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.
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.
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:
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!
In case you're not familiar with my past work on Tyranids, it could be said that I've got a THING for big, beefy Tyranids, and for Tyranid gunbeasts. So it should come as no surprise that my most recent Tyranid project consisted of marrying those two interest into a BIG BEEFY GUNBEAST!
As this is the fourth gunbeast I've made after my Exocrine, Dactylis, and upscaled Dactylis, I decided to organize my posts about the project under #Gunbeast4.
When Life Hands You Lemons
It all started with me learning the hard way that, if a deal on the internet for a model kit seems too good to be true, IT LIKELY IS.
I got what I thought were two Tervigon kits for a STEAL of a price...only to find out it was the seller who'd stolen from me when what I received in the mail were two shitty, chinacast recast of a Games Workshop Tervigon kit.
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.
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.
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!
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.