Tyranid Winged Prime vs Imperial Fist Dreadnought

The Dreadnought is just the base

I had this idea after seeing the new Tyranid models when Games Workshop announced 10th Edition of Warhammer 40K. Didn’t buy it though.

No, I sat on it for months until I could grab a couple of individual models on eBay, my usual MO.

I did pop into my local Warhammer shop to see how much a dreadnought usually goes for, was shocked, then had to explain to the store manager I was just thinking of ideas and not about to go home and just buy one online instead.

Contstruction

Once everything arrived it was time to get building, a case of fully assembling the dreadnought and then ripping a hole in it with a dremel. One of the scarier things I’ve ever done because if I got this bit wrong then plans would have to be reworked… or scrapped.

I didn’t fuck it up.

The inside of the dreadnought is stuffed with various clippings of metal looking parts, wires, and padded with greenstuff. It was all going to be painted black and drybrushed, it just needed to not be an empty void.

There is some re-posing happening with the Tyranid, arms and wings were trimmed down and glued in place, then greenstuff to fill in the voids. ‘Nids have ball joints so it’s super easy to patch up.

Painting

The pink > yellow stage works really nicely for a vibrant yellow over a black prime. It’s all airbrushed, but it still saves having to do 100 layers of yellow.

For airbrushing sharp edges like this you can just use a piece of card as a quick masking tool.

I dug through my drawer of decal sheets and was very pleased that this 30 year old Iron Fist decal worked perfectly, it just needed a little bit of a touch up to make it fit the model. Once again, being a hobby hoarder has paid off.

I like to include dynamic elements to models like this to really sell the movement, and if it looks like it shouldn’t be physically possible then that’s a plus. This effect was achieved my creating a UV resin support piece (the thick slime trail) and attaching that with more UV resin. It’s also anchored to the tip of the tyranid claw/fingernail thing, giving a second point of contact to stop it wobbling.

I started work on it with the idea of entering into the Legends of Paint competition at Warhammer World for the store anniversary, but I hadn’t fully read the rules. I finished it up, took it with me on the day, and then learned it was supposed to be a “named character”. Shit.

Thankfully it was pointed out that the Winged Tyranid Prime would actually qualify, so I entered it with the qualifier that the dreadnought was just basing decoration. Like when you put a spare head on a base except it cost me £20.

I came away with a silver though, and got to celebrate meeting all the CPC gang in person for the first time.