This is a project I have been wanting to do for many years now. The original Zoanthrope miniature from the mid-'90s was a grotesque mess that was not just displeasing to the eye, but it didn't even conform to the description as presented in the Warhammer 40,000 2nd edition Codex: Tyranids:
"Zoanthropes are perhaps the strangest of the mutant strains of Tyranid Warrior seen amongst the swarms. Though they are considerably larger than Tyranid Warriors their bodies are fragile and have feeble, atrophied limbs, and their heads are so huge and bloated that they look too large for their frail bodies to support. Zoanthropes appear to have been engineered to exploit the maximum psychic potential of Tyranid Warriors and even seem to use psychic energy to invigorate their wasted bodies. '*
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| The original Zoanthrope. |
But the illustration by John Blanche, The Swarm, contained a vision of that era's Zoanthrope that represented the description perfectly.
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| A section from The Swarm by John Blanche. |
Years later and the entire Tyranid army would be overhauled for the 40k's 3rd edition. And the form of the floating Zoanthrope we know and love today would first arrive in blister packs to our favorite hobby stores. He was a total rework of the original concept, as he floated around as opposed to walking..(or maybe he bounced around on his tail like Tigger?) He had the tiny atrophied limbs and massive head as detailed in the original description and it made sense that he would float about now due to the limitations of those limbs.
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| The 3rd edition era miniature. |
A few years later and the Tyranids would get their 5th edition Codex which introduced a special character called the Doom of Malan'tai. The concept art made me think: what if I take that old head from the 2nd edition model and attach it to the 3rd edition body? Not only would it kind of work for The Doom, but it would kind of pay homage to that old Blanche art also.
I had the 2nd edition model already, and I ordered the 3rd edition body from Games Workshop Mail-order (back when the bitz program was alive and well. Oh how I wish I hadn't taken it for granted back then...). And then I sat on the idea for about, oh, 20 years.
And now, as 9th edition has ended and 10th edition launches, I am putting together these guys with the idea that they'll just have a unique looking unit leader. Then this caught my eye:
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| Snippet from the 10th ed Tyranids list. |
So I am going to use my Doom model as a Neurothrope (which, basically it was). Which seems like a perfect solution to me. And I ha e two of the 3rs edition era models as well to make the minimum size squad.
Next, the construction phase...