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OK, so I have only really got back into 40K in the last year or so after a 15 year break, but just like an addict falling off the wagon I have hit the plastic crack pile with reckless abandon and find myself with a pile of minis that are either badly painted Ebay steals or seas of monotonous grey sterility.

Up till now I have enjoyed the gaming aspect more that the painting/modeling, and only paid the barest minimum attention to this part of the Hobby. With the arrival of a small human in my life, I find myself spending more time at home rather than around the gaming table, and as such have decided to take advantage of the situation and try to address this much maligned side of my beloved hobby.

So, in an effort to address the other major hurdle in the way of fully painted army glory (my abject laziness) I have also decided to start a Blog page here tracking my backward efforts at painting and my painful progress to mediocrity.

I'm going to be starting with Tau as they are my current favourites, but will eventually branch out into the other areas of my collection (Tyranids/Space Marines/Imperial Guard/Chaos/Rouge Trader models) if I can keep the initial enthusiasm up.

With that said, the standard I am initially aiming for will be for tabletop gaming, but I more than welcome any advice or criticism that will help me improve as a modeler/painter - just please be gentle, as my ego is as fragile and delicate as the first snowflakes of winter (awwww....)

Tau Stuff

As you can imagine, my laziness knows no bounds - I will add some pictures of my initial efforts when I get around to digging the camera out...

For now though, the color scheme I intend to follow will be 'Urban Tau' - mostly Grey armour plating, black underclothes and yellow accent colours to help them 'pop' (or so I believe the terminology goes). In short, something like this...


Yes, it is essentially painting grey models grey. Yes it is essentially the laziest painting scheme I could think of. Yes I have pots of 'Nuln Oil' I bought on a whim and want to use up. As I said, I'm building up to this gak slowly and am in need of a morale boosting 'easy win' (I am, after all, a Tau player. Ha!)

OK, so this my initial go at the first 6 fire warriors to the color scheme described above...






Process:
Imperial Primer to start, then layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts:
Okay, so my photography needs improvement and the models are bit rough around the edges but I will be pretty happy to plonk these down on the table on a Saturday afternoon. Didn't really do much touching up and the yellow is a bit blotchy so I should probably go back and redo those bits before glazing next time. I also have a smaller brush now so will hopefully get a bit more refinement when adding the wash to areas like the helmet.

Any other C&C most welcome!

This is the second unit i painted - a stealth team. Models were actually Ebay rescue job - they were covered in a thikly painted "artic' theme of black and white, so I just left it and painted over the top




Process:
Model position reset 9arms and torso) for a more interesting pose
Original white and black paint job as undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts:
Tried to be a bit more accurate this time with the yellow - had a hard time getting the yellow to look 'solid' on the barrels, as it just seemed to show the grain of the white underneath? also tried a different basing on these, but think I prefer the urban base look on the previous Fire Warriors so I will probably go back and do this again.

Any other C&C most welcome!

At the risk of destroying my initial enthusiasm by biting off waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I can chew, I have decide to dive right into my first big conversion job and am looking for some advice. I have managed to bag three of these new in the box for the handsome sum of 15 quid (god bless HK discount stores)



Firstly, these guys look pretty awesome on their own, but I really want to Tau them up so I can use them on the tabletop. I was initially going to use them as cheap Broadside bodies and just add the spare rail rifles I have left over from the broadside kit. However, having half built one it is immediately obvious that they are too big - in fact, they stand just a bit shorter than a riptide. So , with that in mind - and being the 'Cheese-tastic Sir Spamalot' of Tau forces that I am - I have decided to make Riptides out of them (because, like every good Tau player, the Hexatide list is a dream worth losing friends over)

My initial idea was to use a spare HBC from another riptide kit, and have him holding it in two hands in a pose not unlike the HRR broadside (aka the 'kick ass' pose). To make it more Tau-like, I am going to replace the head with a Tau head, add some Riptide Jetpacks to the back, and generally add some Riptide armour plating wherever appropriate. I may even add a small vessel for collecting my opponents slauy tears.

Any suggestions on how to make it work? Or alternative looks?

Will update with progress and pictures of bleeding fingers!

Riptide conversion is still WIP, and I am currently trying out some poses in blue tac - will post some images once I have got the arms to work how I want (i.e. not falling off). For now though, here is the third painted item - a Commander model. Another EBay rescue job, this guy came painted red and since I was after a stand out colour piece for the commander I decided to keep it (he is also a handy Farsight 'counts as' too).




No real process with this one, I just tidied him up, added highlighting and shading here and there and then rebased him. Also adjusted the pose a little to make him a bit more dynamic. Eventually I will have to remove the weapons and magnetize them, but that is a task for another day...

