DreadTober 2025: Tervigon Complete

 

Hi folks,

Well, DreadTober is done and dusted for another year. It is a challenge that creeps up on me, followed by 4 weeks of bedlam. I find it really cathartic to keep the challenge going, I really do love it and feel so inspired checking out everyone's work. I had a couple of plans for it this year that didn't come to fruition, life just clamped down. Hopefully I can give it a little more of my time and energy in 2026.

I managed to finish my project a little early, though the last night was crazy. The colour shift paint I use has to be painted over a gloss black finish to have the best effect. Just after cracking the paint out my suburb was hit with this insane pulse of humidity, which started messing about with everything I was trying to do. The varnish was frosting, the pigment was pooling and drying weird and glue just would not set. I cranked the air-conditioning in my little room to try and stabilise the conditions, which seemed to help. I still ended up holding the model together for ages waiting for the glue to hold. Here are some photos of the finished beasty:

 

I am pretty happy with how it turned out, especially the Termagant conversion. The photos don't really do the colour shift justice; moving the model around the board is a joy.

My son also managed to finish a project off for the challenge. We had a great time searching for basing materials in our FLGS, and settled on some swampy green clumps. I can't tell you how proud I am after watching him paint this thing over the course of the month. He has a couple more Tau kits to work on; hopefully he keeps this momentum going.

Certainly worth of a big fat stamp, while I stew over what to do next...

See you across the table,

Marc

DreadTober 2025: Tervigon Birthing Sac

 

Hi folks,

Term 4 of school started this week, so my hobby time has been compressed to a tiny singularity on Friday night. Still, I managed to paint my main goal for this week, the Tervigon's birthing sac. It was a bit of a process, which I will record here for posterity.

1) Base colour

For the basecoat I made a 1:1 mixture of Xerius Purple and Sotek Green. It took a couple of coats as coverage wasn't great over the black.

2) Blue wash

To add a bit of interest I added a Sotek wash in all of the recesses. I like the contrast between cold and warm tones when I do his, instead of using a darker purple wash. I also added some more Xerius Purple to the raised surfaces to help blend it all together.

3) First Highlights

I built up the highlights gradually with progressively lighter mixes of Model Colour Purple and Xereus Purple. Model Colour Purple is my "go to" for Tyranids these days; excellent for vintage genestealers.

4) Final Highlights

I dry-brushed neat Model Colour Purple to the raised surfaces, particularly focusing on the sacs where the Termagant heads can be seen poking through. Later on I even added a small amount of Jokaero Orange and Ushabti Bone to the mix to really bring those edges out.

5) Base coating the germ sacs

Early on I noticed that some of the sacs look smaller and rounder than the others. I thought maybe they could be the earliest stages of Termagant growth, just sacks of toxin and stem cells, which I could conceivably pick out in another colour. I undercoated these in a mixture of Xerius Purple and Warpstone Green.

6) Green Highlights

I highlighted the germ sacs with increasingly light mixes of Moot Green and Yriel Yellow. It is a similar look to how I do the eyes of each of my Tyranids. 

7) Blood!

The final step was to add some Tamiya Clear Red to the entrance of the birthing sac. Clear Red is my secret weapon for doing blood, though it is a bit of a pain to clean up, and pretty unforgiving if you mess up. Less is usually more when it comes to blood, so I only added a bit to the edges and the internal surfaces, which you can't see well in this shot. There is one thing that I have not painted; the armour on the top of the Devourer, as this will be colour shift. I'll bet tackling that part of the project next week!

See you across the table,

Marc

DreadTober 2025: Tervigon Progress

 

Hi folks,

I have been steadily plugging away at my DreadTober project, as I try to achieve some consistency with my hobby time (even if it is just a little bit every day). So far, I have focused on the small parts of the sub-assembly, including the head, claws and legs.

One thing I have noticed, which others have long mentioned, Seraphim Sepia is a hot mess to work with. Back when I devised this paint scheme with my mate Joel, Seraphim Sepia was beautiful to work with. A couple of generous coats on the model would be looking great. Now, it pools weird and has a gloss finish. I also get the sense that it is reactivating in weird ways. I have had to adapt my approach, painting very very thin layers and drying quickly with a hairdryer between layers. It is time consuming as heck; I am glad I don't have many Nids left to paint for that collection.

Anyway, I managed to finish off a rough conversion for the termagant as well, so that it is carrying a collection-relevant Devourer instead of a Fleshborer. I am thinking about doing some blood effects around the newborn Nid, I'll see how brave I am feeling. 

Even though I "only" have the body to go, it feels like I have only scratched the surface on this model. We'll see what the next week brings...

