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The Tau army really appeals to me. I like the fluff, gaming style, and the entire model range with the one glaring exception of the Crisis suit. Without going into the list of reasons why I don't like it point is I decided to make my own battlesuit instead. Used some pieces from the XV8 and combined them with one suit I really DO like: the XV25.

I have yet to designate a number for it so until I figure out the pattern for naming battlesuits (anyone know?) I just call it bigfoot.





Here is a breakdown of the bits. Everything with the exception of the small "toe" can be found in the respective sets. Small toe was made from a bit of plastic snipped from one of the sprues.



Feel free to imitate, expand, or improve upon. I'm sill a little iffy on the feet so if someone comes up with a different version let me know.

Will post painted pics once I get there

I cannot say that i like the size of the feet compared to the rest of the body. They just seem waay too big for such a small suit. Not really familiar with any of the tau models, so i don't really have much of a different option.

Bigfoot is right. Too right IMO.

Yea, trim the feet a tad.

Neat idea, though.

I would take off the ends of the toes.

Give it bunneh ears and the big feet will be fine!

That is one of the ugliest models i've ever set my eyes on, the proportions are just wrong.

I don't mind it, I second all the "trim the feet" comments.

Biggest issue I see is the scale of it, it is much smaller thna a standard Crisis Suit, so you could be seen as "modelling for an advantage" from a LOS perspective and the ability to get cover.

i quite like it, but then i don't have an issue with the xv8 so its swings and roundabouts i suppose

I just came back from messing with the feet to see all these WTF THE FEET comments

I had decided to scrap the toes and work the back of the foot instead. Simple addition of some vents from the crisis jetpack. I feel like the lower half needs some bulking out from the initial model or the whole thing just looks top heavy. That's also why I use shoulder pads to make the thighs larger.



Here is a work in progress of two guns on one arm:





@ Mattlov: Good point, I thought of that too, which is why they'll either be on flying bases or raised bases to at least the height of a crisis suit. It's a little less wide than a crisis shoulder to shoulder (unless the crisis weapons are under the arms or back mounted in which case it's the same width) and the 25 is almost exactly as deep as the 8 from front to back, so once I base them properly it should come out pretty close.

@ glowgos: Proportion accuracy? I think you're in the wrong game buddy.



Fear my battlesuit's power feet!

Anyway, they may be fugly but I like 'em

Happy gaming!

I wouldnt really say its modeling for benefit if he has the suits up in the air to be around the same height of a standard battlesuit. Because with the arms from the xv8 on there, its probably close to the same width.

You should undersling the weapons, like the way they sit on the unmodified XV25 chasis. Loving the way this is turning out, although I don't know whether the hard edges of the shoulders maybe need disguising. Maybe with drone heads sitting on the angular edge, or even more shoulder pad goodness.

I like it.

I like it, it looks like how I'd go about making Crisis suits if I ever reinvested in a Tau army - though I would agree with the comment about underslinging the weapons.

Personally, I was just planning on using the Steal Suit mostly unmodified as a Crisis Suit, and using the old metal ones as my actual Stealth Suits.

Aduro:

Not to hijack the thread, but having had similar thoughts, I was wondering about the arms on an XV-25 - can they mount weapons on the underside of each arm? Are those mounts compatible with XV-8 weapons?

I was thinking the mounting on the Jetpack as perfect for a "behind-the-head" Missile Pack, and then mount sensors directly to the helmet. Bunny ears, as an earlier posted said (plus to play up a certain Khornishness).

The right and left arms are different for the stealth suits. The right arm, which is intended for the gun, has no visible hand, it's fully enclosed, while the left arm is armored on the outside, leaving a visible hand on the inside. The left arm is actually a tad bigger than the right however.

The guns they pack normally are the same size as the Crisis Suit versions, so I wouldn't see a problem just putting whatever weapons you wanted on them. I thought about a behind the head missile rack attached to the side of the jet pack myself as well.

The only real problem I see with the idea is height/size. While I could make them bigger, I wouldn't want to because I like their current "dude in a suit" proportions now. The shortness doesn't bother me, but I'm sure you'll run across people who'll try to say you're just doing it to get better cover or hide more easily. I'd probably do with them what I did with my Destroyers, and make every third one in flight, so the unit can't hide behind a low hill.

I like it a lot. But do make it the standard height and width if you can, I think that's really important for good counts-as.
- Height should be easy, either a bulky scenic base or a flying stand.
- Width is harder. Adding some bulk to the shoulder joints would be easy, but further hurt the proportions if this represents a guy with his actual arms in the suit arms. And underslung weapons (which I agree would look better) will unfortunately also reduce the width :(

I did try underslinging the weapons, problem is there's not enough clearance between the thigh and the arm with the XV8 arms to do it unless the gun is pointing up in the air.

