Great Big Tyranid Bug (and bonus eggs)

 Hello again! I've been painting some more tyranids this week. It's interesting to paint a brand new tyranid model in my oldhammer colour scheme.

This is a psychophage, apparently. As one of the interchangeable idiots in Starship Troopers puts it, it's some kind of big smart bug. I reckon half the world must own one of these kits by now, as ebay is full of them going cheaply. 

It was a push-together GW kit, which is another way of saying that it didn't push together. It was also a right pain to paint, as simply getting at most of the model was really hard. I'm glad that I painted a lot of it on the sprue. 

The painting was fairly simple - Flesh Tearers Red contrast paint over a white undercoat, and a thin wash of Leviathan Purple in the recesses. Good as contrast paints can be, I don't think that's enough for the skin of a big monster, and so I added red and highlighted in the normal way as well.

I really like the way that he's got a severed arm in his tentacles. There are some really nice details on this chap, but they're not excessive.

I also dug out these eggs that I made from DAS clay and green stuff about 15 years ago. I gave them a repaint and put them on flatter bases. Goodness knows what function they'd have in a game, but they're nice enough.

I also painted some tyranid rippers, but for some reason I just can't get a decent photo of the damned things. So you'll just have to imagine them. Sorry!