I've recently gotten back into the hobby after a while and I've decided to go Tau. I have zero interest in further lining
GWs pockets, and frankly their new paint system is as bewildering as it is expensive. I've decided to go for Army Painter/Quickshade as that seems to hit the sweet spot between price, time required and quality. I am
considering painting edge highlights if I have the time/inclination. I do have an idea of what I want to do but I'd like some advice on the actual color mixtures.
For ease of the tl;dr crowd I'll underline the parts I'd like advice on.
In case you're not familiar with the colors I'm talking about, here is a copy of the chart.
I like the idea of a metallic color scheme. I think it's very futuristic and would suit the Tau well. As I came up with the idea during the Olympics and I'm going to use that with the pretty strict rank structure they have.
'la (Firewarriors)
The lowest class, they get steel. (Hopefully not via chainsword.) I would spray the majority "hard" pieces (torso, head, gun) Plate Mail (
PM). The "soft" clothier parts I would spray Pure Red (they are
firewarriors after all). The boots would be black, and the lenses would be Greenskin. I'd like to paint the "sides" of the front shoulder pad Pure Red/Matt White/Greenskin/Crystal Blue, the center piece
SS and the Tau symbol Greedy Gold (GG). This would represent the different elemental castes and them coming together for the greater good. I'd dip and then varnish them. The whole process would be pretty quick, save for the shoulder pad and even that shouldn't be too much work.
If for some unknown reason I want to edge these bastards I was considering a 2:1 mixture of Plate Mail and Shining Silver for the first line and a 1:1 for the second. Army Painter recommends 1:1 for the first and straight SS for the second. Thoughts?
'ui (
FW Sergeants and Battlesuits)
Weapon Bronze (
WB). I've read in reviews that there are not as many metal flakes in
WB as the other metallics.
Depending on the exact shade I'm considering mixing the WB with SS in a 3:1 ratio for the main color that will go over the spray. Thoughts? This would metal it some and make it lighter and more Tau like. I would highlight with 2:1 and 1:1 WB:SS. Firewarrior shas'ui would be pretty much the same otherwise. XV-8 battle suits would have "non-plate" (legs, etc) painted Gun Metal (
GM) and the lenses would be greenskin again. Weapons, i'll get to in a bit.
For the stealth suits I'd like to use a 2:1 mixture of GM to WB to give them that darker "stealth" look. Highlights would be 1:1 and then pure WB. Thoughts?
'vre (XV-8 leaders, Riptides and Bodyguards)
Shining Silver (
SS). Pretty much the same as the 'ui but with
SS. I'm not so sure how to do the highlighting.
Maybe a 2:1 SS to PM for the main body, a 1:1 for the first layer and a 1:0 for the very edge? Obviously I'd like the color to be markedly different than the 'ui level. I like the idea of only painting the face play
SS for the stealth team lead.
'
el
Who cares?
'o (commander, ethereal's cloak)
Gold. GG over the spray. Though I imagine for the ethereal that will probably a base of white. I think I almost certainly will highlight these guys. Standard at this point. 2:1 GG:
SS followed by 1:1.
For the XV-8 commander I'm considering giving his gold a slight but noticeable green tint, to represent the iridium armor. Presumably to I'd add some green to gold. I have no clue how much.
Weapons
I'd like to magnetize the XV-8 weapons to give myself flexibility. The problem is it would throw off the scheme if I wanted to put a bronze weapon on a silver suit. I'd did a little research into complementary colors for bronze,silver and gold and all apparently share a shade of blue.
I think it would like quite sharp to have Crystal Blue weapons on the suits. What do you guys think?
Ok, this is way was longer than I expected but there you have it. Any input would be appreciated, and I'll make sure to post some "prototype" pics in the future.
