Project #DominaNid3: Tyranid Dominatrix scratchbuild is complete!

So it has been a GOOD LONG TIME since I posted my last update on my #DominaNid3 Tyranid Dominatrix project, but I'm happy to report that, after what felt like a very long 2 years of off and on work, the BEAST IS COMPLETE!

Not to worry, little Termagant. I'll keep you safe.

Awww. You little guys think you're in charge of the swarm? That's cute!

As I did with the Dactylis build, I'll post another article a bit later showing the latter half of the build process, but, for now, let's revel in her completion! 

Converting Upright Termagants for the Viridian Stalkers Tyranid Killteam - #StandaGaunts

So just in time for the release of the new edition of Kill Team, I've become completely enamoured with a new take on the humble termagant. Namely: making them stand upright!

This dude was my proof of concept for the idea, and I honestly liked him so much that it wasn't long until he was joined by a friend...

...and then a whole bunch more!

I really liked how this new pose seemed to give your average gaunt more agency and individuality, but I didn't really understand it until a particularly brilliant person on Instagram pointed out the difference.

"Gaunts were kind of white noise in an army before. Not anymore."

Introducing Hive Fleet Angrboda

If you've been following me for any time at all, you may know one key fact about me:

I don't paint.

I love building, converting, sculpting, but when it comes to painting, my hobby fire tends to dry up. I mean, I managed to grind through painting an entire Genestealer Cult force (helped mostly by an airbrush and a deadline), but, given the choice, I'd rather be sculting!

But then Contrast paints came along. And though they're not the be all and end all that the marketing campaign may have had us believe, they're a neat little hack for skipping a couple of boring steps in the painting process. And I firmly believe that they're the reason I've actually painted some Tyranids for the first time in a decade!

It all started with these two warriors, which I converted up to look a little smaller/slighter than your average warrior so that they could be used by my buddy Matt in our introductory game of Shadow War Armageddon (yes, I know that game is older than dust, but I had the rules and had an understanding of it, so we dusted it off when we played our first game in December of 2019):

Haemoxyte Conversion: A new unit for Haemonculus Covens

Welp. The new Dark Eldar/Drukhari codex finally dropped. I picked it up at release, and didn't expect too much new, assuming it would be a simple update for 9th edition. 

But then it hit me with a surprise! A new unit type for my other hobby love, Haemonculus Covens. 

This new unit, the Haemoxytes, are meant to represent elite Wracks, and they were the perfect excuse to dust off my drukhari and convert up a model to represent it.

Enter the dream combination of Delaque gangers from Necromunda, with Kaoric Acolytes from AoS, with a little Idoneth Namarti Reavers/Thralls.

Project #SwarmSentinel: Building Better Tyrant Guards

Ever since Games Workshop delivered us second edition ant-style Tyranid Warriors carrying picnic tables as our Tyrant Guard models, Tyranid hobbyists have been on a quest for better Guards. Warren Beattie and Roberto Cirillo got us close with each of their concepts for Guards, but it wasn't until the current plastic kit that we got a decent model.

Decent, I say, but not perfect. 

Because, let's face it: when it comes to acting as a shield wall for a Hive Tyrant, the current plastic guard models look more like something that would be the Tyrant's dog.

If we want to keep our Tyrants safe, we have to think BIGGER:

Tyranid Prime Ordo Xenos Crucifix - #KryptmansGambit

Behold! The most foolhardy machination the Ordo Xenos could devise: Kryptman's Gambit.

This project has been a long time coming. 

Some time back in 2011-2012, Hive Fleet Moloch, Hydra and me synergized a mad concept: what if the Ordo Xenos, in their unmatched hubris, sought to capture a live Tyranid synapse creature with the goal of using it as some kind of synaptic terminal through which they could force access to the Hive Mind. What you see above is that very creature, and what follows is some of the history for how we came up with it, more photos of my work on it, and an idea of what's next for this hideous creation.

Project #DomniaNid3 : Tyranid Dominatrix from a Hierodule rides again

It's that time again: time to return to the Tyranid Dominatrix from a Hierodule concept to see how the intervening years can improve on this community concept.