I like the grey colour scheme, it's good for Tau. And who doesn't like fighting three riptides? Good stuff so far.

SBG wrote:
I like the grey colour scheme, it's good for Tau. And who doesn't like fighting three riptides? Good stuff so far.

Thanks!

I actually have three Riptides already, so with these conversions it would be six

Still, plenty of guys at the FLGS who like a 'challenge'...

Okay, so some progress made on the Riptide conversion - WIP photos below.






Size wise I think it is ok - the actual riptide is standing at full height, while the new guy is sort of half crouching a bit. The riptide can be modeled almost kneeling anyway, so I don't think I will get any accusations of modeling for advantage

Pretty happy with what is there so far, the only disappointing area is the back due to the lack of detail on the original model. Not quite sure what to do here yet - maybe a drone top for an accelerator module (like broadsides)?

Next up will be to get the heavy burst cannon pose sorted, but the original model arms are too short for the two handed pose, and I cant find spares for the riptide arms online, so I might have to try and knock some longer arms together using straws or something...will keep you posted!

Work on the Riptide has stalled slightly, due to the arms being harder to figure out than I imagined - will update with some pictures when I get something I am happy with.

While I wait for my subconscious to mull it over and come up with a solution, I have cracked on with finishing some kroot. More eBay rescues, a very thick coat of brown gak on these (hence the bargainous price) and some broken / misaligned arms that could not be amended due to their frailty.




Process:
Unknown gak as Primer to start,
layers in Caliban Green / Mournfang Brown / Leadbelcher Grey/ Mephiston red
Caliban Green drybrushed with Flash gitz Yellow
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted dark areas with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts:
Yes, still need to sort out the high contrast in my photography, am working on it! More EBay rescues, so even though paint scheme is basic and a bit rough I will be still be happy to use these on the table on a Saturday afternoon - just another five to go first! A shame the arms couldn't be repositioned as they were too frail and too much glue had been used, maybe if h I have any spares at a later date I will come back and try to redo (but almost certainly not re: laziness)

Okay, so finally some progress made on the Riptide conversion - WIP photos below.

Please excuse the blue tac, just want to make sure the pose and bits are right before starting the pinning and gluing...






Overall I am pretty happy with the pose, maybe the legs could do wit better positioning as he is sort of leaning slightly to one side currently (probably the weight of the gun!). Major issue that held me up was the arms - original model did not have the best or arms so took a while to come up with an alternative (that wasn't just riptide arms). Eventually settled on using spare burst cannon barrels, which I think work well and give it a slightly delicate-gangly look that is quite suitable for the Tau.

I have also added some more bits to make it more tau-like - the shield is a recon drone top, while various other bits come from other models. Added a drone lid to the back as well to try and make it look more interesting.

I really like what your doing with the kitbash Riptide Models, I look forward to seeing how they progress.

 hk1x1 wrote:
I really like what your doing with the kitbash Riptide Models, I look forward to seeing how they progress.

Thanks man - it will take a while to glue and pin him in place (the gundam models joints are rubber too which makes it more difficult to 'set') but next WIP will hopefully be an undercoated completed model ready for painting.

While work slowly progresses on the above Riptide, I have finishes the second half of my Kroot squad - my aim is to get enough units painted to field a decent 1000pt full painted force by the end of this month. We will see how that works out (I'm going to guess........ not well).




Process:
Unknown gak as Primer to start,
layers in Caliban Green / Mournfang Brown / Leadbelcher Grey/ Mephiston red
Caliban Green drybrushed with Flash gitz Yellow
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted dark areas with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts:
More EBay rescues, and again the arms couldn't be repositioned as they were too frail and too much glue had been used, but I will be happy to use them for gaming so they go straight in to the fully painted force (Wohoo! 60pts done!)

As work on the Riptide is a bit slow, my mind has started to wander already and I am eyeing up the next project.

I have once more been down to my local friendly discount store and picked up another Gundam bargain - this time a larger scale model, with the intention of turning it into a Tau 'counts as' knight (because everyone else is in on the Knight action and I don't want to be left of out of the cheese fest). Behold the Gundam Ez-SR!



A bargain at $20/15 Quid, the plan is to Tau it up in the usual manner (add Tau head, shield, support systems, fins, etc) while replacing the arm weapon with an under slung Ion Cannon from a hammerhead. The model comes with a light saber-esque CCW weapon so I will probably stick with this on the other arm, or possibly use the blades to make some sort of oversize claw (not sure which is more tau like so will experiment with both). The model is a bit shorter than a Imperial Knight overall (about 2 inches) so I will try to put it on base with some suitable terrain to bump it up and avoid accusations of modeling for advantage.

