 s
the larger Forge World models tend to be ideal centrepieces
for an Apocalypse army, it's well worth investing
time when you put them together. You'll need to file
away little bits of extra resin here and there to
get the
best results, and it's vital that you get pins
in the joints if you want your model to be robust
enough
for gaming. I went so far as to put three
pins in each of the limb joints (for pinning techniques, click
here; and for tips on building Forge World models, click
here).
My abiding memory of putting the Hierophant together
was when I was cleaning the freshly-out-of-the-bag
parts that made up this most malevolent of beasties.
I scrubbed
each piece separately with warm water and washing-up
liquid; this dissolves any residue of the oily release
agent that allows the resin to come out of the mould.
There was still a little release agent left on the
pieces,
giving them an authentically slimy texture. It was
a strange feeling cleaning that off, but well worth
it. I took care to clean
the parts properly with an old toothbrush, because
otherwise the undercoat spray would not take and the
undercoat
would flake off just as I was getting into the painting.
It was worthwhile, too, though I did get some very
strange
looks from people in the staff kitchen wondering why
I was cheerfully scrubbing a spiky beast with hot,
soapy
water.
Anyway, it took me less time to paint the critter
than to prepare it for assembly, but it was worth
the
effort because he's still in one piece after several
Titan-smashing games of Apocalypse. I even drilled
a
hole under the big fella's ribcage and stuck an
aluminum rod in the hole to prop him up — this
stops the Hierophant from taking all his weight on
his
scything talon limbs.
Paint It Black
For details of how I paint my Tyranids, just look in
the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook on p. 176. It's
surprisingly simple, and it even works on the really
big ones. The basic trick is to undercoat it black,
paint a nice bright colour on the carapace and claws,
and then just spray-varnish it to hell and back.
The
natural light picks up the highlighting on the black
areas, and the viewer will be too busy checking
out
the bright colours to scrutinise the black bits anyway.
Some painters will probably consider this cheating,
but when you're painting an Apocalypse army, that's
not really an issue. |
