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I have been thinking of getting into tau for a while but i have a problem, i dont like the battlesuit models. I love the fire warrior and devilfish chassis models and have already went ahead and purchased a few. The only problem is i need a commander model and at least 3 broadsides. I like the forgeworld ones but buying these is very much a last resort, as is 'count as' from the rackham etc lines of miniatures (mainly because of expense). Has anyone seen or done any scratchbuilds or serious mods to the models to make battlesuits that look awesome.

My main gripes:
The spindly legs.
The jetpack, it is bulky but doesnt have a high enough thruster ratio, i.e. i would want a heck of alot of articulating thrusters.
The stoopid box-arms and clip on weapons, i like the forgeworld idea of slotting 'em in.
The disconected head, it's neck is far too long and looks like it would snap off easy, i would want armour around the neck and/or it mounted 'deeper' into the torso.

Things that would look neato:
Weapons mounted in a similar way to the sarcophagus weapons on the Forgeworld ironclad.
Abdominal and knee mounted ramjets or Iron man style 'force-stabilisers'
Spindly arms capable of manual tasks, thinking maybe the destroyer arms from the necron range?

A final favour:
Could anyone give me the x (shoulder width) and y (top of head, not including antenna) dimensions of the existing suit model?

So anyone seen/done anything that looks cool?

I believe the should to shoulder to shoulder measurement is 3.5 cm, and the actual shoulders are (from the side) are a little over 1/4" wide

The head is about 7/16" by 5/16"

I've seen beefed up crisis suits, I'm personally fine with how they are now (more than fine actually) but I think it could look cool if done right.

Sorry i meant full height of the model up to the top of the head.

Bleh, sorry.

The height can very depending on the pose you put them in... standing straight up they are about 2"

To fix the heads you could do something like what Ian did here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/291790.page

Somethin like this?

I used a tutorial to make this guy. Few minor changes to the original design is all. I can maybe find it again?



Almost always have to pin the ankles at one point in the models life, this guy has his arms pinned to. Not as sleek as the forgeworld models for sure. I have only 2 like this, I ran outta spare parts.

Here a thread from yesterday asking the same question:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/350327.page

LoL epic fail on my part.... Guess i ran out of origianl thread ideas....

If you check my Galleries and the thread in my sig, I have done several varients on the head, torso, and legs of Crisis suits, so check them out, and if i can answer any questions I would be happy to oblige.

sluggaslugga wrote:Somethin like this?

That's an elite from halo...

Sounds to me like you want Iron Man...

Soladrin wrote:

sluggaslugga wrote:Somethin like this?

That's an elite from halo...

It's a ranger class elite, I know but it could work as tau too... With some conversions like straighter legs, or a more humanoid shape on it.

If you're looking for cheap but good looking alternatives, maybe consider a conversion like this one? http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/tau-empire/98660-my-tau-xv23-battlesuit-conversion.html

You need to perch the suits on rocks or a suitably high piece of scenery to compensate for height however.