Monday, June 1, 2015

The Woes of Painting Tyranid 3rd Edition Biovores

Returning from vacation


I meant to get this posted in late May,before I went on vacation, but later is better than never. It is a bit of backstory and general thoughts on painting this fellow here.





The Lasting Remnants of the 

Tyranid 3rd Edition Smiley Brigade


My April monthly paint project was my Tyranid Biovores. I still have 3rd edition Tyranid Biovore models. I never replaced the 3rd edition models with 4th edition models like I usually do. I also tend to rarely use them or more then a single brood of three Biovores  so there was very little reason to replace them. The 3rd edition Biovores like the majority of other large 3rd edition Tyranids were part of the general 3rd edition smiley brigade of Tyranid models. From the Raveners being the worst offenders to the Red Terror which lacked the smile completely. My Biovores and some Tyrant Guard are the only remaining remnants I posses of the smiley ranks. I do have a Hive Tyrant and a Cranifex, but they broke apart awhile ago and I haven't used them nor had the need for them.

Upon writing this post my 3rd edition Hive Tyrant and Carnifex did find there way into a stripping bath were they will sit for a long time, weeks, or months perhaps. The long period of soaking has proven to remove  primer coats, multiple paint layers and some glue. Since they went in with other Tyranid models, there may be a use for them after all, but time will tell. I think I may give them a second chance after seeing a picture of someone with a massive Tyranid army still using 3rd edition Carnifexes.

Biovores: 3rd Edition vs 4th Edition


Here are two images showing the difference between a 3rd edition and a 4th edition Biovore. Notice the smile on the 3rd edition Biovore model. The Biovores don't have to bad of a smile, but more of a grin. As far as my 3rd edition Hive Tyrant who is happily ready to eat you and my 3rd edition Carnifex who is happily ready to hug you to death, forget it, lol. The 4th edition models might have been fun to paint, but I have no desire to acquire them currently. I did think about replacing the bases with better scenic bases. For a unit which spends the majority of time behind cover, their bases will hardly be noticed much.

3rd Edition
4th Edition

Painting My Biovores


Here are my 3rd edition Biovores painted thus far. First a group shot and then the middle model singled out. Two model are missing heads and only one head is actually missing. I chose to leave one head unattached and unpainted so I may attempt to cast a copy of it sometime soon whenever I get the materials.



I thought this brood would be fast and fun to paint, but they really were not. They are the last of the broods besides troop broods with areas which are difficult to reach with a brush. The whole eye area and bracing arm was a pain, but doable. Once I got done with one it was a major hurdle over so the rest went a little smoother afterward.

I really wanted to paint the inner portions of the launchers lighter shades of green, but I was undecided so I stay with a common color. This is part of the sacrifice I have to make to make sure this brood doesn't get stuck. 

The only thing I need to do besides replace the head is decide whether to paint the lower flesh of the spore mine sac the same color scheme as the rest of the inner flesh of the launcher. Will it stand out or look fine with some more color, plus I bet some of it will be covered by basing material.

My Delimna (As I usually have one)


So the questions I am asking myself are.

Do I not paint the spore mine sac and go with this effect?



or 


Do I paint the spore mine sac and go for this effect?



I try to let the close up images of my Biovores painted thus far help judge. I think the spore mine sac could be left alone as is, but I really am not sure at all.


Biovore wants to play fetch.

My plans for the rest of May


Since I had a large almost two week vacation planned for the end of May I planned to not do any painting at all to avoid being rushed or messing up anything. I have taken the time to fix some broken models, assemble others, and prime others so the whole army painting line with come together at some point. I figure while I paint brood by brood, the rest of the army can be assembled, fixed, and modified and primed. Hopefully I can get the army to a point where every model is either assembled and painted, assembled and primed, and or assembled. Currently there are some broods with old paint schemes showing or models in various stages of assembly, fixing, and modification. 

I know it is June now and I am back from vacation so I will start painting and get something posted soon.

1 comment:

  1. The bigger the sac, the bigger the whack! LOL, or something...

    ReplyDelete