Xenos Alchemist: Talking Orks with GrimNGribbly

In the most recent episode of our Xenos Alchemist podcast, I chatted with one of my hobby idols from Instagram: GrimNGribbly.

If you're not familiar with Grim's work, we get into his work on his Cordyceps shroom cult and his orks, while also talking about Orks in general and how the new line for 40k unveiled so far stacks up against the classics. 

Xenos Alchemist: A Review of Tyranid Design with Moloch & Hydra - #CreatureConference

This one has been a long time in the making. Back in the beginning of the pandemic, Moloch, Hydra, and I sat down to conduct a review of the newer parts of the Tyranid line. It wound up being a bit of a survey of our collective thoughts on Tyranid design, where the newer kits have hit the mark, and where they might have missed. 

And, to save it from just being three grey beards bitching about other people's designs, I kept a little surprise up my sleeve for the end of the video: a challenge that would make the three of us put our money where our collective mouths were. 

I'll save the surprise for your viewing, but the reactions I got from the Germans were pretty fantastic!

Anyway, if you love Tyranids and converting them, this is the video for you!

Sexy Warhammer Ladies: On being a female hobbyist in the #WarhammerCommunity (Xenos Alchemist Podcast)

Coming hot on the heels of our special #Krootoberfest episode of the podcast is this more serious episode, which I recorded back in September with hobbyists LadyDothPaints, Norn.Queen, and Hivfleet_Horror. 

When we recorded the episode it'd been three months since Games Workshop posted its Warhammer For Everyone message on its Twitter and Facebook accounts, unleashing a deluge of gatekeeping, hating, and other bullshit. We look back on all of that and ask the question "what can male hobbyists do to help female hobbyists feel more welcome and secure in the #WarhammerCommunity?"

Turns out it's not that complicated. 

If you listen to only one episode of the Xenos Alchemist podcast, it should be this one. 

No, we're not perfect, and yes, we've all made mistakes. But it's our job to learn from those mistakes and do better. Here's hoping that this episode is a good place to start!

Here's the YouTube version of the episode, complete with links in the description to all the accounts we reference in the actual episode.

And here's the audio version of the episode:

Also, let us know what you think of the episode in the comments below. Or if you want to confess a time when you might have been a less-than-stellar hobbyist to someone from a different group, you can do that too! Whatever you do, just don't be a jerk ;)

I'll start by admitting what I admitted in the episode: That I, too, was once judgmental of sexy warhammer ladies. But then Charlie set me straight.

What's your hobby confession?

#Krootoberfest! The celebration of all things Kroot (Xenos Alchemist podcast)

If you've been following me, you know I've got a soft spot for Xenos races in general, but Kroot in particular. I've previously converted a Kroot Tyranid Hunter, then expanded that concept to a Kroot Tyranid Hunter killteam for Kitbashember 2018. Last year I took this love affair to the next level and agreed to make a full Kroot Tyranid Hunter army for Siege of Pech, the Krootvasion of Adepticon 2020. 

Though Adepticon 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19, the Siege of Pech group project has continued, and it has been gathering a lot more steam! 

To catalogue the rollercoaster ride of this project, and to look forward to our next opportunity to celebrate all things Kroot this October as part of #Krootoberfest, I had a chat with @That.Kroot.Guy and @Ironbeak_Mercenaries, the two Kroot die hards who created Siege of Pech on Instagram, as well as @Koszkamade, who was one of the first artists to join the Siege.

If you're the kind of person who loves Kroot, this is the podcast episode for you!

Here's the episode in video and audio formats:

or

Hive Fleet Moloch: The exclusive interview (Xenos Alchemist podcast)

Our podcast returns this week with an exclusive interview with one of the most well-known Tyranid artists out there: Hive Fleet Moloch / Marco Schulze!

After years of influencing the Tyranid community with his converted Tyranids, with them having appeared in the official codex and in White Dwarf multiple times, the Mighty Moloch disappeared into the void for a time. However, with his recent resurgence, this felt like the perfect time to share more of his synapse signal with the rest of the hive mind!

