Tyranids: Genetic Engineering

 Hi folks,

I have been busy in the gene-lab constructing some Tyranids to feed my voracious To-Do list. First on the chopping board was a Swarm Lord conversion, using the body of an old metal Red Terror, bulked up with armour plates and green-stuff, pinned to the torso and head of a 3rd. Ed Hive Tyrant.

This conversion has been kicking around since the Red Terror was released. I went out and bought one straight away and, after it proved to be fairly useless in games, I started to think about what cool things I could do with it. As a lot of my swarm have snake-like bodies, a snakey Swarm Lord seems appropriate. Next up, I will have to paint and attach the arms. I'm also thinking some Tamiya Clear Red would look good on that pincer tail...

Next up is another model that I have had kicking around since the original release. When I originally bought the new Carnifex model I armed it with twin-linked deathspitters and a barbed strangler ("Bomberfex"). It reaped a bloody toll over the next two editions of the game, but then I stopped using it. As it sat on the shelf I often thought about what I would do with it next, and settled on an "Old Six-eyes" conversion.

I based the pose of the model on the Zoanthropes and Malanthropes; I imagine this guy has some kind of anti-gravity organ that allows him to float around.

I used the old extra senses head but removed the antennae and replaced them with a spare armour plate from the Tyranid Warrior kit. The tail is pinned to the rubble with one of the biggest pins I have ever used. It's solid!

Lastly, I have a small brood of Hive Guard ready to perforate some light vehicles. I glued them a fraction too close to the front of the base to use the supplied set of arms, so I replaced them with some scything talons from the gaunts kit. It gives them a lightly leaner look which I like.

The plan is that when work finally eases off, I'll quickly speed-paint all of these Nids; keep an eye out for them!

See you across the table,
M4cr0