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Hey guys,
Just thought I'd post up my Barracuda kitbash/conversion/scratchbuild for feedback. What do people think?

PS ; sorry for the bad pictures, I've not got a great camera, but I'll be happy to take some more once I get back home (currently away for a week or so)

Anyhows:







I decided not only that Forge World was a 'little' out of my price range, but also that my Tau needed a more renegade and looted feel to the units. The fluff behind the idea is that the Tau members are a breakaway faction, similar to that of Farsight, but have been trapped on an swampy/jungle Imperial planet, fighting a tactical guerilla war against a much larger imperial guard company. Most of the battlesuits are heavily modifed with imperial guard additions due to heavy engagements, and the Cadre have taken to using what they can to modify their vehicles to gain an advantage.
The Barracuda was built using devilfish and scavenged valkyrie parts that the broadside team managed to get a lucky shot at, and is used alongside a couple of Stealth drones as the Cadre's primary air support when in large engagements, or for quick hit and run attacks on imperial outposts. Due to the dense jungle that covers most of the planet, the use of large vehicles, such as Hammerheads, is all but impossible without alerting the Imperial Guard to their presence; and so the Tau have adapted their resources to create a tactical air force, capable of making surprise attacks and supporting strafing runs against ground targets, whilst also being able to hold off enemy aircraft and bombers in the area.

Wow nice

The modeling is great, and the backstory is amazingly creative, too! However, the paint job is somewhat messy looking, and lacks depth. Maybe try to do some highlights and washes to improve the look of the vehicle.

Thanks for the compliments

As for the paintjob - I'm currently repainting all my Tau to fit a proper 'Jungle' theme, so I'll be sure to take your advice on board when I repaint the barracuda.

- And I'll make sure to add some new pictures too ^_^

Awesome kitbash!

Can't say I'm a fan. It lacks the smooth lines of Tau aircraft and looks a lot more Orky "copy" of a Barracuda than anything else.

As for the price range thing; a Barracuda is only £9.50 more than the component models to make this (though I spot some Piranha parts in there too, making it more expensive than a Barracuda). I know you've made some fluff to fit the conversion, but the model just does not look "right" to me at all. For the negligible cost of what it would cost to get a "real" Barracuda I would have just gone that route.

Sorry.

Looks like an angry bird. And in a good way. Very ad-hoc and scavanger, good for a force of jungle fighters.

Also agree with above posters on better photo/painting...

I personnally own 2 FW Barracudas. I both love and hate the model. I like the looks of it, but I hate that its a big brick of resin just waiting to fall off the edge of a table and shatter, which I have watch one do at my LFGS. So I desided to make some custom Barracuda to actually use, while my FW ones look pretty on my display table. So after some trolling around on the interwebs I found this: http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/aca/images/aca_12423_title.jpg
a 1:72 scale F-22 Raptor model. I have always liked the looks of the F-22 and figured it would go good with my Tau. Plus I was able to buy 3 kits for less then half the cost of a FW Barracuda. So with the kits and some extra bits I had lying around I came up with this:


Heres the Ion Cannon and Missile Pod


And here is a wing-span and size comparison

While the price you got the F22s for was good...they look exactly like F22s still...

I for one usually don't care much about people using homebrew ideas for things, but I very much doubt I'd play against that even in a casual game. It'd be very hard to explain the bat report pics about why an (essentially) unmodified F22 was in a Tau Army, lol.

Maybe just carve of the shape of the F22 a bit to make it less distinctive.

Hell...just use the FW ones you own. I've used a tonne of FW in a lot of games and it holds up quite well...if the only thing that worries you is it falling off a table, just place the base of the aircraft on the table when it is near an edge and put the model on when it gets in board a bit.

Aye, I'd be inclined to agree with Joyous on that one Syradin - it still looks a little too recognizably F22 for me. I do however, applaud your creativity.

I've not thought about using F22 wings before, but looking at them in comparison with the FW barracuda has got me considering them for other uses now too.

Banesword - Thanks for the compliment! I didn't notice the 'angry bird' resemblance until you pointed it out. I kind of like it even more now!

Grimtuff - Don't apologise for giving your opinion - I know not everyone is going to like the my rendition of the Barracuda.

As for it lacking the smooth lines of the Tau, I've noticed this myself when I uploaded the pics. I don't think the 'meh' drybrushing job helps either, I think if anything it makes it look more orky. >.< Before painting it up again I may smooth over some of the sections and try and get it looking a little less like orks did it, and more like my Tau had to scavenge it.
Also, oddly enough, the parts I got were a lot cheaper than they are now, and I know the devilfish + pirahna bits were bought as a present a good few years ago. So I think in total the whole thing cost about £45 to make - plenty cheaper than he current FW model

Scott - Cheers mate, I'm glad you like it!