Model paint guide

How to paint a Hive Tyrant

Hive Tyrants use the same carapace and skin recipe as your swarm, just larger. Batch the carapace plates, then push the face and weapons. Unofficial fan recipe.

Difficulty 3 / 5 · ~10 hrs · Updated 2026-07-10

Unofficial fan guide. Citadel paint and kit names identify products for sale. Not affiliated with Games Workshop.

Tyranid Hive Tyrant box art
Tyranid Hive Tyrant. Product image for kit identity. Not a painted example.
Tyranid Hive TyrantTrack price
Primer

Start here

Wraithbone or Grey Seer

Step

Skin and carapace

Skin: Contrast Magos Purple, Leviadon Blue, or Snakebite Leather depending on hive fleet. Carapace: Black Templar or Dark Angels Green over the plates. Drybrush Administratum Grey or Nurgling Green on carapace edges. Keep the same colours as your Termagants.

Step

Weapons, teeth, and tongue

Chitin blades: same carapace recipe with a sharper edge highlight. Teeth: Skeleton Horde. Tongue: Volupus Pink with Carroburg Crimson. Claws: Leadbelcher optional, or pure carapace colour for a more alien read.

Step

Base

Astrogranite or Stirland Mud. Drybrush Administratum Grey. Add a few bone scraps in Skeleton Horde so the monster towers over debris.

Buy paints

Paints for Hive Tyrant

Colour chips are approximate. Buy links open live marketplace search for that Citadel paint across Shopify catalog stores and other sources.

Video

YouTube tutorials

External videos. We link creators whose techniques match this kit. Watch on YouTube. Support the painter if you use their method.

Further reading

Other painters

Army recipes

Match the rest of the force

Common questions

How long does it take to paint Hive Tyrant?

About 10 hours for a tabletop-to-display finish at difficulty 3 / 5.

What primer should I use for Hive Tyrant?

Wraithbone or Grey Seer

Where do I buy Hive Tyrant?

Open the Tyranid Hive Tyrant price page for the live sealed floor, then set a watch under the middle of that band.

Are these official Games Workshop instructions?

No. Unofficial fan recipes that name Citadel paints and kits as products. Not affiliated with Games Workshop.