My enthusiasm my well end up getting the better of me, but I will try to remain focused and get some of these projects completed rather than having a box full of half finished junk

I built myself a giant Tau Battlesuit once, although mine was more Titan than knight.
Which is why I love seeing project's like this, so I look forward to seeing what you do with that Gundam .

I find motivation can be a problem sometimes when working on models this big, my collection is full of unfinished projects.
But on the plus side it means there's always something to come back to, if my enthusiasm for the current project starts to falter .

Thanks! I am going to start building his torso and legs this weekend, just to check how much shorter than a standard knight he is (I think maybe two inches). To bump his height up, I have a pile of old 2nd edition Space Marines models that I am thinking of modeling on the base as a pile of corpses for him to be stood atop

Possibly a bit too grimdark for the Tau, but hey - for the greater good by any means!

Have started building the above Gundam for the knight, but already have the feeling it is too small even with an base boost - have only done the legs thus far but it may end up being more Riptide sized (will post a comparison photo when done). If so, I will have to move up tot he next scale of Gundam I think (1:100 as opposed to the 1:144 above) and try to find out the actual model height before purchase this time!

Anyway, as that progresses I have also started on that bane of most tau players painting - drones! Actually quite easy and quick, especially if just for gaming standard, and it makes a bit difference to the way the boys look in the table, so below are the first 6 Marker Drones.




Process:

Imperial Primer for undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts: First time I have used transfers since giving up trying to do space marine shoulders about a year ago (urgh!) but it was actually a lot easier on these drones as the top is a gentle curve. Painted the edges to try and hide the transfer edging, and the matt glaze also helps to appear less 'shiny'.

So they are done, and I don't usually use more than that in a game - now to start the 21 gun drones

Alas, my fears have been confirmed - the Gundam is far too short to be a Knight, he is pretty much the same size as a Riptide...



Still, I guess you can never have too many? I will finish the other Burst Cannon Riptide conversion first, but eventually I think this guy might make a nice Y'vahra conversion (the flying-but-not-really-flying one?). The slim build on the body profile on this gundam makes it look like it actually could leap buildings in a single bound, etc, rather than the FW model with the awful jetpack carbuncle on its back (plus it will save me the pain and expense of a foreword model

Anyway, back in the 'to do' box with him for now.

More drones completed - 6 gun drones to add to the mix.



Process:

Imperial Primer for undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts: To help speed up the painting (sooo many drones left) I have been dry brushing the highlights before glazing. While this has been okay on the other models so far it doesn't seem to quite work on the drone edges. I might consider doing proper highlights for the remaineder, but I would refer you to early references to laziness and once more iterate 'soooo many drones'....

Yay, distraction time!

With the drone painting being very laborious work, I have been back to my local friendly discount store and once more spotted a contender for the Knight Conversion idea - see below!



Behold the Hail Buster Gundam! This chap was a bargainous $15 US / 10 Quid, and a quick check beforehand showed that he should be just the right scale this time (just over 20cm tall) to be a proper knight. I've done a quick photoshop below it the original image to show how the colour scheme might be done to match my Tau Sept scheme, as well as jotted down a few initial ideas on the conversion. Any further ideas most welcome!

Riptide and knight are on a slight hiatus, as I have some painting I need to do to some key units for an upcoming campaign. As soon as I've got that done, I will be back to the kit bashing

In the meantime - more drones completed, 9 more gun drones to add to the mix.




Process:

Imperial Primer for undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts: As mentioned in the last post, I have been dry brushing the highlights before glazing for time saving purposes. Again it doesn't seem to quite work on the drone edges, but I don't have it in me to make the gun drones look much better than this at the mo. Maybe when I get around to some of the more specialty drones I will make the effort

At last, some progress with the Riptide conversion!

I have finally found a few spare hours and gotten around to gluing it together, as well as adjusting the pose and changing some of the details around to make him look a bit more Tau-ish. WIP photos below:









So some of the jointing is a bit ropey to say the least (lots of glue used, I didn't have time to do proper pinning it or anything) and some bits could have been modelled better (the arms are a bit too gangly and the rear is awful, but then so is the actual riptide's) but considering it is my first major conversion attempt I am pretty happy. The pose is pretty much what I wanted it to be, and I think the accessories help to make it feel very Tau overall.

Next up will be priming ready for painting, where I will attempt to put a definite Tau stamp on it once and for all.

Any C&C most welcome!

I want to try out an ethereal in an upcoming game, but having baulked at the prices for what can only be described as 'underwhelming' official models I have decided to do my own kit-bashed from various bits. WIP pictures below:

Parts used - Elf mage Body, some sort of elf spear, fire warrior arms/head/accessories.

