Do I Need A New Paint Set?

Well do I?

Lets see, I got my first mega paint set way back in 2000. And like most people that got it, the paints dried up. Not a good start.

The next paint set i got was the Wargames Foundry paint set about 2004/05 great paint set if you painting historical models but not so good for the 41st millenium. But to be fair I was working on WW2 US and German models.

Next up is the current one that I have (it has tentacle pink  in it) and was bought in 2006/07. it has served me well and has been reinforced with the Foundation paints and washes that replaced the inks.

And now we have the all new, all singing, all dancing Citadel Paint Set. Twice the amounts of paints and twice the price (£333.00)  well about 3 times the price but you do get a carry case for free.

I am tempted to buy it after all i do like painting the models and the old one does need some pots replacing.

Some of you may be thinking why not just buy some other company’s paints ? it would be cheaper. Well it all boils down to one thing, I can get hold of Citadel paints easier than any others. I have a GW store 5 minutes from my front door and 2 independent toy shops within 10 minutes walk.

A Lazy Day.

Well yesterday was a nice lazy day for me. I spent the morning finishing off my Carnifex, and then primed some more tyranids (8 Hormagaunts and 8 Termagants with fleshborers). I have also come across not one but two of the old Armorcast resin 40k  Tyranid vehicles the Exocrine  (the one with the gun on its back) and the  Malefactor (the one with the big claw type things). Now these guys were made under licence in the U.S.A by Armorcast in the late 90’s. And I picked up the  Malefactor in 2000 and the Exocrine a few years later with the intentions of using them in the 3rd edition. But as with all things they got put to one side and left, Even when i restarted my Tyranids in 2005 they still lay un-touched by paint or glue. But now in 2012 they may well see action on the field of battle. With the Exocrine counting as a Trannofex and the  Malefactor counting as a Tervigon.

 

 

 

 

I have been looking at the plastic  Trannofex/Tervigon and have been thinking about converting them in to some of the other Tyranid vehicles from the epic range, just updated to the newer style.

The rest of yesterday afternoon was spent watching an old WW2  film called Objective Burma, This film along with another one Merrill’s Marauders were what started me collecting my Catachan Jungle Fighters all those years ago. It was White Dwarf 180 December 1994 that had the first look at the new range of Imperial Guards men that were going to be released over the coming months.

I still have my Jungle Fighters, they have not seen the light of day for some years I may have to get them out at some stage just for old times sake…………..

More Tyranids……….

Well I’ve been working hard on the Tyranids and much to my surprise things are going to plan. I am sticking to my plan of working through what I already had  made, Before moving on to the stuff that is unmade. I have just worked my way through 10 termagants, and have just started working on a Carnifex. Next up will be some Hormagants or Genestealers (not sure which one to do yet). I currently have 3 Tyranid Warriors and a Hive Tyrant primed up yellow, But I need a brood to work on at the same time. I also have some more termagants and another Carnifex that are made up, and once these are done I can move onto the unmade stuff.

With any luck I maybe able to get in a game or two this weekend, With my rather small Tyranid horde…………..

Painting A Wargames Army.

Over the years I have painted models from most of the 4ok races, and have tried out loads of different colour schemes from Imperial Guard camouflage to Ork clans. And over the years my armies have been stripped and repainted many times, With my current interest being my Tyranids.

With the Tyranids I have gone right back to basics. Over the years I have painted way too many models and have spent ages painting on details, This is fine if all you are going to do is display the models on a shelf or in a cabinet. But if like me you want to get in a few games with them, then you need to reach a compromise with the painting.

Since I first picked up a paint brush way back in the 90’s I have learnt many new techniques some I use all the time and some I don’t. Now this is not Grail’s expert miniatures painting guide, in fact it is far from it. It is more of how I intend to paint my models to a gaming standard that i’m proud off and am happy with.

After all they are my models!

As I said with my Tyranids I have gone right back to basics. First up is………..

THE UNDERCOAT.

In the old days you had black and white spray undercoats, Now days you can pick up coloured primers. These are great time savers and they allow you to prime up large units in a few passes. You can of course use an airbrush, Now I have never had any luck using one the can be connected to a can of propellent but that may just be me. I do own a compressor but at the moment using one may just piss off the neighbours, so I have no options but to use sprays. So for my Tyranids I’ve gone for Daemonic Yellow from The Army Painter.

THE BASIC COLOURS.

With the Yellow undercoat done the hardest part of painting my Tyranids is 50% done. We now need to move onto the details, With the Tyranids I decided to pick out the, Carapace and other bony plates (Black), Claws and Hooves (Bone), and the Fleshy muscles under the skin (Pink). By keeping the details simple it makes the whole painting process allot simpler. I have kept to three basic colours to allow me to paint them up fairly quickly, If I keep this pace up I can paint up a brood of ten gaunts and three warriors in a day. Just by keeping things simple.

Of course when it comes to painting larger Tyranids I will spend a  bit more time on them picking out other details. But in general if the Unit entry says you can have more than one model in the unit it will be painted with this process.  Special characters and individual units will have a bit more time spent on them.

THE QUICKSHADE.

After going through the last stage you painted model should now be about 80% done. This stage which I class as the final stage of painting involves using one of the many different types of “dip”. Now this is a mater of personal taste some people hate the “dip” others like me like it. But I find that the “dip” cuts a hell of allot of time from my painting. The “dip” is a wood varnish with which you “dip” the model into, Now I don’t “dip” the model into the can but paint it on using a brush.

Basic wood varnish will do, all you need to do is have a look in you local DIY store. I picked up all three shades from The Army Painter range some years ago, And they consist off.

Soft Tone: A very light brown (which is what I am using for the Tyranids)

Strong Tone: A medium brown (which is what I used for my Blood Angels)

Dark Tone: A very dark brown almost black ( which I intend to use on my Iron Warriors)

THE FINAL STAGE.

Sit back and let you models dry. If you’ve got this far then your 95% done.

What only 95% whys that then?

You still have to do the bases………………………………………..

Tyranid Attack Part 2.

Well the weekend has been and gone and I managed to get in 3 games of  Tyranid Attack. It took some time to get used to the rules again, And with some luck the Blood Angel scouts managed  to win one game just by the skin of their teeth. It did get us thinking about some other classic games like Space Hulk and Advanced Space Crusade.

Now I have to confess I have never play Advanced Space Crusade, I picked it up some years ago when I started my Tyranid army with the intentions of playing some Boarding actions with the 40k main rules. But as time went by they never got used and it all got boxed up and put into storage, until now.

Hopefully I will be able to get in some more games of Tyranid Attack and possibly Space Hulk.

Now lets see about finishing off my Realm Of  Battle boards……………………