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Hey Nerd, if your looking for tau stuff make sure to check out paulsongames.com. He has some nice not-tau weapons he's been doing or a while. Also if needed I have a tau super heavy walker and some small stuff I might be willing o part with.

I naturally gravitate towards cartoony... but weathered and worn might be rather novel.

Yeah, but Gits starts with a B&W Donald Duck cartoon and turns it into something Pixar created

Thats a toughy. Simply because Tau are typically neat freaks so clean is usually where they go as far as looks. And it looks good. The problem is thats also....how Tau usually look. ERmm......................clean?

I vote clean, all those edges and panels just scream for highlights.

Well I was going to post up a picture of Eva 01 (green and purple for those who don't know) with some damage and then say "It's possible to do anime clean style with battle damage" But can I find a picture to illustrate that? No.

However I will still say that it may be possible to do clean anime style with subtle damage/wear to make it look that bit more realistic.

Well, we have some thinking to do don't we I truly know I can blitz a clean look, but I also love doing things just a little different to not only test myself but hopefully inspire others as well so then they can do other work that in turn inspires me! at this stage I am thinking a slightly weathered look but use my strong highlight work on the higher edges as the model gets higher above the action?

this Tau diversion will in no way impede my Guard too! I love working on them and I can see myself enjoying playing them when i learn how! and there's always more models and heads I can use to get inspired nearly every day! in fact I'm about to go order my NVG heads for my Storm Trooper conversions and i just ordered a bunch of Elysian troopers just for the arms I can use! (so if anyone wants the bodies just ask)

@Theophony: hey dude, what things might you have lying around i could potentially take off your hands? any pics you could throw me?

I am now going to go and try and do some Marbo work and hopefully prime John McClane if the rain stops! then I am going to remove the boiled pineapple fruit cake i just made from the oven, let it cool and have a few slices and a coffee while i jump back on dakka and see what's happening! hopefully i have another update

OMG, pineapple cake sounds awesome!

Even baking now, this blog really is becoming quite diverse.

Nerd what do you do for a living! This is quite the life you do lead, casual pineapple cake and coffee mid wednesday morning followed by dakka, followed by painting, to say I'm envious is putting it mildly!

I think the bit more realistic look of the bottom half sounds like a good plan, maybe not too cartoony on the top, otherwise it might end up looking a little odd!

Also Pm inc!

 dsteingass wrote:
OMG, pineapple cake sounds awesome!

The fat guy in me is screaming right now


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Oh BTW I got my Commander finished AND converted a lasgun into a sweet shotgun for my Vet Sgt. Progress and all that jazz

@nerdfest, here are pics of the tau I have, never really started on them.

Devilfish, 3 stealth suits, and 3 sprues of fire warriors, bag of bits including hammerhead rail gun and ion cannon, other bits as well. Not sure if there are gun drones or not (including for the devil fish) as its been a long time since I looked for them.
Also available

Tau super heavy walker. Legs are held together by plastic rod right now, you can change the angels still. I did pin the top together, it comes in two pieces, but is something your skills could easily remedy if needed. The big guns rotate still and the rod you see going all the way through it is just to keep it all together. It was shipped to me from chapterhouse studio with the barrels of the burst cannons busted, so I replaced them with metal rod to the same length.

Let me know if your interested and I'll make you a deal.

Well, firstly i need to give props to the Pineapple fruit cake! that moist rich bad boy kept me going today! warm and coated in butter it was lucky i was lounging in my Pajamas's listening to sevendust while I drank my coffee and painted all afternoon! I know, I know, most of you are feeling pretty sorry for me right about now! it was a hard day! but sadly for me I'm back at work tomorrow night so i can't rub it in until next week!

@Theophony if you're willing to sell me the Tau models (don't need the big ass walker though ) send me a PM and we'll sort something out dude! cheers for the offer!

I may have to take some pics of the cake just to tease the fat man in KC! (I hear he ate him for breakfast)

Now i can show you some of my work from today's relax-fest I got 'ol Brucey baby assembled and started painting him up, as well as nearly finished Marbo too! one more session and they both should be done next week
first up is bruce aka Pask aka John McClane aka Mr awesome



and now for Marbo, much happier with his skin this time he looks a lot smoother now rather than last attempt!



yeah I'm gonna go and have another slice of cake

Altho i thought the last rendition was lovely, i have to agree that the 'new improved' rambo, is just that, the paint looks alot smoother, a fine job! As for brucey, he has biceps as big as his head! he truely is a beast! I like it!

I think a picture of said cake would be more than appropriate, its definitely hobby related.... definitely....

I threatened and it was delicious!




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Lol, Oh J-paint, how could Bruce be anything BUT a monster! it actually doesn't look quite as bad in person though but the depth of field kind of mucks it up a bit! lets hope I can work out how to get some nicer pics of them next time.