See you across the table,

Marc

DreadTober 2025: Tervigon Build

 

Hi folks,

DreadTober is underway for another year and I have been busy building a big Tyranid. I was originally going to construct this kit as a Tyrannofex with a rapture cannon, but liked the idea of supporting my Termagants a bit more. For many editions they would drop in by mycetic spore and hose away with their Devourers, but they have been nerfed quite a bit in recent Editions. A Tervigon fits the support role nicely, in a way my other HQ options don't really touch upon.

Construction has gone quite smoothly and I have managed to hit it with some black primer to get the painting started.

I still have a tiny amount of converting to do; I am swapping the Fleshborer on the infant Termagant for a Devourer to match my existing brood.

In terms of paint scheme, I am aiming for the evolved version of my old Numereji Hive Fleet. I have been rebasing my old Tyranid models and adding some additional splashes of colour (bone, purple and green). I have also been adding a colour shifting iridescent layer to their main carapace armour, which is labour intensive but very much fitting the "rainbow serpent" theme.

  

The Tervigon has quite a large carapace so there will be plenty of surface area to showcase the metallic colour shift layer. The purple and right green on the birthing sac should also make this model stand out from the rest of the swarm. 

Not too bad for 5 days progress and worthy of a badge!

TTCombat CHROMA Acid Vats

 

Hi folks,

I have been plodding my way through the construction of the Kickstarter terrain pieces. These acid vats were a "must have" add-on and look suspiciously like Brian the Sewer Vent. 

The pieces on these vats fit together really neatly and the printed details are fantastic. The cover is removable too, for some supervillain origin story shenanigans. 

. 

I have a complete set of city ruins to do next, which looks nuts to construct; ~ 253 pages of instructions! For now, I'm going to give myself a stamp and work on construction my Tervigon for DreadTober.

Belial, Master of the 3rd Company

 

Hi folks,

During the week I added the final touches to my Belial conversion for the 2nd Ed. Storm of Vengeance campaign. It is based on the classic Brother Bethor model, which I started converting not long after painting back in the 90's. My mates hated playing against Bethor; his banner abilities really caused some damage back in those days. I caved and planned to turn him into Belial, but stopped after adding the power blade. I simply just lost my nerve with the build as a young hobbyist and didn't have a power fist or second pistol to complete the job. For many years the model was my assault sergeant, armed with some kind of power lance. No more! The conversion is finally complete and I am stoked.

Before his elevation to Grand Master of the Deathwing, Belial was the Master of the 3rd Company. He led them during the defense of Piscina IV against the Orks. Back in those days he was armed with a power sword, power fist, bolt pistol and plasma pistol, as well as a displacer field (for those sweet 3++ saves). Interestingly, his special rules in the campaign are very similar (in spirit) to his current rules in 10th Ed. He was so quick to strike back, enemies don't get charge bonuses against him.

Hopefully, I get to use him at some point if I ever run the campaign. Even if I don't, the project finally feels complete, which is great. Good enough for a major stamp, I reckon:

2025/26 To-Do List

 

Hi folks,

I have a squillion things to do on my list this year, many of which a carry-overs from last year. Instead of talking about those things again in this post, I'll just focus on the new and the really old stuff.

DreadTober

October is swinging around pretty quickly and I have been rummaging through the pile of potential for projects. I have settled on a Tervigon to go with my Termagants, which has been sitting around half constructed for years. It is going to take a little conversion work; my Termagants have Devourers, which I want to represent on the little one being... delivered...

Storm of Vengeance

I would love to have a go at the old Storm of Vengeance campaign with some 2nd Edition buddies. To do that I want to have a Belial and Veteran Sergeant Naaman model to play with, so they are a new priority on me 2nd Ed. Dark Angels list. I have added a second Deathwing squad as well, which I recently stripped.

Imperial Agents

After the deep dive into Adeptus Mechanicus I did last year, I didn't get around to some Assassins I had put aside for the challenge. I will try and work on them sometime during the year and have added an Eversor to the list.

10th Edition Dark Angels

I have planned the second half of my urban warfare Dark Angels, which include some more competitive units. I am particularly looking forward to converting some Black Knights and painting Azrael. The Deathwing Knights are a little intimidating... so much detail...

Terrain

I have a bunch of terrain from the CHROMA Kickstarter to construct and some Alien Cactus that I am rebasing. The Fortress of Redemption has been half painted since 2014. Maybe this could be the year...

Halo: Flashpoint

Something non-40K to spice things up. I have bought a Flashpoint starter and will be painting some teams up with my son. It is a fast-paced skirmish game that really captures that feeling of a multiplayer game of Halo. I have to say I am super-excited to play some more games.

So, as I said, squillions of things to do. Who knows what the year will bring, but I will try my best.