I call it a community concept since, though I've created two Tyranid Dominatrix from Forgeworld Hierodule models in my time (Tyranid Dominatrix attempt 1, Tyranid Dominatrix attempt 2), it all started with Hydra / Simon Schnitzler and his vision to cut up a pristine Forgeworld model to make something wholly new:

He cleaved pretty close to the classic Forgeworld Tyranid Hierodule model, fixing all of the annoying angry chicken parts of it, but with that he challenged the idea that Forgeworld models couldn't be converted, and he moved the Tyranid Dominatrix concept forward from the classic Epic model...

...into something new and awesome.

And he started something.

Tyranid Broodlord Genestealer Patriarch Conversion - Nyarlathotep

I can't say no to a commission that involves creating a horrible monster. Ostensibly, this one was meant to be a big Tyranid beastie: either a Broodlord or a patriarch for a Genestealer brood that had taken a decidedly Eldrict turn somewhere along the way.

However it could just as easily be any kind of horrible chaos demon.

Usually clients allow me a lot of freedom when developing the design for the beasties they ask me to build for them. This client, however, was pretty exacting about keeping the design very close to the source material, which was this Yugioh card for Lovecraft fan favorite: NYARLATHOTEP!

HORAY TENTACLES! IA! IA! FTHANG R'LEH! 

AHEM.

To say I was thrilled by the challenge would be an understatement. Not only did I get to give flesh to an ancient horror, I got to do it in the service of the Hive Mind!

Old Strains: Genoproject and the Genestealer Hybrids

Or, "How I once converted a Eldar Genestealer and Ork Genestealer"

What feels like a thousand years ago, the revised plastic Genestealer kit released to much fanfare. However, that fanfare was pretty negative as this was the early days of the Internet, and the advance photo of the new plastic Genestealer that leaked was taken from the front, the with crumby, potato phone camera pointed right up its nose!

Thus began Stealergate: the controversy of the entire 40k community panning the new genestealer models before they were even released for having giant nostrils, and Jes Goodwin swearing off the online community for them having prejudged a model they hadn't even seen yet.

So, when the new plastic Genestealers finally released in the Battle for Macragge they did so under a bit of a pall. However, there was a group of us Tyranid hobbyist who couldn't be dissuaded by net negativity. We appointed ourselves Goodwin's Army, and we decided that we would embark on a project to show what the plastic Genestealer was really capable of!

Or at least I think that's how we started. Regardless, the Genoproject was born!

The Siege of Pech - Krootvasion of Adepticon

Some Shmexy kroot art from my dear and very talented friend Evgeny Pasternak

If you've been noticing a lot of Kroot conversions popping up on Instagram these days, you also may have come across the hashtag #SiegeOfPech or #Krootvasion. I've been meaning to do an explainer post on Siege of Pech for some time now, so here it is!

Tyranid Prime Conversion

One of my favourite commissions over the last few years was this Tyranid Prime conversion that I created for a new client. Though I started with the goal of making something slightly larger than a warrior, to fit the standard size of a Tyranid Prime, we got a bit of scale creep going on, which meant, as you can see from the photo above, it wound up being something closer to a Hive Tyrant in stature!

What can I say? I like big bugs!

In this article, I'll go over some of my favourite parts of the construction and highlight some of the bits I used in the conversion.

Kroot Tyranid Hunters return! Kitbashember - Week 1

This post is a double zombification: resurrecting the Modern Synthesist blog from its long slumber, and resurrecting one of my smallest projects that seems to have achieved surprising reach across the internet.

Specifically, that time I created a Kroot Tyranid Hunter for Nuffsaid/Brother Pink's birthday.

REMEMBER ME?

I made one, always intended to make more, but then just kind of put the idea on the back burner and some things that should not have been forgotten, were lost to me over the years. 

The internet, however, remembered.

Genestealer Patriarch Throne - The Osseous Throne

The centrepiece of my Genestealer Cult of the Omega Strain is the cult's Patriarch, known as The Master, and his Osseous Throne.

In this article, I'd like to share more photos of the Osseous Throne, both unprimed and painted. However, before we get to that, I should probably touch on my...

