CONVERT: Flying Tyranid Warrior

Flying Warrior - kitbash by Suneokun.

By Suneokun.

Now my first Apocalyse battle is out of the way, I'm cleared up for getting cracking on my Tyranids and Tau. One of the conversions I was itching to get a handle on was the Tyranid Warrior. Unlike the Gargoyle conversion (see here), I wanted to make sure that this conversion was done purely on bits from the same battleforce. My thinking is that the Gargoyle conversions have forced me to purchase lots of additional 'bits' to complete - I didn't want the same problem with the Flying warriors.

Plus, for all you readers out there a cost effective 'All in the battleforce' kitbash conversion would be more usable! The cost svaing on this is considerable as a full price GW Tyranid Warrior plus forgeworld wings will set you back a sturdy £10 each (without postage etc), My Warriors from the Battleforce cost about £1.50 each.

FlyWar - 48pts

WS 4 BS 3 S5 T4 W2 I4 A3 Ld10

Biomorphs: Wings (jump infantry), Devourer, Toxin Sacs, Enhanced Senses, Bio-plasma.

Can deep strike like a Ravener, but is immune to instantdeath and powerful when supported by multiple Gargoyles/Flying Tyrant.

Notes on the modelling: I wanted to mimic the gargoyle design as much as possible to keep the feel of the model right. I originally thought about setting the model on a flying base, but the heavy lower body of the model looks slightly out of place.

Instead I've opted for a 'just landed' pose. Effectively the FlyWar is sprinting forwards, hailing out devourer death at it charges into close combat.

While the Tyranid Warrior model only has two arms, the stats clearly highlight that wings and weapons are separate stats. I decided to overcome this issue by giving the warrior 'scything wings'. I also decided to continue the wings around an apron at the back of the model. I did this as without this 'skirt' the Warrior's wings looked undersized. I perceive these models to be combining 'leaping' (although not the stat) with a set of gliding wings - allowing them to cruise across the thermal like larger 'macro' fruit bats.

Notes on Building the FlyWar

The hardest thing are the wings. The flying arms are built from a combination of Genestealer and Warrior scything talons. Removing the 'scythe' from both pieces and then bringing the two arms together to build a double jointed elbow and larger 'wrist' alike to bats...

The base of the genestealer arm and the end of the warrior arm must be cut at an angle to form a straight forearm limb. The two limbs mold together very well when cut at the right angle.

Finally the wings need to be attached. For this I've used the same 'leathered' plastic document folder used on the Gargoyle. I've found the best way to cut the wings is to cut them vaguely to size, line them up and then draw around the inside line of the wing with a fine top felt tip pen (I used my Daughters little drawing pens). The pen won't mark the plastic, but will leave a slight mark for you to cut around, you can then wipe off the pen with your finger. Remember to cut the membrane slightly bigger then the wing (only 1-2mm), you can then bend the membrane into the wing - giving a fantastic effect of air buffeting the membranes.

As a slight change, instead of plastic glue I've used Loctite Super Glue Gel. This has made the whole process a lot easier (the plastic glue was handy at disintegrating the fine membrane) - The gel is useful as after fixing the wing in place, the glue can be used just like a filler or caulk to fill gaps and make a smooth seemless join.

Conclusion

I hope you like the conversion as much as I do. It's a little fiddly, but fairly quick to mass produce, once you've mastered the build.

What do you make of Flying warrriors - waste of points? Are Lictors and Raveners better?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.