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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.
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.
- Find storesWraithbone
- Find storesMagos Purple
- Find storesBlack Templar
- Find storesAdministratum Grey
- Find storesSkeleton Horde
- Find storesVolupus Pink
- Find storesStirland Mud
Video
YouTube tutorials
External videos. We link creators whose techniques match this kit. Watch on YouTube. Support the painter if you use their method.
- Contrast Painting Tutorial: Death Guard / Plague MarinesTom's Painting
Contrast batch habits that scale to monster kits.
Further reading
Other painters
- Tyranids paint hub
Leviathan and Behemoth recipes for the rest of the swarm.
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.