Speed Painting Tau - Stealth Suit Urban Style

So this is what I've been working on the past few days.  Painting plus video rendering.

Inspired by the Space Wolves release, I decided to try out an urban Tau theme. My goal with the Sniper suit was to merge the space wolf base color and combine it with a dirty, urban theme. The model here is supposed to look as if he fits with the base, hence the reason they are the same basic color. I also wanted a muted theme.

Urban environments in the 40k world, I imagine, are rather dirty, so I wanted to give this Sniper suit the appearance of having been walking through ruins, but still give a very Tau-clean look to it. At the same time, I was hoping the highlight color (the white) was still a muted white, so it would stand out, but not look out of place.

Finally, the gun itself is my take on the weapon. I imagine that the barrel of the weapon spins rather fast when firing, so I figure the metal is worn in a circular pattern. That's the reason for the attempt the blending and highlighting like I did. I'm actually rather proud of it, because when it's lit with my desk lamps, it looks natural.

Finally, this was yet another attempt at blending, which I really want to keep practicing.  I'm very proud with the blending jobs I did here.  Both the helmet and the gun turned out how I wanted.  I still have a long way to go before I'm comfortable with blending, but overall, I think I'm on the right track.


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Iced Tau of the Nest'La Sept

I didn't like the Tau I had. See, I have a Nurgle armor all green and Nurgley, and I was planning on doing the Tau as a woodsy-forest Tau. That meant green as well. My wife didn't want more green. Vomit Brown was going to be the happy medium, but even then, I was still going to include green, which still would defeat the purpose because I wanted something bright.

So, I mentioned white... and green. She said I was dumb and pretty much asked me why I didn't do white and blue. And this is the outcome. A quick mock up of a winter-based Tau army. So, it will be a white base with Icy Blue for the highlight and a Asurmen Blue wash on the legs. Enchanted Blue is the darker blue. Luckily, all my basing is easily "snowified." I plan on picking up some blue and clear crystals tomorrow from the craft store to include on the bases to add something interesting. Blazing Orange is the contrasting highlight.

Below you can see the other Tau color schemes I was working with. Between the shoulder pads and the helmets, things were going horribly wrong. I have to say, I'm much happier with the Iced Tau, from the Nest'la sept. Get it? Get it? Nest'la Iced Tau.

Okay, yeah, I know. It was wrong. So very, very wrong. But as my D&D character, Wrenn Pickleton, Wild Sorcerer would say, "It's Wrenntastic!"

Tau Log - Fire Warrior Squad 3

So, tonight I applied Vomit Brown over the Tausept Ochre base. Tomorrow I plan on doing the arms and weapons with both the base and the second layer. I'm also going to figure out what I want to apply as the liner. That will hopefully be the next step. Once that's done, we can get to detailing!

As far as the miniatures are going, they are turning out really well and I'm very happy with them so far. I can't wait to see them done!

Tau Log - Fire Warrior Squad 2

This is the Fire Warrior squad after one coat of Tausept Ochre. Ensuring the lines were as straight as possible was time consuming, but well worth the effort in the end. Already the squad looks impressive on the table even without arms. The next steps is to do all the arms and the weapons with the same color. After that I start applying Vomit Brown to the Tausept Ochre areas, though this should go quicker. Finally, I have edging to do, though I have though about the mix I'll use for that. After all the armor is done, I'll line the cloth areas, which will most likely remain black to match with the lining color. After all the cloth and armor have been lined, I'll add the arms and weapons. From there, we work on detailing, and then finishing up the bases.

Tau Log - Fire Warrior Squad

I finally started working on my Tau army. I love Tau. The models are beautiful and sharp. The story is awesome. The playstyle seems fun. It's completely different from my Nurgle army (which I still love!). Tau are the opposite of Chaos Space Marines in terms of fluff and style.

I finished modeling the Stormlord, and I wanted to take a break. I'm waiting for some Ebay stuff to come in so I can continue working on the Plague Tower, and so I decided I'd paint up a Fire Warrior squad. The goal with this army is simple: create an awesome looking army that I can pull out and get people to stare. Every model in this unit tells a specific story. Really! Every model is posed in a certain way and for a reason. I went through each model and posed him with a purpose. I based everything before I started modeling. This ensure that the models were setup around the base. Some of the Fire Warriors are walking around rocks on the ground, others are using it to brace themselves as they fire, and finally some are still running into position.

I'm going for the traditional Tau Sept color look (Vomit Brown). I debated going for a simple white them, or some other them, but in the end, I wanted Vomit Brown. So the Fire Warriors are getting built first. I'm still on the bench as far as drones go. I'm not sure how I will use them in the army (though i will use them), so I havent' bothered with them in this unit yet. After they are finished, I start work on my first Devilfish. The Fish will be completley magnetized. The doors will open, the inside will be painted. Seriously, I want this army to look nice. Considering I already have a fully working Nurgle army painted up, I'm not in any rush to get these guys done fast.

Anyways, I've already started painting them. I'll keep you updated!

Tau

A local store today pulled out it's old 40k, Fantasy, and LotR stock and put it on sale at 50% off retail. Needless to say, I've been having a field day. Lots of older models, and it's missing a lot of stuff, but still, the selection is still pretty good. I picked up two Hammerheads and two Tau Battleforces, and tomorrow I'm going back for more. Keep in mind, it's all 50% off. I made the decision to go Tau for several reasons.

1. I wanted a ranged, mobile army. Currently I have a solid Nurgle army which I'm almost finished painting. With my Chaos Space Marines, I also have a lot of Khorne Berzerkers which I can build a Khorne army with lots of Land Raiders and lots of fearsome close combat death. Tau is a comletely different style of army, and something I look forward to playing.

2. I wanted a clean, regimented army that wasn't Imperial. Everyone plays Imperial. I might someday as well, but not today. Tau models are smooth compared to Chaos. The color schemes are precise, bright, and beautiful. The lines are clean, colors smooth, and everything is orderly.

3. I love the vehicles. After all the box-shaped rhinos, the Tau vehicles are beautiful models.

I've been reading over the codex, and I'm pleased. I don't have many unit choices, but I have lots of options. I'm sure certain options are better than others, but I really want to focus on building a themed army so I've been avoiding reading forums and strategems and army lists. At some point I'll dip my head into them, but I'm interested in having a well round Tau force that works the way I want it to (a strong ranged force that will avoid close combat). I want mobility, I want troops, and I want a strong sense of theme. Even my Nurgle army, which is classic plague marines inside tin cans still holds strong to a theme. I can't help it if the options for a Nurgle based army are all essentially strong options.

I have a 1,500 point game against Tyranid tomorrow. One daemon prince with Mark of Nurgle and Warptime, 4 Plague Marine squads of 5 men with meltas and champions with fists, and 2 obliterator squads of 3 obliterators each. Yeah, I know. Meltas against Tyranids!? But I want to try out meltas as I've been going plasma crazy lately and want to see how they feel with my style. I have a feeling my prince is gonna be busy, though.