A Fistful of Xenos

It's been a busy time for hobby, and I've been doing everything except keep up with my blogging!

This is my Hobbypocalypse tally from March and, in the spirit of mixing it up every month, this time I'm painting up my surplus xenos. No army planned for these guys, but they make great antagonists for random scenarios - which is the kind of 40k I'm playing these days.

The classic genestealer sculpt is as ubiquitous as it is unloved these days, but I'm a sentimental type, so when Sultan Plays (check out his YouTube for some great painting techniques) kindly donated a clutch of genestealers and their broodlord, I had to paint them up.

With sixteen genestealers to paint, I was going for speed. I started off with some zenithal highlighting: primed with black, and then hitting the highest points with grey, followed by white.

That left them open for the Contrast paints to finish the job:

• Carapace: Celestium Blue
• Head and hands: Magos Purple
• Blades and claws: Black Legion
• Tongues: Volpus Pink
• Eyes: Yriel Yellow (the only non-contrast paint, and the only bit I had to take care with)

The result was sixteen models painted in a single batch that would pass muster at tabletop level. I could also see myself easily cranking out this scheme in army-swarm levels (not that I would - despite the new releases, I'm still not moved to collect Tyranids).

With such efficiency on the models, I felt I ought to expend a bit more effort on the bases. I wanted them to have a 'space hulk' feel, and I had lots of sector imperialis bases to accommodate them (on 32mm - only a sadist would put genestealers on their proper 25mm).

The bases were also fairly straightforward: prime with Leadbelcher, pick out the details with Balthazar Gold, and wash with Agrax Earthshade, adding some slime blobs of Nurgle's Rot.

The hazard areas were fun to do: a base of Averland Sunset, with the streaks added in Black Legion contrast (which makes freehanding in black so much easier - would strongly recommend). A wash with Agrax Earthshade and it's done.

The Broodlord, being a more important bug and a superior sculpt, got more attention but the same basic techniques. I added to the zenithal spraying with some drybrushing, and added some dripping slime effects on the base with Bostik All-Purpose.

On the other end of the xenos evolutionary tree, I'd picked up a pair of Crisis Suits a while ago. Again, with no intention of starting an army, just to paint some nice models.

I decided to go with a 1980s theme of big, bold clashing colours. Starting with a white base, and Apothecary White contrast, I then picked out the details with orange/purple or pink/blue respectively. I started with fairly dark colours and then layered up as light as I could.

I didn't want to paint the guns in the same style, and was a bit stumped on what colour they should be. In the end, I settled on gold and black, since that fitted into the look of them as 80s action figures.

To continue the distinct look, I also put them on sector imperialis bases (too small for their official size, but they'll never see competitive play).

And finally, a cool little character piece. I had a spare Kroot Hunter from the Blackstone Fortress set, and replaced with with the 'squid head' from the genestealer kit. I'd deliberately not used the head among the genestealers, so he'd look unique.

And that was my batch for March: a lot of models painted for the sheer joy of it, and none of them will see an army (this feels like the way forward for me).