Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Great Googly Moogly im back!

Too long of a hiatus. I have been productive but just not posting. For shame...

Anyway, here are the latest shots of my work. This is my second Hammerhead Gunship for the Tau Swamp Fighters. This is going to be Longstrike's ride. I decided to go for some more accents of color on it and I think it worked out great. I went into more detail on the weathering as well, learning from my work on the Commander and the Broadside.



Side views of the model...




And some detail shots of the weathering.

More to come, much sooner this time. I have a second Riptide and a squadron of Piranha's nearly finished. These will be followed by more Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, and Crisis Suits to round it out. Then I will be looking forward to add some Kroot to the list.

My Nid's just got some reinforcements too. I picked up the swarm box, an Exocrine, a Hive Cron, 2x Flyrants, 2x Carnifex, 3x Zoeys, 3X Venoms, and a couple of Biovores. The swarm is turning into a monster. I am really enjoying Nids right now and even with everyone poo pooing over the Nid dex, there is a lot of power there. You just cannot play it like you used to. I am looking forward to putting these guys on the table quite a bit in the next few weeks.

Also I pre-ordered an Imperial Knight. I am thinking Mechanicus for it... Urge to pick up new Forgeworld Mechanicus rising.... must fight it. Soo much to paint!!

Alright. That's It. I'm out.

See you later this week. Much Love.

The chipping and lenswork are beeeeeautiful. Definitely given me some ideas, too

 inmygravenimage wrote:
The chipping and lenswork are beeeeeautiful. Definitely given me some ideas, too

Thanks Graven!

Here are some more updates!

Finished my second Riptide suit. I went with a different look for this one. Crisis suit style head with missiles right on the weapon arm. I also decided to pose this one bracing for impact behind its shield. I had a lot of fun with this one.





Some closeups of the details on the head and some of the battle damage and weapons.

That looks awesome.

Echoing previous post: that looks just amazing. Especially the heat-glow on the gun barrel.

Moltar wrote:That looks awesome.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Echoing previous post: that looks just amazing. Especially the heat-glow on the gun barrel.

Thanks! Glad you like it.

Working on my Piranhas at the moment. Hoping to have them up in the next day or so.

Time for another update. My piranhas are done!

These guys are fun. I don't care that they aren't the most competitive according to the interwebs. They work for me and they look badass while doing it. I always run them melta and I always break off the drones early. Its like getting a free unit!





Something about these guys make me want to make zooming noises!

I kind of want to try the flyers too. Everyone says they are terribad however. Have any of you had success with the tau flyers? What about forgeworld?

Just got back from seeing TOOL live at the Mathew Knight Arena in Eugene Oregon. I have seen dozens of live concerts and this was by FAR the best live show I have ever seen. This includes the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Pearl Jam, Rammstein... This topped them all. I have been wanting to see them live for years and I finally got my chance. Blown away.

Here was the set-list for the show:

1. Hooker With a Penis
2. Forty-Six & 2
3. Schism
4. Pushit
5. Intension
6. Lateralus

Intermission
(12 minute countdown)

7. B'Boom
(King Crimson cover) (drum solo)
8. Jambi
9. Opiate
10. Ænema
11. Stinkfist

Anyways... What is on my desk? Working on a ton of infantry. 10 Pathfinders and 26 more Fire Warriors. Going to grind my way through these. You can see the Tyranids I am working on as well behind them. Much easier to paint then my Tau due to the different philosophy that I had in mind. My Tau were to be my best effort while the Tyranids were to make a fast to paint force to fill the in-between. I also love playing Tyranids. I do not care that Cruddace keeps crapping on us. I make them work.





More to come soon.

Ugh... Getting flashbacks of painting my IG. Did I mention I hate painting massed infantry?

Just posted this list over in the 40k Army Lists



I am thinking Mechanicus sworn knights and converted IG as skitarii? Maybe laslock servitors? It looks like a whole lot of nasty.

Another big hiatus. Family vacation and a terrible stomach bug. Now I am all set to get back on the horse.

Finished my pathfinders. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out.













Spoilered because it seemed a bit spammy otherwise.

Next up I am working on finishing my Fire Warriors and the last of my suits. (2 Missilesides and 3 Crisis Suits)

It's not spammy if it's your own thread! Nice, muted yet slightly sticky. I heartily approve. The subtle weathering on the helmets makes it, for me.

Thanks Graven. I was trying to figure out how to make them stand out a little and I wanted to keep with the realistic tone of the rest of the army.

Good work on the troops. The subtle weathering works well with the nice scheme.

 Dr H wrote:
Good work on the troops. The subtle weathering works well with the nice scheme.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Not sure how active DakkaDakka is anymore. I have been active panting but haven't posted since 2014. Interested if this forum still gets a lot of traffic.

Here is what I have done since then..

That's a whole lot of stuff. Yeah dakka feels a little quiet ATM. Papa bless you for your efforts!

I have trouble accessing my subbed threads via email, so I haven't checked in.

Glad to see you back

wow, many great looking army's, would be awesome to see some close ups (especially of the nids), Subscribed

I started painting these nearly 10 years ago. They sat in a closet when I lost motivation.
I have gotten back into painting with a vengeance and am nearly done (Just going to add some alcohol based gold to finish.)
One of these three was painted almost completely in 2014. The other two I have done this week. A lot more to come.

wow, many great looking army's, would be awesome to see some close ups (especially of the nids), Subscribed

Thanks, will do!

I have trouble accessing my subbed threads via email, so I haven't checked in.

Glad to see you back

Glad to be back!

That's a whole lot of stuff. Yeah dakka feels a little quiet ATM. Papa bless you for your efforts!