Starting bits

Elf Icons shaved off

Arms filed down to fit

Head and Knife added

Spear tips trimmed back and some accessories added

Finished model - Rear

Front

Size comparison - fire warrior


It looks a bit rough around the edges but hopefully that will be covered up in the painting. Overall I am happy with it (especially when in cost a fraction of the official models price and imo looks better) but there are a few bits I am not happy with. The way he is holdng the spear is a bit off, and I will look to change that on the next one. I will also have to cover up up the feet with basing material (i.e. rubble) or just remove them entirely and have the robes come down to the floor.

Anyway, will get him painted up quickly and then on with the riptide!

Riptide and knight are still on a hiatus - more units needed doing for the campaign.

As it is, 12 pathfinders now completed and ready for marker light goodness.






Process:

Imperial Primer for undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts: Pretty happy with these guys, they didn't take long and fit well look wise with the other units that I have finished so far. I have tried a dark background in the photos for the first time, trying to avoid the high contrast I get with the other images. I think it helps, it has also inspired me to maybe do a few photos with these guys in an urban terrain setting if I have time. Will post here if I do.

Next up, my first vehicle.....

ok, so I found the courage to take on a new scale of challenge and moved on to my first vehicle - the mighty Hammerhead!

It is another eBay rescue - a bargain at 3 quid, but in a pretty sorry state, hence the bodged SMS drones and turret hatch. The rail gun was also mounted on the wrong side, and had to be split apart and put back together making it look a bit wonky. It was also covered in black gak to boot, and some of the model construction was a bit ropey (i.e. back hatch) but anyway - rescue effort below:







Process:

Black gak for undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and dry brushed/highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Transferred added
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts: Again quite happy to plonk this down on the tabletop - not incredible detail, and if you look closely you can see where I started highlighting but bottled it and went back to dry brushing all over. I also decide at the last minute to give the transfers a go (I still have a fear of these things after trying and failing so many times to use them on space marine pauldrons) and really glad that I did. They were much easier to apply to a vehicle and just a little bit of extra detail.

Nice eye-catching colour scheme. The Ethereal kitbash is awesome

I agree. Nice kitbashing.

Foamy248 wrote:Nice eye-catching colour scheme. The Ethereal kitbash is awesome

StarDrop wrote:I agree. Nice kit bashing

Thanks Guys, very kind of you to say so

More progress in the kit bashing department - I have now sprayed the riptide ready for painting - WIP photos below:







The paint scheme will be similar to the rest of the Tau, an urban grey theme with yellow accent colour but probably more black as well in the mechanics/joints, etc. A lot of the detail will have to be painted on this guy too (such as armour segments and Tau'va symbols) so I expect it to be a much longer job than the usual (getting my excuses for lack of progress in there nice and early )

That's coming along nicely, now its one color all the different parts blend together.

Looking forward to seeing it painted.

Okay, so as you might have noticed I dropped of the radar for a while there with this blog - alas I have gotten into another gaming system in the last few months (the excellent Bolt Action) and have been enjoying it immensely, to the determent of my Tau . However, that has now culminated in a tournament in which I took second place (woohoo!) and now I have some time free to spend back in the grimdark

As such, there is more impotence to come back to 40K as a tournament approaches for this too, in which I want to field my Tau as they are by far the most painted of my armies, so I will be trying to get some extra units up and running to complete my 1000pt list and give it some flexibility in terms of options. So, below are my first fully painted crisis suits - as you will see, one is a solo fusion suit/commander stand in with twin fusion blasters while the other two are actually old broadside models sans rail guns on shoulders (with the new models looking so awesome and already having 12 of them I think these are now better employed as missile pod crisis suits). Both are yet again Ebay rescues (commander has no feet, cunningly trying to hide it with rubble and a space marine corpse).






Process:

Black gak for undercoat
Layers in Russ Grey / FlashGitz Yellow (with white undercoat) / Abbadon Black
The given a Nuln Oil wash and dry brushed/highlighted with Ulthuan Grey.
Transferred added
Finished with a matt glaze from Vallejo

Thoughts: Again quite happy to plonk these down on the tabletop - not incredible detail, and they are a bit ropey around the edges. I also decide to give the transfers another go, and while they haven't come out amazinvly well I am once again glad that I did for the little bit of extra detail.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 hk1x1 wrote:
That's coming along nicely, now its one color all the different parts blend together.

Looking forward to seeing it painted.

Thanks man! Again it is going to go on the back burner for a few weeks as I get stuff ready for the tournament, as well as awaiting the new codex to see if there are any required further modeling options