Tutorial: How to paint Hivefleet Lotan Tyranids

Lotan is one of the new Hive Fleet introduced in the 10th edition of Warhammer 40k. In this tutorial I demonstrate how to paint Lotan’s characterful colour scheme with its crimson skin and reddish shimmering black carapace. For this I use the new paints and washes from TTCombat, but the painting guide can be easily followed with Citadel Colours as well.

This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the fundamental techniques of painting Warhammer miniatures. Usually I like to pick the best colours from all paint ranges available, but for this tutorial I only used paints from TTCombat. I painted the model as part of research for my review of the new TTCombat paints & washes, but I provide the matching colours from the Citadel Colour range in [brackets] so that you can easily adapt the colour scheme to your paint collection.

You’ll find a list of all the paints used in this tutorial at the end of the post.

How to paint Hivefleet Lotan

Painting the carapace

Prime the model with your favourite black primer, I used AK Interactive Fine Primer Black. Once dry, paint any areas the spray didn’t reach with TTCombat Black [or Abaddon Black]. For an even result, give the carapace a thin coat of black as well.

Drybrush the carapace with TTCombat Shadowling Grey [or Skavenblight Dinge].

Thin TTCombat Capo Red [or Khorne Red] about 1:2 with Thinning Medium [or Contrast Medium or Lahmian Medium] and wash this mix in the recesses of the carapace.

Apply an edge highlight of TTCombat Ospedale Grey [or Mechanicus Standard Grey].

Add another even finer highlight to the carapace. For this, mix TTCombat Ostrich Feather Grey about 2:3 with TTCombat Ospedale Grey [or mix some Pallid Wych Flesh into Mechanicus Standard Grey].

Paint small dots of pure TTCombat Ostrich Feather Grey [or Mechanicus Standard Grey mixed with more Pallid Wych Flesh] on the sharpest corners of the carapace.

Applying Contrast & Speedpaint

Basecoat the flesh with TTCombat Viscera Red, two thinned coats should be enough as the coverage of this red is pretty amazing [alternatively, use Mephiston Red].

Mix some TTCombat Viscera Red with their Thinning Medium in a 1:2 ratio and paint this mix into the recesses of the carapace for a recess shade.

Give the flesh a wash of TTCombat Red Wash [or Carroburg Crimson].

Layer the flesh with TTCombat Viscera Red [or Mephiston Red] while omitting the darker recesses. Build up the layering with two or three thinned coats for a smoother transition.

Pick out the musculature with a soft highlight of a slightly thinned 2:1 mix of TTCombat Viscera Red [or Mephiston Red] and TTCombat Brawny Flesh [or Bestigor Flesh].

Add a second highlight to the most prominent features, increasing the ratio of of TTCombat Viscera Red [or Mephiston Red] and TTCombat Brawny Flesh [or Bestigor Flesh] to 1:1.

Painting the details

Basecoat the tongue with TTCombat Vestment Purple [or Daemonette Hide].

Wash the tongue with TTCombat Purple Wash [or Druchii Violet].

Highligh the tongue with 3:1 mix of TTCombat Vestment Purple [or Daemonette Hide] and TTCombat Phantom Ivory [or Pallid Wych Flesh].

Add some tiny reflections to make the tongue appear wet. For this, paint little dots of TTCombat Phantom Ivory [or Pallid Wych Flesh].

Tidy up the mouth area with TTCombat Black [or Abaddon Black].

Layer the teeth with TTCombat Ostrich Feather Grey [Rakarth Flesh works as well, or use the Mechanicum Standard Grey / Pallid Wych Flesh from step step 5].

Highlight the teeth with TTCombat Phantom Ivory [or Pallid Wych Flesh].

Basecoat the eyes with TTCombat Trihorn Turquoise [or Ahriman Blue].

Layer the eyes with a mix of TTCombat Trihorn Turquoise [or Ahriman Blue] and TTCombat White [or White Scar], about 2:3 [or just use Temple Guard Blue instead of mixing].

Add a dot highlight to the eye. For this mix more TTCombat White [or White Scar] into TT Trihorn Turquoise [or Ahriman Blue], about 1:3 [or use Baharroth Blue instead of mixing].

Hivefleet Lotan Termagant painted by Stahly

Here you can see the result. Even though I only demonstrated painting the head of the Termagant, this tutorial covers all the techniques and colour recipes needed to paint Tyranid creatures of any size. For example, you can use the recipe for the purple tongues also for the fleshy tubes and outgrowths of the various weapon symbionts. For larger creatures or models with less armour, such as Genestealers, it can also make sense to prime the models red instead of black (if you have an airbrush), and then paint the armour black, to save a little bit of time.

TTCombat paints are characterised by their high opacity, especially with the red tones, and are therefore ideal for this colour scheme. You can check out my in-depth review here. Other paint ranges, such as Two Thin Coats or the new Vallejo Game Color, also have good reds, of course.

Looking for another red Tyranid scheme? Then check out my Hive Fleet Kraken tutorial here:

If you’re looking for a more traditional take on Hivefleet Kraken, Garfy has you covered in this tutorial.

Garfy also made tutorials for Hivefleet Leviathan and Hivefleet Behemoth, you can check these out by following the links.

Let me know if these tutorials have helped you out, either here in the comments or why not post the result over on our friendly painting Discord channel.

Paints you will need for this tutorial:

• TTCombat Black [or Abaddon Black]
• TTCombat Shadowling Grey [or Skavenblight Dinge]
• TTCombat Ospedale Grey [or Mechanicus Standard Grey]
• TTCombat Ostrich Feather Grey [or Mechanicus Standard Grey mixed with Pallid Wych Flesh]
• TTCombat White [or White Scar]
• TTCombat Capo Red [or Khorne Red]
• TTCombat Viscera Red [or Mephiston Red]
• TTCombat Vestment Purple [or Daemonette Hide]
• TTCombat Trihorn Turquoise [or Ahriman Blue]
• TTCombat Brawny Flesh [or Bestigor Flesh]
• TTCombat Phantom Ivory [or Pallid Wych Flesh]
• TTCombat Red Wash [or Carroburg Crimson]
• TTCombat Purple Wash [or Druchii Violet]
• TTCombat Thinning Medium [or Contrast Medium or Lahmian Medium]

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Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If so, leave a comment or reaction below, and if you got any questions, leave them here so I can answer them for you.