I feel that posting here helped me stay motivated. Kind of a bummer that it is slowing down. Are you in any very active communities? I had some huge life changes happen in the hiatus but things are going wonderfully now and I want to pick back up.

Very excellent work and remarkable to see that there is no difference in style and technique between the 10 year-old start and the to more recent completions.

I, too, have not only a Closet of Shame composed of hopeful plastics and white metal that have never known the kiss of a brush, but also a Trunk of Unmentionables filled with projects begun long ago and never completed (like a 28mm regiment of British Napoleonic infantry- the 33rd Regiment of Foot, the West Riding which, to complete the last stand of 4 figures meant repainting everyone's jackets as I just couldn't match the color, being 18 years apart from start to finish ).

This Tau Swamp Army has an excellent color scheme and the pieces individually and in the aggregate tell a great story.

Rock on! I reckon to check in frequently to enjoy the work.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Very excellent work and remarkable to see that there is no difference in style and technique between the 10 year-old start and the to more recent completions.

I, too, have not only a Closet of Shame composed of hopeful plastics and white metal that have never known the kiss of a brush, but also a Trunk of Unmentionables filled with projects begun long ago and never completed (like a 28mm regiment of British Napoleonic infantry- the 33rd Regiment of Foot, the West Riding which, to complete the last stand of 4 figures meant repainting everyone's jackets as I just couldn't match the color, being 18 years apart from start to finish ).

This Tau Swamp Army has an excellent color scheme and the pieces individually and in the aggregate tell a great story.

Rock on! I reckon to check in frequently to enjoy the work.

Color matching SUCKS! I tried so hard to match the orange. I used an old GW orange that is no longer made on the broadside's missiles. Went through 12 different paints and no idea how much mixing until I found a match. Vallejo Hot Orange was the match.

I airbrushed the base coat on these models in 2014. Just finished them today, at least the first batch of 5. I never thought I would get through this pile of shame but I am working on it. I had a backlog going for my Astra Militarum and my Tyranids too. I have cleared out all of my AM and Tyranids just in time for Leviathan. Using this motivation I have found to inch my way through my Tau. Goal is to have my pile cleared out entirely this year.

Those are excellent pieces- nice work! I'm slowly reminding myself that I can use my airbrush for other than weathering and top coating- that priming and basecoating is a better, more customizable and cheaper solution than rattle cans of paint.

I've had a fair amount of luck using flow enhancer and craft paint- just have to avoid the ones with 'chalky' pigment. Still 'way cheaper than a rattle can.

I'd say you're making terrific progress on meeting your painting goals- rock on!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Those are excellent pieces- nice work! I'm slowly reminding myself that I can use my airbrush for other than weathering and top coating- that priming and basecoating is a better, more customizable and cheaper solution than rattle cans of paint.

I've had a fair amount of luck using flow enhancer and craft paint- just have to avoid the ones with 'chalky' pigment. Still 'way cheaper than a rattle can.

I'd say you're making terrific progress on meeting your painting goals- rock on!

Thanks mate! Vallejo Thinner and Flow improver is my secret sauce. Vince Venturella got me into some better habits and my airbrush is now a joy to use. It is all about basic care and maintenance.

Here is my progress for the past 24 hours. I finished the rest of the fire warriors that had been sitting incomplete.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Today's progress.

3 fully magnetized Railgun Broadsides ready to varnish and oil wash. Excited to get to weathering and finishing these.

Gloss varnished and oil washed. Next step is to matte varnish and finish weathering/detailing. I get really annoyed managing sub-assemblies, so I will be glad to get the rail guns and arms attached.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Got my orange and white markings on these Broadsides. Getting ready to paint the Vallejo Liquid Gold and then attach the arms. Then it will be time for weathering. I used to absolutely HATE painting white and orange because of coverage. I really like my current recipe. I think it really pops and doesn't take 1,000,000 coats to get it looking nice.


Automatically Appended Next Post:



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Vallejo liquid gold added.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Weathering process started.






Automatically Appended Next Post:




Chipping finished.

Heads




Almost done!

Super crisp. Very cool.

As Graen said- very crisp!

For the weathering, I see some drybrushing for highlights, but are you using a small bit of sponge to stipple on the black/grey flecks along the selected areas? Whatever method, the resulting effect is excellent.

Also, what is the recipe for painting white and orange? I've heard of basecoating/undercoating with yellow and the overpainting with white, but haven't heard of a trick for orange, which can also be a pain.

Carry on!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
As Graen said- very crisp!

For the weathering, I see some drybrushing for highlights, but are you using a small bit of sponge to stipple on the black/grey flecks along the selected areas? Whatever method, the resulting effect is excellent.

Also, what is the recipe for painting white and orange? I've heard of basecoating/undercoating with yellow and the overpainting with white, but haven't heard of a trick for orange, which can also be a pain.

Carry on!

Yes I am using extra pluck foam to stipple on the flecks. I am then going in with silver to show where bare metal is coming through. In my headcanon, the tau suits are made of a silvery metal that does not rust, similar to aluminum but stronger. For the white, I am using a 1:1 of bright neutral grey and bold titanium white from ProAcryl. For the orange I undercoat with Vallejo Heavy Salmon Orange (closer to pink) and then Vallejo Hot Orange. The Salmon covers in one coat and then the orange is super smooth in one coat.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Swamp bases in progress. In the past I had used hollow bases with some depth to them. I didn't have the right size handy so I just sculpted a puddle basically. I think they are looking alright. Ordered some swampy stuff from GSW for my bigger suits and crisis suits that I will be working on next.