SHOWCASE: Tyranid Venomthrope

Oh finecast, why do you suck so badly? Or, "How I made a venomthrope and liked it, despite finecast's shite quality".


Finecast is the worst right? Greymantle has taken to calling it "shitcast", and he's not wrong for doing so. I've put together five different finecast models of varying size and complexity, and each one has been a total nightmare. Flash everywhere. Bubbles. Broken parts. Missing parts. Wrong parts. Warped parts. The quality control on these things is miserable. Every time I see a new GW release that moves away from finecast towards multi-part plastic kits, I do a little happy dance.

Despite all that, I love my venomthrope. Honestly, it's a great model. Sure, its spindly little tentacles snap easily, and it hooks onto every model next to it, but the sculpt is cool. I dig Lovecraft, and the influence on the design here is pretty obvious. The tentacled, cthulhu-like mouth, the whip-like tendrils. the poison sacs. it's really creepy, and really cool.

Although it was a simple assembly, because of the casting's shortcomings, it was a bit of a bitch to put together. There was plenty of green stuff needed on EVERY seam, but it's still really fun to look at, and really stands out from the rest of the Tyranid designs.

I had a lot of fun doing the tentacles and toxin sacks. I was able to make a subtle gradient from green to flesh tone using the airbrush, and it really drives home the tips of the limbs as a focal point on the model. I covered the poison areas and mouth with a healthy layer of 'ard coat to make it look wet and slimy. Really please with the way that turned out.

Altogether, a fun model. I've run it a few times on the tabletop, and while it's not essential, it is nice to have that 5+ cover save for your gaunts.

Have you built a venomthrope? Have a finecast horror story to share? Comment below!

-trip