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This being the only painting and modeling blog I actually follow I can't wait to see the painting of the newer things.

Cant wait to see how you paint that riptide.

Need more updates!!!! I am loving the work you are doing!

I'm sorry to have left you guys hanging. I took a little break from the painting and modelling. Haven't made much progress but I imagine I'll be getting back to it soon.
I thought I'd share my thoughts and plans on a couple things.

The RIptide:
I actually never had a problem with the tiny head. It makes the model look that much larger.
However, I unintentionally found alternatives whilst fiddling with spare bits from the Razorshark kit.
The "Networked Markerlight" bit pissed me off. Our tanks have a very similar looking bit which is clearly NOT a networked markerlight. It USED to be a targeting array, but since GW decided the army most dependent on shooting doesn't need decent BS, it's pretty much a superfluous bit.
So I stuck it on my Ripetide's head. Voila! A head that's not too large, not too small, and appropriately Tau-looking.


But then I noticed that the Sunshark kit comes with two different cockpit bits. The one with the Air Caste symbol is supposed to go on the Sunshark, and the smaller one on the Razorshark. Well screw that. I plan to use the Razorshark and I want the Air Caste symbol on the cockpit.
So I slapped the smaller cockpit on the RIpetide's head... And fell in love.

I then applied glue and this is now my Ripetide's official head.

The Cadre Fireblade.
I really wanted to love this character, but it seems an Ethereal is not only cheaper, but better in nearly every conceivable way. Fireblatt bonuses only apply to the squad he's in, rather than having a bubble effect like the Ethereal.
But because I loved the concept, I had to try owning one. Refusing to buy such an outrageously overpriced polished turd, I resolved to make my own. When comparing my turd to a polished turd, mine is almost as good and a lot cheaper. Most importantly, it is WYSIWYG.

He's got the Markerlight on the gun, He's got his Bonding Knife, he's got his photon grenades... He's even got an extra shoulder guard to look a bit more bulky. Case closed. I may never play with one anyway.

This Drone is whatever the crap I need it to be. Gravity? Pulse Accelerator? Homing Beacon?


Homemade Marker Drones. Take a Gun Drone, clip one barrel, clip the recoil stabilizers, clip the ammo clip off the stocks. There it is.


Homemade Sniper Drones. I actually play with sniper drones now. These are even more insanely overpriced than the Fireblatt.


Firesight Marksmen. I wasn't going to attempt to build their silly video arcade machine. That thing makes them look ridiculously stationary, for a unit that is great on the move. So I modeled on the essentials.
They have a pulse pistol with a mounted markerlight. Drone controllers are the remotes in their hands... That's all they need to be Firesight Marksmen!


Personally I love that their pistol/markerlight looks like the radar gun policemen use to clock speeding vehicles.

I will get back to the project. I'll paint my Riptide as gloriously as I can manage, and stay tuned for how I figure out how to paint Air instead of Fire on my Air Caste Razorshark.

Once again, I apologize for taking a break from the project. The P&M bug has bitten me once again so I decided to finish up the riptide while the mood lasts.

We'll start with the head.



I thought I'd give it a cylon eye just because that works with a hemi-elliptical window. I thought I'd paint the whole thing the same firebright pattern that I have on my Shas'uis... But then I've also been wanting to put those cool digital tattoo patterns on my army. So I created an off-center seam, such as found on Fire Warrior helmets. Gave the Narrow side the tattoo:



and the wider side firebright pattern.



With the enlarged jetpack I see two big, flatish surface just begging for some sort of pattern drawn on. On the left one, I scribbled flames, one emerging from each jet. The right one is just overlapping red stripes.



As I mentioned earlier, when I first saw that shield my first thought was that it's shaped like a fireball, depending on how you position the vanes. (Which, by the way, can be glued anywhere around the rim of the shield... I'm getting ideas if I get another Riptide!) So I had to make the fireball shield:



The front foot has just stomped a concrete slab... (I just now thought it might be cool to have the remains of a SM Terminator under the foot?)



I wanted to show the legs and the asymmetrical patterns thereon. Firebright pattern on the left thigh. I would be a crime to not decorate such a beautiful sculpture at every opportunity. (Within reason... And the laws of appropriate color distribution.)



Heavy Burst Cannon



Ion Accelerator



Well that's all for now. I'm thinking I'll get at least one more Riptide. I feel like the Farsight Supplement is closer to what I want with my army, so I could have Crisis Suits as Troops and use Riptides as Elites... We'll see.
For now, I'm mostly done with my Skyray... Odd pattern on the hull. Can't wait to show ya'll!

I love the head on the riptide, and I'm really impressed with the way your flames "pop" - they have a beautiful look of being bright, but also with depth of colour.
Awesome stuff!

The head makes me think of War of the Worlds. Very alien and intimidating.

Wow, as if my orks needed to be even MORE afraid of playing Tau, now they know these badasses are out there it's just all over! I've always thought traditional tau colors were pretty bland- you have worked beautiful, colorful magic. Standing ovation, sir.

Thanks a lot guys!

Dark Apostle 666: Perhaps I should churn out a P&M tutorial on my method of painting flames and that 'hot surface' effect... I don't see much of those effects, but they can be done with any color.

skink007: I'm overjoyed to hear that. Alien and intimidating is what I was hoping for. At times I doubt whether the head looks consistent with other battle suits... Then I remember that it's a Tau bit after all, and the style is seen on all Tau cockpits. It does kinda look like a Pacific Rim Jaeger and Robocop had a baby though... Oh well. Suits me.

DaisyWonderCow: Cover your Orks' eyes! Can't have those Lootas getting ideas. This is like porn for them! (Fun fact: at the battle of Arkunasha, when the Orks destroyed a Tau vehicle, they'd put out the fires with buckets rusty dirt creating accidental camouflage, before looting and repurposing the vessel. Very frustrating for the Tau!)
And I agree about Tau typically being somewhat drably colored. I've always thought all those smooth, flat Tau surfaces were underutilized. So much room to be creative with!

Damn. Your Tau and my Tau need to get together and make some crazy looking and obnoxiously colored alien babies. Seriously, loving your work on these. While most will compliment you on the sick flames, I'm most impressed by the use of abstract shapes that both break up and reinforce the structural lines of the models. I might steal one or two ideas from your Riptide's paint job to add to my own army.

You are a lot more ambitious than I am. My freehand is actually quite good for basic stuff, but you have gone beyond what I consider basic, and into the realm of awesome.

I tip my hat to you good sir.

Pretty hard thread necromancy there, you got me all exited :(

How is it that I never posted pics of my Skyray?!