In this interview, we take a wide ranging survey of his hobby experience, from his beginnings with Warhammer 40k, to his collaboration with the Games Workshop Studio and other artist, to what has brought him back to the hobby. 

Along the way, we also dip into his other dorky passions, such as collecting Alien memorabilia and scifi cosplaying for Star Wars and Alien. 

Choose your preferred format below, and start listening!

or

Also, if you've got any messages you'd like to share with Hive Fleet Moloch, please leave them in the comments below.

Xenos Alchemist: Hobby in the time of Corona

In this episode of Xenos Alchemist, we talk to Hydra about his most recent passion, Frostgrave, and how he's playing miniature games remotely in this time of Corona. There's a lot about Frostgrave and the idea of miniature liberation. However, we also talk about balancing family and hobby, why we're probably not getting into CAD sculpting any time soon, and how #Blanchitsu  and #Inq28 is the equivalent of an artistic revolution.

Even if you're not into Frostgrave (as we're not!), this should still be an interesting listen. We really wanted to have Hydra talk about Frostgrave because its stripped-down approach to rules could be pretty useful for folks who are into Inq28 / AOS28-style gameplay and narrative events.

Based on your preference, we've got two ways to enjoy this episode.

In audio format, like usual:

Or in video format:



However you prefer your podcasts, we've got you covered.

If you're not already following Hydra, you can see more of his work here:
https://www.instagram.com/4ydra/
http://h-archive.com/

We talk a bit about the #FG28 hashtag, and you can see more about that here:
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/fg28/

The featured artists from this episode can be found on on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/77th_terrorfels/
https://www.instagram.com/thewarsinger/

And here are the Instagram handles for the other artists we mentioned:
@hivefleetmoloch
@with_teatea
@btwnbolterandme
@thepolysmith
@a_polanscak

Let us know what you thought of this episode, and if you have any questions you'd like to ask us or Hydra, you can share them in the comments below or email modernsynthesist@gmail.com.

Xenos Alchemist bonus episode: Vestigial Twin

Back before Brother Pink and I came up with the Xenos Alchemist podcast, we were experimenting with what a recorded program would be like, and what we'd talk about. Those experiments resulted in this: the Proto Tyranid to Xenos Alchemist's fully-formed plastic Tyranid Warrior.

At the time, we called it "Vestigial Twin."

So, as we're busily working away on our next episode of the proper Xenos Alchemist podcast, we thought we'd share this blast from the past with you to tide you over until the next proper episode of XA drops (we'll try for a week today). And I promise that we'll make the wait worth it with double the content...whatever that means!

Until then, enjoy this. It's mostly just Brother Pink and I shooting the shit, mostly talking about sculpting and various materials. Since it's a proto-cast, the sound quality is not stellar, so consider yourself warned!

ALSO! If you actually read this far, I figured I should check if anyone who's been listening to the podcast has any questions or topics they'd like to suggest for us to cover on the air? If so, you can share them in the comment below or email them to modernsynthesist__at___gmail__dot___com.

Xenos Alchemist: Siege of Pech

We've got a brand new episode of mine and Brother Pink's Xenos Alchemist podcast for you today, and this one's a love letter to one of the best xenos races out there: the Kroot! In this episode we catch up on The Siege of Pech: a group project to stage a Krootvasion of the Adepticon 2021 Team Tournament, and we talk a little about what makes the Kroot so interesting.

This will be the first of two Siege of Pech episodes, and in our second one we hope to interview Ironbeak Mercenaries and That Kroot Guy: the two progenitors of this project.

For now, here's part one:

Too Many Nicks - A Xenos Alchemist Experiment

So k0rdhal and I have been joking that we should start up a random podcast. His name's Nick, and my name's Nick, so we mused it could be called "Too Many Nicks!". Wasn't really sure what the focus would be, but for this inaugural episode, we tried doing some hot takes on this weekend's reveals from Games Workshop. Give it a watch and let us know if its the kind of randomness you'd like to see more of. Think of it as a hold over thing until the next proper podcast episode of Xenos Alchemist.

