Tyranid Mycenic Spores

These are really terrain pieces, but they’re Tyranid terrain pieces.

Epicast makes a model of Tyranid spores, which are basically Tyranid drop pods. I found Epicast’s web site after I had made these.

The idea is that Tyranids drop from space in these organic drop pods, break out and wreak havoc.

I found a plastic ball used for needlepoint. I glued the halves together and used Super Sculpey to make a shell and make some veining. I baked it. For the open one, I cut out door and attached to the pod with wire and glue. I used Magic Sculpt which doesn’t need to be baked to finish up the veining and make blend the “door” into the pod.

I made molds an old style Carnifex’s claws and attached them to the pods with wire and CA glue. I used Magic Sculpt to blend them into the pod.

I mix all my airbrush paint. This is actually a pain sometimes. There’s a line of paint called FreakFlex that Badger makes. They’re ready to airbrush immediately. I can see why people buy them. I mixed no fewer than six colors for the pods. I didn’t want to make a big production out of painting them but it became one.

I went with a base of flesh and then “noodled” underlying texture . I had intended it to be fine lines for subtle shading, but ended up with thick dark lines. I shadowed around the veins with lighter browns and blended the colors in with misting several colors over the pieces. I painted the claws the same way. I used crimson on the veins and magenta to highlight them.

For the open pod, I drew in some blue veins and misted them to look subdermal. I used bright reds for the inside veins. Both pods were coated with a heavy gloss coat (spray paint, not Future - I wanted a high gloss).

For something to fall from the sky and have a soft landing there are only a few methods, particularly if you’re dealing with an organic object. Jets were out. Wings would have been a hassle. Parachutes were another problem all together. I settled on streamers. I’ve seen Estes rockets use streamers to land and some seed pods. I found some plastic plants at a craft store that had good long leaves of the right color to finish the pods.

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Warhammer 40K Battle Terrain