New White Dwarf; Tyranid Greens
February's issue of White Dwarf is out tomorrow. If you're a subscriber then you'll no doubt have your copy and already be gawping at the new Beastmen or reading their inaugural battle report. For those of you that aren't, here's a quick look at a few of my favourite articles from this month's White Dwarf:
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The Nazgûl painting guide covers everything from scales, wings, skin and claws and its advice can be applied to painting any monster. There's also a handy guide to stippling that I found particularly helpful.
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This month Jervis talks about converting models and after dispelling the notion that it has something to do with getting Kate Moss to play Warhammer, makes some interesting points about why we feel compelled to tinker with our miniatures.
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Phil Kelly's follow-up to his Planetstrike defender tactica is naturally one about attacking. He shares his tried and tested tactics and looks at his favourite stratagems. He's also included a sample Space Marine attack force that exemplifies a winning strategy.
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This month's Modelling Workshop demonstrates how to model your scenery like it's been overrun by Beastmen. It's equally useful if you normally find your settlement despoiled by Skaven, Warriors of Chaos or an Orc horde.
You'll find more details about this month's White Dwarf by visiting the product page.
If you can't make it down to your local Hobby Centre then you can order White Dwarf below and we'll make sure it goes straight in the post to you, which if you're receiving the UK edition will make quite a thud as it comes through the letter box - it's a full 20 pages thicker this month and features pictures of every winning UK Golden Demon entry from 2009.
Reading Standard Bearer got me thinking about conversions and miniatures in general. And having spotted some of Mark Harrison's miniatures on my way through Warhammer World this morning, I popped up to the Studio to find out how much a miniature changed between initial design and finished product. Mark sculpted both the new Tyranid Venomthrope and the Pyrovore. He told me he enjoyed sculpting Tyranids and enjoyed the freedom to create new creatures. Though there are some rules he had to follow - all Tyranids have six limbs and five armour plates on their heads and need to feel like they've evolved from an existing Tyranid strain. The Pyrovore for example, has legs akin to those of Tyranid Warrior while also looking similar to the Biovore.
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This is Mark's original mock-up of the Venomthrope or as he refers to it 'a 3D sketch'.
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It took Mark about two weeks to go from the mock-up to this finished Green.
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Click on the image to see how the Venomthrope evolved from mock-up to painted miniature.
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Mock-ups allow sculptors to try different ideas before committing to a final design. Notice the two legs on the left-hand-side of the Pyrovore.
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In the final version the Pyrovore only has one leg on its left-hand-side.
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Click on the image to see how the Pyrovore progressed through development.
