More Commissions: Tyranids

Just a quick post to show some more commission work (and to get us through post #99): Tyranid Warriors, along with angry little cohorts, the Ripper Swarm. I'll bet from that last post you were expecting more Dark Eldar, weren't you? Well, check back at or around post #101.

I both did and didn't want to go all out and make their weapons pulpy, squishy organs of death, because I felt it might detract from the overall model. Being as how they are the aforementioned organs, I did my best to make them pulpy/squishy without going completely overboard. I wanted them to have appear more hard with the membrane at the end, sort of like a... well never mind. 

I was sorely tempted to leave them eyeless, like the Xenomorphs from Aliens, but with the lighter Hive Fleet Leviathan paint scheme, it just wouldn't have worked out. Plus, I needed to stick to the conventions I'd already previously established with his Genestealers and Gaunts. One thing I changed, though, was not weathering their chitinous plates up to white; that made the Gaunts look too speckled and dirty, and their masters have a cleaner, more refined look (although I still couldn't exactly see them preening themselves like birds). 

As with all newer-version GW models, these do have their expressive qualities, although I'm still quite alright with the inorganic approach I took to my own. 

I don't know why, but I quite enjoyed painting these little bastards more so than their larger fellows. There's just something about a swarm of little minis on a larger base... I suppose it's because it's a bit to a diorama than just an individual mini. Oh well. 


Next time, the 100th post!