The return of Xenos Alchemist - Interviewing The Hydra / Simon Schnitzler

Well, it's been a bloody long time since Brother Pink and I put out our previous episode of our fledgling Xenos Alchemist podcast. However, now that I've restarted all the cogitators, re-established our link to the Hive Mind, and moved us off Soundcloud, I'm looking forward to doing a lot more of these. But first: let's clear the backlog of episodes Brother Pink had already produced before we went off the air.

No better way to mark our triumphant return than with an interview with Simon Schnitzler, one of my hobby heroes who is probably better known as Hydra over on his website H Archive, or as 4ydra over on Instagram. Simon and I met way back in 2006, and our friendship has blossomed well beyond the hobby in years since. Still, he remains one of the most prodigious builders of Tyranids I've ever seen, and his hobby brilliance has been rewarded with several Golden Demons.

Though this interview was meant to be about sculpting, we do a fair bit of digging through Simon's hobby history, and also wind up reflecting on our collective love for 90s action figures. Here's the episode for your listening pleasure:

...and if you've been subscribed to the blog for a while now, I wanted to point out that we've shifted our host from Soundcloud to Buzzsprout. Buzzsprout assures me that their system handled this seamlessly, and that anyone who was subscribed to us before should still be subscribed to us now. However, if you wanted to find us on Buzzsprout, you could do that here.

And, as we're dusting off our podcasting muscles, please let us know in the comments below if there are certain topics that you'd like to see Xenos Alchemist take on in podcast form.

Games Workshop Inner Circle Winners Interviews - Xenos Alchemist

Here's part two of our report on Games Workshop's Inner Circle 2017 North American competition. In this second episode, we interview the 5 Inner Circle Champions about their armies, their backgrounds in 40k, and other bits of ridiculousness like which Age of Sigmar creature they'd most want to ride.

This second part completes our report on Inner Circle, so please let us know what else you'd like to hear us podcast about. We've already had numerous requests to extend our episode on Tyranid Design to talk about Forgeworld Tyranids, and we're thinking about doing an ep reviewing how well the new Xenos Indices present Tau, Tyranids, Stealer Cult, and maybe Dark Eldar from a fluff perspective.

So, yeah, let us know what you think, or if you have any ideas.

As always, if you think this podcast sounds good, all credit goes to Brother Pink. The Xenos Alchemist podcast is based on SoundCloud, but we can also be found on Stitcher, Google Play, and iTunes.

If you have any comments on this episode, please leave them in the comments section below.

Thanks, and happy listening!

Games Workshop Inner Circle Championship Report - Xenos Alchemist

Brother Pink and I have whipped up another podcast episode for your enjoyment! This one focuses on my experience of traveling to Games Workshop North America HQ in Dallas, Texas, as one of 5 Inner Circle champions (I was representing Canada).

This episode is going to be a two parter, with us talking about Inner Circle, and the weekend in Dallas, this week. Next week we'll post the second part, where I interview the four other Inner Circle winners.

As always, if you think this podcast sounds good, all credit goes to Brother Pink. The Xenos Alchemist podcast is based on SoundCloud, but we can also be found on Stitcher, Google Play, and iTunes.

If you have any comments on this episode, please leave them in the comments section below.

Thanks, and happy listening!

Xenos Alchemist: A Review of Tyranid Design

Today on the Xenos Alchemist podcast, we pour back through Tyranid history for a review of the Tyranid design aesthetic. This one should be of interest to anyone who followed my Tyranid Archive posts, or folks who have a morbid curiosity about which Tyranid models we love, and which we can't stand!

It's a long one, with ridiculous accents, but here's hoping you enjoy it!

UPDATE: Since Kym so helpfully suggested it in the comments on this post, here is a link to all of Mr. Pink's past Tyranid Archive posts. They're broken down by edition so you can get some visual references to go along with this podcast:

http://www.modernsynthesist.com/search/label/Tyranid%20Archive

If you have any comments on this episode, please leave them in the comments section below.

Thanks, and happy listening!

