I tend to think Unboxings to be a bit naff, but you'll permit me this one as we've been waiting for Tyranids for such a long time! In this video, I try to add a little more flavour by drawing on my decades of Tyranid knowledge to highlight what I like most about this brand new wave of Tyranid kits.
And shout out to my new editor Dwarfanage for having really burned the midnight oil to get this one out for release day! He did an amazing job!
Though Games Workshop did not see fit to send me any advanced Tyranid models to support the Leviathan release, I was tremendously fortunate that another hobbyist who DID receive them and was familiar with my work reached out to ask if I'd like to collaborate on a video with him. It was none other that Eric's Hobby Workshop, a pillar of the hobbyist community on YouTube and—as I learned from this collaboration—an all-around awesome dude!
This was meant to be a video about the Screamer Killer conversion I did, but what Eric wound up making of it was something far more broad about me as an artist and a Tyranid lover. I didn't know quite what to expect when Eric disappeared into his editing suite, but what he came up with FAR exceeded my expectations. I felt like he really got me—that he really SAW me. So much so that I've sent this video on to people like my mom, who knows little to nothing about 40k, because it does such an amazing job of explaining who I am within this hobby.
So I am eternally grateful to Eric on a whole bunch of levels for putting in all this time, and giving me this opportunity!
I posted a new video this week in my ongoing SculpTron9000 ridiculous reel series (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyjaTOn1cvVKzrHCX9Y51ijKTcYLv0ZxB), but this one was a bit more serious.
For a long time now I've been frustrated by Green Stuff World's scummy, anti-community business practices, and baffled that so many people still give the company their business. Whenever I mention that I would never shop at Green Stuff World, I invariably get the response "what have you got against Green Stuff World?"
It got kind of tiresome to repeat their litany of transgressions, so I thought about making a video about the whole issue, but the reality is that Tabletop Workshop already made a fantastic video on the topic, though in German (there is subtitles, and it's worth your time to read them!):
Then I realized that my ridiculous SculpTron9000 video format might be a good way to hit the high points of why Green Stuff World is the worst, without retreading the ground TWS had already covered.
It also allowed me to add to the YouTube video description the tags and links for the folks involved in this saga so far.
Anyway, here it is in case you missed it, or in case you weren't aware about just how scummy Green Stuff World is. In the video description, I also note some other sources for greenstuff, and I have no kind of professional relationship with any of them other than having decent service when I've dealt with them.
Have you had challenges sourcing greenstuff where you live? If so, let me know in the comments on this post, and we'll try to find you a better source.
So long, and happy sculpting!
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!
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.
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:
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!
This week on the #WIPWednesday sculpting stream, I finally got back to work on the Krootox I started back in Kitbashember of 2018. There's a lot of blathering in here, but, eventually, I get to some actual sculpting on the big boy for #Krootoberfest.
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:
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For this week's WIP Wednesday hobby stream, I start off with a review of the Dr. Tabletop Drop Top, which was created as part of a kickstarter to convert citadel paint pots into dropper bottles. As a long-time proponent of transferring my citadel paint to dropper bottles, I was interested to see how these new Drop Tops would measure up to the old standard of just transferring paint, both in terms of ease of use and cost.
Once I get through messing around with that on the video, I get to more sculpting on my #DominaNid3 Tyranid Dominatrix project, doing some more work on one of its arms.
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!
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Also, if you've got any messages you'd like to share with Hive Fleet Moloch, please leave them in the comments below.
For anyone who is still tuned in to the ol' bloggerino:
Thank you.
And I'm sorry.
Thank you for keeping on keeping subscribed to this blog and for checking in on it regularly.
And I'm sorry I'm not as good at keeping it up to date as I may like. As captured well in the recent Between the Bolter and Me stream/podcast episode, hobby blogs may have a bit of dust on them these days, but they're still super valuable records/repositories for hobby content.
The challenge is that, like hobby forums of yesterday, they don't always make it super easy to share content as fluidly as social media does :(
Therefore, if you're ever wondering what I'm up to, the most up to date source will always be my Instagram (and you can check it even if you don't have an instagram account...though the sneaky buggers may force you to sign up to expand a post >:P).
However, I've also gotten a lot more active on my YouTube channel recently, having made my first forays into hobby streaming. I didn't think it would be interesting for folks to just watch me sculpt. Apparently, I was wrong.
So it's now the case that I've gotten into the habit of doing a live hobby stream on YouTube every Wednesday night, around 8 pm / 20:00 EDT. However, I know that's not always ideal for people in other parts of the world, so I'll work at also doing streams on weekends or at other times when more folks can join.
The best place to find updates on that kind of stuff is the community page of my YouTube Channel. If you were to check that now, you'd find that I've got a stream coming up this Tuesday, September 15th at 2:30pm / 14:30 EDT, or 19:30 GMT.
Even if you miss the live stream, I archive the videos of each stream, and I've embedded the Hobby Stream playlist above. Though there's a goodly amount of random chatter with the folks commenting, the videos are good opportunities to learn to sculpt things. For example, on the most recent stream, I showed how to sculpt hakama / pleated pants, and quick and dirty hoods:
Here's hoping you'll be able to join one of the streams!
I've got another video of me working on Project Gunbeast for you (two in one week! Must be on vacation!), still working on the creature's biocannons. This time I'm adding the armour plates to the top, largest cannon, and I try to sculpt them all in one go.
Once again, this creature is meant to represent a Tyrannofex, borrowing heavily from my own Tyranid Exocrine and Dactylis designs.
I decided to try something new: both in terms of models and format.
With the release of the Indomitus box, I not only took the plunge into Necrons, but also into hobby livestreaming.
And now you can watch me fumble my way through BOTH on this YouTube video! The quality is not stellar as I shot it on my phone, but have a look anyways to see how I make out.
Anyone out there joining me in this new necron plunge, inspired by these stellar new models?
Next up in the How to Sculpt Miniatures video series, we have another guest post from Brother Hydra, This time focusing on how to sculpt ribs. As this is one of the main textures on Tyranids, it's a really useful one to get down.
