Tuesday 10 November 2020

The Ymgarl Leech

The real beauty about this hobby is that people can make their own models to fill gaps in their collection, whether that's conversions or fan sculpts. I recently received a fantastic model which evokes the genestealer-csith hybrid pictured in the Rogue Trader rulebook. It came from a fellow genestealer fan who has had it sculpted and a handful cast. 

Terrified crew-members attempt to gun down an escaped specimen they were transporting.

The leech-like csith are (according to Rogue Trader) the original symbiotic hosts of the genestealers, before the spread out into the galaxy and managed to breed with humans (whether or not this still holds true now that genestealers are part of the Tyranid family, I don't know!).

A Ymgarl genestealer as pictured in Rogue Trader.


The model is a large beastie, measuring ~45mm to the top of its raised elbow and ~65mm from horrible tentacled maw to tip of its tail.



Given the lovely texture on the sculpt, I decided the best option for painting was to use a succession of glazes and washes. After basecoating with GW's Rakarth flesh and a quick drybrush with an off white, I gave the whole creature a thinned wash of flesh and purple mixed 50/50. I then went through a series of glazes (purple through to black on the limb extremities, crimson and red on the tentacles).



I painted the horrible lamprey-like teeth a bone colour and the claws black, before finally glossing anywhere that looked like it might be covered in slime!



It was a really lovely figure to paint - all those textures were just perfect for a quick but effective paint scheme. I'm looking forward to having it hunt down terrified colonists in mining installations or ship's crew who have inadvertently brought it aboard their exploratory vessel!

26 comments:

  1. I love it! What a fantastic paintjob on a lovely cast. WHoever the talented sculptor is, they've captured peak Rogue Trader in the Olleyesque lines and the depth of detail. Really wonderful all-round.

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    1. Glad you like the paint job! The sculptor did a lovely job - such a lot of really great sculpted detail that's ideal for washes and glazing.

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  2. Ooo, this looks great. The glazes really give it an aliens/Giger vibe. Excellent work!

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    1. Thanks Mr Saturday! I guess that the Aliens / Giger influence on genestealers is the worst kept secret ever :)

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  3. Lovely work with the pallid, sickly alien flesh colours.

    Am I right thinking it's a single piece casting?

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    1. Thanks Curis - I am fond of a bit of sickly alien flesh!

      Yeah, this one is a single piece casting.

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  4. I love it, nice work. Great colours.

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    1. Thanks very much! I'm fond of unsettling fleshy colours on both aliens and daemons.

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  5. Looks lovely, very pallid and alien looking. Great choice of colours and use of gloss varnish. Nice to see an old idea made real.

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    1. Thanks very much. The sculpt does all the work really. I do love a spot of gloss in the right spots.

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  6. I always thought the original Genestealer was more alien and entertaining than the somewhat more humanoid 'stealers that came after, not that dislike them. I Love the pale and nasty looking color scheme! I'd like to own a clutch of these!

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    1. Personally I'm a fan of genestealer cults, but always thought they became less interesting when they were ret-conned as being Tyranid advance forces. There's something deeply unsettling about an alien that has a breeding relationship with a leech though!

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  7. Eeeeek! That gave me the shivers! Wow, spectacular sculpt, I do love it!! But of course it's the paintjob what makes it stand out. You really made some nice decisions here, and they paid off. Wonderful work!!

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    1. There's something about that organic, fleshy vibe that's really unsettling I think! Glad you like it Suber :)

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  8. That's a fantastic miniature! I don't suppose they have plans for a general release, do they? I'd love to own one! Plus the paint job you gave it really highlights it's gribbliness! :3

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    1. As far as I know it's not going to be available for general sale, sorry. I think there are quite a few people who are in the same boat and would like to own it. Glad you approve of the gribbliness :)

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  9. Nice work and a great way to bring some classic Rogue Trader artwork to life.

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  10. A cool model and a very good paint job. The washes have worked well. I've got a lot of fondness for those old concepts, like the zoats.

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    1. Thanks Toby. Like you, I love the old whacky ideas, centauroid reptiles included!

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  11. I love this Jon, superb paint, job the shades and glazes so subtle totally suits the monster, I have recently sourced one of these, was disappointed to not see them go up on fb.
    J

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    1. Well done for picking one up Jason. Really interested to see what you (and others) do with the figure. Glad you like my interpretation

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  12. I love the colors you used here which is akin to raw necrotizing flesh. Brilliant work!

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    1. I'm not going to ask how you know about necrotizing flesh, but thanks!

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  13. Excellent figure! I always thought the genestealer in the WH40K was a much better design than the later ones.

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    1. Thanks very much! It really is a fun design.

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