Xenos Alchemist: A Podcast for Xenos Lovers

Brother Pink has been on my butt for some time to put together a podcast for anyone who likes Modern Synthesist but would rather it be fed to them through their ears. Since he was also happy to take care of all the fidgety editing work, I was hard pressed to refuse him.

Therefore, I present to you his oeuvre: 

Xenos Alchemist - A Modern Synthesist Podcast

What's a Xenos Alchemist?

This podcast will be about the same kinds of things you encounter here on the Modern Synthesist blog: reflections on the creative side of 40k (painting, sculpting, conversions) that trend towards the alien factions that might not see as much love as their power-armoured foes. Brother Pink and I are more interested in models and fluff than in competitive gaming, so that's what we hope to make our podcast about.

We're still getting into the swing of things, so we've got a mixed bag of episodes at this point. However, in the pipe we have a two part discussion with Hydra about sculpting, and an episode on this whole Games Workshop Inner Circle thing.

How often will you be posting episodes?

The History of Mr. Pink and Modern Synthesist (Podcast Interview with Chapter Approved)

Something a little different today. I was approached about doing an interview by Tibbs, of Tibbs Forge fame, and more recently of his new podcast Chapter Approved. Tibbs is a GW hobby enthusiast after my own heart: he cares more about cool conversions and story than he does about uber-competitive gaming. And its this more laid back, more art-based hobby focus that he delivers in the Chapter Approved podcast.

Anyway. He thought that our interests aligned, so the two of us recorded a skype call, which turned into a bit of a marathon and will be broken up into a few podcast episodes. Over the course of it, we went through my history in the hobby, some of my work on Tyranids, a lot of my work on Dark Eldar and the Haemonculus Coven, and then onto what is probably best described as my ideological stance on the hobby and the importance of being true to what you enjoy.

This first part of the interview concerns how I got into the Warhammer 40k/Games Workshop hobby, and talks a lot about my work with Dark Eldar and the Haemonculus Coven. Tibbs put together a standard, audio podcast, so I painstakingly went through and annotated it with relevant images in the following video.

Have a listen/look and let us know what you think :)

Introducing Vestigial Twin: The Modern Synthesist Podcast

Hi Everybody!

It's Brother Pink here, and I'm certain that everyone was as thrilled as I was when Mr. Pink started kicking his flesh-crafting into high gear!

I was so thrilled that I started to hound Mr. Pink about recording a podcast with me. By hounding, it was more like this:

Brother Pink: Let's do a podcast!
Mr. Pink: Do I have to do anything?
Brother Pink: No, I'll do everything.
Mr. Pink: SURE!

I decided to call it 'The Vestigial Twin' as it suits the twisted nature of flesh crafting as well as our relationship. If you're wondering what a vestigial twin is, all is explained in the podcast.

Mr. Pink and I are brothers and one of the things that is most similar is our voices. Listening to a podcast with two guys with the exact same voice wouldn't work. I got really pumped about doing some voice acting, so the host of the first episode is Kraekorr, the haemonculus. I really tried to rein-in the theatrics. Also, Mr. Pink addresses this character exactly as if it were his brother.

If you really enjoy this character, I left a couple of extra bits with Kraekorr at the very end, which you are in no way encouraged to listen to.

This first episode we just talk about Sculpting; the action figures that first inspired us, how we first started sculpting, various materials we have attempted to sculpt with, and projects and people that really inspired us.

There were a few hiccups: Mr. Pink is a tad too quiet (he now has the 2nd best mic on wirecutter.com), and I have a slight case of the sniffles. The call drops soon after I talk about helium filled terrain ideas and Mr. Pink may or may not encourage listeners to plunge their hands into buckets of plaster (which will cause serious harm).

The Opening song is 'Drop' by a Japanese band called Thee Machine Gun Elephant, and I have absolutely no permission to use it. The song at the end is 'Parasite' by a great band called Gammage. They are such a great band, they actually gave me permission to use their song!

We really hope you enjoy our podcast. Bare with us, it is the first episode. There will be immeasurable improvements for the next one.

Here it is, The Vestigial Twin:
The Vestigial Twin, Episode 1, Sculpting