Three new characters – well technically four, since the Twin Lance come as a pair – make their way to the 41st Millennium this weekend, and as with all of these things, we really wanted to see how our own staff got on painting their gorgeous new miniatures. The Tyranid Prime and Berehk Stornbröw are ready to drop in, so let’s see what our guys did with them.
Graeme – Tyranid Prime with Lash Whip
The Hive Mind has been whispering to me ever since Leviathan came out, casting the Shadow in the Warp over my dreams, and eating away at my willpower. The new Tyranid Prime is the miniature that finally pushed me into the abyss.
The colours of Hive Fleet Kraken have appealed for a long time – the contrast between the vibrant red carapace and sickly skin tone looks great, and I thought it might be pretty simple to paint to a reasonable standard, even with my questionable art skills.
I started with a Wraithbone undercoat, and then slathered on Skeleton Horde, slightly thinned with Contrast Medium, over the skin. Highlights of Flayed One Flesh and Pallid Wych Flesh got me the pale, inhuman tone I was going for.
For the carapace, I started with Flesh Tearers Red, shaded with Agrax Earthshade, then used progressive drybrushes of Mephiston Red, Wild Rider Red, and Fire Dragon Bright. A glaze of heavily thinned Blood Angels Red added some vibrancy and tied the shading and highlighting together.
The lash whip, joints, and other areas that I wanted to distinguish from the skin were painted with a thinned coat of Volupus Pink, and the whip was randomly highlighted with Fulgrim Pink to make it look alive (and disgusting). The claws and hooves were basecoated with Abaddon Black, and highlighted with Incubi Darkness and Thunderhawk Blue. The finishing touch was painting the eyes of both the Prime and the lash whip with Averland Sunset and Yriel Yellow.
I enjoyed painting the Prime so much (and felt so bad that he’s sitting alone on a shelf) that I picked up a Warhammer 40,000 Starter Set and now have 27 more Tyranids on my painting table, all with the skin finished and waiting for their carapaces. A few more, and I’ll have to start looking for a planet or two to consume…
Jim – Berehk Stornbröw
I picked this craggy little guy up as my first attempt at a Leagues of Votann miniature, as I like to try out an individual character when deciding if I'll enjoy painting the army as a whole. I was inspired to do the Kronus Hegemony colour scheme as my friend and I were in a doubles tournament at Warhammer World recently and one of our games was against a League of Votann–Kroot alliance, and the yellow really stood out.
His rough, rocky skin is a big part of his unique look, so it needed quite a few steps to get the depth of tone I wanted. I started with a basecoat of Doombull Brown mixed with Knight-Questor Flesh, before painting in some careful shade lines with a watered-down mix of Doombull Brown and Abaddon Black. Then I started highlighting the raised areas by adding steadily more Knight-Questor Flesh into the basecoat mix until it brightened up enough, before adding some Flayed One Flesh into the blend for final highlights.
The cloth proved to be much easier, starting with Nazdreg Yellow and working up through Yriel Yellow, Phalanx Yellow, and finally Dorn Yellow. Most of the metal was painted in Iron Warriors, shaded with Nuln Oil, and highlighted with Iron Hands Steel and Stormhost Silver – a pretty standard approach, but perfect for this miniature.
Although it’s only a small part of the model, the plasma blade on his weapon is a real focal point, so I worked up through several layers of glazes to get it looking really hot and bright. Starting with White Scar, I glazed layers of Yriel Yellow, Troll Slayer Orange, and Wazdakka Red until I was happy with the gradient, before darkening the edge with a mix of Rhinox Hide and Abaddon Black. The overall effect looks awesome!
Thanks, guys! Pre-order your own copies of the Tyranid Prime and Berehk Stornbröw this Saturday, along with the Twin Lance of the T’au Empire – who were just a little too late to the party to be featured in this article! Better luck with the Killing Blow next time, chaps.