Inspiration for the Conversion

Anyone who has been along for long enough, or who has a vested interest in Genestealer Cults has probably run across either the following piece of phenomenal art by Tony Hough...

(Due possibly to some Twitter cajoling, he even did the following colour version of the same art in recognition of his 30th anniversary as a 40K artist!)

Genestealer Patriarch Conversion - MonsterMarch Week 4

So way back at the beginning of March, I cheekily committed to finish the above converted Genestealer Patriarch model for MonsterMarch, a hobby pledge event being hosted by Path Of An Outcast. However, to do that, I needed to make him look like this guy, who is The Master from Guillermo Del Toro's modern vampire TV series The Strain:

That meant sculpting some kind of cloak, which, honestly, terrified me. But I bit the bullet, took it on, and in the end I think it worked out.

How to Sculpt Miniatures 6: How to Sculpt Hoods

When posting photos on them online, someone requested I do a tutorial on how to sculpt hoods, so here it is: my long-delayed return to my How to Sculpt Miniatures series!

So remember these guys? They're my Genestealer Cult Enforcer squad, which is a fancy, made-up name for a bunch of hooded, shotgun-totting Neophyte who are meant to escort my cult's higher-ups into battle.

To make them stand out and seem covert and insidious, I wanted to give them hoods to match the hood I will eventually put on my Primus, based on this guy:

So, without further ado, I'll get into the materials, tools, and process you need to follow for sculpting your own hoods!

Genestealer Cult Enforcers - Omega Strain

Though I shared some shots of these guys as part of the Paint Yoshit Challenge, I love them so much that I think I need they need their own post. They've also been pretty popular on Twitter and Instagram, with a bunch of people saying they reminded them of House Delaque from back in Necromunda days.

These guys came out of a want to make some slick Neophytes that would stand out from the rank and file, whole serving as appropriate escorts for my Primus.

The unit type "Enforcer" is pure invention on my behalf, but it seemed appropriate

Genestealer Cult Armoured Sentinel conversion - Magitek Armour

I MADE A THING!

I've been horrible at blogging lately, but I promise you I HAVE been making Hobby progress and sharing it on my hobby Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/modernsynthesist/, as well as my hobby twitter: https://twitter.com/Mod_Synth

Heck, I even cross-post this stuff to Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, and Pinterest, so, really, you can pick your poison.

Anyway, I haven't been sitting around on my hands, and I mean to post more on the old bloggerino soon, but for now, here are some photos of my latest creation, without all of the chin-wagging I normally do, which keeps me from actually posting blog posts!

It's an armoured sentinel for my Genestealer Cult force. I want to include sentinels since they give me the chance to create some mining mecha, which the Cult force is sadly lacking!

Long Time No See!

Hi Everybody!

Long time no see!

Brother Pink here, and I have minimal hobby progress to report on.

Last month, I roped Mr. Pink into crossing the globe for some sort of momentous occasion and it threw a major monkey wrench into both our hobbies.

Converted Dark Eldar Wracks complete (Flesh Friday)

 Well, I've officially polished off the first part of my November modeling vow by completing the conversions and sculpting on my first unit of Wracks since the Bob's Big Bad Coven commission.

This time I opted to use arms that were much more to scale with the models (last time I used mostly big, beefy, and LONG bloodletter arms), and I'm much happier with the effect. I also used mostly actual wracks arms (though sometimes converted) along with actual wrack masks to mask the fact that I'm using flagellant lower bodies and bloodletter upper bodies to sub in for the actual wrack models. I also sculpted on some combat cumberbuns to merge the two pieces/tie them back to the actual wracks.

Why go to so much work, employing bits across to many different stock models?

October Modeling Vow Complete (Flesh Friday)

Though it's the case that I didn't finish this modeling vow IN October, it is the case that I MADE the vow on something like October 16th, so I'll call that a victory.

On that day, I vowed to my Dark Kin on The Dark City forum that, come end of October, I would have finished:

- Building and converting my first squad of Grotesques
- Painting a 10-man squad of Kabalite Hunters
- Painting 1 Haemonculus
- Painting 5 Mandrake Cronos Parasites
- Painting 1 Cronos Parasite Engine
- Painting 3 Reavers

Here are the results: