TTCombat CHROMA Gothic Ruins: 5 Tips To Not Go Crazy!

 

Hi folks,

A couple of people have posted about this kit from TTCombat and there is a consistent theme to the reviews; it is a grueling process. I have to say, I was also taken aback when the instruction document weighed in at 253 pages. Each piece of terrain has 20-25 instructions, ensuring that only printed surfaces can be seen from each angle This provides you with a great finish, if (and it is a capital IF) you can avoid a number of pratfalls. 

Here are my tips for completing this epic undertaking:

1) Be gentle when removing the pieces from the frame. They have a tendency to delaminate around the printed layer, which is hard like a shell. I pressed patiently with my fingers or a broken piece of frame. Sometimes I ran a hobby knife across the back to loosen some pieces. Some corners still delaminated, but I was able to glue them back together.

2) Sand rough edges and pieces that need to fit in small spaces. I used a course emery board for this, because they are cheap. The pieces have a tight fit, which is again great for the finish, but can require you to use huge amounts of force. Sanding a fraction off the "pegs" makes this so much easier. Just be prepared to be sanding... forever... with this kit.

3) I used a black whiteboard marker to colour over any sanded or exposed MDF, e.g. when gluing two pieces back-to-back you often get a light line between them. It is cheaper than spraying the back of each frame, which I know some other hobbyists have done.

4) The pieces are not numbered, you have to look at the shape carefully in the instructions then find them on one of the frames. One terrain piece will have parts across multiple frames. Many (MANY) pieces are almost identical, but not. Keep an eye out for distances between features on the terrain and the presence of straight or curved lines. Treat it more like a puzzle and you won't go crazy.

5) Sometimes the placement of pieces in the instructions is not clear, but if you look at the next step it shows you how the previous step should look like if done correctly. This is particularly useful for the rare occasions where steps are completely missing! 

At this stage I am falling a bit behind in my posts, mainly due to end of year work shenanigans. Hopefully, over the next couple of days I will be able to post the others terrain pieces I have been working on.

See you across the table,

Marc

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