LOL! Bruce is a dead-ringer! AMAZING! SO is that cake! /drool

You know... I was just fine with the first Marbo... but you're right, this one's better.

I know gits! and i haven't done his nipples yet for you..*grumble*

Hot gak, those minis are looking good. Bruce puts a smile on my face. Even if he were blowing up my own tanks, I couldnt hate the guy...I mean, its Bruce frigging Willis



And that cake is killing me. Youre a bastard and other insults and so on.

I say cartoony color scheme, but with (somehow cartoony) weathering to go along with it for the riptide

Glad you put the extra models to good use, can't wait to see them all painted up!

I find it mildly amusing how one of Bruce's arms is lager than the other... what's the internet speed like on Catachan?

Must be blistering

His arm is longer from reaching out and choking people that made fun of his arm

 dsteingass wrote:
His arm is longer from reaching out and choking people that made fun of his arm

Lol ain't that the truth! it's also handy so he can stay in his cupola and just reach over the side and push enemies under the tracks of his Punisher!

Imperial Guardsmen. Just admire their awesomeness, dont look at how badly proportioned they really are.

Nice marbo nerd great action oriented pose, like he's sprinting for the end zone. 2 point conversion!!

 nerdfest09 wrote:
So, no paint today but I got a package from Battle Brother lucifer with 20 more Guardsmen and he kindly threw in enough other parts I can make another command squad! which I duly got around to doing so I assembled and added some parts as well as worked on my counts as Pask! John McClane

The IG are looking good. The command squad especially. I can't wait to see the Pentinents join them sometime in the near future, either..

Now i do have a rather important question for you all you may have heard I might have ordered myself a Riptide suit it hasn't arrived yet so I'm working on my colour and style for it, but this is where I have hit a snag I think colour wise I want to use the green I did my sallies in with brighter highlights, purple lenses and white accents. but style wise i'm torn between doing the crisp cartoon style I painted my landraider and Baal pred in or a weathered style like my tanks? I've not seen many weathered Tau models and it always is striking, but i know i can do a really clean bright anime with a clean style?

so what are your suggestions?
Cartoon and clean


Or weathered and worn.

What about a little from column A and a little from Column B?

What I mean is - essentially cartoon and clean uppers, but with mud, dirt, weathering and scratches on the lower parts of the model. (and a bit of dust and grime in the upper, but not heavily). Like someone took a Gundam straight out of the factory and into Afghanistan.

I do have another blasphemous idea for tau too I like to find aftermarket parts for my armies (no suprise there) if i ever do a force I was considering using the promethius bride heads as my Tau bare heads and the watcher helmets for some too? will this be looked upon with distaste or approval? I know the way i can do the different heads will be individual and look good, but I'm afraid they will then take away something that is integral to the Tau theme and appearance?

Since the whole "thing" about Tau is their assimilation of other races, there's no reason a good chunk of your force couldn't be "Prometheus Brides" who have joined your Tau State (or whatever they're called) and have been equipped with the same armour as the regular fire warriors. They could even be a "related race" (personal fluffwise) to the regular Tau to explain why they also have funny feet and the wrong number of fingers. (since every other race in the galaxy is clearly related to humans with their 5-fingered hands and flat 5-toed feet)




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 Theophony wrote:
I think he needs a mini scale version of the plastic six pack ring holders. Because ou know he's already opened up the canS of whoop .

The first time I read this post it made me think... and now I feel I need to post it.



You've gotta do it! I actually started one myself (there's a catachan torso MADE for this) but sadly I never finished it and have lost it somewhere between moves. Add a goateed Mad Robot head, and you're set!

Oh Stone Cold.....you were my childhood

Thanks Azazelx, you've hit two good points there, the weathering on my Tau i believe I shall approach them as if they've recently made planetfall and have suffered minor damage and battle scars, more dusty than dirty from shrapnel and making their way through ruined cities and the heads I reckon I'll leave the standard helmets but after looking at the brides heads again there doesn't seem to be any reason they wouldn't also wear them due to the shape of their head being swept back

The second thing is I now HAVE to make a Stone Cold! I can't let that go wanting now can I! although personally I liked Val Venis, but I think a guy wearing purple undies and carrying a towel is a bit of a stretch even for 40k, mind you I could say he's a Catachan having a swim on a casual deathworld?

Doesn't look like any paint from me today I have to make a birthday cake for a workmates sons 4th birthday I do enjoy making them though, I've done a couple for her in the past and they got good reviews but I'll see if i can get it done and do some more Marbo work, i really want to finish him and move onto Bruce and his tanks!

Oh and I hopefully will be watching the Hobbit today finally it's out for sale for about $20 at the supermarket so I've instructed the NerdWench to grab me a copy so i can watch it when she goes to bed tonight

You haven't seen it yet? WTF? I'd ask if you've been living on the other side of the planet, which you have, but it was made on an island nearby