See you across the table,

Marc

2024/25 Hobby Review

 

Hi folks,

Well... 2024/25 has turned out to be one of those hobby seasons where I have had to "adult" way too much. Between increased weekend family responsibilities and the special kind of exhaustion that brings, it would be easy to feel like I didn't get much time at the paint table. The truth is, I had a hand in finishing off three armies, so it can't have been that bad!

Urban Dark Angels

First we have an army of urban warfare Dark Angels, inspired by the old Cityfight style of basing miniatures. I added a few Native American pieces to the construction of these figures, to pay homage to the Plains World of their origin. I still haven't managed to play a game with them yet; the last two have been cancelled due to life getting in the way.

Oscar's Orks

Around the same time I helped my son to finish off his first 40K army: Orks!! We had a fantastic time working on pieces together. He has now moved on to Tau, which still pretty much don't exist in my head cannon. Still, the mechs are pretty neat and the new Kroot models are blisteringly awesome.

Imperial Agents

During the first half of this year, I completed an Imperial Agents army for my 2nd Edition collection, using some very old Grey Knight models are repurposing some modern models to represent old Adeptus Mechanicum codex entries. Those Grey Knight figures are bucket list models for me; I was so psyched to have them on the painting table. Two of the Terminators are very old "proto" figures from the Rogue Trader era, kindly donated by Dave Weston from Confessions of a 40K Addict. He and his mates put together a care package for me a while back which completely blew me away. I have his letter on my table for a bit of inspiration when life gets crap, and I am saving some amazing models for a special project.

DreadTober

For DreadTober I painted two Blood Angels Dreadnoughts, Moriar the Chosen and Damodred, Light of Baal. A huge debt of thanks goes to DAM from over at 262nd Death Korps of Krieg, for sending the Chaplain Dreadnought. It is a truly magnificent model and, again, one for the bucket list. I have plans to return the favour, but need to find the right model 😉These are the first two models in a Blood Angels army I will be working on for the next 2nd Ed. Challenge.

Photography

After years of taking photos with a mobile phone potato camera, I asked for a digital camera and macro lens for my birthday. Wifey got me a really nice one which I am still figuring out how to use, so hopefully my photos will be a little more consistent the next 12 months. It's a steep learning curve!

Badges of Honour

It is worthwhile mentioning that I have been terrible at remembering to give myself badges to celebrate finishing things this year. Most of the time I have been working on stuff that wasn't even on my To-Do list! Ah well, there is always next year...

See you across that table,

Marc

TTCombat CHROMA Kickstarter

Hi folks,

A while ago I backed a Kickstarter by TTCombat for some decidedly old school looking terrain pieces. If you can remember the old blue-grey bunkers from 2nd Ed., that's the kind of vibe I'm talking about. The past couple of nights I have started construction of the scatter terrain. 

The pieces go together very nicely but do need some light sanding and gluing with PVA. To prep the pieces I also sprayed the back of each sheet black and coloured in any sanded surfaces with a black whiteboard marker. So far, I have just built a couple of power cores, crates and a command console. Next up, I have some "Brian the Sewer Vent" style pieces to do, which I am really looking forward to. 

See you across the table,

Marc

Vale Marcel van Holst

 

Hi folks,

This is going to be a fairly personal post, so I understand if you want to give it a miss and wait for something more hobby related. Each blog post that I do is a snapshot of where I am in life, so it feels remiss not to mention what has been going on.

Mid way through July I received a phone call that my father had been taken to hospital. This wasn't necessarily unexpected; he has been in-and-out of the emergency department very frequently the past 5 years, and seriously ill for at least 10. One of my first memories as a child is getting lost in a hospital. It is fair to say we have spent a lot of time in hospital rooms talking about serious things. We have said our last goodbyes on several occasions. 

This time was more serious, if that is possible. He was mostly unresponsive, though I got a squeeze from his hand the first day. I am sure he knew I was there. He passed away peacefully in his sleep a few days later. 

I wonder if any father-son relationship is truly simple. Our's was complicated. I cannot imagine raising a family with the kinds of experiences and challenges he had to face. I have intentionally tried to raise my own children in a very different way. He taught me many lessons about life which I cleave to, some of which directly relate to the hobby. His love language was building aircraft models with me when I was growing up. A lot of the things I know about model construction and painting come from him. One of my fondest memories was building an AV-8B Harrier model with him, hoping to get it done in time for show-and-tell at school. Knowing that good things take time, we decided not to rush it at the end. When I woke up in the morning, though, it was painted with all the decals on; he had stayed up all night to finish it off.

I find myself "picking up the pieces" at the moment. Some pieces broke off a long time ago and some have been ground into dust after many years of wear. It is hard to know what the vessel will look like when I'm done (if that every happens). It is taking professional help and the love of an amazing family to make progress. 

I'll wrap up the post with a photo of Dad as I choose to remember him. Happy and healthy, someplace by the sea, surrounded by friends and with me.