@ Nurglitch: The 25 doesn't have the little slots for the pegs on the weapons so you have to shave down the pegs and then glue it flush with the underarm. Not hard at all, and as Aduro said they are the same weapons so it should look fine. The only problem I would see is that the left arm is more straight, so your left gun might be sticking into the ground if you mount a gun on it and then try to put your model in a "casual" stance. Haven't tried it yet though so you might find it works. The missile pod is actually a bit large to be put on the jetpack mount of the XV25. I think it looks pretty good with an over-the-shoulder though if you don't mind using 2 pods.

I'm not satisfied with the flamer on this one yet, but look at the missile mount to see what I'm talking about:





Hope that helps, good luck with your conversion!

That over-the-shoulder Twin-Linked Missile pod looks good. I like it. It might be something to have a Flamethrower on each arm since duplicates default to Twin-Linked anyways.

I just bumped the flamer down a notch so it's attached to the top one instead of the bottom and it looks way better. I'll use your two handed approach on the next one I do to get some variation in the squad.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh also I think you could get away with using the two pods without having to count them as twin-linked provided you tell opponent beforehand. Mine aren't twin, I just thought it looked weird with only one.

In regards to the model, I think it looks good, nice and original, although the weapons maybe look a bit unwieldy. But in a game of fairly bad proportions even in the stock GW stuff, it's fine by me

In regards to the name of it, in the Tau codex under the Stealthsuit profile, theres a little box about the new Stealthsuit designed and tested by Shadowsun that describes the numbering system.

Basically, the first number "indicating the suit's mass class, the second indicating that it is undergoing field testing".

So since it's a count-as Crisis suit, go for a XV-82?

Edit: In the case of an xv-88 (Broadside) I can only imagine the second 8 refers to the role it plays in combat/weapon load, which in both cases, is Heavy Support.

Love the idea, it gives the armour values real meaning, something that big should not have a +3 armour save.

I'm having a really hard time trying to be "impressed" with these "conversions" solely because it's like a kitbash. It's like if I took cadians and WHFB marauders and stuck them together and tada! I mean it's a stealth suit with Crisis Legs arms (I guess?) and weapons and weird feet.

Sorry if I come off as insulting it's just very underwhelming. I would suggest upping the size and changing the head. I think you will confuse a lot of people because it really look WAY to much like a stealth suit. Without your diagram thing I would have said that you stuck crisis weapons only on a stealth suit. The backpack missile launcher is quite cool though.

http://advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15104&sid=bf9fcee4fe670b432a371597743248f4&p=187847

I mean look at this kitbashed. Does it look like a crisis? Not that much anymore. Neither does it look like a stealth suit.

This one especially impresses me: http://tauonline.org/index.php?content=browse&cat=convers_guides&army=TU&article=616

A conversion to the head and jumpack would really go a long way. I tried not to be to negative but I just wanted to throw my opinion out there.

Its a Stealthsuit. With big arms and feet. Congrats.

I like it. Had a problem with the feet like others as I looked at your first few posts but you solved that in a way better than I would have though you could have.

if you like it then use it.....

@ EzeKK: I guess I don't see why it's a bad thing to piece two kits together? I mean it's simple to do and can be effective. Anyway, not insulted at all, I appreciate the suggestion about fixing up the jetpack. Going to try it and see how it looks. I would like to point out though that it's supposed to look more like an XV25 than an XV8. Those are some really neat conversions but they're still basically crisis suits. Like I said, I don't like the 8 so if my product comes across looking like a modded crisis then there's really no point in changing it to begin with. I like the XV25 a lot and thus it's supposed to look more like a modified 25 than anything else.

Actually this brings up a point in general to anyone replying: I'm not asking for a pass or fail judgment. Since it's my project idea I obviously think it's headed in a good direction. I merely posted the photos to throw out a suggestion to anyone else looking for an alternative to the XV8 and to get some ideas (since this is after all a modeling forum). If you have something to contribute awesome, if you don't then you're just bumping the post for no reason.

Shas'o Nom Nom wrote:Actually this brings up a point in general to anyone replying: I'm not asking for a pass or fail judgment. Since it's my project idea I obviously think it's headed in a good direction. I merely posted the photos to throw out a suggestion to anyone else looking for an alternative to the XV8 and to get some ideas (since this is after all a modeling forum). If you have something to contribute awesome, if you don't then you're just bumping the post for no reason.

Welcome my friend, to the World Wide Web!

Nice work. I always find different interpretations of the Tau models interesting.

One possible avenue of inspiration is to check out Dawn of War Dark Crusade. The Tau commander in that is in a 'suit that looks like the XV-25 (or maybe Shadowsun's XV-22) and has Crisis Suit class weapons on it. By the end of the game you end up with a fusion plaster, plasma rifle and missile pods on both shoulders...

Here is an example image.