, and when combined with a S8 Vector Strike (due to its Raking Strike rule) it makes for a pretty mean anti-air unit.

I magnetised the Tentaclids to help me keep track of how many i've used!

Overall this is a great model. However, with only 2 sprues in the box, i would have been annoyed if i had payed full price for it. For what's in the box, its steep for £48, i don't care how good it is. Despite that, I'm looking forward to giving it a go in a game and seeing what kind of impact its going to have.

The GunGrave

Tyranid Capillary Tower Tutorial

Now i've sorted a picture upload problem with Blogger, I can progress with some posts! That's to those who offered up suggestions - turns out Google Chrome worked!

So, today we have my attempt at making some Tyranid Terrain, Capillary Towers. With the recent Tyranid release the Hive Mind has reimposed its will upon me, so I'm keen to make some terrain to accompany my newly refreshed 'Nid force. 

Capillary Towers are the core of Tyranid tabletop scenery for me, so this is the first thing i wanted to try. I spotted these polystyrene cones in Hobbycraft the other day which i thought would make a good base for the Towers. 

 Start with quartering the cones:

Each quarter will form the base of a Capillary Tower.

Base it (i used plasticard here as the Styrene's so light)

Now start planing out the chitin plates that will go on the bask of the Tower. for this i used artists mounting board - its cheap and thick, good for chitin plates.

Stick them to the back of the styrene tower, overlapping them slightly as you go. As you can see, this overlapping left me a bit short at the top in the end!

So i just trimmed off the excess styrene to make it fit.

OK, so that's the bulk of the structure done. now for a few little details. These are some bead type things i found for 99p a packed. There's about 20 in there.

These were perfect for adding some spiky protrusions to the front of the Tower. You'll also see that I've added some texture to the front of the Tower with some Quick Dry Filler from a DIY store.

So that was my first attempt...however, I'm not terribly happy with it. Something about the plates on the back isn't sitting right with me. I think they're to flat, so i had another go. This time i trimmed the sides of the styrene a bit to help the card curve around it a bit better.

I followed the same steps as before, but wrapped the card around the Tower a bit more. This made me a bit happier, but not entirely satisfied!

Here's a quick scale shot:

All in all I think I might have to come up with another way to make Capillary Towers. I think I'm on the right track with the Polystyrene cones, but think i need a better way to make the chitin plates. I might have a solution for that problem, but will have a quick go before i share that with you lot!

Thoughts and suggestions welcome!

The GunGrave

Blogger Problem...

Is anyone else having problems adding photos to their posts? Blogger won't seem to let me do it, but will let my write...


Help!


The GunGrave

Apocalypse Terrain: Imperator Bridge

Today I want to share a terrain project I've been chipping away at for the past few weeks; Imperator  Bridge.

This piece is being built especially for an Apoc' game to be fought at the end of the Campaign being held at my FLGS Worcester Wargames. They have 2 rows of gaming tables and the idea is that a number of bridges will be constructed to link the tables making a battlefield worthy of Apocalypse.

The section of the bridge that will be suspended is 4ft long, with two 8in tabs at either end to place on the tables. The bases of the towers are separate as are the bases of the sides of the bridge. This is to enable easy transportation, and also to allows the pieces to be used individually in other smaller games.

Pegasus Building Panels and GW Cities of death Panels have been used for the construction, with some artists mounting board used for the tops of the towers and sides. The Apoc' game won't be until the spring, so there's no rush on this build. I'll just keep chipping away until then. In the meantime, I have yet another Battlefield in a Box project gaining momentum!

The GunGrave

Return from a Hobby Hiatus; Heresy Era Death Guard Army List

I'm back from an unscheduled break in the hobby. Usual reasons apply but I was also incapacitated in hospital with a spinal problem, which for now, is thankfully resolved.

This of course has meant no painting and no gaming over the last 5 weeks! I haven't even spent a single penny on Forgeworld for 2 months either! might have to check myself into rehab soon...

Recently FW released an awesome model of Calas Typon of the Death Guard. This immediately triggered an army list re-write to try and fit him into my 2000pts. He's a pretty mid-range character, and for those unfamiliar with him, his stats are below:

Calas Typon - 200pts

WS     BS     S     T     W     I     A     Ld     Sv
 6         5       4     4       3      5     4      10       2+

Wargear
Cataphractii Terminator Armour
Master Crafted Deathshroud Power Scythe
Hand Flamer with Chem Munitions
Grenade Harness
Nuncio Vox
Rad Grenades

He also has a One Use Chem Bomardment, a Lv1 Psyker, and counts as a Denial Unit.

He is a bit of a point sink for a mid-range character, but he will suit my needs well as a clearance unit attached to my Deathshroud Terminators. Being a Denial Unit is also a billy bonus (and its a kick ass model) So this is how the list is shaping up now:

Legion Crusade Army List:

Heresy Era Death Guard

2000pts 

HQ

Calas Typhon – 200pts

Deathshroud Terminator Squad (Bodyguard) – 90pts

·         2 Deathshroud Terminators – 90pts

·         Chem Munitions - free

Elites

Contemptor Mortis with 2 Assault Cannons – 180pts

·         Base 155pts

·         2 Assault Cannons – 25pts

Contemptor with Twin Linked Lascannon – 200pts

·         Base – 175pts

·         Twin Linked Lascannon – 25pts

 

Troops

Tactical Squad – 250pts

·         Sergeant with Bolter

·         19 Legionnaires with Bolters – 250pts

Tactical Squad – 250pts

·         Sergeant with Bolter

·         19 Legionnaires with Bolters – 250pts

Legion Tactical Support Squad – 145pts

·         Sargent with Bolt Pistol and Close Combat Weapon (free)

·         4 Legionnaires with Flamers and Chem Munitions - (free)

·         Rhino Dedicated Transport – 50pts

·         Pintle Mounted Heavy Flamer with Chem Munitions – 15pts

Legion Tactical Support Squad – 120pts

·         Sargent with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword (free)

·         4 Legionnaires with 4 Volkite Culiver – 20pts

Heavy Support
 

Legion Heavy Support Squad – 215pts

·         Augury Scanner – 5pts

·         5 Legionaries – 135pts

·         5 Missile Launchers – 25pts

·         Flackk Missiles – 50pts

Predator – 100pts

·         Basic - 75pts

·         Heavy Bolter Sponsons – 25pts

Land Raider Phobos – 250pts

 

OPTIONS:

Fire Raptor Gunship – 220pts

·         (Swap out the Predator and Legion Support Squad with Volkite Calivers)

Hyperios Air-Defence Missile Launcher Battery – 160pts

·         Base – 90pts

·         3 Hyperios missile Launchers – 60pts

·         1 Hyperios Missile Launcher Upgraded to a Hyperios Command Platform – 10pts

·         (Swap out the Legion Tactical Support Squad with Volkite Calivers and the Rhino)

2000pts

I have another 5 man Legionaire Squad with bolters on the painting desk at the moment, so hopefully work will pick up again soon!

The GunGrave