Zoat!

There are many strange things in Rogue Trader, the ancient tome from which Warhammer 40,000 comes. Some have been elaborated in ever-more-excessive detail (space marines), others haven't changed much (imperial guard) and some have more or less disappeared. 

So, very briefly: zoats were great big tortoise/rhino/ogre centaur things that worked for the tyranids as elite troops and, weirdly, ambassadors. The tyranids produced hormones that made the zoats loyal, but every so often some zoats would break loose and usually ended up working as mercenaries. Famously, according to Rogue Trader, the zoats lived on "Zoatibix". 

There were four 40k zoat models: they all used the same lower body, which makes me wonder if they weren't very popular.

The zoats appeared in the first tyranid army list, which was published in White Dwarf. However, by the time the first codex appeared, they had disappeared. They got a sort of mention in a later codex, as "Colossi" who fought in the "Zoastra-Attila War" against mankind. A zoat appears in Blackstone Fortress, so they're clearly out there somewhere.

Anyhow, I like zoats. Perhaps it's that they're a bit like dinosaurs, or just that they're rather odd. I was very lucky and won an ebay auction for two zoats for a pretty reasonable price on ebay (they normally go for silly money). I painted the first one in a scheme reflecting the model shown in Rogue Trader.

There's loads of good detail on this model: just the two pistols are great sculpting. I was surprised and impressed by how crisp and neat this thing is. It's listed as being sculpted by the Citadel Design Team in the old blue catalogue, but I'd be interested to know who was involved. 

I also took the chance to paint up a few old plastic termagants. These models don't actually overlap with the zoats, but they've got a certain goofy charm.