Biomorph Conversions - Wings
Wings are cool, but there are downsides, this summarized
on my Tyranid Rules page.
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Wings You Can Buy
- Hive Tyrant
- Bloodthirster wings (Tyranid-Players Yahoo! group,
Paul Mikusi)
- Wyvern wings (Tyranid-Players Yahoo! group, Jason)
- Warrior wings
- Warhammer Dark Elf Dark pegasus wings
- Warmaster High Elf Dragon Wings
- OOP Vampire Counts Winged Nightmare Wings...
- Winged Nightmare (old WHFB model) Warmaster
- Orc wyvern wings (Tyranid-Players Yahoo! group,
Carmachu).
- WHFB Demon Prince wings (Tyranid Yahoo! group,
"Curtis").
- Cheap wings
- Chaos Dragon Wings for Warmaster, part numbers:
120101004 & 120101005, but they have "chaos
rot" on
them ("Talon" and
"slannmage2002")
- Undead Zombie Dragon for Warmaster, part numbers:
120701105 & 120701106 ("slannmage2002")
- " I found some rather inexpensive wings from
a non GW source: Reaper Minitures (http://www.reapermini.com/)
Dark Haven 25mm Heroic Scale Figure Line Model #2444
(Gharun Demon) MSRP $5.95 SEE PICTURE AT: http://www.reapermini.com/photos/dh/2444.jpg
I still haven't tried the conversion, but I think
the size it right. I'm planning on getting a digital
camera real soon so I can post pictures of all this
stuff I talk about!" -- Hive Fleet Void
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Wings You Can Make
Making Insectoid wings - Materials
- Feathers - there are fake butterflies for sale. They
have wings that are basically clipped feathers that
have been dyed/painted with a butterfly color. This
could actually work, but it's not my first choice for
now.
- Translucent mesh (e.g. Tulle) - I saw a fake dragonfly
with wings that appeared to made form a dense fine white
mesh that was painted/sealed and a crappy pattern was
painted onto it. This could work. The only similar mesh
I could find was Tulle, which is the fine thin stuff
used frequently for wedding decorations and can be found
in a variety of colors and sizes in the wedding/bridal
section of a craft store. You might need to create a
frame to support this, or perhaps just painting/soaking
with thinned white glue will be adequate to stiffen
it.
- Cellophane/Clearphane - I found some of this that
was iridescent, which could be very cool by itself,
but it might require a supporting frame, like wire.
- Real wings from an insect such as a Dragonfly (see
below)
- Shrink wrap, Saran Wrap (tm), etc. - Basically, wrap
it around a frame and heat it. (thanks to Ming-Hua Kao)
- Dried polymer on a wire frame
- Flower-making craft kit from Toys R Us
- Printing out the pattern onto an appopriate media
(from Keith Vaughn)
| There is a fairly good method of trying to
get perfect insect wings for dragonflys and other
insects.
Some of the old fieldbooks for insect identification
have pen & ink drawings of various insects,
including dragonflies, and show details of the
veining in the wings. It would be a simple matter
to copy this on a photocopier or simply scan
them into a computer. There are a couple of
methods to make the wings. These field books
can often be found in public libraries.
1. Transparencies for overhead projectors
are clear and would serve as clear membranes
for the wings. They can be ran through a copy
machine or an inkjet. Stiffening can be accomplished
by a couple of fine, black-painted wires superglued
to the undersurface. If the wing has to have
color in it, just I would suggest a paint from
a craft store that is used for stained glass
effects.
2. Or using printable decal sheets with
a clear backing, you could use an inkjet copier
to give color to the wings. This can be put
on a clear styrene sheet that has been cut and
then bent to shape in hot/boiling water. The
decal can be then be set and gloss coated afterwards.
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- Plain clear plastic cut out - A modeler, which goes
by the monnicker "Teatime", has tried this
approach but with an extra bonus - he threw wings on
his Termagants and made Gargoyles out of them. [Gargoyle
picture 1, Gargoyle
picture 2]
Making Dragon Wings
I only have one good idea - Make a support structure
for the wing and place a "skin" of putty
over the top and bottom (Kneadatite blue-yellow is probably
best). For the support structure you can use the wall
of a soda can or thin plastic. The former will of course
be more readily malleable.
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Using Dragonfly Wings for My
Flying Hive Tyrant
What could I do?
- Insectoid wings - my first choice, since the number
of limbs on a bug are not affected by the presence of
wings, unlike birds, mammals, and reptiles.
- Bird wings - will probably look too strange
- Mammals - skin flap or something. I considered this,
but vicious flying squirrels come to mind and that's
just silly.
- Dragon wings - I don't like this because I don't think
Dragon wings are fragile enough to fulfill the game
mechanic that causes automatic wounds on Winged Tyranids.
Mere weeks after discussing with my wife how appopriate
Dragonfly wings might be in size and scale for a Hive
Tyrant, we happened up a wounded/dying one on our way
out of a restaurant. My wife, a biology grad student,
captured it, froze it, and dissected it for me. Marriage
rocks! :-)
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| Check out the detail. Try
modelling that! |
Process
- I coated each side with four thin coats of Folk Art
Acrylic Sealer, spraying once from each of the four
sides, back and front. DO THIS IN A WELL VENTILATED
AREA!
- That seemed to deal the wings well without obliterating
detail or damaging them. Little hairs on the carapace
got a little fuzzy with acrylic sealer, but it looked
somewhat interesting.
- There was no good way to place the entire assembly
on the model in question, so I carefully clipped down
the middle of the carapace, following a natural seam.
This left me with two halves.
- The wings will definitely interfere with the painting
process, so I am waiting until I paint the model before
I go any further.
- Paint the model.
- Dab the wing joint on the brush applicator of the
rubber cement.
- Apply the wing joint where you want it and hold for
a few seconds; if that is inadequate, brace the wing
as needed and wait for the glue to cure properly.
- Here's my winged Hive
Tyrant.
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